MY STRANGE DAY kept getting stranger.
My next little surprise? An unexpected visit from my family—my mom, my dad, and my little sister, Brenda.
Quick recap, just so we’re all up to speed here: I don’t have a family anymore. I am, basically, the galaxy’s number one orphan. As you already know, The Prayer murdered my mother and father when I was just a kid. He also masterminded the near-genocide of my home planet, Alpar Nok.
Is it any wonder the repugnant insect freak is the top target on my List?
Anyway, in the past I’ve been able to summon my mother and father back into temporary, artificial existence, just like I do with my four friends. In fact, my mom and dad were even easier to conjure than Joe, Willy, Dana, and Emma. And sometimes, like whenever I needed them most, my mom and dad just appeared.
But during my battle with the demon Abbadon (Number 2 on The List), I cast the ashes of my father and mother’s immortal souls to the four winds. They can’t come back to help me anymore, no matter how much help I might need.
As for my little sister, Brenda?
She’s definitely not real. How could she be? She was never even born.
When Number 1 killed my mom, she was pregnant with the baby that would have become my little sister. That’s right—The Prayer snuffed out my mother’s life as well as the little life growing inside her.
Brenda, aka Pork Chop, never actually existed except in my imagination.
“Oh, Daniel,” said the woman who looked like my mother. She was tall, blond, and pretty. She was also weeping. “You came back to us! “
“We were so worried,” said the man who looked remarkably like my father. “We thought we’d lost you. Our house hasn’t been a home without you, son.”
“Actually, I thought our home was pretty awesome while you were gone,” said the girl who was supposedly my sister. “I had the upstairs bathroom all to myself.”
“Pork Chop!” said my mother, raising her eyebrows disapprovingly.
“Sorry,” said my annoying li’l sis. “I’m just joking, Daniel. I really, really missed you, too. Not!”
I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Who are you guys?” I said.
My father grinned. “That’s an odd question, Daniel. We’re your family.”
“Don’t you recognize us?” My mother’s voice was quavering.
“He’s still a little groggy,” explained Nurse O’Hara, who had come into the room to adjust my IV bags. “It’s to be expected. He’s been unconscious for over a year. Who knows what sort of wild dreams he might’ve had while he was under?” She tapped the side of her head.
Yeah, Nurse O’Hara thought I was nuts. I guess I should’ve felt insulted but I didn’t.
Mostly because I was starting to think the same thing.
My father sighed. “We’ve spoken to your doctors, Daniel.”
“Did you really tell them you were from another planet?” my little sister said with a laugh. “I guess that would explain why you dress like such a dork.”
“Pork Chop!”
“Sorry, Dad.”
“Okay,” I said. “You guys tell me. Who am I?”
“You’re our one and only son, Daniel,” said my mother, taking my hand in hers. “You are Daniel Manashil. You go to high school. You have four amazing friends.…”
“One of them’s your girlfriend, Dayyy-na!” said Brenda in a singsong voice. “Well, she was your girlfriend before you were stupid enough to ride your motorcycle in the rain. Now I think Dana might be dating Willy.”
“What?” I said.
“Well, you can’t expect her to wait forever.…”
“No. What are you people talking about? I don’t go to high school.…”
“Let’s take it easy,” said my father soothingly. “You just came out of a coma, after all. You had a terrible accident, son.”
“Really?” I stammered, not knowing who or what to believe. “What happened?”
“You were riding your motorbike home from school. A rainstorm hit. The surface of the road became slippery. You lost control and spun out, Daniel. Your bike skidded across the highway and slammed into a tractor-trailer truck. You almost died!”
“Actually,” said Nurse O’Hara, “he did die.”