Yazen (Ponith) (4 page)

“Yeah, come on in.
Isn’t that the bag we got out of the attic for your grandpa yesterday?” he questions me while shutting the front door. I follow him to his room. Alex’s room looks like a computer geek’s heaven. He has so many electronics and many gadgets. He has a desktop computer and a laptop, two side-by-side monitors, a big flat-screen television, tons of video games with posters on the wall to match, to name a few.

“Ye
ah, it is. My grandpa woke me up early this morning to explain this bag to me. He wants me to go on an adventure with it. He told me to ask a few friends to go with me, and you were my first choice. I really don’t want to do this alone. I know this story is going to sound crazy, but will you hear me out until I’m done?” I ask him with a serious tone of voice.

Alex
is looking at me like I’m crazy. I can tell that he’s not sure what kind of story I’m going to tell him, and he looks like he’s trying to wake up more by rubbing his eyes. “Tell me what’s going on first and then I’ll let you know,” Alex hesitates, and then lies back down on his bed.

I’m trying to figure out the best way to explain to
Alex this adventure without sounding too insane. I really don’t have a way to tell him besides coming straight out with it, so that’s what I’m going to do.

“My grandpa wants me to go to an undiscovered planet through a portal to learn about it, plus he says it has something to do with
my family history,” I blurt out, nervous of what his reaction will be. I look at Alex’s face, and he’s looking at me like I’m from another planet myself. He doesn’t believe me.

“That sounds like the stupidest thing ever. I think your grandpa is just
getting just a bit old and losing it, Zac. You really can’t believe what you just said,” Alex hounds me and then starts laughing.

Do I really believe what I just said? I just know that my grandpa has never let me down before. I
t does sound quite unbelievable, but now I don’t even know what to believe.

“Will you please just go with me to see if we see any kind of portal, and if we don’t, then you can say
‘I told you so’. If anything, it will be a fun hiking trip. It would mean a lot to me,” I’m practically begging him. I know how weird it sounds but I just don’t want to let my grandpa down.

“When do you
want to leave? You know I can’t pass up a good hiking trip. I want to be prepared this time though; no more bears,” Alex laughs. I agree with him that our last hiking trip was a disaster. 

“I plan on leaving early Sunday morning
. I’m going to read this journal that my grandpa gave me and get some supplies ready to take with me. Thanks, Alex, I really don’t want to go alone,” I tell him.

“Anytime
, man, that’s what friends are for,” he replies. He looks like he may go back to sleep. So I decide I’m going to go home to read the journal.

“I’ll talk to you later
… go back to sleep. Sorry for waking you up,” I say while leaving his bedroom and heading back down to the front door.

I start to walk over to my bike
and I decide to call Jenn as I ride my bike back home. I’m wondering if she’ll talk to me after I hung up on her last night. I pull out my cell phone and dial her number, and it starts to ring. It rings three times and then she finally answers, “Hello?”

“Hey, Jenn. It’s me, Zac. How are you doing?
” I ask her, wondering if she’ll tell me more about her and Brad.

“
I'm doing okay. Why are you calling me so early? Is everything okay?” she asks me.

“
Oh dammit, I keep forgetting what time it is. My grandpa woke me up early today. I’m just calling to see if you want to go on a crazy adventure with Alex and I on Sunday?” I'm crossing my fingers, hoping she says yes.

“What kind of adventure? Where are y
ou going to?” she questions me. I panic because I know what I’m going to tell her is going to sound crazy. I hope she doesn’t take it the same way Alex did.

“It’s kind of a weird story, but please hear me out. My grandpa gave me some
old stuff that his grandfather gave to him and told me a story. He’s asking me to go on an adventure for him to some places that aren’t in our history books. We have to go on a hiking trip into Tongass National Forest and find something like a portal. He wants me to go there to learn about my family history. I know that sounds really off and like I made it up, but will you please go with us?” I ask her nicely.

“
Huh? Are you still dreaming or something? Is this a prank call? I’m hanging up now,” she says.

“
Wait Jenn!” I yell to her, hoping she doesn’t hang up.

“
What do you want Zac? I’m going back to bed,” she says.

“
I’m being serious. I’m not trying to joke with you or prank call you. Will you please go with us, just to make my grandpa happy? If we just walk around and waste the day, I will owe you an ice cream. Does that sound better?” I ask her.

“
Eh, fine, I'll go. You said your grandpa told you about all this? I wonder if he is okay,” she trails off for a bit, “You know I’ll never pass down free ice cream but I’m worried about your grandpa,” she says.

“Thanks, Jenn.
I’m not sure what to say. It really means a lot to me,” I tell her. My plans for today come back to me and I’m reminded of what I have planned tonight. “I’m having my party tonight at five still; I’ll see you then?” I ask her.

“Of course
. I wouldn’t miss it for anything, but I do need to get some more sleep or I’ll be a walking zombie all day. See you later, okay?” she says. I wish her a good rest of the morning and she hangs up on me. I find myself really happy that she said yes.

By the time I hang up the phone with her, I’m already on my street. I
head back inside to my room and pull the journal out of the camping bag. It’s a very nice journal, old but still in serviceable condition. I try to be careful with it so I don’t damage it.

When I
first open the journal, there’s a map of the Tongass National Forest. In the middle, there’s a red X on the map where I’m assuming the portal is located. It looks like it’s surrounded by lots of trees in a thicker part of the forest and possibly has a small river near it. It’s about a four-hour hike to the portal from my house if I’m reading it right.

