I am roughly riding on the raft through a wild river tunnel. I take a few lefts and rights. Some twists and turns make my stomach nauseous. I feel like I want to throw up. I don’t like riding on the water. But no matter how rough the river gets, the tree raft is strong. I flow onto a calm river in a large tunnel. The tunnel has lots of Rabaca drawings on the walls and the ceiling. I didn’t know what the drawings mean. After all, I am only a baby Rabaca. Many colorful crystals are glowing in the dark tunnel. They are glowing in the reflection of the water. They are so beautiful. They look like shiny stars.

I begin to fall asleep and relax with the calm river. It is guiding me to the Human Realm. Then something hit the tree raft and woke me up. I slowly sit up and look around. There is nothing in the water. The river is not shallow. I couldn’t have hit the bottom. What could I’ve hit? I try not to worry about it and get some sleep. The shining crystals on the ceilings begin to go out like dimming candles. It begins to get dark in the river tunnel. I hop up in the air and grab a yellow crystal from the ceiling. I shake the yellow crystal and it glows. This yellow crystal is the only light I have that is shining in the dark river tunnel. I can only hear the sound of the calm river.

I cannot sleep anymore. I feel too scared now. I want my mommy to hold me in her arms. But she isn’t here with me. I know I have to be brave, but being brave is hard for a baby Rabaca like me. I start to cry quietly. I feel lost and alone. I hope that the humans in the Human Realm are nice to me.

I spot something moving on the walls. It looks like a shadow but is not mine. This shadow looks like it is alive and moving.

The shadow hovers over me, screeching loudly like fingernails on a chalkboard. I pull my ears down and try to block the shadow's terrible sound. I feel so scared that I drop the yellow crystal into the river. I watch it sinking deeper into the river. It is kind of dark right now. It is not pitch black.

I start to shiver with fear. The shadow finally reveals itself to me. It is a shadow of a rabbit. It looks dark, creepy, and pokey sharp claws. It has glowing scary eyes. It stares right at me and I stare at it back. I am still in the Rabbit Realm because this shadow rabbit is here with me. I don’t think they can enter the Human Realm. At least that’s what my Rabaca dad said before I left.

I want to say something but I do not know how to talk yet.

The shadow rabbit moves closer to me. I fall on my back and scoot away. I cannot jump in the river. I don’t know how to swim. The shadow rabbit moves closer to me. I feel so scared. I wish my Rabaca father was here to protect me. But he is not.

The shadow rabbit’s paws have long black claws. I think that it is only a shadow and it cannot hurt me. One of the shadow rabbit’s claws touches my white furry tummy. I shake with fear.

The shadow claw presses onto my tummy. I can feel the pressure of the sharp black claw. I start to cry and cover my eyes with my long rabbit ears. I feel so helpless and scared. I shake some more as I feel the shadow claw pressing deeper onto my tummy. I have a feeling that there is no escape. I’m going to die as a baby Rabaca.

Something glows right next to me. I slowly move my ears off my eyes and see the Golden Egg glowing on the raft. It glows brighter and brighter. It is the same Golden Egg that my Rabaca Father gave to me. The shadow rabbit looks like he is scared of the Golden Egg’s light. More scared than I am of the shadow rabbit. I try to reach for the Golden Egg. But the shadow rabbit presses his claw onto my tummy. I grunt as I feel the claw cutting my belly a bit.

I don’t need to grab the Golden Egg. It is glowing very bright. I cover my eyes with my ears. The brightness of the Golden Egg dims fast. I slowly move my ears off my eyes. I look down at the Golden Egg and it is still glowing, but only a little bit. I am scared to look away from the Golden Egg. I think the shadow rabbit is still around. I slowly turn away from the Golden Egg. The shadow rabbit is gone. I grab the Golden Egg and hold on to it. I feel much safer now. But I am still alone. I want to try and get some sleep, but still, I miss my Rabaca mother and father. I begin to cry to sleep.

I open my eyes. I do not know how long I have been asleep. I rub my eyes and yawn. At the end of the tunnel is a waterfall. I gasp and hang on to the raft tightly. I am almost at the end of the waterfall. I hang on as tight as I can. I hold on to the Golden Egg with my legs. The tree raft falls down the waterfall and splashes into another river. The tree raft is still floating with me on it. The Golden Egg is not on the raft anymore! I lost it!

