A Whole New World

It was 12 am in the morning. Alisha was still talking to her boyfriend on her phone. She was a girl in her 20 s who looked really pretty. Her eyes were blue like pearls and her hair brown like the oak wood. She was very brave and her parents’ only daughter. Whatever she she needed, it was given to her. Her happiness gave them satisfaction.

Suddenly there was a loud thud in her closet.

Alisha said, “Hey, can you hold on for one second?” and went to the closet door. She raised her eyebrow and opened the closet door. There wasn’t anything there other than her coats and dresses. She exclaimed: “These rats are so annoying!” She went back to her bed and picked up the call, which was on hold. She continued talking to her boyfriend. He asked her what the problem was and she said, “Nothing…just the rats!” She and her boyfriend were together for about a year-and-a-half. They were cool and slow with their relationship.

Again, there was a loud bang in the closet but she just ignored it. Alisha said:

“Hey listen, it is getting super late and I need some sleep. I'm very tired!”

“Okay then, I too need sleep. Well then, talk to you later.”

“Yeah, okay. I love you and goodbye.”

“Bye babe, I love you too. Sleep well.”

He then cut the call and Alisha was lying on the bed and rested her phone on her beating heart. She smiled while staring at the ceiling in her room. She lay there thinking about her future with her boyfriend. She was thinking about them living together and having kids. She was excited for her future! While she was thinking about her future there was another loud bang in her closet. She wasn’t scared but was curious. She stood up and quietly walked to the closet.

She held the door knobs in her hands and slowly opened them. Something pushed the door from inside which made it open wide out. The closet opened and out came strange thing! Alisha sat on her haunches with fear. She was scared and petrified! The creature was blue in color and looked similar to a dog but it had tiny wings with white feathers and a small tail that resembled a lion’s tail! It was standing on its hind legs and as he stepped out of the closet there was blue smoke coming out from the back.

He said:

“Hi Alisha, I’m Frencho! I’m from the future! No, I ain't TERMINATOR. No, Arnold is way better than me. I mean he’s so cool right? ‘I need your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle’ Damn, he’s so great!”

Frencho glanced at Alisha at a moment, then said:

“Hey? Are you dumb? Damn-it! Gosh!” Then he looked at the closet and said:

“Hey! Take me back! Take me back!!!”

Alisha tried to open her mouth and speak but couldn’t utter a single syllable. She was dumb-struck! Frencho was pacing across the room. He looked at the potted-cactus on Alisha’s table and touched it but didn’t feel any pain. Once he observed a more things he came near her. The closer he came to her the farther she went. She didn’t want a alien-ish thing in her room coming close to her and all. He did look cute and appealing. He had cheeks which had slight pink color on them.

It looked like he blushed every time he spoke or just stood there observing something or not. Finally after a great effort, she spoke:

“Okay, what are you? How do you know my name? Where are you from? What were you doing in my closet? From how long have you been in my close-”

“Hey, hey! Calm down okay? One question at a time. I ain’t answering one of your dumb school tests okay?”

“Oh, sorry. I just need answers…”

“What if I could take you to a place where all your questions would be answered, would you come?

“Uh…I don’t really know. Mayb-”

“Okay, let’s go!”

“Wha-”

Frencho held Alisha’s hand in his tiny pale paw and said: “Brace yourselves!” Alisha stood up and they both ran inside her closet which was filled with clothes. Actually, there was a portal there. When they ran inside the closet they stepped in a the portal and a blue light zapped both her and Frencho into a whole new world!

Alisha and Frencho were flying in the sky! She saw nothing really clear. It was all like a dream. She pinched herself. Was she in a dream? It did pain her but she still doubted it. As they flew across the sky, her vision was restored and she saw the forests below her. She was passing across Earth. She passed the Canyons and the valleys. She passed the huge desert. She flew across acres of barren land, the wide blue ocean, the streets, etc. She saw houses but no people in them. Animal homes but no animals in them. Flowers but no insects on them.

She had many doubts and questions which, she tried to ask Frencho but all he said was “Just wait and watch.” She was worried. Worried about her parents, her boyfriend and others. What will they do when they find her missing? She had rapid thoughts like when she thought of her future with her boyfriend. She imagined his life without her. What if she would just vanish from people’s lives…like she never existed? Frencho was just looking at the surface they passed. Soon, they were in a dark void.

There was darkness everywhere and plenty of stars. She soon figured out that she was falling out of the world. Alisha and Frencho were leaving Earth and were going to another planet which looked different. Was this a new discovery? Who knew?

As they were proceeding gradually to the new planet, Frencho looked at Alisha and said: “This is it! Be prepared to find answers to your questions!” He smiled at her. She observed the planet.

It wasn’t like the other planets she knew. It had bright, vivid colors and had all the colors ever known to planet Earth. As she was slowly moving towards the planet, she observed that this place between Earth and the new planet is like a black hole. In a black hole, time is always still and so that was why she was moving gradually.

