Home Plot: Benne Seed
On one random night in Tabula Rasa, random things began to happen once again. At precisely midnight, Zell Dincht, Polly O'Keefe and Calvin O'Keefe began dreaming much deeper. They no longer responded to the outside world. Their dream took them to a world far away. Eventually others would come to make sure their sleeping bodies were okay, but none
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It was when the light started to come through from the wrong direction that I opened my eyes. It was an odd feeling, seeing something that was so familiar and yet so unfamiliar at the same time. Was this... This was, wasn't it?
My bedroom!
I sat upright, discovering that I hadn't worn a shirt to bed. Pulling up the covers against the sudden chill, I immediately felt beside me. To my relief, Zell was there, but with that came all sorts of questions. Was I really home? Was this an Island trick?
And Island trick or not, how was I going to explain this to my parents?
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"Yeah, uh..." I opened my mouth to explain, then stopped. Just thinking about the words that would follow made me feel like a complete crazy person. Even though this was Charles in front of me, I had difficulty just spilling things out. "Um... it's complicated."
"I can see that," said Charles ruefully. "Especially complicated would be how you managed to smuggle your boyfriend into the house. There's no extra boat at the dock, and I know you weren't out last night. I guess, Zell, that you might be a good swimmer, but that's taking a big risk, swimming out in the ocean at night."
He looked over at me. "I bet the explanation is complicated. But, Polly, I'm listening."
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But then, when was this? Nobody had given any indication that I had been missing. And everybody looked about the same age as when I'd left them... or perhaps a little older...
...and Grandpa and Grand had both known about the time travel incident as well. They might have told my parents...
But then an idea struck me. I didn't need to tell Charles about my own time travel trip. I looked at him. "You remember the stories Daddy and Mother told us about visiting other planets? And how Uncle Sandy and Den went back in time?"
The effect on Charles was immediate. He stepped back, and sat down hard at the foot of my bed as he looked at me in awe. "Polly! Oh, wow!"
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I nodded.
He started to say 'for weeks', but then he glanced between Zell and I and then started to change that to 'months'. Then he stopped again. If I'd been away, marooned, how long would I have to wait before I allowed myself to fall in love with someone? The realization made the colour drain from his cheeks. "...Years?"
Seeing his horror pulled at my heart, and my reserve fell away. "Oh, Charles," I said, sobbing, and I rushed forward and hugged him.
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"So, let me get this straight," he said. "You've been... out of time, someplace else... for years? But this is bizarre. I... I said goodnight to you last night."
I shrugged, and I struggled to come up with an explanation. The first one, that this was all a dream, wasn't one I wanted to give to Charles, dream or no. "I don't know how to explain it, but... maybe think of it like a parallel world. I've come back to a world where I never disappeared."
It was asking Charles a lot to believe this, and for a second, he looked doubtful. But then he looked at me, and he nodded. "Okay. Then that's what we'll tell Mother and Daddy."
I nodded, and reached out for Zell. It was time to face the family.
But in the hallway outside, I heard a commotion.
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