Thunk.

Vic rubbed his eyes and massaged his back as he glanced at his surroundings. The world around them was blurry–was this always how it was in the New World?

Tori coughed beside him, and Vic jumped up–then clutched his head as the world turned spinny. Everything seemed to settle down after inhaling a few breaths, and he ran over to his sister.

“Vic!” she exclaimed, then coughed again.

The air smelled toxic as if some kind of stink bomb had gone off everywhere. It smelled like smoke and fish and something cloyingly sweet.

“What’s wrong with the oxygen here?” Tori asked as she coughed again. She gritted her teeth. “I wish we had brought some of that perfume Grandma got me last year. I haven’t used it once, and it would be nice to put it to good use.”

Vic nodded as he fanned the air around him. He glanced at his new environment; there were imposing, tall gray buildings everywhere. Large metallic creatures spewed smoke and zoomed around them on the concrete ground. White and yellow streaks marked the black street, and yellow and red signs stuck out of roads.

Near them were lots of strange sounds: honking, clanking, yelling, and a hard brrrr kind of sound–like the thing you said when you were cold.

Tori raised her eyebrows. “This is…interesting.”

An awkward silence sat between them.

“I guess this wasn’t what you were expecting?” Vic dared to ask.

She waved his words away. “Nah, I’m just surp–”

HONK! HONK HONK! the white chunks of metal screamed. Round rubber wheels located on the bottom of the machines screeched to a stop, barely missing them.

“Move it or I’ll call the cops!” a deep voice yelled from inside of the metal.

Before any of them could think of a reply, another voice began shouting threats. The twins ran across the street and took cover behind a scrawny, grayish tree not long before the machines started moving again.

“That was close,” Vic panted, brushing the dirt now caked on his hands on his pants.

“Why are they so loud?” Tori huffed. “Smelly, too–and so disrespectful. Do they even know who we are?”

“No,” Vic realized. “They don’t.”

Tori sighed and dusted off her hands, gazing up at the tree. It was very short, thin, and, in contrast to the groves in her garden, definitely not healthy. Plus, metal cylinders with red wrapping around them were littered around. There was other trash, too: white bags with red writing, food, and light brown sticks that had some sort of sticky purple substance on them. They read “Popsicle” on the backside.

Vic picked up a dingy brown paper bag. “This is kind of… gross.”

She shrugged. “I mean, there are lots of ways this could be worse.” Looking around, she added, “should we find someone? Who could navigate us?”

“Sure.” Vic followed as his sister opened the door to a very tiny shop. There were only three people inside, and candy bars wrapped in shiny papers and bags of crackers lined the shelves from floor to ceiling.

“This place is weird,” Tori whispered.

Vic nodded, peering around at the things around them.

“I don’t know,” Tori muttered, “but it all seems shady.” She gasped as she read one of the tags. “Five pieces of gold for one bag of these crunchy things?” She squeezed the small yellow bag, and it made a satisfying crackle.

“Well, this place is a rip off,” Vic finished. “Anyway, let’s go get help.”

Tori walked up to a man with a bushy beard and red pants drinking something that had steam wafting out from the mug.

“Hello?” she asked, tapping his back. “Uh, can you tell us where this is? We’re kind of lost…”

The man glared at them. “Do I look like I work here?” he snapped, his beard moving with his mouth. “Go get an employee–and some manners while you’re at it.” He turned back to his flat rectangle, tapping it aggressively. Characters moved across the top, and they ran or jumped whenever the man slid his finger on top of them.

“Hey!” Tori exclaimed. “What are you doing?”

He stared at her blankly, looking annoyed. “Excuse me?”

“You’re hurting those elves!” She grabbed the rectangle from his hands. “Stop! They’re going to get injured. Where I’m from, you’d never be able to harm innocent creatures like that!”

“I beg your pardon!” the man hollered. “Give me my phone back to me this instant! And those aren’t elves! What are you talking about?”