I look around but I can’t find it anywhere. I hope that the shadow rabbit will not come back. I look up and there are no Rabaca drawings on the walls or the ceiling. I think I must be in the Human Realm.

I still have the wood piece that has my name on it. I see a bright yellow light at the end of the tunnel. At the end of the tunnel is another waterfall. I hold onto the tree raft. The tree raft falls down the waterfall along with me. I am not strong enough to hang on. My paws slip and I fall into the water. I hit my head on the tree raft and everything went black.

I wake, gasp, rub my head, and sigh. I feel different. I look down and my paws. Only they are not paws anymore. They are hands with tan skin. I have no clothes on. I look at my reflection in the water. I still have my blue eyes. I have hair on my head that is blue/gray. I look up and see the sunlight shining down on me. I feel the warmth of the sun. I have no idea where I am. I fall asleep in the tree raft again.

I wake up. I still have no idea where I am or who I am. I feel scared because I am floating on the tree raft alone in the open water. I can see land. And it is far away.

A young couple is riding on a boat. It is a small white boat with a motor on the back. The young woman is wearing a pink button-up Hawaii shirt and a white shirt with short sleeves underneath it. She is wearing blue jeans, brown sandals, and a tan straw hat on her head. The young man is wearing a long blue button-up shirt, with a black short sleeve shirt under it. He is wearing brown cowboy boots, black levies, and a brown cowboy hat on his head.

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On both sides of their motorboat are letters written in Arial Black. The letters are red and say (Spring Foster Care). The young man is driving the boat and the young woman is watching. The woman walks up to the man and hugs him.

The man smiles and chuckles. “Linda, I’m trying to drive here. We can make love when we reach back to shore,” says the young man.

The young woman, Linda, kisses the young man.

She sighs with a depressed look on her face. “Bryan, I’ve been thinking,” says Linda.

“About what?” asks Bryan, the young man.

“When I said that I would like a new life, I didn’t mean moving to Australia,” says Linda.

Bryan nods. “It’s only for a couple of years, maybe seventeen or sixteen. Until I get another job. We can move back to Minnesota and do what you’ve always dreamed of doing. And I know what it is,” says Bryan.

“Yes, and that is to have kids of my own,” says Linda.

Bryan sighs and shakes his head. “Honey, you know what the doctors said,” he says.

Linda’s lips tremble and she sighs.

“I know. The doctors said I can’t have a child. It’s just that we have been running the Spring Foster Care for over a year now. The kids are fine. Good kids. It’s just that we took care of them ever since they were nine or six. We never had one baby. I just want to see one baby grow up. Have a son or a daughter of our own and be proud of him or her. And the kids we take care of are only temporarily and not of my womb,” says Linda.

Bryan chuckles. “Okay, you sounded odd when you said the word womb,” he says.

Linda chuckles. “Sorry,” she says.

“I know, Linda. I know. But it would take a miracle to have a baby of our own,” says Bryan.

“When can we adopt a baby?” asks Linda.

“Maybe we can adopt him a few years later. I need to work in Australia, and then we can finally open our own foster company,” answers Bryan.

“We already did,” says Linda.

“Yes, but we are just looking after the kids until they can get a home of their own. I’ll let you know when we can adopt a child or a baby,” says Bryan.

I feel so scared in the open water. I begin to cry loudly.

Linda and Bryan hear my crying out in the water.

Linda sees me in the open water and on the tree raft. “Honey, what’s that?!” she points out.

Bryan turns the motor off and looks around the ocean. He spots me crying loudly.

“My gosh! That’s a baby!” Bryan dives into the water and swims.

Linda is on the boat. “Hurry, honey!” she shouts.

Bryan finally makes it to me. I look into Bryan's eyes and he looks into mine. I feel safe now. Bryan notices the water is leaking into the tree raft. Bryan sees the wood piece with my name on it. He grabs me and the wood piece.

“Jake.” he reads.

Bryan turns back to Linda on the boat. “Linda, throw me a lifesaver, quick!” he shouts.

