Photo by Mitch Teemley

The Wishing Map is a full-length fantasy that is being posted episodically at this site. To read the previous episode, click here. To read the entire novel, begin here.

Zack and Gina had accidentally scattered the mysterious Objects throughout Ismara. And now their Aunt Aloysia demanded to know what happened.

“It was Zack’s fault!” Gina blurted. “He grabbed my hand!”

“Only because I thought you were gonna drop the letter opener into Sur Kellan, and—”

“Wait, wait, wait!” said Aloysia in a flat Midwestern twang. “You dropped the ‘letter opener’ into Sur Kellan and it disappeared?”

“Yeah, but only because Zack knocked it out of my hand! And then we fell over and—”

“And the Objects went everywhere!”

“So, you know where you sent the Revealer?”

“The what?”

“The Revealer. It’s called the Revealer because it can reveal many things, including where the other Objects are!”

“Like GPS!”

“So we just have to get the Revealer and…then what?” asked Zack.

“It must be taken to Zshinia.”

“Right!” said Gina. “And then the Prime Regent can use it to find the other Objects!”

“Yes! And, besides, we promised Aviar—”

“Aviar?” Aloysia reacted. “You met Aviar?”

“Yeah. You know who he is? But how could you—”

“Only heard of him,” she quickly replied.

“Aunt Aloysia,” asked Gina, “how did you end up with the Objects? And the Wishing Map? And what made you think Zack and I were the Two Strangers?”

Aloysia stared at the Dore children for a full minute, and then broke into tears. “So it’s true, isn’t it? You are the Two Strangers.” She pulled them close, and began stroking their hair. “My darlings, I would die before I would let anyone hurt you.” She took a long breath. “Before you were born, even before I met your parents…there was a young man with a secret, one he simply couldn’t bear alone. He was the Courier from Ismara. You know about the Prophecies?”

“Some,” said Gina. “We know about all of the Objects being brought together so the true ruler can be revealed.”

“Only Aviar says Melcarhassen is the true ruler forever,” added Zack, “so why—”

“Aviar does not lack for opinions,” Aloysia noted.

“But the Courier came here a thousand years ago!” said Gina. “So how could—”

“An hour in Ismara is as a minute here, and a minute here is as an hour in Ismara.”

“Huh?”

“That’s why, when you went to Ismara—”

“Only minutes passed here!” Zack aha’d.

“Exactly. So for someone like the Courier who came from Ismara—”

“Only minutes would pass there?” asked Gina.

“Yes, but when the double moon disappears, the connection is broken. During the double moon this world and Ismara are like interlocked gears, spinning in similis. But when they fall ‘out of similis’ time passes independently in each world.”

“But then that means…” Zack suddenly realized.

“That if the double moon disappears while you are in Ismara, you will not be able to return to Middleton.

Zack’s and Gina’s eyes grew as round as double moons.

“There is no time for shilly-shallying!” Aloysia suddenly announced in clipped military British. “You must find the Revealer, transport it to Zshinia, and then come home…

Before it’s too late!

φ

Thoughts: Has anyone ever shared a secret with you that changed your life?

To read the next episode, click here.