chapter 19

Jenn scanned the contents of the book that Matt had given her.
"The Life and Times of Darien Mallory". Birth, Childhood, Arrival on Islanda, Travels in Rome, Mallory's Teachings and Legacy.
Jenn turned to the chapter on Mallory's Teachings and began to read, "I tell you the greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself".
Jenn turned a few pages, "In all things take the middle path. Too much or too little is trouble". She turned to another passage. "There is a time for everything and for everything a time".
Jenn flipped the pages, "This Darien Mallory character sounds like a mix between Jesus and Buddha. The east and the west".
"Who? What are you talking about?" Matt looked confused.
"Oh, they were just some famous thinkers from my world".
"Maybe they were followers of Mallory", Matt explained.
"No, I don't think so. They both died a long time ago".
Matt turned over and went back to sleep as Jenn continued to read.
Jenn turned to the last chapter. "Darien Mallory's Legacy. Darien Mallory was an inspiration to many people. He led an exciting life that has changed our world forever. He was a friend and an influence to many great leaders. His teachings were the most important things he left behind". Jenn flipped to the front cover where she found a time line of Darien's life. She found his birth, an important sermon, the date he founded his school, and many other events in his life, but she could not figure out when he died.
She looked up from the book, "This book was obviously written after his death, but I can't find out when he died".
"Darien Mallory isn't dead".
"How? Because he lives in our hearts or something?"
Matt laughed, "No, you see Darien was from another world. He traveled here from his home world, but after he started stirring up things, he began to make enemies. Eventually he learned how to return home, and he did. Many people hope he will come back, but I am satisfied with the work he did and hope he is happy at home".
Jenn was shocked, "So you mean you know about other worlds?"
"Where are you from?" Matt was dumbfounded. "I can't believe you didn't know any of this".
"Well, I have a confession to make. You remember how I said you wouldn't believe me if I told you were I was from ?" Matt nodded. "Well a few days ago my friends and I were back home on our world and we stumbled into a garden and suddenly we were here".
"That sounds crazy. Not that I don't believe you, but it must have been a crazy ride".
"Yeah, it was". Jenn studied the time line. "Mallory's arrival on Islanda. So Islanda is the name of your world".
"Uh huh. What did you think Islanda was?"
"I thought it was an island", she blushed.
"An island?"
"A small body of land surrounded by water", she recited.
"Nope," Matt smiled. "I guess that explains why Mallory always thought the name was so funny".
"Did you know him?"
"No," Matt sighed. "I almost got to meet him though".
"Really?"
"He was speaking at a rally I helped organize, but at the last minute Sarah got sick and we had to stay home. That was when it was getting hard, right before he left".
"Is that your girlfriend?"
"My wife".
"I guess you really miss her".
"She works here, but I miss being with her like we were on the outside."
"She works here?"
"Yeah, she's the red headed guard. You should talk to Paul again. I think he could really help you out".
"I will".
"I mean it."
" I said I would, so I will. Besides, he seems interesting".
For the last time Matt went back to sleep, and Jenn finally left him alone.

Chapter 18

“Do you have a voice phone?” Starr asked. She was looking forward to spending the next few hours with him.
“Yeah. I have two. One over there, and one right here.”
“So we could probably just call the hospitals and police stations.”
“The hospital, yeah,” Josh said. “But we need to actually go to the police stations. They always have unregistereds and anonymous people so they just post descriptions on the wall.”
The two of them began calling the hospitals. “I’m looking for a girl who might have come in one of the last couple of days with out any id.”
“We don’t have any Jane Doe’s. We do have an older woman, but that wouldn’t be her, would it?”
“No. Thank you anyway.”
“No problem. Have you tried the police?”
After about 15 calls like this, the two of them were about ready to give up.
“Any luck?” Jake asked.
“No, you?”
“Nope. There is one last place. It’s all the way on the other side of town and she’d have to be in pretty bad shape to be there.”
“Well, lets give it a try anyway.”
“Rome Mental Hospital,” the voice on the other end answered. “How may I help you?”
“We’re looking for a young girl who may have been brought in sometime in the last few days. She would have been unregistered,” Jake began.
“We have one. She got picked up for claiming she was from another planet.”
“Do you know her name?” Starr interjected from the other end.
“She says her name’s Jenn something.’
“Yes,” Starr and Jake waited.
‘She came in on... wait a minute, let me go check the calendar. Please hold.”
“Is there something you’re not telling me?” Jake asked.
“Yes, but now’s not the time.”
“Your friend’s not crazy, is she?”
“No.”
“Then you mean...” before Jake could finish the question the receptionist came back.
“She came in 10 days ago, last Tuesday.”
“Thank you,” Starr said as she hung up. “Well, that couldn’t be her.”“Why not?”
“We haven’t been here a week.”
Jake looked at her puzzled.
“We’ll talk about it later. Right now we need to get to the police station and look for her there.”
Jake looked out side. The sun was setting, which meant they had about 3 hours until they had to be back. “We should have enough time to check the two closest police stations, but we probably won’t be able to make it to the orange or yellow stations.”
The police station was a large blue building. Something, something, something. Like Jake said there was a wall with descriptions of recently arrested criminals on it.
“There’s an awful lot of descriptions here,” Starr said. “Where do we begin?”
“There’s a small section over there for the ones who were arrested without any id.”
I was a small section of descriptions and they didn’t have any trouble eliminating all but the last one. “So, what does it say?”
“Let’s see,” Jake leaned in closer. “Charge: not registering.”
“That looks promising.”
“Sex :Female, Age:18-25, Height: 5’3”, rank: orange, picked up on 01,03,04- that was three days ago- in a slophouse after trying to obtain lodging using a fake credit card.”
“What does rank: orange mean?”
“It’s how we identify people’s status. Was she wearing an orange shirt or something?”
“Yeah, she had an orange tye-dye shirt on”
“A what?”
“Swirly pattern. Like your skin.”“Oh.. Yeah, that sounds like her then.”
“Can we find out for sure?”
“No, not now,” he checked his phone. “We should probably check the green station anyway.”
They quickly looked for signs of Jenn at the green police station, which was just like the blue one, except that it was a little nicer and green instead of blue. They were about to leave when Jake got a call.
“Well, who was it? Any news?”
“That was Robert and John. They’re not going to be able to make it back tonight. They said they’ll be back in the morning.” He looked at his phone again.” We should hurry or we won’t make it back in time either.” They ran all the way back to Jake’s apartment and were walking up the stairs just as the curfew alarm sounded.

Chapter 17

Josh and Stacie had checked nearly every slophouse in the area. Not a single one had heard of Jenn or any other strange girl. “How many more of these places do we have left?” Josh asked.
“I think just the one,” Stacie answered. “Don’t worry, we’ll find your friend. We have plenty of time to get back before curfew,” she said while holding him. “I think we should get up and check that last place. I’m sure that we’ll find something there.”
The last house was even dirtier and dingier than the rest. Josh and Stacie rang the bell and asked to speak to the manager.
“No, there haven’t been any unregistered girls in here lately. And believe me, I’d know.” The old man seemed to have a sinister, worn look about him.
“Are you sure?” Josh pressed.
“I keep pretty close tabs on this place. I know everyone who comes and goes, and everything that happens here. These are my eyes and ears.” He pointed to the vast array of electronics around the place including several computers and a few cameras.
“Come on Josh, lets get out of here,” Stacie dragged him by the arm.
They were about to head for the art house, when a young scruffy looking woman in a blue shirt approached them. "Did I 'ear yer say yer were 'ave a lookin' for a bloke of yors 'oo weren't registerd?"
“Did ay ‘ear you say you ‘ere looking for a friend o yours ‘oo twasn’t registard?”
“Yes,” Josh answered. “Have you seen her?”
"I 'aven't seen 'er meself but I fink I might know somewhere she's been.
“Where?”
“Over on...” she paused and thought for a moment. “I'll show yer . I 'm about ter go there meself any road."
“Thank you very much,” Stacie said.
“"No problem. Cor blimey guv! But before we go do eever of yer 'appen ter have a fag?"
Josh stared for a moment.
"Right. A cigarette right, mate. Not a queer."
“I know what a fag is. It’s just that I haven’t seen anyone else smoking in so long, I was beginning to wonder if anyone did. “
"I kow wot yer mean. Almost no bloke does, now that it's practically illegal. By the chuffin' way the bleedin' name's Bethany, but yer can call me Bet. Cor blimey guv, would I lie to you? Nearly evry bloke does."
She led them to the same delapidated slophouse where Jenn had tried to stay. It was so shoddy and unkempt that they had passed it by earlier, thinking it was abandoned.
“Man, I thought this place was abandoned,” Josh said.
“No, it ain't” replied Bet. “It’s actually nicer on the inside, if yer can believe it.”

When they walked inside, they could see that it was warmer and more inviting, but still not a place someone would choose to spend the night.
Stacie walked up to the desk, “We’re looking for an unregistered friend of ours. We thought she might have tried to stay here. Her name’s Jenn Srauski.”
“There was a girl a few nights ago who wasn’t registered.”
“Do you know if that was her?”
“No, I wasn’t on duty then. The manager would know.”
“Can we speak to him?”
“No.”
“No? Why not?” Josh was outraged.
“He’s not here. He’ll be back tomorrow about three. You can talk to him then,” the clerk explained.
“Well, I guess we’ll have to come back tomorrow.” Stacie said.
“Is that it?” Josh was surprised.
“Look, Josh, it’s a good lead, and wherever she is, she’s safe.” Stacie tried to reassure him as she looked around for Bet. “Bet?”
“Yes?”she answered.
“You don’t have to stay here.”
"I don’t 'ave any credits,” she protested.
“You helped us, that should count for something. Besides, I’m sure my cousin and his friends could find a better place for you.”
Bet followed them out. “Now what?” Josh asked. “ Off to the art gallery.”
Stacie checked her watch. “I don’t think so, its too late to go there now. We should just head back.”
“I fought yer two were datin',” Bet asked.
"What?" Stacie said.
“Yer and uh..”
"Josh."
“Yeah, right, Josh.”
"I don’t know. Maybe,” Stacie said. “Why?”
“Because yer said yor cousin and 'is chinas could 'elp me.”
Stacie laughed. "Josh’s not my cousin. Josh and his friend Starr and I are staying at my cousin Jake’s apartment while we look for Jenn.”
“Thats a bit of blokes,” Bet said. “By the way, what’s your name?”
"Stacie."

