Thera

They reach the outer island. They park the car and head into the reserve. The pathway is wide enough for both to walk side by side, but Meda trudges along behind her mother. It was just another way to rebel against the trip.

Her mother keeps stopping so Meda could catch up. Finally out of aggravation, Deirdre grabs the bag from Meda, who stops in surprise. As she throws it over her shoulder, she loses a bit of balance but continues to walk.

In spite of herself, Meda silently laughs at her mother; a woman normally so graceful and reserved was unraveling just like her. She jogs to catch up as a little bit of her resentment fades. She holds out her hand for the bag, obviously too heavy for Deirdre. Lugging it off her shoulder, Deirdre hands it back to Meda. They both smile at each other, Deirdre out of sympathy and Meda out of forgiveness.

Easily tossing the bag onto her back, Meda asks, “I guessing you know where we are going?”

“Of course. I would never forget the way. This place was my first glimpse of Earth.”

“Yeah, I remember…” Meda shivers at the memories of her nightmare.

Deirdre looks around from ground to trees. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

Meda stumbles to a stop. “What?”

“This place, I’ve always thought it was beautiful, the trees, the flowers. It’s so untouched by anything.”

“But you were exiled here! How can you find it beautiful?”

The sympathetic smile returns to her mother’s face. “I wasn’t exile. I left.”

Outraged, Meda shouts, “Yeah, only because you were going to be exile if you stayed.”

“Meda, I knew what the consequences were but not having you wasn’t an option for me.”

Meda drops her head not being able to look her mother in the eye. “But you gave up so much to have me. Sometimes I think…”

Deirdre’s eyes widen. “Think what, Andromeda?”

Meda shakes her head. Deirdre grabs her shoulders shaking her to look at her.

“That I wasn’t worth what you lost.” Meda says in a whisper.

Deirdre’s hands move to Meda’s face holding both cheeks lifting her head. With tears in her eyes, she says, “You are worth everything and more. And I’m sorry if you’ve ever felt differently. I miss home, I do. But I would have missed you even if you hadn’t existed. And now that you do, I would miss a part of me.

Sheepishly, Meda says, “Mom, I don’t want to go.”

She had been so angry about the situation for such a long time that she never realized how scared she was. Earth was her home. It was the only one she knew. Thera was only some theoretical place that hated her very existence.

“It’s not as bad as you think it is.” Deirdre says with sadness.

“Why can’t you come with me?”

Hard lines cress her mother’s face. “You know I can’t. It is too dangerous for me to go.”

“But you think it will be safe for me?” Meda gasps.

“It will be safe for you. You did not commit a crime. You will be seen as an Earthling with full knowledge of other planet and be treated accordingly.”

“What does that even mean, treated accordingly?”

“You will be questioned. Then sent to the Ambassador.”

Meda interrupts. “You mean my father, right?”

Deirdre nods. “Yes.”

“And then?”

Deirdre shakes her head slowly. “And then… I don’t know. Killian was never an easy person to predict.”

“So it all depends on him. And if he doesn’t believe?”

“You will be back by tonight.” Deirdre shrugs.

“And I can at least say I tried. So there’s hope after all.” Meda half-heartedly jokes.

“If that’s your hope, you will probably be very disappointed.”

The sun was high overhead on an abnormally hot late spring day. It already felt like summer without the humidity. A smooth breeze was blowing from the Atlantic but it wasn’t helping the sweating from collecting on Meda’s brow.

Deirdre grabs Meda’s shoulder pulling her to a stop. Pointing to the right of the path a few feet ahead, Deirdre says, “There!”

Meda follows her mother finger. From this distance, all she can see is a break the trees.

Walking a few steps, Deirdre says, “There’s a path, if you look closely.

Following her mother’s orders, she walks ahead studying the ground. At first, she feels like her eyes can’t focus and then suddenly she sees it jumping out at her making her stumble.

She places her feet where the two paths meet and stares down in wonder. She always thought the way would be like any other wilderness path but this is different.

It is paved in what looked to be oil. From an angle, the colors of the rainbow reflect off it but when you looked at it straight on, all the color was absorbed. It was like looking at a negative image of the world. The trees are silver with blue tips while the sky behind them is bloodred.

Looking down at her own reflection, her face is a mixture of shadows and light but all wrong. Her skin is bluish black while her hair and mouth glows silver. Her eyes look sinister with yellowish pink blending with the silver.

She stands up straight, not realizing she was leaning over the path to better stare at herself.

Looking at her mother, she taps on it with her foot. “What is this?”

Deirdre smiles in wonder as she steps onto the trail. “It’s Theorian. It’s the strongest metal in the universe and can only be found on the ocean floors of Thera. The entire city of Delphi is made of it, and it shines all day long.” Her eyes sparkle with memories.

She starts to walk with newfound determination like she was the one going home and not staying behind.

Meda lightly steps onto the metal thinking it would be slippery from the sheen. Once on, she paces a bit feeling it’s smoothness and strength. Looking down made her dizzy with all the different colors and shadows.

Keeping her head up, she jogs to reach her mother saying. This might take some getting used to.”

Once she pulls alongside her mother, she notices that Deirdre has been talking the entire time about the metal not realizing her absence.

“It is highly coveted in other galaxies. It is the only metal that can withstand intergalactical space travel.” Deirdre rambles.

“So this stuff is everywhere?” Meda asks.

“No. Only the city and ships. The estates are older and made out of something similar to brick and mortar.”

“Well, that’s a relief.” She exhales.

The two walk side by side through a slight brush of foliage and stand in a clearing. The well-trimmed grass and patches of wildflowers are surrounded in a perfect circle by trees. The perfection of it all is creepy and inhuman.

In the middle of the clearing winds a flowing stream. Even from a distance, Meda can tell the water is crystal blue. It looks like it should flow from a waterfall, like melted snow from a mountain. But Meda knows the mountains are too far away for that to be true.

The bridge is different too. The wood looks solid and strong. There is a gleam on the wood like lacquer with the same sleekness of the pathway.

Deirdre laughs at Meda’s surprised expression. Meda has always turned this place into a nightmare when really it looks like it’s straight out of a fairy tale.

Deirdre talks about her first sight of Earth being this place and how it gave her hope, which left her slightly disappointed in the rest of Earth. Meda agrees.

Moving on, Deirdre explains that the other side of the clearing is really an illusion, what Earthlings would call magic, but its more like a mirror.

Stopping right at the base of the bridge, Deirdre reminds Meda about everything she has to do once crossing. Meda reassures her mother with a little quip. The she weakly suggests that Deirdre should go with her. With a dreamy look at the bridge, she shakes her head.

They say their goodbye and hug, Meda holding on a little longer. With a huff of resolve, Meda throws her bag over her shoulder stepping onto the bridge. With her final steps, she turns to see her mother’s head in her hands crying but as she turns around everything turns white.