“No!” Tori said stubbornly. “I’ll only give this back if you stop hurting the–”

The man grabbed the rectangle from her hands. “The entirety of kids these days!”

Vic raced past the man, took his sister’s arm, and dragged her far away, ducking them into an aisle with big bags of potting mix. “Tori!” he whisper-shouted. “What are you trying to do? Get us kicked out? Why did you steal the man’s rectangle?”

“Don’t be mad at me–be mad at him! He was punching these elf people inside of the box! It was terrible. Do you think the little guys are hurt? And how did they even get in there? Poor things.”

Her brother raised his eyebrows.

“Still. Even if he was, he’s not our problem. Don’t make a scene. We need to figure out where we are. Okay? Let’s just go ask someone else who can actually help.”

Vic then approached a girl who looked barely out of high school standing behind a clear box. She had blue hair–blue hair!–and blew a big pink bubble out of her mouth. It crackled with every pop.

“Is that girl a fairy, too?” Tori whispered. “Only fairies have colored hair–and her magic power must be blowing bubbles.”

Vic shrugged in return.

“Uh, can you help us?” he asked.

She stayed silent.

“Excuse me?” Tori shouted. “Helloooo?”

The girl frowned and took out a misshapen white plug from her ear. “Sorry, what? I didn’t hear you. Repeat that.”

“Can you help us? We’re lost. Where are we?”

She rolled her eyes, examining her black nails. “This is a 7-11. You’re in Chicago. Get a map. And what are you wearing? Seriously, you should, like, get some hip clothes. You guys look like undercover spies.” She tossed them a large folded paper with all kinds of colored blobs printed on it. “Good luck.” Then the girl jammed the white plug back into her ear and shimmied her hips.

“People here aren’t very nice,” Tori noted, opening up the paper that was supposed to be a map but definitely didn’t look like one. She looked down at her monochrome outfit and black high tops, self-consciously fixing her bun. “And what does ‘hip’ exactly mean?”

Vic shrugged again.

“Maybe we should go back home,” he whispered.

“No.” Tori shook her head. “We only just got here. You can’t be quick to make judgements like that. Don’t jump to conclusions.”

He rolled his eyes but nodded. He once-overed the map and then frowned. “Hey, Tori, do you know how to read this?” Vic squinted at it and turned it to the side.

Tori took it and stared at it like it had all the answers in the world. It didn’t though–sadly. Her head just started to hurt from all the weird rainbow squiggles covering the page. The more she concentrated, the fuzzier everything got.

“I’m not sure,” she finally admitted. “But we don’t need this.” She stuffed it into a pocket on her shorts that were beneath her skirt. Skorts were super comfortable for exactly this reason. “We’re going to explore, right? We don’t need a map to explore! That’s the point–not really knowing where to go but learning and trying cool new things.”

Vic had to agree she had a point. So they left the 7-11 and stood back outside the street with the whizzing pieces of metal and the pathetic trees and trash everywhere.

“I want to go there!” Tori pointed to a bright pink store shaped like an upside-down cone. On the front, it said,  “Sally’s Ice Cream Shop” in big, glowing swirls.

“I wonder what ice cream is?” Tori said while walking through the street. Why did the metal pieces sound like geese? The honking was definitely something in common.

“Maybe it’s frozen cream,” Vic guessed. “Sounds good.”

A small bell tinkled when they walked in. The inside of the shop was refreshingly cold, differing from the humid, smoky outside air. The sound of something whizzing echoed throughout the place, and the walls were an ombre of pretty colors inside.

“Hello!” a young man with dazzling green eyes chirped. “Welcome to Sally’s. I’m not Sally, exactly, I’m her nephew–but anyway. What can I get you?”

Vic looked at the menu. “Can we get two strawberries?” he asked.

The man nodded cheerfully. “Absolutely,” he promised, writing something down on a pad of paper and passing it to someone wearing a bright pink apron. “What a classic. We’ll get it to you in a jiffy.”

“See?” Tori said triumphantly. “That man was nice. Not everyone’s mean here. It just can't be.”

