The Unseen-Part Three

Day 108

At first Cal thought it was loads of fun. With a smile and a tug on his hat Mr Chimp took him into the mirror world. He immediately began spying on others and learning their secrets. Jimmy the superstar senior quarterback liked to put on makeup, black nail polish, black clothes and go to the seedier side of town, to the only goth club in the county. His girlfriend Tammy the head cheerleader, was only with Jimmy because it was expected. Secretly, Tammy liked girls more than boys. Mrs Teal, freshman English teacher, was getting divorced and put booze in her morning tea, when she thought no one was looking. That was just the start. The secrets came faster. Almost everyone had a secret.

After awhile it was becoming uncomfortable, knowing all of these secrets, knowing other people were just as unhappy as Cal. And just as lonely. It wasn't fun anymore. The final decision was made to return home when Cal and Mr Chimp had stopped at his parents house. There on the couch in the living room was his mother crying while his father answered a policeman's questions.

"Has Cal ever runaway before?" asked the man in the blue uniform. "Ever stayed out late?"

"No, never," replied his father. "He's always been a good boy. Very responsible."

"Any friends who might know where he is, or someone he might confide in?"

"He was never very...out going. Stayed mostly to himself I guess. We didn't really interfere in his personal life much. I guess maybe we should have."

His father reached over and took his mother's hand as her sobs grew louder.

The officer made a few more notes then said, "Well, we've checked with the school and they say the same things about him. He was quiet but a good student, never made any trouble. I questioned some of his classmates, they didn't know anything but showed some concern. He wasn't popular but he was well liked."

"Please find him", pleaded Cal's mother. "Please before something bad happens to him."

Whenever he had suggested he should go home Mr Chimp would change the subject. Cal was very worried about his mother and finally Mr Chimp told Cal what to do to get home, then tugged on his hat and disappeared.

The spell that was suppose to take him back home, back to the other side of the mirror, wasn't working. He had tried many times and was beginning to wonder if the incantation wasn't faulty. He began to wonder if any of this was real. If he tried really hard, maybe he would wake up at home, in his bed, just a bad dream. Then he would gladly go back to his dull, boring life.

Remaining in this other world was starting to wear on him. He was extremely tired and he kept hearing a distance voice. The voice seemed to be getting louder the longer he was here. He called out several times but no answer. Was there someone else here? He didn't hear the voice again.

Cal could go to any place that had a mirror just by concentrating on the location. He had needed Mr Chimps help to start but soon he could transport on his own. The question was where to go? He didn't want to go home because his mother never left in case he showed up and he couldn't stand to see her crying again. He vowed to make this up to her somehow, if he could just get back to the real world.

He decided to go back to the beginning. Back to the shop. It was the first place he met Mr Chimp, maybe he would find him there and discover why the return spell wasn't working. When Cal returned to the antique shop the mirror was so dusty he could hardly see through it. He kept looking for the imp but he was not in the shop. A hand grabbed Cals shoulder and he turned expecting to see his antagonist. Instead he saw a boy, younger than him, dressed in a coarse shirt and knee high breeches held up with suspenders.

"Where did you come from?" stammered Cal wide eyed. This was the first person he had seen on this side of the mirror, except for Mr Chimp.

"Please. What day is this? What", he swallowed hard," year is it?"

Tomorrow The Unseen Part 4.

Until tomorrow,

Ken