by Louise Klodt
Ian got down on his haunches and sat on the grass. Then he nodded.
“Oh, boy,” I said. I got down on my knees and threw my arms around him. Then I ran my fingers through his mane. “Oh, Ian, you are the softest and most cuddly animal I have ever hugged. You may be king of the jungle back home, but here you must be the most gentle. I won’t ever forget you.” Ian put a soft paw up to my cheek. “I hope to see you again before I leave,” I said.
“Come on,” said Andron, hurrying me up. “My parents are anxious to meet you too, and I’ve got lots more to show you.”
He led me to a magnificent lodge in the middle of giant trees. I wondered how long these trees had been growing, perhaps thousands of years. He also showed me the tree-house he and his brother, Nicholas, had built. It was the fanciest tree house I had ever seen, complete with a winding staircase, polished wood, and inlaid floors.
“Dad helped us with the furniture, and Mom wove and designed the fabrics,” he said.
The whole thing was fabulous yet rustic at the same time. On earth he would have been the envy of all my friends.
“Are your parents designers by trade?” I asked.
“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
ANDRON 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 te
ll 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 goodbye 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?”
“Absolutely, I said. “When I think of all those galaxies and the fish we saw today, it blows my mind. How did he think it all up? I’ve been thinking about asking God for some tropical fish and certain animals for when I get to heaven. Do you think that’s stupid or maybe a little selfish?”
Andron laughed. “No way,” he said. “Doesn’t your Bible say he delights in giving good gifts to those who love and trust Him? Maybe you should ask him for your very own Dolphin Bay.”
“I like the way you think,” I said. “Speaking of creation, I‘m starving.”
Andron gave me more food, and we headed back to his house.
“Tonight,” he said, “we’ll go to “the Gathering” together. You’ll celebrate with us and eat the best food you’ve ever tasted, then you’ll see how we worship. I think that’ll give you a better understanding of our planet and what we’re al
l about. You won’t forget tonight, I promise. There’s nothing like it on Earth.”
“OK, so now you’ve got my curiosity up again,” I replied.
He just smiled his knowing smile, but he was right about the worship: there was nothing like it on Earth.
Chapter 7
SIGHTS, SOUNDS, AND CELEBRATION
IT WAS ALMOST time for the Gathering. We left a little early because Andron wanted to show me around. As we entered the clearing, the number one thought on my brain was food. I smelled it before I could see it … food, glorious, wonderful food!
“We usually celebrate for about an hour before we sit down to eat,” said Andron.
When I heard that, I reached for whatever was growing on the nearest tree. I seemed to be eating three or four times as much as Andron. My body was burning energy at a much faster rate.
The clearing was at least the size of a football field, carpeted with the thickest, greenest grass I had ever seen. I took off my shoes, stretched out flat on the ground, and ran my fingers through it once again. Andron looked at me as if I had lost my senses. He doesn’t get it that small things like this amaze me. I could have stayed there a long time, but he kept going, so I followed.
Scattered around the outside edges of the field were sets of tables and chairs. Each setting was different. Andron’s father probably designed a lot of the furniture. Table legs looked like they had been hand carved. One tabletop was shaped and painted like a real flower. Some had handwoven table cloths.
I don’t usually pay attention to how Mom sets our table back home, but I couldn’t get over how beautiful and inviting each place was. Their dinnerware looked much like our china, but I think it was all hand painted. Utensils appeared to be made of gold, and jewels were scattered across many of the tables.
