Greetings from the other side of the screen! I'm William White, and today I'll be presenting the second chapter of The Endless World project.
If you haven't read the previous chapter, you can do so here.
If you want to read the next one,
Nice to meet you!
Chapter 2 of The Endless World
The next day, Daisy came home and found her father sleeping soundly on the sofa.
“Dad!” She tried to wake him up.
“Dad?” She shaked him lightly on the shoulder. “Rough night, huh? Ha ha ha!”
“What?” he growled. “No… actually, yes… but not the way you think. What time is it?” He tried to open his eyes.
“It's almost noon,” she said, slightly amused as she looked around the surroundings. There were dirty plates on the table, an uneaten meal, glasses of wine, and some fruity mess blurred on the floor.
“Noon!” he exclaimed in horror. “The liquid in the tube. We're going to explode. I've slept terribly... terribly long.”
“Dad? What…”
“I'll explain later.” he said quickly and got up, but his legs appeared to be tangled in the blanket and he collapsed to the floor.
“Quickly… I have to…” he stood up again, panicked, and rushed into the bedroom but immediately pulled back. The goat had already stood on its hind legs, almost to the ceiling. There was no sign of the two strangers. “Ah, they're gone, and this thing is still here. Oh no!” The water in the tube has almost reached that fiery thing. There's maybe less than an inch left, and… “it's going to blow up here.”
“Who are 'they'?” Daisy asked, trying to understand the situation. “What's going to explode? Dad? What's going on here?”
“How should I know? Let's go, and I'll explain later. Come on.”
At that moment, the sound of something breaking came from the kitchen. They froze in place and held their breath, listening. A murmur was heard from inside, in an unknown language, and another sound too, as if someone was pushing the glassware with their foot.
“What the...?” He reached the baseball club. “You stay here,” he turned to Daisy and gripped the lumber even tighter. “This time I'm prepared.”
“How so this time?” she hurriedly/worriedly hissed. “What happened last time?”
He stopped moving for a moment. “I don’t know… I can’t remember,” he whispered, and then quietly stepped toward the kitchen. He could hear the unfamiliar speech more and more clearly.
His daughter, of course, decided that it was safest to be near him and imperceptibly tiptoed next to his back. Furthermore from this position she could peer curiously ahead. Leonard gave the door a slight push.
The picture that unfolded before their eyes was... unexpected, to say the least. There was food scattered on the kitchen table: bread, a jar of peanut butter, and a plate. One of the foreigners was holding a slice of bread and was saying something to the other, who was just standing up with the pieces of the broken plate in his hands. Now he could examine them more thoroughly.
They had taken off their cloaks, and now the large pieces of light turquoise cloth hung carefully draped over the backs of the chairs. The garments they wore underneath were no less strange. As if to match the dark face and hair of this broad-shouldered youth, his clothes were entirely the same color. There was also protective black armor on the chest, arms, and legs, made of a material resembling animal skin. In contrast, the taller and fairer young man was casually dressed in a faded orange T-shirt and pants.
In an effort to get a better look, Daisy leaned against the door, and it creaked telltale. With synchronized movement, the young men looked up at them. Their gazes met, and they all froze for a moment in awkward thoughts.
The indecision hanging in the air ended when the girl jumped out from behind her father and, with a wide smile, almost shouted, “Hi! Nice to meet you!”
This sudden appearance seemed to throw the orange-clad man off balance. His eyes widened in surprise, and then he dropped the shards of glass onto his feet in an attempt to wave in greeting.
Meanwhile, the other alien disappeared from his place and seemed to materialize next to Leonard. With a gentle and routine movement, he pulled the bat from his suddenly unresisting hands.
Without even noticing this, Daisy rushed over to see if the boy had injured himself.
“Did you get hurt?” she asked worriedly.
“Hur’?” he repeated in bewilderment.
“Do you speak English?”
“No, he's not talking. He's just grinning like an idiot,” Leonard said sourly, still looking at his empty hands and trying his best to avoid the dark gaze of the young man next to him.
“Did you hurt, I ask you?” Daisy insists. “Ouch!” she said, pointing at his leg. “Ouch!”
Finally, the tall, sandy-haired young man understood what she was asking him and repeated, "Ouuu!” without much overplay. At the same time, he was shaking his head vigorously, which confused Daisy.
“Can I look?” She pointed to his leg and leaned over, but he, not understanding what she was asking, wanted to look too, and they bumped their heads. A moment of amazement followed—a smile, a smile…
“I'll just take a look,” she said slowly, carefully lifting his trouser leg. “Oh, no problem,” she smiled reassuringly. "Just a scratch.”
“Ju’ a rat’.” he tried to repeat, but some consonants seemed to be resisting him. “Ouuu’!”
“The taller he is, the weaker he is in the head,” commented Leonard.
“Dad!” his daughter said reproachfully. She put her hand on her chest. "My name is Daisy.”
The young man understood and said his name in the same way, but it sounded so unfamiliar. Smiles, smiles, and... they both wanted to say something but gave up because they realized that nothing would come of it.
“Okay,” she said decisively. "No matter what language they speak, everyone can draw.”