“You’re right,” Vic sighed reluctantly.

She beamed. “I always am.”

A few minutes later, the man called, “an order for two strawberries ice creams!” he called.

“That’s us!” Tori exclaimed, bouncing out of her seat and skipping over to the counter.

“Thank you so much!” Vic smiled and took the two cups of frosty pink stuff covered in gooey syrup. It looked delicious. “Mmm.”

The man stopped them, and Tori looked at him curiously.

“Can we take it?” she asked, frowning. “You just asked for our order…”

“You need to pay,” he replied. “Cash or credit?”

“What’s cash or credit?” Vic questioned. “Oh! You mean we have to pay for this?”

The man nodded, scrunching his eyebrows.

“Ah. I see.” Vic dug around in his pocket for a couple of gold coins and handed them to the cashier. “Is that good enough?”

He gasped. “Gold!” he exclaimed. “Are you sure about this?” His eyes gleamed as he picked up each coin and turned it around, examining it.

Both of them nodded and squinted at each other, then shrugged.

“Of course,” Vic said, taking the pink food. “Thank you! Goodbye!”

The man didn’t reply as he stared, mesmerized, at the gold coins in his hands.

***

“That was such a good dessert!” Tori commented as she finished off the pink slush. “I wonder what it’s called. Back home, this wouldn’t have even existed. Isn’t this world so much better?”

Vic shrugged, looking at the people bustling around. The twins were sitting on a flaky bench watching strangers walk by as they ate their strawberry-tasting mush, which was more like the consistency of a melty soup, now. Everyone was wearing strange clothes: ripped pants, huge shirts, half-hats, and some sort of shoe with laces. Some of them even had white lines sticking out of their ears. They couldn't tell if it was supposed to be fashionable or if they were just born with it. Were some of these humans aliens? Was that even possible?

“I’m not sure,” he finally answered, picking at the peeling paint. “It’s pretty nice to be out, I guess. And that food was delicious. But there are downsides too.”

“Like?” Tori prompted.

“Like how it smells terrible, or how a lot of people here are mean, or how there’s barely any plants that aren’t man made. I mean, can you believe it? In the place where we got the dessert, there were tons of potted plants. To be honest, I was suspicious how so much nature could be inside a small confined space when it could be out on these dingy walkways.” Vic motioned around and continued, “and guess what? My hunch was right. They were made of some sort of shiny, hard-but-bendy material. It was extremely strange, but also sad.”

Tori sighed. ”Don’t be such a downer,” she mumbled, sounding a bit frustrated herself. But she quickly brightened and added, “there were lots of great things, too. We got to try a new food! We got to roam the streets without getting squished by news reporters. And we got to run and have as much fun as we wanted, right?”

“Right,” Vic agreed. Though he was starting to get skeptical that this world was better than Alternia, there had been amazing sights. Like something called a “play structure.” It was a fitting name, as tons of kids were playing on the large structure.

It wasn’t a building, exactly, as it was out in the open with wood chips surrounding it, but he didn’t know quite how to describe it other than that. There were numerous ways to have fun there–all ranging from the large loopy slides to a large tic tac toe game, multiple swings, and monkey bars, another new term he’d learned. One of the much younger kids had told him that you were supposed to dangle from it, and then she’d demonstrated. To Vic, dangling from bars no matter how low seemed and looked dangerous; still, Tori had had a lot of excitement about these monkey bars. She didn’t get it as good as the other children there, but was still laughing at the end.

“I wish we could get someone to build a play structure for us,” Tori said wistfully. “I’d always be there. Always always always.”

“We won’t be able to run, though,” Vic pointed out, “and that takes the fun away.”

Tori sighed again.

“What else should we do?” he asked,  taking a look at the people passing him. “I mean, we’re only going to be here for a few days, right? Why not make the best of it?”

“Okay, fine,” she said reluctantly, standing up. But her eyes grew big and wide when she suddenly heard loud trumpet music. “What’s that?”

