Door to Kandalaura (4 page)

“We don't exactly have trades,” said Andron. “No on has to earn a living like you
do on earth. Here each person shares whatever talents he has for free.”

“That's really different,” I said. “I'm not sure I get that.”

Andron took me into their home and introduced me to his parents. They were both blond
with brilliant blue eyes, just like Andron. Nicholas had just returned from another
trip. He looked a lot like Andron, only a little older.

“Welcome,” said Andron's mom.” We're glad you're here. We've looked forward to meeting
you.”

“Andron has told us a lot about you and your planet,” said his father, extending
his hand to me. “We're looking forward to hearing more.”

Then he did something totally unexpected. He was still talking when he pulled me
toward him and gave me a big fatherly hug. The love that I felt at that moment was
intense, like what my own father might have given me, only stronger. I felt overwhelmed
and fought back the tears. I didn't want to make a fool of myself.

“Thank you,” I managed to say. “I feel right at home.” And indeed I did. On earth
I could be in a large group of friends and family and still feel lonely. Here I was
with strangers and on a strange planet, yet I never felt so accepted and loved in
all my life. This was really weird.

Andron gave me a quick tour of their home. The beauty and design of their home made
me feel even more comfortable and accepted. It was like they had brought the outdoors
inside with the natural wood for the walls and furnishings. Andron's father had designed
and carved wooden furniture. His mother had designed and woven all the fabrics. It
felt real homey. Mom would have loved it.

“You must have amazing tools and machines to make all these things yourselves,” I
said to Andron.

“We can have machines if we want them,” said Andron. “Or we can think things up in
our heads, call them into being, and they simply exist.”

“You have to be kidding,” I said. “That's unreal. I wish my mom and dad could do
their work that way. Then they wouldn't feel all tired when they come home from work.”

“You keep forgetting that we don't work to earn a living here,” said Andron.

“Yeah, it's hard getting that into my head,” I said. “Everything's so different here.
Even your atmosphere. It's total peace. I mean, it's all good. In fact, I think I
could get used to this place.”

Andron chuckled and said, “I can't wait to show you around. Let's put on some swimming
trunks and we'll swim with the dolphins, maybe even surf a little. Does that sound
good to you?”

“That sounds awesome,” I said. I could hardly believe we'd be swimming with dolphins.
That's something I'd always dreamed of doing. And this was only my introduction
to Kandalaura!

Chapter 6

SWIMMING WITH DOLPHINS

A
NDRON
HAD
DESIGNED
shirts for us to wear for this special occasion. On the back
was a large circle of gold with the words “Dolphin Bay” centered at the top. Inside
h dolphins jumping and swimming.

“This is a great shirt,” I said. “Now you're a fashion guru.”

Andron smiled his famous smile. He doesn't get a swell head over anything.

“What don't you don't do?” I asked.

“I don't skateboard or use a computer or go biking,” he said.

“That's because you don't need to,” I replied. “You can swim with dolphins or man
your own spacecraft. And speaking of computers, I haven't seen any towers or wires
or any such thing in this whole place.”

“No, and you won't,” said Andron. “We don't need
electricity. Our climate doesn't
require air conditioning or heating, and we use light for energy. We don't need cell
phones or computers to understand each other. We communicate very well, but not
at all like your people.”

That made me think. They probably communicate a lot better than we do. Andron read
me like a book. It made me feel a little uncomfortable. I didn't know if I liked
the idea of someone reading my mind, but I continued my questioning.

“What about transportation?” I asked. “I haven't seen a single road or freeway.”

“We don't usually travel far,” said Andron. “If we do, we have our transports and
other means. You'll see. I have a special surprise in store for you tomorrow morning.”

He knows I'm curious, so he had to whet my appetite. It's OK. I love surprises.

He handed me some fruit as we approached the beach.

“I want you to meet Molly and Henri,” he said. Then he let out a shrill whistle.
“They'll be here soon,” he exclaimed.

The beach was much like ours—white sand with waves lapping up onto the shore. The
water was a brilliant turquoise and sparkled as if covered with jewels. Children
were there playing with dolphins and squealing with delight. Some were much younger
than me. It looked like fun.

“Here they come,” said Andron.

We left our shirts and towels on the beach and waded out to meet them.

“Molly, Henri, I want you to meet my friend, Mikey. He's from Planet Earth,” said
Andron.

They nodded and made the same sound dolphins make on earth. They appeared to be smiling.

“Show Mikey what you can do,” said Andron.

“At his request, they swam around us in a circle then headed for deeper waters. There
they jumped higher than I had ever seen dolphins jump. Then they headed back toward
us with supersonic speed, like two bullets. The next thing I knew, one of them was
underneath me.

“Hang on,” said Andron. “You're in for the ride of your life.”

Boy, was that the truth! For a short while, they swam close to the surface. My head
and upper body were still above water.

“I don't think you'll have any trouble breathing under water,” said Andron. “But
if you do, just let go and you'll come floating to the top. Remember, you're completely
safe here. I promised your father you'd be safe, and I am holding myself to it.”

The next thing I knew, we were dive bombing toward the bottom. Andron was right.
I could breathe without a snorkel or mask.