I turn the page and see the word Ponith written on top. I read the page to myself out loud, “Ponith is the place that you will enter first once you go through the portal
here on Earth. It’s akin to an asteroid or a large platform of sorts. It is mostly featureless, rocky, and the air is thin. It appears to be in a geostationary position between the six planets. It’s a central station of sorts that allows you to choose your next destination. There are six portals total here, corresponding to each planet. They are, in order of appearance: Our Earth, Yazen, Volux, Crendus, Bredin, and finally Qysan, Earth being several times larger than any of the other planets mentioned. Other notable features of the location itself are its small size and one solitary building located in the middle of the portals, although its details are unknown at the time of this writing. No life forms are found here, although there is nothing seemingly stopping this.”

Ponith sounds really odd
, at least from what my grandpa has written about it. I turn the page and see that Yazen is addressed next. This is the planet my grandpa told me he wants me to visit first, after Ponith. He said previously that it’s the safest of the planets. Does that mean the other planets are hostile or inhospitable?

I decide to read some of the material written for Yazen out loud as well, “Yazen is the most spectacular planet I’ve ever visited
and it was the first one I went to. It’s one of the larger planets of them all, with quite a bit of life. The creatures on this planet are amazing and beautiful, although there are no humans on this planet. The colors on this planet are uniquely brighter than Earth and the planet is unmistakably green and teeming with life.”

I’m intrigued by what I’ve read so far
, although it sounds like it’s a story from a fantasy book. I still don’t believe this place is real. I close the journal for now and decide to head downstairs to make a sandwich for lunch. Peanut butter and grape jelly, my favorite. To top it off, I put potato chips in the center of it.

I sit outside while I eat it and just enjoy the weather. It’s a little cooler today, but the sun is still shining. I see a rabbit hopping in the yard
. It goes to the neighbor’s garden and starts to nibble on the vegetables. I see Mrs. Silvia run out with her rake and chase it off.

After I
’m done with my lunch, I go back inside and I see Grandpa is sitting in his chair watching a fishing program on television. I go and sit next to him. “Learning anything new?” I ask.

“It’s the same old
stuff on TV, nothing new. I don’t know why I pay for this when nothing good is ever on,” he replies while drinking iced tea with a lemon floating in it.

“Grandpa, what is the stuff that you have in the attic? Are those items from your trips to the other planets?” I ask him.

“Some items are, and others are things I’ve purchased that have reminded me of those planets. I like to have them to remind me of my past,” he looks as if he’s reminiscing.

“Grandpa, I’m really nervous about
the hike and going through these portals. I don’t know what to expect and, to be honest, I don’t know what to do when I get there. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to find the portal,” I tell him.

“You’ll do
fine, Zac. I have faith in you. I’ve taught you many ways to survive and thrive; you always succeed. This will be a fun journey for you. You’ll learn about things that you never knew existed,” he says to me very sincerely.

“Thanks
, Grandpa; it means a lot to me. I’m going to go relax and play some games for a while before the party,” I respond, and then I head back to my room. I decide to play a video game for a while to take my mind off of things. Before I know it, it’s four o’clock, and time flew by without me realizing it.

I have to run to the store to go buy a cake and some ice cream before
Alex and Jenn arrive. I check to see if my grandpa is around to let him know that I’m going out. I walk into the kitchen and there’s a birthday cake already sitting on the counter and my grandpa is just smiling.

“When did you go get that? I never heard you leave,” I tell him. The cake looks great
with white frosting and blue writing on the top.

“I
headed out while you were in your room. I figured you would need a cake for your party, some ice cream too,” he opens the freezer to show me.

“Thank you so much for doing that. It looks good and I can’t wait to
have some. Will you be here during the party?” I ask him.

“Not tonight
. I’m going to do a few things around the house and then go to bed early tonight. You and your friends have a fun time and stay out of trouble,” he replies as he grabs his bill book off the counter.

I help clean up the house a little before
Alex and Jenn show up. I hear the doorbell ring and go to answer it. Both Alex and Jenn are standing at the door and in unison shout, “Happy birthday, Zac!”

“Thanks
… come on in,” I open the door wide so they can come in. We all go into the kitchen and they set their gifts down on the table.

“Nice cake
; it looks delicious,” Alex says as he licks his lips.

Jenn grabs the candles off of the counter and begin to put them in the cake. She puts exactly 15 candles on it
. I honestly hope it doesn’t melt the cake with that many candles. She begins to light them all and then both her and Alex sing the ritual birthday song.

I can feel my cheeks turn red as they sing,
and it feels awkward. Once they stop singing, I manage to blow all the candles out in one blow. They both cheer as I begin to cut the cake. I grab the ice cream and scoop it onto our plates.

“So are we really doing this trip on Sunday?”
Alex questions me. His teeth are blue from the frosting.

“Yes, if anything it’ll be a day trip out in the forest. We can make the best of it. I really don’t understand my grandpa at times
, but he really seems serious about this. I don’t want to let him down,” I tell them.

“Just so you know, when we don’t find that portal thing, you still owe me ice cream
and this ice cream here doesn’t count,” Jenn says as she licks the ice cream off her spoon.

Alex
gives me a look of disapproval because I didn’t tell him that I invited Jenn to go with us. He quickly changes the subject so Jenn doesn’t realize he is irritated.

“So did he tell you more about your family history?”
Alex asks as he wipes his mouth off on a paper napkin.

“Not really
; he says that my family history is in this bag. I’m not quite sure what that means. I’ve read a bit of the book that came with it but it doesn’t really mention anything about my family. I have a feeling that it has something to do with these planets because he says when we return, if I have any questions that he would answer them then,” I explain to them.