Chapter 16

After showing the guards her papers, Jenn was told to get on one of the buses outside the prison. Everyone on the bus was completely silent, and after her experience at lunch the previous day, Jenn quickly decided it would be in her best interest to keep quiet and just do as she was told. Jenn watched as the bus took a short drive out of the city and onto what appeared to be a country road.
“All right! Off the bus!” one of the guards barked, and all the prisoners walked in an orderly fashion, row by row.
“These prisoners are remarkably well behaved,” Jenn thought. “The guards must have an awful lot of power over them.” Jenn soon learned that the prisoners were expected to pick up all the litter on the side of the road. It wasn’t difficult work, but it was hot, and Jenn was soon exhausted. Unfortunately the only break she got was at 1 pm when they stopped for 20 minutes for a lunch of what seemed to be mostly bread and water. Not particularly hearty fare.
Around five o’clock they got back on the bus, and rode back to the prison. The ride was as uneventful as the entire day, until they were almost back at the prison.
A car ran out in front of the bus and the driver of the car ran out screaming and shouting. The bus stopped, which caused just enough commotion for one of the passengers in the back to open the back door and jump out. With all the commotion hardly anyone seemed to notice. "At least, " Jenn thought, "nobody said anything that would indicate that anyone else noticed." But Jenn didn't say anything either. When everything was back to normal the bus started moving again, and they were on their way back to the prison. As soon as they got off the bus they were herded back to their cells. “I’m so exhausted,” Jenn sighed as she lay down on her cot.
“You’re in luck,” Matt replied. “You’re just in time for dinner.”
“I hope I don’t waste all my time filling out forms and then completely miss dinner,” Jenn said snarkily.
Matt laughed. “Yeah, I know what you mean. Fortunately you only have to do that once.”
“So, what did they have you doing all day, Jenn?” Matt asked.
“I had to pick up trash in the hot sun. Fun.”
“You’re lucky.”
“How so?”
“There are a lot worse jobs you could have than picking up trash.”
“Like what?”
Before he could answer her a guard walked in. “Don’t worry about it, you’ll find out soon enough.” Matt quickly finished.
“Dinnertime,” the guard announced. “Please follow me.”
Jenn was beginning to get used to being led everywhere she went. She was even getting used to the constant supervision. The lack of privacy while going to the bathroom was starting to get to her though, and she was hoping that she would soon be able to change her clothes or at least take a shower.
After her third day, things were starting to feel a bit routine. She followed the lines through dinner, and ate in silence at her table like she had the previous day. For Jenn, meal times were normally full of conversation and friends. It was now, at dinner, that Jenn began to really miss them.
When Jenn arrived back in her cell, Matt was already there. He was reading a book.
“Hi Matt,” Jenn said. “You got here quickly.”
“Oh, not really.”
“So, what are you reading? Something good?”
“Just a novel.” He continued reading, then stopped. “But actually, I think I might have a book you might be interested in. Have you ever heard of Darien Mallory?”
“No, should I have?”
Matt’s eyes widened. “You haven’t?” he stammered, unable to contain his surprise. Then he thought for a moment and laughed it off. “You know, I’m not really surprised about anything you say anymore. I think I might actually understand if you told me where you came from.”
“I doubt it.”
“Well, at any rate, I think I have a book you might be interested in.” He reached over and tossed it to her.”
Jenn looked at the cover. The Life and Times of Darien Mallory. “What a creative title,” she thought. “I hope the rest of the book can live up to it.” With that she settled in and began reading.

Chapter 15

Jake, Starr, Stacie, and Josh were sitting around Jake’s apartment reading the Roman Times while waiting for his friends to show up. Suddenly Josh spoke up “I think I may have found her.” “Go ahead, we’re listening.” Starr and the rest waited for him to continue.
“ ‘An unidentified female was apprehended early yesterday morning, in the orange district. She was booked and charged with trespassing on private property and traveling with out identification. The suspect is described as being a young female between the ages of 18 and 25. She claims that ..’ Oh never mind that can’t be her.”
“Why not?“ Starr asked. “That sounded like a pretty good description of her.”
“Well the girl says her name is Mary Cooper. Not Jenn Srauski.”
“Oh, well,” Starr looked a little dejected.
“We’ll just have to keep looking,” Stacie said cheerfully, “We’ll find her eventually.”
The four of them went back to waiting and reading the newspaper. Just then they heard a knock on the wall. Jake‘s neighbor yelled through the door. “Somebody at the fire escape is looking for you.”
“Coming.” Jake yelled as he went to go get them. When he got up Starr started to get up and look around the room. “So, does anybody have any idea how Jake‘s friends are going to help us?” asked Josh.’
“No, not really. Following Jake is like being in the military except that the job actually gets done and he doesn’t shoot you for asking questions. It kinda helps to be related to him.” Jenn answered.
“Yeah, well that‘s not going to do us much good.”

Jake looked at the poster on the ceiling. “Those people look awfully familiar,” he thought. “Sure wish I could read what their shirts said.” He stared at it for a moment and gave up. “Boy am I hungry,” he said aloud. Just then, Jake came back in, followed by two other guys, both of whom had brought pizza. One was tall and looked to be in his early thirties, the other was roughly college age. The former was wearing a blue shirt and khaki pants, and the latter was wearing a green shirt with the phrase “There is a Bob” much like the one Jake was wearing.
After everyone got some food and started eating, Jake introduced everyone. “This is John,” Jake said, referring to the older one, “and this is Robert. John and Robert this is Starr, Stacie, and Josh. “So, we should probably get started looking for Jenn.”
There was an awkward silence for a few minutes. Robert and John sat down. Everyone seemed to be waiting for someone to do something. Finally Starr spoke up. “Does anyone have any idea how we are going to find her?”
“Well,” said, John “ Jake told us that you were looking through the paper. Did anybody find anything?”
“I thought I did, but no.. nobody did,” Josh answered.
“Yeah, I didn’t think that would get us anywhere.” John said.
“Did you talk to any of your contacts at C.E.W.L, Robert?” asked Jake.
“Not yet, I did post a message on the message board at M.L.C. and asked if anyone had heard of a girl wandering around without proper I.D.”
After this the group began to open up and soon learned a few things. First of all Robert was John’s uncle. The whole discussion sort of digressed into a discussion about how ridiculous and improbable this was. But, never the less it was true. They did learn that Robert had found two leads, one who was last seen in the slop house district and the other who had been thrown out of an art gallery in the orange district. John also had some contacts at C.E.W.L. that he was going to try to get a hold of.
“So, everyone’s clear then, John and Robert will go track down his contacts, Stacie and Josh will check the slop houses and art gallery, and Starr..” explained Jake.
“Yes?”
“You and I will check the hospitals and police stations.”
“When should we be back here?” asked Starr.
“John, Stacie, and I have phones so we’ll all keep in touch that way. If anyone finds anything, they need to immediately let the others know. As you know curfew begins at 11 so we don’t have much time.”
Josh looked at the clock and realized that it was already 6:30. “That clears up Star’s question,” Josh thought.
“Hmm, a curfew,” thought Starr. “I don’t think I’m going to like this town much. But Jake, very interesting.”
They split up and went on their separate ways.

Chapter 14

Jenn was once again startled awake. Someone was opening the cell door. She looked up and saw that it was just breakfast being delivered. It was breakfast, if that’s what you want to call it. Jenn longed to be back home. Even if just to have something edible to eat. Unfortunately there wasn’t anything she could do about it. She was lost, alone in a foreign land and alienated from her friends. She wondered what had happened to them. If they had fallen to a similar fate. She hoped not. She hoped that whatever had happened to them that they were safe and sound.
Jenn ate her breakfast. Quickly. It wasn’t too bad. At least it didn’t make her sick. She had her cellmate, Matt, to keep her company. He had even gotten her a lawyer. Although she wasn’t quite sure what good that would do her. Speaking of Matt, where was he? She didn’t see him on his bunk. Was it possible he had already been released? If so, good for him.
Just then, Matt was led in. “You’re quite the early riser, aren’t you Matt?”
“It’s 9 AM.”
“It is?”
“How would you like to meet some people?”
“Seeing as how I’m going to be here for a while, I don’t see why not.”
“In a few minutes a guard is going to come with some activity forms. Ask for the form for the arboretum.”
“Hmm. That’s not dangerous, is it?”
“Why would it be?”
“No reason.”
“Well, it’s not.”
Jenn waited and in a few moments a guard came in. “Do you need any activity forms?” he asked.
“I’d like the one for the arboretum.”
“Here you are.” He handed her a small stack of papers. “When you’re done filling them out, you can give them to the next guard who comes by.”
Jenn sat down and got busy filling them out. There were a few release forms, a change of area form, and a field trip permission form. “That’s a lot of forms to fill out,” Jenn remarked to Matt.
“That’s Rome for you.”
She finished filling out the forms just as the second guard came back. “I see you’ve requested to visit the arboretum.”
“Yes, sir.” Jenn replied.
He took Matt’s form and looked at it “You also have requested to visit the arboretum.”
“Yes, sir.”
“A guard will be along shortly to escort the two of you to the arboretum.”
When he left, Matt turned to Jenn. “This might actually take a while, so you should be prepared to wait.” They sat there waiting and after what seemed like forever (but was only about 20 minutes), a young redheaded, female guard unlocked their cell. “Hi, Matt,” she said. She smiled sweetly. “I was told to take you to the arboretum.
“Hi, Sarah. It’s nice to see you again.”
“It’s nice to see you too, but you probably shouldn’t be calling me by my first name right now.” She led them down the long corridor. She opened one of the doors to a courtyard filled with many colorful trees and plants. Inside the courtyard were benches and tables. Several inmates were lounging around and talking. Some were playing games, and some were walking around. Jenn sensed that although the mood was not exactly relaxed or casual, it was much freer than in the rest of the prison.
Sarah walked over to a group of guards and sat down with them. Matt called over to one of the other inmates, “Hey Paul, come over here.”
A young 20 something man with short black hair, strolled over. He was wearing a blue shirt that read: There is a Bob. “Yo, what’s up, Matt?”
“This is Jenn, she’s new here and she could use a little schooling.”
Paul and Matt exchanged a look between them. “Sure, no problem. I’d be happy to help out a friend.” He led her over to a table stacked with games. “You play waggle?” he asked her.
“Maybe you could teach me.” “That’s what I like to hear.” He grabbed a box and sat down at a table over in the corner, away from everyone else. He opened the box and motioned for her to sit down. He took out a board that looked like it was for Chinese Checkers. “Start setting out the pieces.”
“I don’t know how.”
“Here, separate them into different colored piles.” He handed Jenn about twenty different pieces shaped like brightly colored broken stones. Roughly half of them were various shades of orange-yellow and half of them were shades of blue-green. She looked at him again. “Blue green in one pile, orange-yellow in the other.”
As she was separating the stones he began to talk. “It’s easier to talk without arousing suspicion if we’re doing something else. So what brings you to (name of the Roman Prison), Jenn? For that matter, what brings you to Rome?”
“I don’t know, it’s a long story that doesn’t make much sense. How do you know I’m not from Rome?”
“Not everyone knows how to play waggle, but most people have at least heard of the Roman national pastime.” Jenn had finished separating her stones. “Count out 15 orange-yellow pieces and 5 blue-green pieces. Then give me the rest.”
“Set your pieces on the white diamond near your end. The goal is for you to get all your pieces home and me to get my pieces home. Then we win.” Paul explained.
“You mean whoever gets their pieces home first wins.”
“No, we both win when all the pieces are home. The orange-yellow ones have to move to the orange or yellow home, and the blue-green ones to the blue or green home.”
“What a weird game,” Jenn remarked.
“Yes, it is,” agreed Paul. “But it is the national game of Rome, so to play it is patriotic.”
Paul took his turn and rolled the dice. Then he moved an orange-yellow piece towards Jenn.
Jenn thought for a moment and then took a move. “I don’t understand what the appeal is to a game that has no competition.”
“Well, for one thing,” Paul began to answer, while taking his turn again, this time rolling a low number and moving a blue-green piece. “There are only a certain number of rolls each player gets. But you have a point.
“This game was designed as a method of propaganda, to teach children how the Roman government is supposed to work.”
Just then a bell rang, and the inmates began exiting the arboretum. “What’s that?” Jenn asked.
“Work time!” a voice echoed over a speaker, answering Jenn’s question.
“Come back tomorrow, and I’ll teach you some more,” Paul said.