Everyone else seemed to know what was happening, though, whooping with joy, jumping up and down, and clapping.

They both gasped as a gigantic wood deck with a huge ship rolled by them. There were pirates in the boat, with scraggly beards and toy birds perched on their shoulders. Each held a shiny spyglass and screamed things down like, “aye aye, matey!” and “shiver me timbers!”

A family nearby hooted with joy, and the rest of the gathering crowd joined in. Tori and Vic did, too–as the joy of the crowd was contagious.

The next deck had been painted a pretty shade of pink. A humongous teacup twenty times the size of a normal one had three teenagers sitting inside with an older woman. All of them wore crowns atop their bejeweled hairstyles. Poofy dresses swallowed them up, and they waved daintily, smiling at the sea of people.

“They look like me!” Tori whispered. “I’m positive I have the redhead’s purple gown! Can you believe this?”

Vic could only stare in shock. Did they have royals in this world, too?

A little girl holding her father’s hand tapped Tori’s back. “I like your dress!” she squealed happily. “It’s just like the princesses’ in the parade! Are you a princess?”

“I am!” Tori exclaimed gleefully. “Are you?” She gestured to the little girl’s pale green attire and heeled shoes.

The girl beamed. “My dad says I’m his princess,” she giggled, pulling on her dad’s hand. “Can you buy me a dress like the princess’s?”

His response was muffled by another blast of loud trumpets.

This deck was a bright green. Stars and planets whizzed around a group dressed up in bright red outfits. They had large googly eyes on their headpieces and wobbly antennae sticking out of their heads.

“Hello, fellow humans,” a red cyclops yelled over the trumpets in a warped voice. “We come in peace!”

The crowd cheered.

“Are those monsters?” Vic whispered. “They look like the characters from our old bedtime stories!”

“They really do!” Tori replied. “This is so cool! I wonder where everyone came from?”

“It’s a parade,” the girl’s father explained to them. “This happens about every couple months. An amazing tourist attraction. Lots gather to see it. And it’s an extra privilege if you live here, because you get to see it every time it happens. Do you two live here?”

“No, we’re just visiting,” Tori told him. “You and your daughter are so so so lucky. I’ve never seen a parade before.”

The man looked surprised but nodded.

The final deck was bright blue. Cardboard seaweed was set up around sea animals that jumped about. There were crabs, fish, seahorses, clams, jellyfish, sharks, and more. They loudly sang in harmony to a song that had just started playing from the trumpets.

“Under the sea!” the whole crowd sing-songed together. “Under the sea!”

Tori jumped up and down with all the others. “I love it here,” she whispered to Vic, and he could tell she wasn’t kidding. Her eyes sparkled like diamonds, and her hands were clasped to her heart. And it made him wonder: just how long would she want to stay?

“Ack! Why are you so cute?!” Tori exclaimed as she cuddled the small creature against her.

“Meep!” it replied.

Vic and Tori had found their way into a pet shop where they sold all kinds of fascinating animals. There were dogs and cats, along with fish, small monkeys, slimy green lizards of some sort, and a very tiny, very fluffy animal that looked like a cross between a dog and a mouse. To Tori’s dissatisfaction, there weren't any unicorns, but she had quickly moved her focus onto the thing the shop owners called a “hamster.” The one they had was white with light orange spots.

“Should we maybe get some food?” Vic asked, glancing at the sky. The sun was setting, casting a pretty glow over Chicago.

Tori’s stomach growled, as if answering his question. “Sure,” she said, then glanced at the hamster’s glassy red eyes. “What do you say?”

“Meep!”

“Okay, then, food it is.” Tori placed the hamster on the bench and turned to Vic. “Hey, what do you think we should call it?”

“Hammy?” Vic suggested.

She rolled her eyes. “That’s such a strange name! We aren’t going to eat him like we would ham. That’s so disgusting, and it’s just tooooo adorable to eeeaaat. No matter how hungry we are. Right, cutie?” She listened for its familiar ‘meep!’ but was left unanswered.

