Still laughing at the scene in our backyard, I heard a car parking in the front of the house. I rushed into the bedroom to put on long sleeves and my new blue lenses. Koda scrambled out of the back to greet them at the front door. My mom and Rodrigo were finally back.
“Koda, calm down! We only stayed away one day. Did you swallow a bird?” said mom, listening to the excited bark/peep, trying to manage to close the door and hold Rodrigo. I couldn't stand to wait still in bed and went down to meet them too.
“Mom, baby! I missed you!” I reached to pick him up and kiss him. Not even my mother's coldness spoiled that moment, I had only joy and affection for them.
“Lola, huh! Looks like you haven't seen me in a month! You can't get too close because of.... your allergy is gone! Your eye has returned to the normal color!”
“No, not really,” (She pushed Rodrigo away from me, then relaxed.) “Auntie Eva gave me this lens as a gift. We went to the doctor yesterday and he said everything is fine, not contagious. The lens bothers me a little, nothing that I can’t get used to after a while. According to Auntie Eva, there are things that bother us a lot more.”
“I heard that, huh girl!” Auntie Eva said, holding the column after sleeping on the old brown couch of the living room.
“Eva! Did you sleep here? Where is Lars?” my mom asked in a worried tone.
“In here!” answered my father smiling, coming down the stairs still in his pajamas.
He surprised my mom by kissing her passionately. I gave a hand and grabbed Rodrigo, while they made up.
“I know I'm full of flaws, Jessica. But forgive me for that night, for all my bad behavior so far. I love you. I love our family. I promise I will do different things from now on, if you give me this chance.”
My mom wasn’t understanding a thing, it seemed too good to be true.
“Wow ... I think I need to leave the house more often,” she said. We all laughed.
We gave a big collective hug, Auntie Eva, dad, mom, me with Rodrigo and Koda peeping around. Everything was fine.
“Now let's have breakfast, I'm starving!” I said with a smile.
“But you see, the grumpy lady who hates family breakfast asking for one?” mom making fun of me. Today she could say whatever she wanted. I was too grateful to be angry for those things. Having my dad back, my aunt, Rodrigo, and even Koda in their original form, was a lot to celebrate.
I couldn't help but be grateful that everyone was there, saved.
Funny that after that time out, it felt like I had never left here. At the same time, it seems like I'd spent years away. A very strange, confused feeling. I was glad to be back, but my heart was still pounding as memories of the fourth dimension came to me, part of me lingering there. I was already missing the place I just left. Now, I wanted to live in both. I was a complicated girl, be patient!
In fact, I'd rather take everyone to live with me in Lumen, that would be ideal, even my mom. Auntie Eva would be crazy to learn how the prisms live, what the castle looks like, and Valkyrie! But none of them would be conscious there, it was an impossible dream. There was no magic that made it happen. My choice was made, at least for the next year. I had to live with this feeling in my chest. It was better to accept my normal life again, go back to my daily activities and keep it all inside my heart.
It was a happy Sunday, after all.
By the next morning, everything was back to normal. I took my medicine, put on the lens, and went down for breakfast. Mom gave Rodrigo his bottle while dad was setting up an automatic chair at the bottom of the stairs, leading to the bedrooms.
“Good morning dad. What is that for?”
“So, you don't force your legs, my dear,” he said smiling.
Huh! My legs weren't even hurting anymore. For those who didn't have parental attention at home, I now had too much. I kind of liked it.
We finished our coffee, dad went to work at the power company, my mom took Rodrigo to Mrs. Lena's house and went to work. I finished my coffee and walked to school with my materials in the backpack and my head in the fourth dimension. Gustav emerged after turning the corner, it seemed like I hadn't seen him in years.
“Gustav!”
“Good Morning! Is the allergy gone?”
“Yes! Come here give me a hug, I missed you!”
“But ... we saw each other on Saturday! Have you been drinking this early? You can say.”
“I didn't drink anything!”
He didn't understand, but enjoyed my good morning. He went to school with his chest puffed out. Whatever kind of allergy this was, it could hit me more often.
On the way, he would tell me how interesting the ice hockey training had been yesterday with the church boys, but I couldn't pay much attention to it. As we were walking down a street filled with trees, for a moment I thought I saw a face in the trunk with eyes, nose, and a mouth. Actually, was the same type of tree that makes me fell days ago. There's a lot of these in the neighborhood, but that one in particular I could swear it winked at me. I looked a second time, but it was still. I also heard some birds flying above our heads in circles. My heart raced, it was like the peacock dance in Aratama, even the noise was similar.
It was as if I could feel Aratama's cool water breeze in that chilling cold. Gustav didn’t understand anything.
“It wasn't easy, but I managed to mark that ... Lola, you're not even paying attention! Now you find it funny to listen to birds? What's wrong with you?”
“It’s nothing. I’m just in a good mood.”
“Weird ... I mean, you in a good mood this early. I'm not complaining, but you're different today.”
“Different how?”
“I don’t know. Did you smoke your aunt's weed?”
I had told him about that one day that I found weed in Auntie Eva's car, I might let him think that. We continued the walk laughing and talking nonsense. I could never say anything about the fourth dimension, he would never understand. Or worse, he would ask me to go too, it would be better each one in the right dimension.
At school, even Karl and Emma noticed that something changed in me. They were now as important as my neighbor Mrs. Lena, meaning I barely noticed they were around. I, who would always stare at Karl as he approached, this time didn't even notice him. He even bent his neck as he passed us, to make sure I hadn't really disguised a look.
Gustav was finding my new self increasingly strange.
“You won’t even look at that boy today. I demand to know who the new boy is!”
“What? No, there's no new boy, huh! I’m only missing a place.” What could I have said?
“Where? Florida?”
“Also. But especially somewhere a little further away.”
“Wow, further than Florida ... it must be on the moon.”
As we entered Swedish class, a lady stopped me.
“Sweetie, please, I'm looking for Professor Ingrid, who is she?”
“It's that short-haired woman coming our way, ma'am,” I answered.
“Oh, thank you so much. And who are you?”
Good question. I took a breath to answer that I was a student of Professor Ingrid’s, but I thought better.
“I'm Lola Bloom.”
The lady looked at me carefully, thanked me for the kindness, and went to meet the professor. I felt like a stronger person.