Chapter 13

As the trio walked towards Rome they noticed that the houses were getting closer and closer together. There were fewer farms and fewer trees as they continued walking. The houses closer to the city were less colorful than those outside the city. They continued walking on, hopeful that they would be able to find Jenn and leave Rome before the day was over.
“So what are we gonna do when we get there?” Josh asked.
"I have some friends. We’ll find them and go from there,” Stacie said.
Soon they came to a large city. This was apparent from the tall buildings and large “Welcome to Rome” sign they encountered on their way in.
“My friends live in the blue district on the south-east side of town,” Stacie pointed to the left of her. “Jake’s apartment is a short walk this way.”
They came to a tall building that was covered with a mural done entirely in various shades of blue. Stacie walked to the side of the building and started walking up the fire escape. “It’s quicker this way,” she said. Josh and Starr followed her. When they lived in the dorms they had used the fire escape to get in and out of the building, although usually so they didn’t have to talk to the R.A. on duty.
When they got to the third floor, Stacie knocked on the door. “Hey, Julia, will you go tell Jake that Stacie’s here?” An older woman’s voice echoed from inside. “You kids. Why can’t you come in the front door like everybody else?”
“Julia!”“All right. “I’ll go get him.” They heard her knock on the wall. “Jake some of your loser friends are here.”
A few moments later a well dressed young man in a red suit coat, black tee shirt that said ‘there is a Bob’, blue jeans, and a blue-green tie opened the door. “Hello, Stacie,” he said. “I see you’ve brought some friends. Do you know the password?” The latter was directed towards Josh.
“Password?” Josh was taken aback.
“Oh so sorry. I’m afraid I can’t let you in, kind sir.” He ushered the girls in and slammed the door in Josh’s face.
Josh pounded on the door. “Let me in.” He stopped after he heard laughter coming from inside.
“Do you think we should let him in girls?”
“I don’t know, he hasn’t been particularly useful so far.”
“From what I’ve seen, you seem to think he has some pretty interesting uses.”
“Is that so. I knew there was something shaky about him. I’m definitely not letting him in now.”
At that the door swung open, hitting Josh in the face.“Ow!”
“Aw,” Stacie said. “Is my little Joshy-washy hurt?”
“I’m fine, no thanks to you.”
“Well, no harm done, lets go inside. I‘m sure your hungry. I have some soup on the stove.”
They followed him into a sparsely furnished, brightly colored room. It was a large spacious room with separate eating, sleeping and living areas. Jake showed them the kitchen area and they each took a bowl. Then they sat down on a couple of milk crates.” I like what you’ve done with the place,” Stacie remarked.
“So who are your friends. Some riff raffs you picked up off the street?”“This is Starr,” she said.
“And the scab next to you?”
“This is Josh,” she smiled. “Like I told you there from.. somewhere else. They’re looking for their friend Jenn. Like I said she was last seen in Rome.”
“Well, that’s quite an interesting dilemma.”
“Jake, what’s with the mural on the building?” Josh interjected.
“You like it?” Jake asked. “A friend of mine did it.”
“Yeah. But why is it all blue?”
Jake looked at him, dumbfounded. “Of course its blue, I live in the blue district. I am a blue person.”
“Remember what I told you about the credit system in Rome?” Stacie explained.
“Yes.”
“Well, in Rome they color code things so that everyone knows what your level of credit is.”
“Oh.”
“One more thing. Who is this guy?” Josh smirked. “Your boyfriend?”
Jake and Stacie laughed. “Jake is my cousin.”
“But, when did you tell him about us?”
Stacie pulled out a small thin device that looked like a flat cell phone. “I sent Jake a message using this. How did you think I knew he would be home?”
“But, I didn’t hear you use that. Did you, Starr?”
Starr had been strangely silent this whole time. “No I didn’t hear her use it either”
“Text phones don‘t make any noise. How could I afford a voice phone?”
The four of them had a lively discussion which basically boiled down to two points. 1) On Stacie and Jake’s world everyone could afford one,(service was free) because no one had spent much time developing voice technology. 2) This was the fundamental difference between Stacie and Jake’s world and Starr and Josh’s world. Or rather, the desire to do the best for all people was the difference. After this lengthy discussion the four of them finally settled down to business.
“So, do you think we can find Jenn?” Starr asked
“I can call a few friends and see if they know anything. We should probably check the papers for unusual arrests. This would be a lot easier if your friend had bothered to register.”
“Jake” Stacie protested.
The three of them started cleaning up while Jake checked in with his friends. It didn’t take long before everyone was finished.
“Well?” Starr said.“Well, what?” Jake smiled innocently.
“Do you think your friends know anything about Jenn?” Starr finished.
“Oh, that. I think so, but we decided it would be better if we all met here.
“When?” Josh asked, eager to get something done.
“Most of them are working right now, so we’re going to meet for dinner.”
“But that’s several hours from now,” Josh protested.
“Well, don’t worry so much. We can check the papers while we’re waiting, and besides this is Rome. Where ever she is, she’s safe and well fed.” Jake reassured them unconvincingly.
“Jake has a point,” Stacie continued. “Even if we don’t find her today, she’ll be o.k. and we probably couldn’t do anything immediately anyway.

Chapter 12

“Howard Higglebottom is here to see you!” A loud voice shouted with all the finesse a prison guard could muster.
Jenn awoke with a start. Matt wasn’t here. “I don’t know any Howard Higglebottom.”
“His papers say he’s your lawyer. I suggest you get up and go talk to him.” The guard was dressed in an orange chef’s uniform and carrying a large ring of multicolored keys. She motioned for Jenn to follow her down a corridor to an empty room.
There was a man in a multicolored shirt standing on the opposite end of the room. He turned around and faced her as she came in. “Hello, you must be Jenn.”
Great, Jenn thought. I’ve got a kook for a lawyer. He’s staring out an imaginary window. “Yes, I’m Jenn. You must be Henry Higglebottom. Do you think you can help me?”
“I think so. I’ll file a few motions. Considering that this is your first offense, you should be out of here in no time.”
“Matt said a couple of weeks.”
“Well, that’s pretty good, considering the paperwork.
I’d say its pretty short, considering.”
Jenn was floored, literally. She sank down to the ground. “Do you think we maybe could get some chairs in here, or maybe a table?”
“I doubt it, there’s a stockroom full of them down the hall, but its takes weeks to fill out all the paperwork, plus there’s some kind of legislative hold, blah blah blah blah.”
“Well, anyway. What can I do to get this whole thing started?”
“First we can start, by answering a few questions.”
“O.k.”
“Where were you on the night of March 2nd?”
Jenn was a little startled. On March 2nd, she had been busy drunkenly writing on an ex-boyfriend so that he said “Your girlfriend is my girlfriend”. Not exactly her finest hour, but she didn’t think anyone else knew about it either. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“I’m sorry, I was looking at the files from the wrong case. Can you tell me why you haven’t registered?”
“I didn’t know I had to.”
He looked at her quizzically. “You know the insanity defense was thrown out years ago.”
“I’m telling the truth.”
“How is that possible?”
“I’m from out of town.” He looked at her again. “ Way out of time.”
“I guess that isn’t going to help us much. O.K. So how did you get here then?”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t really make sense to me. I don’t see how that’s going to help.”
“It’s not. I’m just curious. O.k. Name?”
“Jenn Srauski”
“Age?”
“20.”
“Documentation?”
“Huh?”
“I said, do you have any documentation?”
“Oh,“ Jenn took out her wallet and tossed it too him. “Will any of these do?”
He rifled through it. “Interesting.” He stopped at a picture of her and her friends. “They have funny skin.”
“Well, they‘re not from around here.”
He continued looking through her wallet. He looked up.
“This is all pretty much useless.”
“Pretty much?”
“Well, completely, but I didn’t want to say that.”
“So, is there anything we can do?”
“Of course. I can get those motions filed and we can get you out of here. I just need to you to sign a few documents first.” He took out a stack of papers about an inch thick.
“I have to sign all that?”
“Uh no, surprisingly, its much easier,“ he tore off one of the sheets of paper and handed it to her:
I the undersigned, do declare that I am not registered as a citizen of Rome. I understand that
I am not entitled to any of the privileges afforded to citizens of Rome, specifically the right to a job, to vote, to participate in government, to hold or campaign for office, or the right to trade or barter goods or services while on Roman soil. I am however entitled to all the privileges of a non-citizen including but not limited to the right to have goods and services traded and bartered on my behalf with my approval and the right to full legal status of an minor child. As a non-citizen I will be treated as a minor child in all matters legal, judicial, and economic. If I attempt to contest these matters a second time, I understand that I will be prosecuted fully under the law.
_____________
After Jenn finished reading the document, she felt a little dizzy from all the legal jargon. “That’s pretty clear,” she said when she recovered.
“That’s the Roman way. Clear and thorough.” He reached in to his briefcase. “I forgot, I do have one more paper you have to sign. This one just says that I answered all the questions you had and answered them satisfactorily.”
Jenn looked at the paper he handed her, and it did in fact, say just that. “If I sign this, I won’t be in trouble
anymore?”
“Yes.”
“And I won’t have to leave Rome?”
“No.”
“And I won’t starve to death or die of exposure.”
“If you like I or any one of my colleagues at C.E.W.L can be your own personal liaison.”
“One last thing? How much is this going to cost me?”“Cost? I don’t understand.”
“Money? Credits? Dinero?”
“We barter and trade here. But you don’t have anything I need and your not allowed to do that anyway. Besides this is my job.”
Jenn signed the papers. “How long should this take?”
“With any luck we’ll be in court next week.”
“Court? I thought you said this was a sure thing.”
“It is. Don’t worry. But we do have to go through the proper channels.” He rang a bell, and a guard came to take her back to her cell. By the time she got back it was late, and she went right to sleep.