“HAMMY?” Tori looked around, desperately trying to spot the furball. She turned to Vic, eyes wide. “Hammy’s gone!”

“What?” Vic stared at his sister, mouth gaping. “Where is he?”

“I don’t know!”

Vic stood up, running to look behind some dehydrated bushes. No Hammy. He looked in the trash cans. No Hammy, only a few mice. He looked behind a stack of newspapers in front of a large building near them. No Hammy.

“He’s not there!” Vic panicked. Tori looked at him like she might cry. “Let’s keep looking, okay? We’ll get to him soon.”

They ran farther and farther from the benches, looking everywhere they could. 

“I really can’t find him,” Tori whimpered with a sob to her voice. “I–”

Growl. Growllll.

“Hey, let’s get something to eat, okay?” Vic put a hand on her shoulder. “It’ll make our condition better, and then we’ll be able to find him better, too.”

“Fine.” Tori frowned as they walked across the busy streets. Cars honked loudly as people walked on thick white lines painted onto the ground, until they finally zoomed past each other. The sky was now a purplish state of blue; bright white and red lights on very tall buildings were illuminated like they were stars.

They finally found a small restaurant that wasn’t extremely packed with people. It had a glowing yellow sign on its red roof. It’s only Jimmy’s hot dogs! it screamed.

“Hot dogs?!” Tori squealed in disgust. “Do they just heat up dogs? That’s so gross. Carly has a dog, Coco–you know her, right? I would never eat her! It’d be traitorous to just eat one of Coco’s friends.”

Vic opened the door and walked inside, where a blast of cold air blew into them. A small bell tinkled, and it smelled of grease and a garlicky smell.

“Hi, so um, we were wondering what hot dogs are made of?” Tori said uncertainly to a tired-looking woman with a slick ponytail and a bright red hat.

“They’re made of pork,” the woman clarified. “A juicy sausage between two layers of soft bread. They can come with a side of fries and two slices of garlic bread. It’s on discount today; ten dollars for the whole package!” Her voice sounded too chirpy, even though the dark bags on her eyes suggested otherwise.

“Oh, good,” Vic sighed. “We thought they might be made of dogs. And, excuse me, but, what are fires and garlic bread?”

The woman pursed her lips but then made a slightly forced smile. “Fries are thin, crispy potato slices. And garlic bread is white sandwich bread with blended garlic, butter, and spices. Can I ring you up? Or just the hot dogs?”

“You can…um, ring it up.”

A few minutes later, the twins had two squishy, soft pieces of bread with a strange red meat stuck in the middle, a box of steaming “garlic bread” that smelled salty, and a container of thin golden-brown potatoes that honestly didn’t look like potatoes in the first place.

“This smells heavenly,” Tori sighed. She examined her hot dog curiously and then took a large bite out of it. Flavors erupted in her mouth: the soft slightly crispy bread, the savory meat, something tomatoey, similar to pasta sauce but less chunky, and a mushy vegetable that tasted a lot like pickles. Altogether they tasted extraordinary.  “Mmmmmm. This is the best thing I’ve had–ever! I really hope our chef can make these back at home.”

Home.

Vic sighed, even though his food was, indeed, delicious, just like every other thing in this world had been. How would they ever get home? What if they had to stay forever?

There was no way he’d let that happen. Here was good, but home was home. He sort of missed his castle. And Chicago was weird, too. They had to pay for everything; food, pets, anything went.

“Tori,” Vic said when they had both finished their delicious dinners. “I think we should find Hammy. Soon it’ll be dark and it’ll be hard to see and…” He paused, eyes wide. “Where are we going to sleep?!

She shrugged, looking much too carefree for his sake. “We’ll find somewhere. And I can teleport back to the bench. It’ll be fine.” Tori munched on the last fry and patted her stomach.

“TORI!” Vic exclaimed. His voice echoed out in the empty space. “What do you mean we’ll ‘find somewhere’? We’re in the middle of nowhere! Are we going to sleep on the benches? And Hammy’s probably lost and scared! Everything is a mess! And you’re just hanging out? Are you going to be cool with anything that happens here? What if it’s dangerous? What if there are wolves?”

