Mrs. Highstreet steps outside of the house and crosses the porch. She places a hand against the screen door and looks down the driveway. There is no sign of Adahlia. After another moment of staring down the road, Mrs. Highstreet narrows her eyes and pats the screen nervously. She slowly retreats back inside the house. She is unable to refrain from looking over her shoulder one more time.
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Adahlia and Sotet are seated at the folding table Kotoro brought for his comfort. Earlier that morning, Adahlia was able to convince the acrimonious Zorobo to bring her twenty-four small stones, some blades of grass, and a handful of leaves. After prepping a makeshift board, and coloring twelve of the stones with chlorophyll; Adahlia calls Sotet over for a derivative game of checkers.
“Hurry. Sit down,” Adahlia exclaims cheerfully. She points to the opposite side of the table. Sotet flops down, while making sure that his tail feathers are behind him and not underneath him. Adahlia continues her excited chatter.
“The plain stones are mine, the green stones are yours. Your spaces on the board are any space without a leaf. The leaf spaces are mine. You can only move diagonally…Like this or this—“ Adahlia moves a piece on the table. “See?”
“Yes,” Sotet answers simply.
“Alright. So we play,” Adahlia exclaims and claps both hands.
Sotet nods his head, but remains quiet, staring with concern at Adahlia. Adahlia is trying to appear upbeat, but there is a deep undercurrent of hidden emotion in her every action. She seems strangely animated. Almost artificially so. It is the morning of the third day, and Adahlia is still very much a child. She is afraid. No matter how mature she is for her age. Sotet places one wing on the board, to stop Adahlia.
“Are you even a little concerned about tomorrow, little one?” Sotet inquires gently. “I mean, do you still wish to be a witness for me? Zorobo can take you back to your world. I would insist upon it. Sure, you might never see me again, but….We all have to make sacrifices in our lives. I would feel a lot better knowing you are safe—with your family. Rather than sitting here, in this cell, with me. You’re just a child and it’s been three days. I’m worried about you.”
Adahlia blinks away a tear which is sitting at the corner of her right eye. She turns away from Sotet and presses a small fist to her bottom lip. She speaks in a low, halting voice.
“How long has it been, Sotet? In my own world….I mean,” Adahlia asks politely. She stipples both hands and places them in her lap.
“Well, you’ve been here three days…plus a few hours,” Sotet begins, “Do you know anything about time-dilation?”
“Kind of,” Adahlia stammers. “I mean, I’m no expert. I know a little. Only what I’ve read in books or seen on television. What about it? Time dilation? What does time dilation have to do with—”
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Sotet holds up a wingtip. “Time dilation…Has everything to do with…Well, everything. Do you remember how much actual time had passed…In your world….The day we met?”
“It was maybe….Fifteen or twenty minutes,” Adahlia responds. “Plus or minus a few minutes.”
The last part, Adahlia adds with a faint smile—mimicking Sotet’s previous mannerisms. Sotet chuckles soundlessly, his large shoulders bobbing a few times.
“Okay….Well, in your world time passes at about one-twelfth the speed it does in ours. A minor example of what is called a time-dilation. So, choosing a nice round number like ten…If you were to spend three hours here, in our world; you’d lose about thirty minutes in yours. It comes out to a little less than that, but you get the idea?”
“How long have I been gone, Sotet?” Adahlia cries.
Sotet briefly drops his head to his chest and releases a deep sigh. His golden eyes finally meet Adahlia’s brown ones, and he sighs a second time. There is no easy way to tell her the truth.
“About three hours. You’ve been gone at least three hours. Your lunch date with your mom…If you don’t go soon….You’ll be late. She’ll be looking for you. There’s no need to make your mother worry, Adahlia! She doesn’t deserve to worry. Tell me you want to go back! I won’t be angry. I completely understand. I have my own clutchlings now. I could not imagine being separated from them. I shiver even to think about it. Tell me that is what you want….And I will do everything I can to convince Zorobo to take you home. Even at the risk of losing my rank, my clutchlings, and my mate. Because it is the right thing to do. Do you understand what I am saying, Adahlia? You don’t have to stay. Go home. Be with your mother. Forget you were ever here. It’s for the best.”
Adahlia jumps to her feet. Her hands are drawn into tight fists. She glares angrily at Sotet.
“I won’t go home! And I won’t forget! I love my mother, and I will see her again. I’ll just be a little late. I made you a promise, Sotet. The same promise I made to my mother. And I never break my pinky promises. I said I would help you….And I will. Adahlia Highstreet is no liar! I plan to see this through. You won’t get rid of me so easily!”
Sotet’s trilling rises in pitch—to match his level of frustration.
“Do you really think this is easy, Adahlia? It is not! All I know…All I’ve ever known…Is Shretonia! Not unlike you…I’ve read about other worlds. I've studied them. Even visited a few. But never….Did I—I’ve never shared a friendship with anyone…Like the one I have with you. It felt nice, being able to show you things that are so common and usual…To me. And have you look at them as if they were the greatest things in the universe. It made me think of how wonderful it will be…To teach my own clutchlings. How great it will be to have them learn from me. I lost myself in an impulse…A daydream. And I just don’t want to see you pay for it. I was dumb. I knew it was against our laws to bring you here. To share with you some of our most treasured secrets. But, I did. And it was absolute foolishness. And I am sorry! Now please— Go home.”
Adahlia leans forward and stares into Sotet’s golden eyes.
“Nooo!” Adahlia states. There is a tone of finality to her words.
Sotet sighs again and looks down at the table.
“Then, I guess we go back to our game,” Sotet says resignedly.
Adahlia drops back down onto the floor. “I guess we do.”
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Mrs. Highstreet stares down the road once again. Tears well at the corners of her eyes.
“Adahlia,—“ she calls softly into the still afternoon air.