She ran to her room and brought a clipboard and a pencil. She drew a large daisy and turned the clipboard toward him.
“I am Daisy,” she repeated, pointing to herself.
“Oh,” the boy said, intrigued, picking up the clipboard but dropping the pencil. He performed a complicated and awkward squat, then stood up and finally tried to draw something, but he didn't like the result. His next move was to simultaneously place his left hand on the clipboard and at the same time to hold it because he was keeping the pencil with his right. Fortunately, he had a knee “at hand,” but of course, it didn't work. Finally, he dropped everything on the floor, bent over again, picked it up awkwardly, and handed it back to Daisy. Boldly, he placed his hand against the wall, spread his fingers wide, and traced it. He said that strange-sounding name again and pointed to himself and then to the drawing.
“A hand?” she said. ”You are a hand? No, you are not a hand. You are handy... oh, you are Handy.” She laughed, and then he laughed too, apparently pleased that she was cheering. “You are Handy, yes. I can see it. And he, what's his name?” She pointed to the other one, who was standing slightly to the side, chewing his slice and critically observing the scene.
“Oh,” Handy exclaimed cheerfully, and drew, again on the wall, something that looked a lot like a crab... oh yes, it definitely had claws.
“Oh, then you're Crabby. You have quite strange names.”
Crabby, without much enthusiasm, repeated his new name, then mumbled something again and headed toward the bedroom.
“Okay,” Leonard said, half to his daughter and half to the two young men, “if you guys get along so well, tell them to get their goat and get out of my bedroom.” Then he also headed in the same direction.
“Why are you so sour?” Daisy called after him. "Look, they are very nice guys.”
“Nice?”
“It sounds like the meeting last night didn't go so well, right?” Daisy asked suspiciously.
“Unfortunately, yes. And that is because of your new friends and their goat.”
Handy greened, carefully took his new plate, and followed them.
And right at that time, a blinding white light burst forth from the bedroom again, followed by a deafening wolf howl. The reactions were completely different. Leonard lay on the floor and shouted at Daisy to do the same. The girl, for her part, just stood there, stunned, wondering what was happening. Hendy smiled and took a bite of his slice with great pleasure, while Crabby only frowned. Later, we will find out that the latter's reaction is perhaps the most adequate given the circumstances.
To Leonard's great relief, the house didn't blow up, and it seemed like he was the only one who was worried about this possibility. Visibly amused, with gestures and a mouth full, Handy invited them to come and see what was going on inside the bedroom.
For just a moment, the goat could be seen standing fully upright on two legs, and then a wave of steam enveloped it, filled the entire room, and slowly began to crawl down the corridor. They both stepped cautiously under the casual prompting of Handy.
At first, the feeling was quite uncomfortable, as the steam was very thick, and they could barely see each other. Then it got even worse when the wolf howl rang out again and suddenly the image of a large wolf appeared from the fog, right in front of them. Daisy quickly found her father's hand and clung to it painfully. No, it wasn't a real wolf. More like a three-dimensional image of fire. The beast lifted its head and howled again. Then it looked at them and the flames in its eyes were burning even more fiercely. The image tore in two, and each half took the shape of a goat. The images grew significantly. The two animals stood facing each other, lowered their heads menacingly, then majestically stood on their hind legs and lunged at each other.
There was a crack from the collision of their heads, and another explosion of light engulfed everything around them. Even with their eyes tightly closed, the light was too strong.
Slowly, slowly… as if centuries had passed, its power diminished, and it shrank to a small fiery sphere that slowly rotated on its axis. A long tongue of fire slid down from it and made a large, smooth curve twisted like a helix under the ball... and more... and more... the burning shape lengthened hypnotically.
“Wow,” Daisy said enthusiastically, “that was amazing. What was that, anyway?”
Handy pointed to his peanut butter slice and said something they didn't understand, but his gestures suggested that when these things happen, it's time for eating... and fun... and rest.
And now that the fog had melted, he crouched down and pointed to the sign that was currently glowing on the frosted ground.
“Mealtime, huh? And this?” Daisy asked, pointing to another sign.
Handy carefully brushed the crumbs from his clothes into the plate and then, failing to find anything else, began to wipe the grit from the stone with his sleeve.
“Work?” Daisy guessed.
“Wor’?” Handy repeated, continuing to shake his head and smile broadly.
“I've heard of a little crazy country,” Leonard intervened impatiently, "where they do these things exactly like you, upside down... but I guess you're not even from there. Where are you from, really?” he asked pointedly.
“Yes,” Daisy answered for them, “I have an idea.” She took out her phone, opened the translator, tapped on a language selection, and handed it to the young man to choose his. Handy’s gaze went over all the suggestions, but in the end he just nodded.
Without much noise or fuss, Crabby approached to take a look at the device.
“Nodding would mean he doesn't find his language there,” Leonard summed up, and then pointed to himself and said, “We are here, and where did you come from?”
Handy repeated the same.