“Vic!” Tori sighed, rolling her eyes, arms confidently crossed across her chest. “Don’t be ridiculous. There are no wolves here. And we can probably find a bed somewhere. Besides, Hammy’s waiting for us patiently at the bench while we argue! Stop worrying so much–we’re supposed to be relaxing, remember?”

“I’m so relaxed that we have nowhere to go and nowhere to sleep,” Vic deadpanned. “This is terrible. Yes, there are great things. Yes, there is good food. Yes, there’s more freedom… but I miss home! We had everything there. We didn’t have to worry about food, or money, or where we slept…” He reached into his pocket and groaned. “We have no more gold coins, too. Maybe we were being a bit spendy.”

“It’s okay,” Tori assured him. “When we get back home, we’ll have enough gold coins to never worry. And we’ll bring Hammy back, and he’ll become famous. I’ll bet Georgia could sew him some princely clothes! In his size, of course.”

Vic stared at her. His face was red, hands clenched. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN? HOW WILL WE GET HOME?” he yelled.

There was dead silence.

She took a deep breath. “Vic,” Tori said in her I-understand-you-and-know- exactly-what- you’re-going-through voice, although she honestly didn’t. “I know you’re really stressed. But it’ll be easy, I promise. Let’s get Hammy first, since when it gets even darker, we won’t even be able to see him. Can we agree with that?”

“Fine.”

His tone was sharp. Cutting through the cold air.

Why is he being like this? she wondered to herself. He hadn’t been this mean since they were younger, always wrestling and having competitions. Tori remembered the time that she and Vic had had a tree climbing contest. But while he had been climbing, Tori simply teleported herself up. Vic had said it was cheating, and then he’d run into a vase and cracked portraits of the king and queen. It had been so much easier because no matter what they’d always make up. The fighting wasn’t ideal, but it was better than him being moody and distrusting.

Why couldn’t he be happy they were here? After everything, there had to be a way back. She had a feeling, and she was right. Always. Vic should’ve known this by now.

Tori focused herself back to her surroundings, then thought of the bench in her mind. It was a bit fuzzy, but she cleared her other thoughts away and concentrated. Grabbing hands with her brother she snapped with her free hand.

She opened her eyes. They were still where they had been. In front of Jimmy’s Hot Dogs.

Oh no, oh no.

Vic pursed his lips and opened an eye. “Tori? What’s taking so long?”

When he turned, he found her shaking, sitting in a heap on the dirty sidewalk.

“It–it’s gone,” she stuttered. “My po-powers. They-they’re g-gone.”

“What do you mean?” But Vic already remembered. Angeline. She had taken their powers. And without their powers…

They were lost.

***

Vic and Tori silently walked along the sidewalks. No more machines zoomed around them anymore. There were barely any more people around, and the sky was gray and dark. The twins held on to each other, shivering. There was a full moon up in the sky, but brewing smoke from a nearby building was clouding its already dim light. And the streetlights didn’t help very much, either. The light was fluorescent and almost creepy. Every time they heard something scrambling around in the shadows, or footsteps, they jumped.

Tori mumbled something as she stepped over a puddle of water.

“What?”

“I think…” She sighed, running her hands through her long hair. “I think maybe we shouldn’t have traded our powers. Maybe we were a bit… hasty.” She said the words like it was a gigantic effort to say them.

He looked up at the sky. It was almost as dark as the long, endless road of problems after problems ahead of them.

“Do you think we’re anywhere near the bench we were at?” Tori asked, shifting from one foot to another. She twisted her fingers and pursed her lips. “I think it’s nearby… yeah! I saw that tree earlier.”

Vic tilted his head. “Are you sure? There might be a lot less trees here, but they all look exactly the same. Especially in the dark.”

“I’m pretty sure.” But she definitely looked a lot less sure. Rolling her eyes, she added, “don’t be such a downer–let’s look around!”