Frencho didn’t say anything. He would glance at Alisha and then look around the starry galaxy. He wanted her to enjoy her time while it lasts. They were close to the new planet. Soon, she reached the planet. She landed slowly on her feet and felt a little bit dizzy with all the flying. It took Alisha some time to feel fine. She walked on a gravel path which looked good because it was made of colored rocks.

There were tiny bushes with flowers at the either side of the walk. “This way! Oh! I can’t wait to show you my home!” said Frencho. Alisha starting keeping everything she saw in her mind. So, she could write an essay about it for her summer project.

They walked for a couple of minutes, talking about random things. During the whole walk Frencho spoke mainly about how much he likes TERMINATOR. He says that he wishes to be in Arnold’s closet someday so that, they could spend time together.

He also promised Alisha that he will show her his room and give her a souvenir to remember her trip here. During the walk, he assured her that she’ll never regret this trip. She didn’t understand half the things he said because he spoke a lot and it was hard to keep track. Soon, they reached near the entrance of the new world and it was guarded by a metal which was new and different.

There was a buzzer there which Frencho pressed. The speaker said:

“You are?”

“My fire, the one desire.” said Frencho.

The gate opened and Alisha saw some creatures that looked just like Frencho. He introduced some girls who were waiting probably for her and they put a necklace made of flowers on Alisha’s neck. One of the girls said:

“Hie, Alisha! We’ve all been so thrilled to meet you! We are called ‘Chimkins’ and we all are really happy you are here!”

Alisha replied to them: “I’m so happy to be here! Thank you for the beautiful necklace Chimkins!”

“Well, I’ll let Frencho take over from here and yes let me tell you something, Frencho talks a lot and if you are bored you can shout out my name anytime, okay?”

Alisha laughed and looked at Frencho who looked angrily at the girl.

“Also, my name is Tweety. And my dear Alisha welcome to our land. Our wonderful, colorful land. Welcome to Rainbow! 

Frencho showed Alisha the way to his house. “This way!” he said, pointing to a gravel walk leading to a neighborhood. In Rainbow, the roads were made of bright colored stones, unlike on Earth where roads are made of stones and tar. The houses were small and these ‘Chimkins’ were really fond of plants. Especially, the ones that bear flowers. They were everywhere! They looked very unique and weren’t like the ones humans have. They were of bright colors and had many petals and less number leaves. Frencho led the way and was whistling all along. He started talking about TERMINATOR again.

Alisha was too bored to pay attention to him talking about Arnold for the 20th time. She interrupted him and said:

“Hey, tell me something about y’all like, how y’all were known and all. Basically, tell me the history of this place.”

“Oh? Where do I start from? Okay,We ‘Chimkins’ have a folk tale that many years back we used to live on Earth with the fellow humans. But one day, the humans threw us out of their homes because they fell in love with dogs! We had a leader named ‘Ticko’ who was very brave and wise. He told the ‘Chimkins’ that we should have our own place like the humans who live on Earth! He took his companion Checko and went off to one of the hills. There they discussed for a place for the ‘Chimkins’ to go to. Checko said that there was a place that he heard the humans talk about called ‘Rainbow’. He said that he once saw a huge human showing a small human something by pointing in the sky. The huge human said: “There a rainbow!” So, they used their powers and built a portal and sent all the ‘Chimkins’ here. The End!”

“And if y’all were thrown out by humans that must’ve made y’all angry. Right?

“Yes. We were very angry.”

“Then why did you come to my closet then?”

“See. We did build a portal but there was one mistake that occurred, about which we don’t really talk about here. And, even I don’t know about it.”

“Oh, okay…”

“Here we are! Home sweet-a home” Frencho exclaimed.

They entered the house and most of the walls were full of huge drawings everywhere. Frencho lived there alone but he said that he had the best neighbor anyone could ever have. Her name was Aunt Girly. She used to prepare desserts and give Frencho to taste. She also used to come over and watch TERMINATOR with him. He then held his room’s door knob in his paw and said: “Be prepared!” and slammed the door open. Alisha saw at least ten posters of TERMINATOR. On the back of the door he has placed a poster that said: ‘Hasta la vista, baby!’ His room consisted of a tiny bed, a window through which you could see the neighborhood and a small night stand with a couple of books in it. Alisha said:

“That’s great! You got TERMINATOR watching you as you sleep. Cool!”

“I know right? I spent so much cash for the posters and all. We ‘Chimkins’ before leaving Earth saw the movie TERMINATOR. That is why Rainbow loves that movie.”

“That’s great stuff. So, how long will I be here in Rainbow?”

“Oh, yeah no. You have to meet our leader Checko and then you can proceed back on Earth.”

“I thought your leader was Ticko.”