The floor of this bay seemed to be covered with jewels, but I couldn't tell for sure
because we were moving so fast. When the dolphins slowed down, I could see coral,
sea anemones, and plants with long flowing leaves. I couldn't take my eyes off the
fish. There were butterfly fish, blue damsels, clown fish, and many more—all the
ones we have on Earth and more. Their colors were outstanding. It was like seeing
them in Technicolor. Their designs were unbelievable, so different from each other.
I felt the same awe I had felt when I saw the galaxies in space. A lion fish swam
toward me. I captured it in my hand, and it didn't sting me.

Andron could see how much I was enjoying all this. He was enjoying it too. He told
me later that he never gets tired of watching fish and sea life.

At one point, the fin of a shark brushed past my shoulder. I looked and felt frightened
at first, just from habit. He must have been ten feet long. As he came back toward
me, he waved his fin at me and swam on by. “Whew!” What a relief. I was glad to be
on Kandalaura and not on Earth right about now. I guess he just wanted to be friendly.

Later Andron motioned for the dolphins to take us to the top again. He made a wavy
motion to them with his hand and arm. Immediately I knew why. The dolphins dive bombed
to the bottom, then swam like bullets to the top. They repeated this many times,
sometimes jumping their high jumps at the top. It was like a ride at an amusement
park—a roller coaster under water. I did all I could do to hang on. I don't think
there are words in our language to describe the thrill of this ride. We must have
been swimming with Molly and Henri for at least two hours.

I didn't want it to stop, but eventually I had to signal Andron to take a break.
He understood immediately that I was tired. A toddler on Kandalaura would probably
have lasted longer, but I had no choice. My energy was at zero. I wasn't used to
this. We still clowned around with the dolphins for a while. I love their antics
and tricks. They really know how to amuse people like me.

After saying good-bye and thanking Molly and Henri, we headed for our towels and
dried off. How sweet it was to be here under the Kandalaurean sky, relaxing and sunning
with my friend Andron. I only wished that Ben could have been here with us. For a
moment I felt a little guilty for having this adventure without him. But that didn't
last long. I was having too much fun.

I wanted to text Dad and tell him what a good job Andron was doing, but that, of
course, was impossible. Even though I have a huge imagination, this adventure
had
already turned out to be more fabulous than I could have dreamed.

As we were lying there in the sun, my curiosity got the better of me. I found myself
pumping Andron with questions again.

“So, Andron,” I blurted out, “What do Kandalaureans do all day? Do they just play
and have fun?”

At once I realized how crude I had been. “Sorry,” I said. “That didn't come out right.
Sometimes my curiosity gets the best of me. I didn't mean to be so blunt.”

Andron smiled. He didn't take offense.

He waited for a minute. Then he spoke. “I know what you're asking, Mikey, and I understand
why. You're having a hard time because of the money thing. Since sin entered your
planet, you work to earn money so you can buy things you need to survive. I think
that's what's confusing you. You're thinking that what you do to survive is your
purpose in life. But that's only part of the picture. Actually your planet and my
planet have the same purpose.”

“We do?” I responded. “How can that be when our lives are so different?”

“Mikey, here on Kandalaurean we purpose to spend time with God, to get to know Him
better, to worship Him, and take care of His creation.”

“I think I see what you're getting at,” I said. “We were put on earth for the same
purpose. I just never thought of it like that before. We get sidetracked into wanting
more things. I like things. Sometimes they do make me happy. I like to have fun too.”

“There's nothing wrong with having fun or enjoying things your money buys,” said
Andron, “as long as God is first in your heart, and it shows by the way you live.
I mean, you can show kindness to the people you work with,
and be excellent and creative
there too. In fact, right now you can do the same thing at school. It's all part
of worshipping God and loving him.”

“Wow! That's a whole big gob of wisdom right there, Andron. I have to let that one
soak in. You seem to understand my Bible better than I do. When I get home, I'm
going to dive into my Bible a lot more.”

“I've studied your Bible,” he said. “But I can't take all the credit myself. I've
shown your Bible to our scholars. Hope you don't mind. We're all interested in your
planet.”

“I had no idea when I gave you my Bible that so many would be reading it. That's
awesome.”

“Your Bible talks a lot about your way of life and how things got to be the way they
are on Earth. Jesus must have really loved your people. He gave up everything for
you. It helps us to love Him even more.”

Andron smiled his special smile. I love that smile. He doesn't try to impress. He's
always just himself and never takes offense. On our planet, some might think him
to be a sissy. Not me. I like how he acts.

“I like talking to you, Andron,” I said. “I don't really talk about things like this
with my friends back home. Ben and I talk about God sometimes. We want our friends
to know God. But talking to you is way different, more serious or something.”

“Mikey, it's because of visiting you and reading your Bible that we know how evil
the creature here is and what he's trying to do. Now we refuse to believe his lies.
Until we found out what happened to your planet, we didn't even know we were in danger.
Knowing all this could actually save my people and Kandalaura.”

“I know God sent you to our planet,” I said. “We're both
learning a lot from each
other and having fun too. But I still don't understand how your people spend their
time.”

“Let me give you an example,” he said. “We have small shops like your stores where
we display things we make. The difference is that no one needs to tend shop. That's
because nobody here needs money to go shopping. If we see something we like, it's
ours for the choosing.”

“Wow!” I said. “Mom would love that kind of shopping. I could learn to like it too.”

“It makes us happy,” Andron continued, “when someone chooses the thing we made. They
usually leave a little note telling us what attracted them to our creation and how
much they appreciate our work. The whole process of making something and giving it
away is a lot of fun. And we think God had a lot of fun creating this universe and
everything in it. Don't you agree?”