Chapter 11

Stacie, Josh, and Starr woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and rested, but hungry. They walked out of their bedroom to discover a table of food set out before them. The table was set with porridge, breads, and fruits. Once again Josh noticed the lack of animal products, but dismissed it.
Their host came out to greet them. “Oh, good” he said. “You’re awake. I was just going to get you so we could eat.”
“Did you make all of this for us?” Starr asked, slightly bewildered.
“Of course. I love having guests. Unfortunately I don’t have very many and they never stay very long.”
They sat down to eat. Starr and Josh discovered that the porridge was quite hearty and good and not at all what they expected. It was creamy, rich, and flavorful. “What is this?” asked Starr.
“Bean porridge,” Stacie said. “This is almost as good as my grandmothers.”
Josh spit out some of what he was eating. ”Yuck! I hate beans!”
“Not anymore,” laughed Starr.
“They continued to eat. They were eager to find out what had happened to Jenn, but they were hungry from all the walking they had done, and didn’t say anything further until they had finished eating.
“Do you know how to find our friend, Jenn?” Josh broke the silence as they cleared the table.
“Of course. I thought you’d never ask,” the wise old man replied. He continued clearing the table and didn’t say anything else.
“Well, how do we find her?” Starr asked, unable to stand this silence any longer.
“That’s an entirely different question. In Rome, if you don’t know the rules, it’s very easy to get in trouble. Since your friend doesn’t know the rules she probably found herself in trouble.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” Josh sank down on the floor where he had been standing. Stacie sat down next to him and put her arm around him to comfort him.
“It’s not really as bad as it sounds,” she said. ”I’ve been to Rome before, so I know how to get around. But..”
“But?” Starr and Josh said, anticipating what was coming next.
“But once somebody gets in trouble it can be hard to get them out of it,” she finished.
“Hard how?” Josh asked.
“It can be complicated and it often takes a long time.”
“But its doable?”
“Usually, yes.”
“Do you know how to find Jenn?” Starr asked the wise old man.
“Yes,” he answered and once again didn’t say anything further.
“So, how do we find her?” she asked.
“I would start by looking for any reports of someone who has been arrested for not registering or by checking with C.E.W.L.”
“Do they really exist?” Stacie asked. “I would think they would be pretty much unnecessary.”
“Yes, C.E.W.L. is real, and yes they are needed,” the wise man smiled, knowingly "There is a Bob.
Starr, thought about this for a moment. “Before we go, is there anything else you feel like we need to know?”
“I know many things, but I don’t know anything that is important for your endeavor.”
The three loaded up on provisions and said their goodbyes. “Thank you for keeping an old man company.”
“Thank you for helping us find our friend.”
“I only wish I could help you more,” he said. “Hurry so that you can be sure to get there before it gets dark.”
They walked out his door, and down the road towards Rome. It was a beautiful day. Bright, but not too sunny, with a nice light breeze. It was the perfect day for a long walk. ”Is Rome really all that bad?” Josh asked.
“No,” Stacie said, “It’s just not somewhere I would go for a vacation. I want to stop at a stream about a mile down the road, and when we get there, I’ll tell you all about it.”
The three of them continued walking down the path. It was a narrow path with few trees, unlike the area they had come from. On either side of the path were farms. After about a mile, as Stacie had promised, they came to a stream.
They sat down and rested.
“You said you would tell us about Rome and the group called C.E.W.L.” Starr reminded Stacie.
“Yes, I did,” Stacie said as she sat down. She took a sip of water before continuing. ”Roman society is based upon rank calculated by credits obtained by doing favors for people. In Rome, the most important organization is the Roman Senate, which has all the power. Because the city is so large and so strictly regimented everything moves slowly in Rome. Without documentation you cannot hold credit, and without credit you cannot eat, sleep, or hold down a job.”
“Wow, that sounds really harsh,” Josh said.
“It can be,” Starr replied. “But it apparently works for some people.”
“So, how does C.E.W.L. fit in?”
“The system doesn’t work for some people, or at least not as well as it does for others. Some people are trapped there for years, despite the revolution. C.E.W.L. is a
legendary underground organization trying to change all of that. I don’t know very much about it, I thought it was a myth. C.E.W.L stands for a Community of Elitists Without Registering.”
“Is it dangerous?” Josh asked, thoughtfully.
“No, I have some friends who live there. We can stay with them if we have to, but we shouldn’t be there long.”
As soon as they were refreshed and ready the three of them continued down the road to Rome.

Chapter 10

“Well, Jenn” Matt said. “Would you mind telling me how a beautiful, intelligent girl like you ended up stumbling on Rome and all its complex eccentricities?”
“I kinda would. I don’t think you’d believe me and I’d end up sounding either crazy or stupid.”
“Try me.”
“Let’s just say I have an unprecedented ability for stumbling on things unexpectedly.”
Just then an officer in a yellow uniform walked in. “Matt your lawyer is here to see you.”
“Got to go. I’ll talk to you later.” Matt got up out of the cell and followed the officer, who was presumably taking him to see his lawyer.
Jenn sat there trying to figure out what kind of cruel world she had stumbled on. It didn’t make any sense. The man on the stump didn’t wear orange, yellow, green, or purple. Maybe he was an outcast of some sort, like CEWL. Or maybe he lived somewhere where those rules didn’t apply, or maybe...
Before Jenn had a chance to finish that train of thought, another officer appeared. She noticed he was carrying a lot of official looking papers. “Lunchtime,” he announced.
“What are all those papers?” Jenn asked.
He looked at her quizzically. ”Those are your lunch forms. You have to fill them out before you can eat. There would be more forms, but your not registered, so all we need you to do is sign a few release forms, a form to receive an assigned lunch seat, a meal request form, and diet request form.”
Jenn was little stunned, but she followed the orange officer to a small room with a desk but no chair where she was asked to sit down in the seat at the desk and begin filling out the forms. After a few unsuccessful attempts she squatted and went to work. About 30 minutes later she was finished. The officer came and took them from her. “I’m afraid your late. Your lunch shift already started. Your going to have to fill out this request for change of lunch shift form.” he said as he handed her another form.
Fortunately that form only took a few minutes, and he led her to a mess hall where inmates were being divided into groups and seated at tables. An officer in green walked up to her. “Designation please.”
Jenn was startled, ”What?”
“Designation please.”
“oh, 1017a -1739.”
“Yes, I have your approved papers right here."
She stepped into the cafeteria, and another officer in a purple uniform approached her. “May I see your table assignment please?”
Jenn looked through the forms she had received on her way in and found the form he was looking for.
“Uh, yes C-3. Third table on your right, seat closest to the window.”
Jenn sat down at a table full of people with orange shirts. There were three men and a woman. The woman was in her mid-forties, one of the men was much older and the other two men were Jenn’s age.
Jenn turned to the man on her right, “Nice place, huh?”
An officer walked up to her and sternly reprimanded her. “Inmates are not allowed to engage in conversation during meal shifts.”
Jenn sank slowly in her seat. “How am I supposed to know what to do?” she thought.
The woman across from her smiled as if reading her mind. “Just follow me,” she mouthed. Jenn was relieved. Momentarily the entire table stood up and got in line single file. Jenn made sure she was behind the woman. As they went through the line they were further sorted by dietary plan. Each person was given a generic meal consisting of some sort of protein, drink, and side dish. Once herded through the line they sat in their assigned seats.
They ate quickly and silently. Jenn barely had enough time to chew the bland tasteless food products on her tray. When an officer walked up to her table and annouced, "Dismissed." At this the entire table stood up and walked to a line of wash basins and trash cans. They scraped their plates off and then stacked them in the soapy water.
Once they were finished they returned to their cells. As Jenn walked down the corridor, she felt overwhelmed. What had she done to deserve such treatment? Where had she gone wrong? Jenn sank into her mattress and stared at her pillow trying to figure it out. She didn't have any answers, just questions. Hopefully Matt would be able to help her get out of here and find her friends.

She looked up and saw that Matt was already in the cell. “You said you thought your lawyer could help me?”
“I talked to him this morning about you. He said that he could probably get you out in a couple of weeks if you're lucky.”
“A couple of weeks!” she was taken aback. How long have you been in here?”
“I’ve been here almost two years now, and I’ll be in here until the revolution is over.”
“For not registering?”
“Well, this is my 7th or 8th offense. If I registered I could get out of here in a few months. So, you see, a few weeks isn’t really all that long.”
Jenn thought this over. There had to be some other way. She couldn’t bare the thought of being stuck on this strange planet in a lonely jail cell for such a long time. By the time she got out of here her friends would
be long gone. She might never find them again. She would be all alone on this planet. Far away from the people she knew. All because she wanted a little adventure. It was late and she had missed dinner. There was no sense fretting about it all night. Jenn sank into her pillow, praying that this was all a dream, and when she woke up she would be safe at home.