He sighed and obeyed, crouching down on his knees to check near the tree. All he saw at his newly lowered eye level was dead grass, dirt, and more dirt. Plus the bulging roots of the tree.

“Tor,” Vic mumbled, eyes growing wide as he realized something, “even if Hammy was here a few hours ago, there’s no promises he’ll be here now. He could’ve run away to another place completely! And I can barely see, so even if he was here…” He stared up at the foggy moon. It definitely wasn’t giving enough light.

Her eyes grew wide, too. “I’m such an idiot.”

“Let’s just try to find somewhere to sleep.”

“Right here!” Tori gestured around where the very comforting tree, very soft stone ground, and very warm dirt lay. It could’ve been a giant suite.

Vic’s eye twitched. “No way! We’re going to get kidnapped! Or robbed!”

Tori rolled her eyes again. “We have nothing to be robbed of.”

His heart sank as he realized she was right.

They were out of money, out of Hammy, out of a place to sleep, out of everything but themselves. What had happened? They used to have all the things they wanted, anything they wanted to eat any time, the most luxurious beds in the kingdom, and so much more. Was this what it felt like to be a commoner?

Was this the life that wasn’t royal?

Why had he even wanted to come here in the first place?

Finally, Vic threw up his hands. “Tori, we’re going to find somewhere else to sleep. This is not it! Come on.” He stalked off, feeling so, so, so irritated. Every time he agreed with Tori, they got into another mess. Was it worth it–he didn’t know.

“Wait up!” Tori sprinted towards him. He glanced at her, and she opened her mouth, then closed it.

They continued in silence, until they found a small street with a couple of one-story houses. There was overgrown grass in all of the front yards and scary shadows in every corner. But at least some of these houses had their lights still lit up.

“Should we knock and ask them if we can stay here?” Tori wondered aloud. “Hoping none of them are evil and are planning to take over the world or something.”

“Are you kidding?” Vic slapped his head, creating a large smack that echoed off the tall metal street lights lining the street. “Imagine: two random stranger kids come to the palace at night–would Mom and Dad let them in? No way!”

“I’m just going to do it anyway.” Tori stepped up to the first house on the street and knocked. Loudly. “Hello?” she called.

Another knock. Two more.

“Tori, let’s just go. No one’s crazy enough to–”

The door creaked open, and just a sliver of light slid outside.

“Hello?”

It was a man in his forties, with a stubble beard, striped pajamas, and worn bunny slippers. Tori stared at the faded, misshapen shoes and thought that they were both ridiculous and genius. The man had dark curly hair and mysterious amber-colored eyes, with a small girl propped at his hip. She had the same dark hair and a mole on her cheek, with two missing front teeth.

“Dad!” the little girl squealed. “It’s the princess and her brother!”

“Hi!” Tori exclaimed. “It’s you! From the parade, I mean.”

“It is me,” the father agreed, staring at the twins dumbfounded. “What are you doing here?”

She shrugged. “We kind of need a place to stay for the night. It’s dark, and it’s creepy, and there are probably bugs crawling around.” A shudder. “Can we come in?”

Vic shook his head and looked apologetically to the father. “I’m extremely sorry, sir, but my sister isn’t thinking very straight right now. If you’ll excuse us…” He grabbed her arm and pulled her further away from the house, hoping the father wouldn’t report them. He didn’t know why he’d been so foolish. Vic would much rather have preferred sleeping in the dirt than getting them in trouble.

“Wait!” The father’s amber eyes grew wide as Vic turned back around. “Is that bag… where’d you get that bag?” His eyes were now so big and full of shock that he looked terrifying in the porch light.

“Uh…” Vic slid the bag off his shoulders to show him. “It’s my school bag. Is something wrong with it?” What was going on with this man? He had seemed perfectly fine earlier.

The father gasped, his hands shaking as he read the letters embroidered into the leather backpack. “The Royal School of Alternia?” he whispered, as if he wasn’t reading it quite correctly. “Where did you get this?”