“Okay,” said Leonard, “now I'll be a monkey too.” And he did a funny pantomime with the ceiling splitting, the goat falling, the sounds, the lights, then the two of them appeared and… everyone laughed together, but in the end it seemed to work. Now Handy's expression lost its naive character, and his features revealed concentrated thought. Finally, he seemed to have made a decision and boldly pointed at the ceiling. Leonard burst into hysterical laughter, but the young man remained unduly serious, which forced him to suppress it. The boy took the clipboard and began to draw something with a steady hand. Leonard approached reservedly and peeked in.
“Aha, a coordinate system,” he said, surprised. “Strange… very strange system. The units of measurement are completely unfamiliar, the curves make strange bends. A formula, if it is a formula at all… out of the question! Crazy work! I have never seen anything like that.”
Confusion, contradictory gestures, others of a completely unrecognizable nature and... in the end, it became clear that he didn't understand anything.
Then Handy came up with another kind of explanation and made two dots at the two opposite ends, tore the sheet from the clipboard, folded it, bringing the two dots together, and for clarity, pierced them with a pencil.
“Hey, I've seen that somewhere,” Leonard exclaimed.
“Wow, you come from outer space, from another planet!” Daisy almost screamed with excitement.
And she, in turn, began to explain something that completely confused Handy.
“Planets, stars... what galaxy are you from?” she shot out one after another. Then she ran to her room and brought a globe, which the boy looked at quite suspiciously.
He frowned and seemed to refuse to listen any longer. Then, again, he seemed to have another idea and headed for the kitchen.
“I think he is getting hungry again,” Leonard said boredly.
Daisy gave him a rather unpleasant look, and then they both reached a silent agreement to follow him. He entered the kitchen, leaned over the cupboard like a giant wading bird, and, after a brief swaying back and forth, found a clear glass cup.
“Oh, you're thirsty,” Daisy exclaimed, rushing to show him how to get water from the tap. At first, it startled him, but then it became a game. Leonard just groaned and searched Crabby's gaze but found nothing abnormal in it. Daisy gestured to him how to drink, but he refused, the wrong way around of course, turned purposefully to the table and dipped his finger in the peanut butter. He took it out carefully and examined it. Tried to shake some of it into the glass, but it didn't work very well, so he asked Daisy for help.
“You want to put something in the water?” she tried to guess. “Something small? No. Something oily? Yes, yes. Something oily. But? Something slimy…, no? Something more liquid, dripping, yes, oil, vegetable oil.”
“Everyone knows that oil and water don't mix, right…” Leonard muttered to himself.
Pleased that she understood, Handy took the bottle with a smile and, after a brief struggle with the cap, poured a small amount into the glass and solemnly handed it to Daisy.
“What should I do with it?” she asked.
He gestured for her to look inside, licked his peanut butter finger and pointed first at the water, then at her, Leonard, and everything around.
“The water is ours?” she tried to guess again. “No?” Gestures. “We are in the water.” Gestures. “We are the water, right?” Daisy asked.
A denial, which in his case meant an affirmation. Then he pointed to the oily layer floating on the surface of the water and then to himself, and Crabby, and... maybe the goat.
“You know, Daisy,” Leonard said, “that oil is lighter than water, and that's why it floats on top.”
“Aha,” she said, and took the glass, carefully watching Handy as he tried to explain that she had to stir the liquids in it. “Okay,” she said, “I'll mix them.”
She took a spoon, dipped it in, and swirled the liquid slightly.
“Water can never mix with oil,” Leonard continued to mutter. “They are simply two fundamentally different substances, and that is why…”
“So, this is exactly what he wanted to say: that if we are the water and they are the oil, we can live in almost the same place without knowing each other. And that with a sheet of paper a moment ago… yes, we are both too close and unreachable far away.”
Handy watched with genuine curiosity the sparkles in her eyes and smiled mildly.
“Ahaa… then, then you are from another dimension?” exclaimed the girl in amazement.
“Nonsense!” moaned Leonard.
“Parallel reality!” Daisy continued to marvel. “Look, they've settled into layers again. Aww, this is getting more and more exciting.”
At that moment Leonard's phone rang. Crabby immediately stood alert with the bat he had already acquired. Leonard quickly made a reassuring gesture, afraid that he would take his hand away along with the phone.
“Hi, Jeff,” he said quickly, while smiling exaggeratedly at the young man who held the bat with such ease as if it were a toothpick. “Yeah, Daisy told me, but… I’m having a little trouble here. Okay. Yeah,” he decided to seize the moment, “now I can. Send it to me. I’ll look at it right now. Daisy, I have something to do,” he said, still holding the phone to his ear. “I'm going to my office. I'll be right back. If there's a problem, just call me... loudly. I'll be right back in a minute. Keep going, find out more about them if you can... and that thing in my bedroom.”
“Yes, yes,” she said dreamily. “That's exactly what I plan to do.”
Leonard left but didn't close the door completely, and through the crack, he saw Daisy already had the clipboard and was drawing something on it intently. The tall one was standing next to her, silent and peaceful, watching her with keen interest.
“A strange specimen,” Leonard thought. “But he's the least of my worries.”
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I enjoy a lot the interactions between the daughter and the "others". It reminded me that spark of curiosity that all have in us, but somehow forgot 🌹.