Chapter 9

Starr looked at the boy she had met the previous night.
“Hello, again,” he said.
“So, you’re Joe’s grandson. But what is your name?”
“Joe, I was named after my grandfather. If you want to meet your friends we have to get out of here.” Joe began to lead Starr back through the forest they had come through. “How did you like your stay with the ‘travelers’?”
“They sure are interesting. But I have no idea who they are.”
“Like I said neither do I and I've been living with them for a while.”
The two of them came to a stream. “I don’t remember this before,” remarked Starr.
“You probably didn’t go this way. It’s a little shorter, but you can’t cross this stream with something on your back. Be careful and step on exactly the same rocks I do.” Joe made sure to step on the rocks with pink backs.
Starr followed him, barely missing a purple rock. When they reached the other side of the stream Joe breathed a sigh of relief. “What’s wrong with the other rocks?”
“They're not rocks- they're snapping turtles and they don’t like being stepped on.”
“You should have told me!”
“Would you have come this way?”
“Uh.. maybe.”
“Yeah.”
Starr gave in and they continued their walk through the forest. The walk back was a little harder that the one there. At a few points Starr and Joe nearly missed falling off a narrow ledge and falling into the ravine below. Soon they came to the spot where Starr had met the “travelers”.
“Well, here we are,” said Joe. “Now where were you supposed to meet your friends?”
“Uh, I don’t know” she stammered.
“How are you supposed to meet them if you don’t know where?” he teased.
“I know where, I just don’t know where. It’s that way” she pointed in the direction of the town. “If you want, I’ll show you.”
“Well actually, I was planning to go to town anyways, so I can go with you and wait for a little while.”
Joe and Starr walked toward the city, back through the same path she had taken before. As before, Starr noticed how brilliantly colored and unusual the trees and plants were.
Soon they reached the gate where Starr and her friends had come in the day before. Stacie and Josh saw Joe and Starr come out of the forest.
“Hello,” Stacie said. “Nice to see you again, Joe. And you must be Josh’s friend.” “Hello, Stacie,” Joe said. “And you must be one of Starr’s friends.”
“I’m Starr,” said Starr. “Nice to meet you Stacie. I guess the two of you already met so I don’t really need to introduce you to someone I just met.”
“Well, I guess I oughta introduce my self” said Josh. I’m Josh. It’s nice to meet you Joe. Starr, Stacie is from around here and she will be coming with us.”
“Joe,” said Stacie. “do you think you’re ready to come with us this time?”
“No, not now. I have some things I have to do” he said. “Maybe when you come back.” With this he headed off to Club Nuevo.
“Well I wonder where Jenn could be?” Starr asked.
“We don’t know. We were thinking of maybe going to look for her when we met up with you” said Stacie.
“What if you met up with her first?” asked Starr.
“Well, then we would have left without you, of course” teased Josh.
“You’re such a nerd” rebutted Starr.
“Do we know where she went?” asked Stacie
“Yeah, she went that way.” Starr pointed to the east to the rugged path through hills and valleys.
The three of them set off. It was slow and tedious and they soon became tired. “Are you sure she went this way?” complained Stacie.
“Yeah. I saw her go this way” said Josh, suddenly not sure.
“Oh look!” said Starr. “There’s one of her bracelets.”
“See, I told you,” Josh smirked. They continued on their way with a renewed sense of purpose. They continued walking and began to get very tired. When they could go no further they came upon an old man sitting on a stump, whittling.
“Have you seen our friend?” Josh called out.
“Well, now doesn’t anyone say hello anymore?” the old man complained. “All anyone does is ask questions and expect answers.
“Hello, I’m Josh.”
“Hello Josh, who are your friends?”
“I’m Starr.”
“And my name is Stacie.’
“Well as to your friend, I don’t know if she came by here. This is a well traveled road. What does she look like?”
“How did you know our friend was a girl?” Starr asked.
“I guess I don’t know,” he chuckled. “But the only person to come by here was tall girl with long hair, who was about your age.”
“That was probably her,” Josh said. “Was her name Jenn?”
“I don’t know. She was in an awful hurry. She wanted to get to the next town.”
“How far is it?” asked Starr.
“Oh, just a few miles that way,” he said, pointing further down the road.
“But Rome is the nearest town in that direction,” protested Stacie. “We can’t stay there overnight.”“You didn’t ask me where you could stay; you just asked me where your friend went.”
“Do you know of a place we could stay?” asked Jenn.
“Why yes,” the old man replied. “There is a little farmhouse up this path.” He got up from his whittling and led Josh, Stacie, and Starr down a short path and to a simple and accommodating farmhouse. After finding them a room to sleep in he left them alone, and they quickly fell fast asleep.

Chapter 8

A tall middle aged man who seemed to resemble both Stacie and Mrs. Lamont walked into the room. He smiled sweetly. “Hello Stacie,” he said. “I see you have brought some friends. Would you be so kind as to introduce us?”
“Of course, but you must know I don’t have much time. Josh and I have to meet some friends shortly.” Stacie said in a curt manner that was out of character.
“Of course, of course,” his smile faded. “Always in a hurry, places to go, people to see. And your friends?”
“This is Amber, and her little boy. I brought her here because her son is sick, and she needed a good doctor.” Dr. Lamont took out his stethoscope and began to look at the little boy.
“And the boy?” prompted Mrs. Lamont.
“Well, I haven’t named him yet,” laughed Amber.
“I meant Josh.”
“Yes, well. Father, this is my friend Josh. I met him a little while ago at Club Nuevo. Josh, this is my
“Father,” thought Josh, “then, Mrs. Lamont must be her mother or grandmother.” He wondered why there seemed to be so much tension in this little family. What had happened and why was Stacie so eager to leave them?“I’ll need to take him into my office,” said Dr. Lamont to Amber and motioned for the two of them to follow him. They left and there was a lull in the conversation.
Mrs. Lamont broke the silence. “Will you be staying for lunch?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Stacie said quickly. “Josh and I are in a hurry. We have to meet some friends.” At that she stood up to leave. Josh and Stacie said goodbye to Mrs. Lamont and left the little house.
When they were outside Josh stopped. “My friends probably won’t be back for a few hours. We could have stayed.”
“I’m not ready yet,” she said. Josh didn’t press the issue any further.” We can wait for your friends over there.” Stacie pointed to a group of trees beside the gate that Josh, Jenn, and Starr had come through.
“That would be perfect,” said Josh. The two of them walked over and sat down. Stacie pulled a couple of apples that she had saved from that morning’s breakfast. “Here, catch.” She tossed one to Josh, who caught it.
While they were eating Josh turned and looked at the gate. It looked just like the one back home. “What is that gate to?” he asked.
“It’s a garden.”
“Have you ever been in there?”
“Sure. Hundreds of times. Wanna see it?” He nodded and as she grabbed his hand to pull him up she fell forward into his lap. They stared at each other and Josh brushed her hair back and kissed her. She smiled and then she got up, this time pulling Josh up with her.
They opened the gate and walked into the garden. Instead of being whisked away into another world, they walked into the most beautiful garden Josh had ever seen. There were flowers and trees of every imaginable shape, size and color.
Stacie led Josh over to a flowering bush with brilliant blue and gold buds. “This was my favorite as a child. I used to sit here for hours and watch it bloom.”
“Watch it bloom?” Josh was started. When he looked again the buds were opening.
“Yes,” said Stacie putting her arm around his waist. “The flowers on this bush bud, grow, bloom, and die in less than an hour. When I was younger I could sit here all afternoon and watch them grow, die, and bloom.” Stacie continued to lead Josh around the garden, pointing out various plants and flowers.
“This one is a spiny root.” She pointed to a plant with a long stem and fibrous leaves. “Its roots don’t grow deep but they have sharp thorns with poison designed to ward off predators.”
“You know a lot about plants.”
“Well, I used to want to raise and study them.”
“And now?”“I don’t know. Let’s just wait for your friends.” Stacie led Josh out of the garden to the trees near the gate. They sat down and waited for Starr and Jenn.
After a while Josh began to get impatient. “I wonder where they could be.”
“I’m sure they’re fine, they’ll be here soon.” reassured Stacie.
They continued to wait. Still they didn’t come and Josh grew impatient again. “Where are they?”
“Well, do you know which way they went? Maybe we could meet them halfway.”
“Starr went that way,” he pointed north to the path through the forest she had taken. “And Jenn went that way.” He pointed east to the path through the mountains.
“Well all we can do is sit here and wait until one of them comes back.” So with that they continued to do so.

Chapter 7

Jenn woke slightly confused. "I'm in a rainbow colored jail cell," she thought."This must be some dream No, wait a minute. This isn't a dream, I'm in jail on a weird planet that my friends and I got transported to, walking through this mysterious gate we found in our backyard. Wait, that can't be true. I must dreaming. I don't know. It doesn't really matter.""

