“Well, it looks like we made some progress ‘ere,” Davy commented with a smile. He leaned back on his heels and looked over what he and Micky had accomplished. They had repainted the walls in the living room and built a new desk. They had gone and bought another to replace the one that had been incinerated in the fire.

Micky nodded with a slight smile. Despite the bad situation, even he could see the good in what they had done. “We lost a day, but we caught up,” he agreed with a nod. He peered at his watch. “And it only took us an hour and a half.”

“We don’t ‘ave to meet Mike for another ‘alf-‘our,” Davy reminded him. “Want to get started on the kitchen?” He gestured towards the paint cans they had set aside for that job.

Micky shrugged. “Why not?” he replied half-heartedly as he picked up the paint brushes again.

The two worked in silence for a good fifteen minutes. Both were hard at work and lost in their own thoughts. Micky was wondering to himself what could have caused the fire, and whether or not Jenny would be safe. Davy thought about how he could help Micky in this situation. Unfortunately, neither one had much time to think about these problems, because the phone rang.

Micky and Davy exchanged glances. “I thought the phone wasn’t ‘ooked up yet,” Davy stated.

“So did I,” Micky replied. The phone rang again. Hesitantly, the curly-haired man reached over and picked up the receiver. “Hello?” he asked, hesitantly.

“Mick?” came the garbled voice on the other end. The connection was bad. “You gotta get down here.”

“Mike?” Micky asked. “How did you - ?”

“Never mind that right now, Micky!” Mike snapped through the static. “Just get your butt down here!”

“Why?” Micky asked, but all he got in response was static and a click. Mike had hung up. Micky turned to Davy in confusion. “Mike said to get down there right away,” he reported.

“Then I guess we’d bettah go,” Davy replied. He hopped down from the ladder he was on and went to the sink to rinse off his hands.

“I wonder how he got the number,” Micky wondered as he closed the paint cans.

“I don’t know,” Davy admitted. “Maybe he called information and asked for the address?”

“But the phone’s not supposed to be hooked up,” Micky reminded him. “Unless…”

“Unless?” Davy asked, handing Micky the car keys.

“Unless the phone was never disconnected.” Micky grabbed his car keys and dashed out the door to the car.

“Tom? Tom? Aw man, come on, Thomas. Your mom’s gonna kill me if I bring you back like this!”

Peter pleaded with the unconscious boy, but to no avail. Though he was breathing, and there appeared to be no visible wounds to his body, the boy refused to awaken. Peter was reluctant to take him to a doctor, but something had to be done.

With speeds that were most likely far exceeding the speed limit, he sped towards shore. When he’d reached it, he loaded the boy into the backseat of the car, paused to inform the shop he’d rented the boat and scuba gear from, and raced at equally dangerous speeds into town.

’Can’t take him to a doctor, but he needs something,’ Peter thought. ’Only one place to go.’

He turned off the main road and down a side street, heading for a small one story brown brick building.

’I have been waiting for you here for nearly twenty years,’the figure stated. ’I knew you would eventually find us.’

Thomas could only stare. The creature looked human enough, except for the extra arms and the attachments on his head.

’Does my appearance disturb you?’the creature asked. Thomas could only nod. He felt that must be perceived as incredibly rude, but he could not find it in himself to lie. The creature nodded back, a slight smile appearing on its face in what might be lips. They weren’t human lips, however. They were tinted slightly blue, and were smaller and thinner than a human’s.

Before Thomas could attempt to find his voice, those lips became larger and redder. The appendages on his head shrank inward, and two of the extra arms became invisible. In short, the creature was now human. Through some amazing feat, he was also dressed in a wetsuit similar to Thomas’.

’Is this better?’the creature asked. Thomas could only stare.

’I – um – er – who – er – what are you?’he managed to ask with his mind, as his voice would not work.

’You may call me Kerluc,’ the other replied. Thomas nodded. ’I was a friend of your father’s.’

Thomas blinked. ’My – my father?’he asked. ’You knew my father?’

Kerluc nodded, his now human head bobbing up and down. ’Yes. He was a good one.’

Thomas’ heart sank slightly. ’Was,’he repeated with a solemn ‘voice.’’That means he’s dead now?’

Kerluc shrugged, a purely human response that looked almost inhuman in his borrowed body. ’That I am not at liberty to divulge to you, young one. The answers you seek are not yet ready to reveal themselves to you.’

‘Then why are you here?’ Thomas asked. ’If not to answer me, then what?’

‘Only to tell you that the time is near,’Kerluc answered. ’Your time to learn is fast approaching. If you were able to locate this message, then you are indeed ready for the training that will come.’

‘Aren’t you going to tell me anything useful?’Thomas asked. But Kerluc had already vanished, his parting words lingering on in the boy’s mind. ‘Your time to learn is fast approaching.’

The darkness and water faded around him, and he sat up violently.

Thomas opened his eyes with a jolt. A small Scottie dog was licking his face. He gasped for a moment and then focused his eyes on the dog.

’Dog?’ he wondered. The dog stared at him. He picked it up with his hands and looked around him. He was lying on a small table in a small room, and the dog was sitting on his lap. Nearby, on a small table, was a black and white cat that was licking its paws. The cat paused in its task and turned to the strange boy that had intruded on its activity, but then returned to its grooming, uninterested.

“I must be at the vet’s,” Thomas realized, speaking aloud only to test that he could speak aloud. He wondered why for a moment, and then it all came rushing at him. He had been in the ocean. He must have lost consciousness.

“I probably scared the daylights out of Dad!” he realized with alarm, and hopped off the table.

He ran out the door and found a hallway. Cautiously, he made his way down it, not wishing to disturb any sick animals. A door was slightly ajar about three feet from his own.

“Hello?” he asked, opening the door slightly. A young man in his mid-thirties stood there, tending to an injured bird.

“Hey Thomas,” the man replied, and Thomas immediately recognized Joel, the vet’s assistant/husband.

“Hi,” Thomas replied. “Um – where’s my dad?”

“Ah. I knew you were gonna ask that,” Joel replied. He set the canary he had been petting back in its cage and turned to the boy. “He just left, actually. Said something about having to meet up with his friends.”

Thomas nodded and turned back out the door. “Thanks, Joel. I’d better go meet him.”

“Wait,” Joel called. “How are you gonna get there? Aren’t you sick or something?”

Thomas shrugged. “I have my ways. And I feel fine, man, don’t worry!” He ran through the waiting room and out the front door before Joel could ask another word.

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