Linda grabs a white life saver and throws it. Bryan grabs the lifesaver. He places me on his right shoulder. The tree raft sinks into the water. Bryan swims as he holds onto the lifesaver. He swims towards the white boat. He makes it and passes me to Linda. Linda gently grabs me. Bryan swims to the back of the boat and climbs up the ladder. Bryan drops the wood with my name on it. Linda looks so happy to see a baby like me alive and unharmed. Bryan looks confused.

“It is a baby,” he says.

Linda smiles at me and I smile back. I feel safer now.

“How did it get out here?” asks Linda.

“I have no idea,” answers Bryan.

“Good thing we saw him. Or ells he would have…” Linda does not finish. “Oh, he is so sweet,” she says.

Bryan sighs. “Honey, you just said that you’ve always wanted a baby to be born in your womb.” Bryan stutters and then sighs. “But babies don’t just come out of the sky or out of the water. Besides, this must be someone else’s baby. Possibly an abandoned baby,” says Bryan.

Linda turns to Bryan. She is smiling.

“Oh no, I know what you’re thinking and it’s not a good idea,” says Bryan.

“Come on honey, please. I’ve never had a baby before. This might be our chance to have one.” Linda begs.

“Honey we got at least nine children at the Spring Foster Care,” says Bryan.

“Ten. And I am counting this baby. I said that I wanted to adopt a baby,” says Linda.

“Honey, I don’t think we’re ready to adopt yet. We just can’t keep him,” says Bryan.

“Bryan, didn’t you always want to be a father? To feel what other parents feel? To watch our baby grow up?” asks Linda.

Bryan has no words anymore. He is speechless. He knows that Linda is right. Bryan thinks for a moment and looks away. He sighs and nods.

“Guess we’ll have to fill some adoption papers,” he says.

Linda chuckles and kisses Bryan’s cheek. Bryan chuckles.

“But let’s see if anyone owns this baby before we jump to conclusions. If we don’t hear anyone for at least six or eight months, maybe longer, then we can keep him. But let us at least try to find someone who knows this baby and why it was in that tree raft,” says Bryan.

“Sound’s good to me. Let’s start within the city of Sidney,” says Linda.

Bryan nods. “Oh! I forgot something.” He picks up the wood piece with my name on it.

“This was in the raft along with the baby,” he says.

Linda looks at the wood piece. “Jake. What does it mean?” she asks.

“I guess it’s the baby’s name,” answers Bryan.

“But who wrote it?” asks Linda.

“Maybe this baby’s parents wrote his name. I don’t know. But now we know the baby’s name,” answers Bryan.

“We should keep the wood with the baby’s name. It might help,” says Linda.

Three hours have passed by. We arrive in the city of Sydney. Bryan and Linda get off their boat with me in Linda’s arms. Bryan ties the boat onto the dock. Bryan and Linda begin to walk around. They are asking a few people if they know me. No one seems to own me. Linda and Bryan go to the police station to see if they can try to find someone who knows me. The police have no idea who I am or where I came from. I have no idea who I am either.

An Australian police officer stares at my blue/grey hair.

“Crikey, that must be some wired hair there, little mate,” says the officer.

Bryan nods. “So, do you know anything about this baby?” he asks the police officer.

“I told you mates, we don’t know who he is or if he has any identification. Where did you find him?” asks the police officer.

Linda and Bryan explained where they found me and what happened when they did. The police still have no idea who I am or who I belong to.

Bryan drives with Linda and me away from the police station.

The sun is setting as the blue van drives away from the city of Sydney. Bryan parks the van in front of a building near the beach. The building is a tall apartment with six floors. Linda carries me out of the blue van and Bryan shuts the driver's door. He locks all the van doors. Bryan and Linda enter the apartment and walk down a hallway. They pass a few doors with numbers on them. They reach up some stairs. Linda, with me in her arms, enters the top of the apartment. Bryan enters and shuts the door behind him.

There is not a single smell of cigarettes or any annoying neighbors down in the other apartment rooms. It is nice and quiet. Bryan and Linda sit on a couch with a TV in the front.

“What should we call him?” asks Linda.

“Jake. It said on the wood piece that I found,” answers Bryan,

“So, we are going to call him Jake Bryan Grant?” asks Linda.

“We can call him that if we decide to keep him.” Answers Bryan.