"Hi," said the guy sitting on the bunk across from her.
"Who are you?" asked Jenn. "This guy's pretty cocky," she thought.
"I'm CEWL," he said. "But more importantly you are the greatest. I can't believe they put you in here with me."
"Cool?" asked Jenn.
"Of course I am. If you need proof.."
"No, that's ok."
"You're so amazing. I can't believe you've been able to stand up to them for so long.".
"What do you mean?"
"Well you're one of the yellows. It takes quite a few years to become one of those. And without registering you'd have to stand up to them an awful lot in order to avoid getting arrested."
"What are you talking about?"
"You're yellow. And you're one of us, so obviously..."
"I still have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."
"Quit playing games. You can't be from around here and have just innocently stumbled upon this. Nobody just wanders into Rome. Most travelers avoid this place, no matter how inconvenient."
"Well, I did.
"What?"
"I just wandered in here. So you better tell me what'sgoing on."
"Oh boy," he sighed and looked around the room. Then he took a good look at Jenn again. "It's kinda complicated."
"I need to know."
"In Rome everybody has a ranking."
"That explains why I thought there was a caste system,"she interrupted.
"A what?"
"Never mind."
"Anyway, you earn points based on favors you do for people. You store these points on a credit card. Then when you have enough points you can use them to get other people to do favors to you."
"Like money," interrupted Jenn.
"No! Anyway you're rank is based on how many points you have. Orange is the upper 4th, yellow the second 4th, then blue, then green. In order to keep and use thesepoints you have to register with the town office. It's almost impossible to live here without any points or rank and it's even harder to gain them without registering."
“So, basically this is a place where people's value is based on how much money they have? Some paradise."
"No! It's about earning goods and services by helping others."
"Whatever," she paused and let this sink in. "So if not registering is suçh a hassle why do you think so highly of it ?"
"Because when we register, they can keep tabs on everything we do. Who our friends are, what our beliefs are, where we work, pray, go for a cup of coffee, what we eat for dinner, etc.
"So?"
"If they decided they don't like us or they find something we did they don't like, they have all the power and we have none."
"Maybe. I don't know. This is all kinda new to me. Who is this "They" anyway?"
"The Roman Senate, of course," he looked at her, puzzled.
"Where did you say you were from, anyway?"
"I didn't," she leaned back against her bunk and lookedat her cellmate. He was about average height- 5'9" or 5'10"- with long shimmering hair. Like all the people she had seen so far he had rainbow colored skin. His shirt (which clashed with his body) was a yellow, orange, blue, and green striped shirt with a big black question mark on it. He was also wearing faded khaki shorts. Now she understood his weird shirt.
"What kind of name is cool, anyway?" she asked.
He laughed. "CEWL is not my name. It's the name of the organization I'm a member of. It stands for Community of Elitists Without Licenses. My name's Matt.”
"I'm Jenn."

Chapter 6

Starr woke up feeling refreshed. Morning Starr came into the tent as she was waking. “Friend,” she said. “Take and eat these berries I picked on my morning walk.”
Starr took the berries and ate them. They tasted good. “What time is it?” she asked, thinking of her friends.
“It’s time to be peaceful and happy and to join in our search for what is good.”
Starr decided to walk out of the tent. It was still early, checking her watch to see that it was about 9 o’clock. She still had plenty of time to meet her friends.
“Ah,” said Wise Lover. “Our sleepy-headed friend is awake. There is a party gathering to help our friend Joe Biblioski gather in the harvest from his cherry trees that we all enjoy.”
“But I am so tired,” replied Starr.
“You do not have to help if you do not want to. But, you should always repay the kindness of others when you are able to,” said Tara.
“Well can I at least take a shower first?”
“Shower?” Tara and Wise Lover looked at one another knowingly and smiled.
“No, I am afraid not, weary one,” replied Wise Lover. “But if you wish you can join us when we all bathe in the stream later.”
“I am afraid we don’t have all the modern conveniences you are used to at home,” laughed Full Moon. “Let’s get going.
The four of them walked over to a wooden tool shed. Tara took two baskets and handed them to Full Moon. Wise Lover and Tara each picked up a rope, carabineers, and a strange shaped basket. Starr looked slightly puzzled.
“What are you going to do?” she asked Wise Lover.
“We will be picking cherries off the trees,” he replied without answering.
The four of them walked out of the shed and into the woods. They followed a long winding path. As they walked Wise Lover talked all about the plants and animals they saw along their walk. It took them a very long time to go a relatively short distance, because he knew so much about the native fauna and flora. By the time they reached their destination it was about 10 a.m. by Starr’s reckoning.
Eventually they came to what was obviously a small cherry orchard that had about a dozen trees and twice that many bushes encircling the trees. It was very beautiful, especially for such a small orchard. The trees were such brilliant and vibrant colors that it looked more like a giant’s flower garden.
Starr noticed people already in the trees picking cherries. The odd looking baskets were hanging off the lower branches of the trees. She could not see how the cherry pickers had climbed up the trees, but they were using the ropes to swing from branch to branch like monkeys. She watched them obviously amazed.
"You've never seen tree climbers before, have you? asked Full Moon.
"Uh, uh." replied Starr.
"They are so ordinary to me I forget that some people haven't ever even heard of them."
"I haven't."
"We'll we better get going. Joe needs us."
While they were talking Wise Lover and Tara were preparing to climb up the trees. They hitched the rope to another rope attached to the tree to form a pulley system. They then attached this to themselves using what appeared
to be an intricate series of knots to form a kind of harness and to pull them selves using this obviously intricate system.
“You and I will use these baskets to collect the cherries from the bushes.” Full Moon handed Starr one of the baskets that she had been holding. Starr joined the others and began to pick cherries. It was relatively easy work, but it was hot, and her back was not used to all the bending and squatting. When the sun was at its highest point, a little before noon, they took a break.
“Come,” said Full Moon. “Have some of these cherries that we picked.
“I thought they were for the pies?”
“Not all of them. Not even Joe could bake that many pies.” Full Moon chuckled. Starr joined her, glad for the break. While they were eating a healthy stout old man walked by.
Full Moon called out to him “Joe, come meet our new friend Starr. She is a traveler like one of us, looking for that which she does not know, and is full of many questions.”
Joe walked over to them, “So you are a great traveler as well.” He chuckled. He had a big belly that jiggled when he laughed. “Perhaps you can teach us something, unlike our wise friends.”
“So you’re the one responsible for all of this?” Starr was eager to learn something.
Joe laughed. “I tend the orchard and bake pies, but you are forgetting our friend Darien Malloy.” “Who is he?” asked Starr. “A great businessman who owns these orchards?”
“No,” this time it was Full Moon’s turn to laugh. Her laugh was quiet and respectfully condescending in contrast to Joe’s booming laugh.
“Darien is a great teacher and leader, and our friend.” She got up and motioned for Starr to continue picking cherries.
Starr remembered her friends and realized she must go soon. “I need to go. I told my friends I would meet them after lunchtime.”
“Alright. If you must go. May our paths meet again.” She paused in reflection. “I will tell Wise Lover and Tara that you have left. It is a weary path that we must travel, often lonely, but frequently in the company of friends. You should ask Joe’s grandson to show you the path back to the place from where we have come.” Full Moon pointed to the boy Starr had met the previous evening.

Chapter 5

Josh woke up next to Stacie. He looked around confused.
Who was this beautiful girl and what did he do last night.
He didn't have a headache or feel funny so he must not have
been drunk, but he bad this strange dream and wow!
Stacie turned to look at him "Don't worry nothing
happened. You fell asleep as soon as we got here. There was
no room upstairs so I put you to bed and then fell asleep
myself. Nothing happened."
"Why do you keep saying that?' he asked.
"Never mind."
Josh breathed a sigh of relief, and then paused because
he realized it was all true. He was in a strange world with
strange customs. His friends, how would he meet them?
Stacie seemed to sense his apprehension. "Don't worry*
about your friends. We'll find them soon enough."
It was that "soon enough" that worried Josh. "What time
is it?' he yawned, stretching.
“About 10 o'clock. A.M."
“That's earlier than I usually get up." he commented.
"I must have slept really well."
“Come on, let's get some breakfast," she said, jumping
up. "I've been waiting
"Oh, good, a morning person," he teased. "I love
morning people."
"I'm just excited. Excuse me,' she led him upstairs to a
big table filled with food. It wasn't the usual breakfast
fare but it was right up Josh's alley. Pizza, burritos.
grilled cheese sandwiches and a bunch of stuff he didn't
recognize. But no meat. "That's strange," thought Josh." Oh,
well. Free thinkers probably would be vegetarians."
She pulled him over to a table with a young mother
holding a baby on her lap. "Come on. Dig in!"
"Who's he?" the mother asked. "Your boyfriend?"
"No," Stacie blushed.
"Better not be. I don't think you want one of your
own.' she scolded as she indicated the boy on her lap.
"Heavy advice from someone who doesn't even know my
name." Stacie dared.
"Sorry. I had a rough, uh, year." she explained. "My
name is Amber."
"Stacie.'
"Josh."
"His father left me as soon as he found out I was
pregnant and it's been a lot harder than I expected.
Especially this morning, he's sick and I can't find a doctor
anywhere."
"Josh and I are going back to Atlantis this afternoon
to meet his friends. I know a great doctor there. We can take you with us.
“Sure. That would be great.”
Josh and Stacie finished eating their meal while Amber fed her son. Josh was a little uncomfortable about it, but Stacie and the other people in the room didn’t seem to notice. He decided not to say anything. After all babies had to eat too.
They all left together. Stacie let Amber and Josh back into town. Josh noticed there were fewer trees where they were going. “I thought you said you were taking us back to town,” Josh protested.
“Relax. This way is shorter. Yesterday we went the long way because we were going to play jump.” As she said this they could see the purplish walls of Club Nuevo.
“Come on I’ll introduce you to Dr. Lamont.”
Stacie led them to a small white house with a stone walled porch. She hopped up the steps and knocked on the door. A small stout little old woman with fading hair opened the door. “Hello Stacie, may I help you?”
“Is Dr. Lamont in?”
“No, but he’ll be back shortly. He got called to deliver a set of twins. You can sit here and wait a spell if you like. I’ve got some tea and cookies.”
They decided to stay and take her up on the offer of cookies. Josh and Stacie sat on the couch while Amber sat on one of Dr. and Mrs. Lamont’s overstuffed chairs and held her baby. Mrs. Lamont brought the cookies and tea in and sat with them.
“I love sugar cookies and hot tea,” Josh said. “It reminds me of my grandmother.
“Mine too, “ Stacie smiled knowingly at Mrs. Lamont.
“Are you passing through or are you planning to stay?” asked Mrs. Lamont.
“I don’t know,” said Josh. “I just got here.”“I’m looking for a place to stay with my baby,” said Amber. “I think I wouldn’t mind settling here. It seems nice, especially compared to the place I came from.”
Stacie didn’t say anything and just stared out the window.
“Stacie, what are your plans?” asked Mrs. Lamont.
“Yeah, what about you?” echoed Josh.
“This place will always be home for me,” she said. “But I’m going to keep traveling on. I’ll be back soon enough though. That’s for sure. Josh thought Mrs. Lamont seemed slightly upset at Stacie’s answer, but he couldn’t be sure.

