Chapter fIVE

It was a chilly December evening, and the sun had set early. Zeke was tucked in bed when he suddenly heard Zag’s screechy voice, crying for help.

“Mr. Tartal, dear little Mr. Tartal, can you hear me? Help me, help me!”

Zeke was still just a child. He got scared and became worried about Zag. He jumped off his bed and ran towards the cellar. The sound wasn’t coming from the cellar, though.

“Help me, help me, little Mr. Tartal!” the voice screamed from a distance.

Zeke followed the sound and realized it was coming from outside the house. The family had an early dinner, and everyone was in their rooms, already tucked in their beds, either reading, playing games or watching television, waiting with eager anticipation for Christmas and Zeke’s birthday the following day.

“Sir, please save me. Please save me, sir!” Each time the call for help got louder and more desperate.

Zeke bundled up, flew out of the house and raced towards the sound. He entered the huge, dark cherry orchard near his house. A bright indigo light glowed in the distance. For a moment, it made him think about turning back, but Zag’s calls for help made his feet move on their own.

“Come fast, Mr. Tartal! I need your help. Come and save me, please!” Zag’s screechy voice could be heard from the same direction where several indigo lights seemed to be moving in all different directions.

Zeke ran faster. He reached a place he couldn’t recognize. There were human-like figures wrapped in streaks of indigo lights dancing all around him. They looked at him, and he at them. A moment later, he looked up and was stunned to see Zag laughing, swinging from a tree branch. Before he could utter a word, Zag just flew down towards him, grabbed him by the coat, and with his mighty mite pulled him up — way up into what was now a spinning tornado of indigo light. For a few seconds, he felt as if he couldn’t breathe.

The luminescent beams merged into this one huge pool of radiant energy as Zeke and Zag circled higher and higher. The motion of the whirlpool slowly shifted to wispy streaks of rainbow-like colors. But these colors were unlike anything Zeke had ever seen. There were millions of them, and they went on into infinity. At that moment, he could clearly feel like he was being sucked out of the Earth’s atmosphere and into space. As they continued to rise higher and higher, all the colors eventually faded, and so did the tornado.

He realized he was traveling along countless galaxies and star systems. It was a magnificent journey. Every dot of light in infinite darkness represented a billion worlds, and the sheer beauty of it was almost more than he could bear. He had forgotten all the tensions and worries that had pulled him out of his house in the middle of the night as he flew past the stars with Zag at his side. Zag’s solid form had now changed into what appeared to be a hologram, but it was still the same old Zag.

Just then, Ziggy came flying right beside them, though her dense, earthly animal body had given way to a much lighter and transparent cosmic one. She sat on Zeke’s shoulder, humming a heavenly tune he had never heard before. He suddenly felt he was not inside his physical body anymore. It was some other astral form he inhabited instead. He felt lighter, like he had just come out of a heavily-weighted suit. He had no limbs; they were like wispy, indigo-colored streams that seemed to fade into space like a comet’s tail. He could still identify as Zeke. His mind was still there, but there was nothing human about him anymore.

“This is so freaking weird!” he thought.

Then, he suddenly felt his heavenly body transform into a crystalline light. He discovered he could make this light as bright or as dim as he wanted. He could squeeze into a tiny, concentrated pinpoint of light one moment and then expand himself as far as the universe could take him the next. He had no idea how he was doing this, but it felt completely natural. It felt like he was riding a bike after many years — rusty, but he knew exactly what to do. He could become omnipresent at will and was filled with a joy he didn’t even know was inside of him.

“Wow! This is awesome! It’s like I’m everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Is this what heaven feels like? This is NUTS!”

He was having the time of his life. He felt his heart beating faster, overflowing with peace, love, and happiness. He knew this place; he had been here before. It felt so much like home to him, he forgot he had ever lived on Earth. He glided past the planets and the stars, then saw a strange palace-like structure made of solidified light far off in the distance. The gates were made of crystal and had two lion-like beings acting as sentries on both sides. He noticed the figures had the heads of lions, but their torsos were quite human-like. Then, out of nowhere, he saw a figure wrapped in indigo light slowly coming towards him. He knew this being, too, and immediately started running towards it.

• • •

“Zeke! Wake up, wake up, honey! Happy birthday, my boy!” He felt his mother kissing his forehead.

“Mom? What time is it?” He was still lost somewhere among the stars.

“It’s midnight, dear. You know I wish you a happy birthday at twelve o’clock every year.”

“Where was I? How did I get back into bed?” He was completely disoriented.

“I don’t know, honey. I tucked you in and closed the door to your room, but when I came to wake you, I found your door and the front door open.” After a brief pause, “Did you sneak out of the house?” Audrey was worried about her son. He had been so happy these past few days. Why would he possibly sneak out?

“Did I leave the house tonight?” he questioned. His adventure through the glowing portal and the galaxies had felt so real to him that he wasn’t sure if he was coming or going. His heart was out of control, and it rattled against his ribcage.

“I’ll ask your father to be more careful when locking the door. He can’t seem to manage a single thing once he gets drunk,” she grumbled reluctantly. “Let’s go cut the cake. Everybody’s waiting in the living room. I woke the kids and Nanny, too. Let’s just have some fun, and then you can return to bed.”

Ben, Maya and Leia, Mrs. Braganza, and Coconut were all waiting for him in the living room. They had secretly decorated it with balloons, streamers, confetti, and candles. They sang the birthday song and then Zeke cut his cake. Coconut ran happily around him, but then he suddenly froze. His ears perked up, and his dark eyes strictly focused out the window of the front door. He raced for it as if he had sensed something foreign, a stranger in the night.

Zeke knew the reason behind his sudden change of behavior. He, too, made his way towards the door. Zag stood outside, out of everyone else’s sight, happily clapping his hands and singing the birthday song, or so Zeke could gather by reading his tiny lips. Zag’s little green eyes met Zeke’s as he smiled and winked. At that moment, he knew in his heart that his dream adventure had been real. He knew those stars, that palace, and that indigo being. What a great birthday gift from his cosmic friends! It was his first wild ride through the universe, and there were many more to come.