“Oh yeah, he was. He had an accident. It was a sorrowful day. We ‘Chimkins’ never have a sad day other than his day. So, we have called his death-day as ‘Ticko Day’ in his honour.”

“Cool. Okay, you know what? I need to go back to Earth soon. I don’t want my parents to be worried about me.”

“Hey, calm down! Enjoy your stay here while you can otherwise you’ll regret it.”

“Okay, but let’s go meet your leader first.”

“Okay! But first your souvenir. Here” He gave her a small doll which had brown hair and a pink dress. It wasn’t neatly made and was stuffed with cotton. Alisha said:

“Thank you so much! This looks so cute! Thank you Frencho.”

“Well, I handmade it. I know it doesn’t look pretty but when they told me I was to meet you I did that as best as I can.”

“Who told you that you will meet me?”

“Oh, Alisha! Time will tell! Time will tell! Okay, we must get going!”

Frencho left his house and started walking towards a huge building which was made of a shiny material. This building was far away but was visible because it was lustrous. So, they began their walk. 

While walking towards the shiny infrastructure, Alisha held the doll given by Frencho tightly in her right hand. She admired the beauty of Rainbow and its fellow ‘Chimkins’. She kept her adventure under scrutiny. She raised her pearl-y eyes to the sky and it seemed as if the sun was setting on the horizon. The sky was filled with colors such as orange, red and yellow. It was a beautiful sight! She glanced at the different neighborhoods she passed and heard statements such as:

“Hey, look a new human being!” or “There she goes!”

The houses were made of colorful rocks and each house had a different color. Frencho was humming and jumping up and down, skipping the rocks. He didn’t say anything instead he let Alisha watch the scenery as they passed some fields and houses. Alisha noticed a few things here in Rainbow. One thing was that no ‘Chimkins’ fought with anyone but lived a happy and contended lives. Another thing was these creatures loved plants and wildlife and that they took good care of them.

Soon, they reached Checko’s building. They walked up a flight of stairs and found him in his so called ‘natural habitat’ i.e. seeing out of the window. Frencho bowed and said,

“Sir, may I present to you, Alisha.”

He turned behind and glanced at her then said:

“Hello, Alisha. Nice to meet you!”

“Nice to meet you too!”

Then he asked her to have a seat and be comfortable. She sat down in front of his table. Checko looked just like the ‘Chimkins’. He was rather little pale in color and had long whiskers. He also wore spectacles. He looked wise and brave. She looked around his room and saw a huge painting of a cherry blossom tree. Near the painting was a table on which a couple of books were laid in a pleasing manner. On his table there was a small plant which resembled a cactus but didn’t have any thorns.

Checko told Frencho to go wait outside and he did. He continued:

“Alisha, I am very sorry for this huge trouble. I bet Frencho must’ve told you the reason for this mistake.”

“He did speak about it but not clearly.”

“Well, when we escaped Earth using the portal we had a small error. Some human being thought it was a toy and tried crashing it. Our systems were down and there was nothing we could do. So, every time this portal occurs in any random person’s closet, etc, we have to give them a travel in our land. If we don’t, the fellow person will try and destroy the portal and this will lead to more problems.”

“Well, I’m really sorry about that. I want to help you. Do you have a portal here? Let me see if I can do anything.”

“We do have a portal. I’ll show you.” He and Alisha teleport-ed to the portal.

She saw some sparks coming out of the portal. She observed it carefully then said:

“Sir, what if we break the portal from your side? Will something terrible happen?”

“I have no idea about that…perhaps you could try.”

She took some rocks and threw them inside the portal. They disappeared. She tried breaking the device through which the portal was displayed but was in vain. Alisha saw the sun slowly setting on the horizon. She thought for a while then asked Checko for the spectacles he was wearing. He handed them over and she kept them in the sky facing towards the device. It slowly started igniting and caught fire.

“It is working!” Alisha exclaimed

Alisha closed her eyes and opened them. She saw everything was blur-y. She sat up straight and saw that she was lying on her bed! She looked at the closet but the door was shut. She raised her right hand as to glance at it and saw the doll Frencho had given wasn’t there. She touched her neck as to see the necklace Tweety had given her, it wasn’t there too. She got up and rushed to her table as she saw something glittery there and it was a note. It said:

“Goodbye Alisha and thank you. Love, Chimkins” And next to the note was Frencho’s doll and the glittery thing was a colorful rock which she had thrown into the portal.

She unlocked her phone as to see the time and it was 1:04 am. The time she left for Rainbow. She wondered if it was a dream but the note proved it wasn’t. How she wished to go back and hear Frencho admire TERMINATOR or see the houses and neighborhoods. She recalled Frencho telling her, “Enjoy your stay here while you can otherwise you’ll regret it.” Indeed, she was regretting it but life goes on! Well, she did enjoy her stay at Rainbow. She told her friends but they didn’t believe her. She referred to Rainbow while talking to her friends as ‘A Whole New World’.