Chapter 4

Jenn wandered off. She walked a long way past rolling hills, and valleys. Jenn noticed the unusual trees and flowers. Jenn walked until she was almost exhausted. Soon she came to what looked like a farm. There was a short little path. At the end of the path a man was sitting on a stump whittling a stick.
Jenn walked up to him. "Where's the nearest town?" she asked.
"Well," he said stroking his imaginary beard. "Rome is a few miles ahead in the same direction you were going. But if I were you I wouldn't stay there."
"Why, is there something wrong with it?'
"No, not really. But you can get into all kinds of
trouble if you don't know the rules. They're not hard to
follow, but sometimes they can be pretty ridiculous.
Besides, the folks there aren't as friendly as they are in the
rest of these parts."
“Well, I've got to stop at some town, and as long as I
can stay a night and move on, it can't be too bad."
"Just as long as you do that. But personally it's not
my favorite place.”
Jenn thanked the man and continued walking. Pretty soon
she came to what was obviously a large city. Jenn saw tall
buildings and wide streets and cement sidewalks. People were
running around like they had everywhere to go and no time to
get there. It was like every other cement jungle she had
ever seen. But there were no cars. Jenn hadn’t seen a single
car since she got here, so she shrugged it off and didn't pay much attention to it.
Jenn ran into a woman who looked like she knew where she was going . " Excuse me, do you know of a place I could stay?"
"Well, since you don't have any reservations, the only place I can think of would be the slop house downtown.."
"How do you get there?”
"Do you have any tokens?" Jenn shook her head. "Well you'll have to walk. It's about 20 blocks ahead. You'll have to look for it because it's easy to miss."
Jenn thanked her and continued walking. As she was walking she noticed several orange and yellow vehicles that looked like electric trolleys. She also noticed that the buildings were very colorful. Jenn continued to walk. It seemed like she would never get there. Each block seemed to be longer than the last. Jenn began to notice that people on the trolleys were wearing yellow or orange shirts and the people walking frantically on the sidewalks were wearing either blue, green, yellow, or orange shirts. Reflecting back she realized that the woman who had given her directions wearing orange and she herself was wearing a yellow tye-dye shirt. She thought about this for a while and decided it must have something to do with the transportation they took. Maybe it referred to social status or a caste system.
Finally, Jenn got to the slop houses. Unlike the rest of the city the buildings here were a drab gray. They were unkempt, shoddy buildings. People hurried even faster past this part of the city. Jenn walked up one of the slop houses. The place was ominous. The door was old and unkempt and many of the windows were broken. Jenn could hear people screaming and arguing.
As she walked to the door Jenn shuddered. She sighed accepting that she didn't have much choice. A man beckoned her to his desk.
"May I see your card, please?" he asked politely
"What card?" she replied, startled.
"Visa or American Express. Your credit card, miss.
With a second glance Jenn realized he looked rather kind, and although the place was old, it was still warm, clean, and hospitable. She took out her Visa, which she had in her wallet, and placed it on the counter.
The man took it and ran it through his register."Excuse me, but this doesn't seem right. My system doesn't recognize your name." Jenn discovered that she had been naive and dumb trying to pay by credit card as usual. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to call the police."
Jenn sat down to think it over. She didn't have much time because he came quickly. "You're under arrest. Come with me," said the officer, who was wearing a yellow uniform. He had an unusual uniform. It was more like a chef’s uniform than the typical police officer's.
"On what charge?" she asked holding her arm out to be handcuffed.
"Not registering, of course. " he replied. Just walk this way." She put her arms down when she realized he wasn't
going to handcuff her.
Jenn was escorted down the street into a large rainbow
colored building. As they walked in and down the hail, she noticed that all the rooms were painted a single color. The
officer, whose name was Rob, led her to the front desk which
was brown.
"What is the charge?" asked the secretary at the desk. She was dressed in orange.
"Not registering," the officer replied.
"How unusual." The secretary looked up from her computer in order to scrutinize Jenn more carefully. "That
would be a 1017 A. All the way back, last room on your right."
He led her back to another desk with another secretary. This time the room was assigned. "What number?" asked the secretary.
"1017 A."
"Ah, yes," he said. "That would be failure to register. Put her in 1739. Let her stay with one of her own kind."
This time the officer led her to a cell. It was a
typical looking cell with bars and two bunks, except that it
was rainbow colored. There was already a guy on one of the
bunks. So, exhausted from walking all day, she took the
second bunk and fell right asleep.

Chapter 3

Starr walked on through the trees and couldn't help noticing how tall and brilliantly colored they were. They were like no trees she had ever seen. Starr walked onward and came to a valley. There were far fewer trees here and many people were running, dancing, playing, and working. They were all behaving rather bizarrely, however. Starr wasn't quite sure what was so unusual about them.
"Greetings, newcomer. Where are you from? Why have you
come?" asked a spacey girl. She was wearing a very colorful free flowing dress. "Come, join us."
Starr was very startled by this strange girl. "I am
Starr. I do not know where I am from or why I am here. Where are we?"
"Of course. We are all wandering travelers. Are we not? As for this place, it has no name that we know of. It is
here. We are travelers borrowing from those that come before
us. It is not ours to name. We cannot name it." The girl,
who still had not explained much, motioned for Starr to follow her. She led Starr further into the clearing.
"We will gladly share with you. Come, you must be
hungry. Eat with us and learn from us as we learn from you,"
the girl continued.
"Thank you. What is your name?" asked Starr.
"My apologies. My name is Full Moon." She had brought Starr to a large blanket covered with many different kinds of food. Some people were already laughing and eating. There
were many cheeses, fruits, beans, vegetables, and lots of
other dishes, some of which Starr had never seen before.
Starr and Full Moon sat down next to a couple that looked very much like Full Moon. "This is my father Wise
Lover and my mother Tara. Mother, father, this is Starr who is looking for that which she does not know."
Wise Lover was also dressed in a colorful robe like
Full Moon's. Tara however, like her name, was more
contemporary. She was wearing a bell bottomed blue jeans and
light brown spaghetti strap shirt. Starr looked around and
noticed that people were wearing all manners of clothing.
Some were very fancy and some were more practical. They
spanned every fashion Starr could think of and some she
never had. Some were not wearing any clothing at all. It was
because of these people that Starr noticed something rather unusual about them. All of these people had rainbow colored
skin that spiraled outward from their hearts.
"Eat with us," commanded Wise Lover. "There is enough
for all." Starr did as she was told, she decided on the most
familiar thing to her and took an apple and a roll. Tara
poured out what seemed to be lentil soup. Starr ate her meal
as she conversed with these people.
They sat Indian style on a small section of the
blanket. "Who are you? I have never seen people like you."
asked Starr.
"We are who we are. We are simply wandering travelers
like yourself. We live as we do because it is the best for
our world and us." replied Full Moon.
"What is this place? What is it for?" Starr tried
again.
"This is where we are. Here is here. We are here and that is all that matters. We have simply gathered here for
the moment," answered Tara.
Starr finished eating in silence as she pondered the strangeness of her new friends. She did not ask any more
questions, realizing the futility of it. Starr simply
observed as the others ate. She did not see any arguments,
just people enjoying a communal meal.
The silence was not long. "You may stay with us,"
offered Wise Lover. "This place is free for all."
"If you do not have bedding we will provide," echoed Tara. “All are welcome, fine friend."
Starr decided to take them up on their offer. "Yes, I will stay here and meet my friends tomorrow."
"Good. It is settled then," replied Wise Lover. "Full
Moon, Show her where we sleep."
Full Moon led Starr to a large tent. Inside the tent were a few sleeping bags, some cooking pots, and backpacks.
In the corner was what looked like a wooden flute. Full Moon
pointed to one of the sleeping bags. "You may sleep here.
This is for our guests."
"Thank you," replied Starr.
"I would gladly help a fellow traveler." As she spoke
Starr and Full Moon heard music coming from where they had
just eaten. They left the tent and went back out to the
valley. Starr saw people dancing (if that is what you would
call it) to the strangest music. Full Moon took her by the
hand and led her to the people. "Come dance with us."
Starr danced for a while, but soon she grew tired.
Dancing was not really her style. She enjoyed watching
though. The people danced freedom and community. Their music
inspired a kind of magic.
"Mysterious, aren't they?"
"Who?" asked Starr.
"The travelers. At least that's what everyone else
calls them.
"They kept talking about that. Who are they really?“
“I don't even know and I've lived with them for months. They wander about from place to place, and share everything they have. It's rather bizarre. I really don't
know much else about them."
"So, are you living with them?"
"Yeah, that's kinda stupid," though Starr. "he seems interesting, but I have no idea what to say now."
"Maybe I'll see you in the morning?" he asked.
"Sure, that would be nice.
The dude walked away. "I'm kinda tired. I have to go now.”
"Wait! What's your name?" but he had already walked away. At that moment Starr decided to stay with these "Travelers" as they were called. Starr sat, thinking about this. Skeptical as usual, however hopeful, she found it hard
to believe that new world she had suddenly brought herself
into was as good as it seemed. For all she knew their food
might even poison her. Or what if a day was long as a year
and so was night? Eventually she decided not to worry about
this, because there really was nothing she could do about
it. At least they were friendly. Well, they seemed friendly anyway.
Starr looked up from her thoughts and saw Full Moon
beckoning her to follow her. As she got up she realized that
the music had stopped and most of the people had left.
"Come, its time to rest." said Full Moon. "The night will not be long enough." Starr followed her once again. This time as she crept into the tent Wise Lover was playing the strange wooden flute. It was a haunting melody, yet
peaceful.

Chapter 2

Josh walked down the stone path toward the purplish
building. He could hear strange, haunting, loud, and
exciting music coming from it. As he went inside he saw some
people dancing, some people talking and a group of people
surrounding what seemed to be a guru or a hypnotist with
long hair, dressed in long flowing robes.
He spotted a girl who seemed remotely interested in him and walked over to her. " What's going on here?" he asked.
"You're not from around here, are you?" she asked.
"This is only the coolest place in town. It's Club Nuevo.
Everybody comes here."
"But who's that?" he asked as he pointed to the
long haired hippie-like person.
"Whoa, you're really not from around here, are you?
That's only the greatest man who ever lived. I can't believe you've never heard of Darien Mallory. He's the one who's
responsible for all this.
"What- this club?"
"Have you been in a coma or something, dude?"
"Something like that."
"No, Darien is responsible for the revolution. Don't
tell me you haven't heard of that- oh yeah. Well, about ten
years ago when I was 8 or 9, this guy got this big idea
that we should just abolish all government and live how we
wanted to. What he was saying seemed really good and for some reason people listened to him. I really don't
understand all of it, but it seems to me that for the most
part, it's a lot better than it used to be."
"And so what do you do now?"
"Well, some of us do what we always did. There are still some people who insist in living in red taped bureaucratic societies. But for the most part, there are so
many people who don't that it's pretty much voluntary."
"But what about you?"
"I hang out here, there, explore. I pretty much live
off the land and what people share with me. I really enjoy
this kind of freedom and I'm taking the opportunity to
explore and learn as much as I can."
"Cool. Wanna go get a drink? Or don't people drink
here?"
"Of course. Why not? But there's a group of people I know who are going to play jump. Come with me."
The girl led Josh into the woods. They traveled down a
long path, talking as they went. They laughed and joked as they went along just generally enjoying the day. As they
talked, they both felt as if they had met a kindred spirit.
He learned that her name was Stacie and she had been living
like this for a year.
The woods were like none Josh had ever seen. And he was
almost as impressed with them as he was with Stacie. There
were all kinds of bright beautiful flowers. The trees looked
like they were miles high and might never end.
Before long they came to a fenced in clearing. Inside
the clearing was a courtyard with two poles on either end.
Each pole had round metal rings attached to it. The ground was made up of what looked like green, orange, and purple
sand all swirled together. No one else was there yet.
"Where is everyone?" Josh asked.
"They'll be here soon enough," said Stacie. "Why don't we practice?"
"I don't know how to play."
"It's easy. I'll teach you. There are two teams of
people. Each team is trying to throw the ball into one of
those two nets while bouncing the ball to move it," she
explained as she dribbled the ball.
Josh immediately caught on. "Like basketball."
"What?"
"Never mind." Josh took the ball and slam-dunked it.
She just stood there shocked and impressed."I've never seen anyone do that before. It's not against the rules, but wow! What do you call that?" she babbled.
"A slam dunk," he answered. "Now let's just play." So they did. It was a pretty even game, with some fast
moves from both of them, but it was just a game after all. Soon Stacie's friend's showed up. Mark had a Mohawk,
and was wearing baggy camouflage shorts. Paul had spiked hair and the same camo shorts. In fact the entire group, Drew, Dan, Gordo, Penney, and Skye all had on camo shorts. The two girls had on shirts with PRO Chice written on them. "What are those strange symbols on your shirt?" he
asked, puzzled.
"Where did you say you are from?" Stacie demanded yet
again.
"I didn't. It doesn't really matter. I'm not sure I
could explain it to you as I'm not sure where I'm from
anymore," he tried to explain. "So what does it mean?"
"That's our band Pro Choice" answered Penney. Mark
plays the zyther. I play fender. Dan sings and plays back-up
zyther, and Paul just plays xylophone and looks good. Skye,
Drew, and Gordo are just part of our road crew, our
entourage." Penney pointed out everyone as she spoke.
"So, why Pro-Choice? Do you believe in abortion or
something?" asked the always curious Josh.
"Abortion?" Drew looked puzzled." Nah, we just kinda believe that everyone has the right to make their own
decisions about what to believe, and for the most part, what
to do," he paused before adding, "by the way, I'm Drew, he's
Dan. Penney likes to make things confusing."
Drew, Dan, and Penney seemed to be aggressive players.
Gordo rounded out their team. Five against four wasn't
really fair (Stacie, Josh, Mark, Paul, and Skye) but it
didn't seem to matter. The four beat the five in game after
game until it began to get dark
Afterwards, Dan invited Stacie and Josh to spend the
night at their house. " I don't know. I just met you. I feel
like I would be imposing," Josh said reluctantly as he
realized he wouldn't mind getting to know his new friends (especially Stacie) better.
"Come on," Stacie begged. "Where else are you going to stay. They have a really big house."
"I guess so, I wasn't planning on meeting my friends
until tomorrow, anyway." Josh went off with them to their beautiful house that they seemed to share with every nature of vagabond and drifter. Josh looked forward to his stay here. He was eager to learn as much about this new world as he could and was sure these colorful people could tell him much about it.

Chapter 1

     It had been raining all day. It was one of those monotonous rains that isn't quite stormy

enough to be exciting, and isn't quite warm or sunny enough to be fun. It was just hour
after hour of bleak dreary rainfall. And the dreariness of the rain and of the chilly spring
weather didn't help anyone's mood much. It had been a long hard year. Classes had ended
last week so all they had left was exams. Those were pretty much over too. They were so
weak and weary that by their last exam they weren't thinking, they just wrote and filled
in bubbles, like every other student in each class of the uniform building.
    After meeting they subconsciously decided to go home together. But they were lethargic
and exhausted. They all decided, without expending the effort to discuss it, to ride the
humdrum drab gray bus home. When they got off the bus they still weren't talking. They
didn't even stop to say hello to their landlord, Paul. They were tired and exhausted and
took the droll boring elevator up to the second floor.
    Once in their small flat featureless apartment they were so drained they decided (without any effort) to order a pizza. But when the lifeless pizza arrived they neglected to
remember to tip the delivery boy or eat the pizza, despite how famished they were.
Exhausted, bored, and vacuous they decided it was too late. There was nothing left to
do. They just crawled into bed and fell asleep. It had been a long year and they had an
awesome summer ahead of them.
    It was a big surprise the next day when they decided to explore. The sun had finally come out and it was beginning to get warm. It was one of those days where you just look for
adventure. But for some reason, instead of exploring
the city, they decided to explore the apartment grounds. They had lived there about 6
months and were just beginning to get settled in. It was actually Jenn who came up with
the idea.
    "We should do something exciting. I love days like this; when I was little I used to go
exploring in the woods after a dreary spring rain"
    "There's nothing open this early," replied Starr "Besides, I just want to sleep."
    "It's too early to get up," echoed Josh, rolling over in his sleep. "Do we have any pizza?"
    Starr handed Josh one of the slices leftover from last night."Go back to sleep, you stupid lug," teased Starr, hitting him with a pillow.
    "I heard there's a haunted garden in the back," continued Jenn.
    "Whoever heard of a haunted garden? Gardens are enchanted, graveyards are haunted."
    "Haunted, enchanted. What's the difference?"
    "Hey! Jenn what did you do with my black T-shirt?" Josh loudly interrupted, jumping
onto the couch and knocking the two girls off.
    "Hey yourself! What'd you do that for?" asked Jenn hitting him. "Besides all your T-shirts are black."
    "Ouch! That hurt!" cried Josh. "I mean, the one you borrowed."
    "I'm still wearing it."
    "Oh. Well then, can I borrow your Superman tee?'
    "If you can fit in it.
    Starr looked over at Jenn. ”You’ve got pizza all over that shirt.”
    “Damn. I guess I’d better go change.”
    Jenn walked into her room and changed her shirt. She came out wearing a bright yellow tye-dye shirt. Starr and Josh stared at her. “I haven’t done any laundry in a while. It was the only thing left.”
    “Isn’t it a little bright?”
    “Yeah, well.. It's about time things changed a little around here.”
    Now that they were all dressed, fed, and busy wondering why these three good friends had ever decided to share an apartment, they began looking for the garden. The apartment Starr, Jenn, and Josh lived in was less of an apartment and more of a house. In fact it was a
mansion. Paul had inherited an antebellum home from his grandmother. It was too large
for one person to live alone in, so he rented its many rooms out to students from the local
university.
    Along with the house Paul had inherited 90 acres of land. It was this land the trio had set out to explore. Jenn led everyone out to the vast expanse of woods
surrounding the place. The three found a path and followed it, excited with the possibility
of an adventure, yet still tired from the last few weeks.
    "I'm hungry," Josh complained.
    "You’re always hungry, but you never bring any food," Jenn teased him as she tossed him a granola bar.
    "I'm hungry too. How long have we been out here?" Starr complained as she looked at
her watch. "It's one p.m. We've been out here almost 3 hours. Maybe we should go back,"
she pleaded.
    "I brought lunch and we don't have to be anywhere anytime soon," Jenn countered.
    "Look!" Josh said, pointing ahead. "There's a stone wall with ivy growing in it just ahead. Do you think that's the wall to the garden?"
    "I don't know," said Jenn. " Let's try and see over the wall." They ran over to it, but none of them were tall enough to look over the wall. Josh found a crack that they could all look through, however. Inside the walls they could see what they thought looked like flowers
or trees, but the crack was too small to really see anything.
    "Where's the gate?" asked Starr.
    "It has to be here somewhere," said Jenn. "If we keep following this wall we'll find it.”
    After about another hour of searching they finally found it. The gate was huge and white. It was made of wood without any cracks or spaces in it. It was so large you couldn't see
through it, around it, or under it. It was so overgrown with ivy that if they had not been
searching for it, they probably would not have found it; they would have passed it by.
    When they entered the garden the cool spring breeze suddenly became much warmer.
The sun was much higher in the sky and had a pinkish-reddish glow. "What happened?"
asked Josh. "Where are we? As they looked around, they saw how much more colorful
everything was. The trees were not green and brown, but many had trunks of red, gold,
and blue. The leaves were iridescence. They looked at each other and realized that not
only were their surroundings different colors, so were they.
    Josh's normally black hair had turned to hues of reds and brilliant gold's. The dozens
of spikes on his head were each a different color. Their skin was also different colors.
It was no longer one solid color. Different hues centered from the heart and changed as
they moved outwards spiraling in a rainbow of bright colors- of course they could not see
this yet, but would eventually come to realize it. Only the color of their clothing had not
changed.
    They agreed to split up and explore, and  to meet the following day where they had come in, at the gates. Josh went towards a purplish building with strange
haunting music coming from it. Starr decided to explore a wooded area she had seen off
in the distance. Jenn wasn't quite sure where she was going to look, but she was going to
find out as much as she could.

welcome to my novel

Yep, I decided to publish the thing after all. I counted how many chapters I have and I've got 11 posts before I have to write anything new. So at 1 post a week, that would be almost 3 months before I have to write anything, but I'm not that cruel.
Feel free to comment and feel free to come up with suggestions for a title.