“It’s my school bag,” Vic repeated, tilting his head to the side.

“Not to be rude but… are you okay?” Tori butted in. “Do you like the bag? Are you trying to steal it?” Her eyes switched back and forth between Vic and the father, then added, “we only have apples in it–no gold! And, um, maybe we should go. Thanks for talking to us… bye!”

“No!” he exclaimed, mouth agape, hands shaking as he looked at the two in disbelief. “Please. Don’t go–I’m just extremely confused. How did you even get here?”

And Vic had thought they’d be the ones to beg.

“We got here through a portal,” Tori explained, also looking confused. “Why? Does it matter?”

“Tori!” Vic shouted. “That’s supposed to be secret!”

“I didn’t know!” she protested.

“A portal,” the man murmured, sighing. “Children, come inside. I had leftover pasta I can heat up, but I suppose you may have had something to eat.”

Tori cocked her head to the side. “How’d you know? Are you magic? Are you a fairy?”

He grinned widely and shook his head, finally looking a bit relaxed. “I can tell from your ketchup stains.”

***

“Wow!” Vic exclaimed as he slurped the last of his delicious red pasta. “That was amazing.” When he looked down, his clothes were stained with orange blobs, and he flushed and grabbed some napkins to clean himself up.

“Yeah,” Tori agreed. “Our parents never let us have tomato pasta. They say it’s too messy and tastes disgusting. And this is the most tasty thing I’ve had all day! So don’t mind their opinions–they’re wrong about everything.”

“Hm,” the father mumbled, raising an eyebrow. “Where do your parents live? Where do you live? I can try and give them a call if you’d like.”

“Oh no,” Tori shook her head. “They aren’t going to hear it. Your voice will just get strained.”

A confused glance her way was his only response.

“They live in a place called Alternia,” Vic answered, a slight bit more helpfully than Tori had been. “But it’s very far. Or so we think.”

“I see.” The father shook his head to himself and pointed to the left. “There’s only one bathroom, so you kids will have to take turns. Some old pajamas are in there if you’d like to borrow them.”

“Thank you!” Vic put the plates in the sink, then ran to quickly shower. When he came out, he felt refreshed and significantly less grimy. The old pajamas were white with red stripes and quite worn out, but they felt comfy and right against his skin.

“Oh, you’re the cutest,” Tori was saying to Corrie, who was giggling in her arms. They were watching a box with small animals inside. There were talking pigs and wolves, and one of the pigs was saying, “not by the hairs of my chinny chin chin!”

As he sat down next to his sister on the couch, he whispered, “Tori, don’t get too attached…” But he was interrupted by a wolf in the box screaming, “then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down!”

Vic sighed. He definitely knew Tori was getting attached. She’d been playing dolls with Corrie before dinner, and she hated dolls more than anything. And now she was cooing at Corrie. And Vic knew: the second she got attached, she would want to stay–maybe even for good. Especially with all the great things there were, here. Icy mush, which the father had told them was ice cream. Playgrounds. No rules. Large parades. Hot dogs. Tomato pasta. And the cute five year old, with curly brown hair, a wobbly voice, and joyful laughs. Tori had always wanted a sister, but it seemed the king and queen were exhausted just with the twins. He knew no way they were getting siblings.

“The bathroom’s open,” Vic told Tori, a bit louder than he had the first time.

Tori bopped Corrie’s nose with her finger–messily painted pink and yet to dry, he noticed–and waved as she left.

“Victoria’s nice,” Corrie observed. “And she’s pretty. And funny. And a real princess!”

Vic glanced at where Tori had left. “Well, Corrie,” he said through a sigh. “I don’t think we can be here much longer. But I can play with you now, if you’d like.”

“Come watch the TV with me!” she exclaimed, patting the seat next to her as she ate a cookie. Crumbs showered on the floor as she babbled, and Vic mentally cringed. He could practically hear the servants scolding her.

Vic picked up a cookie from the plate placed between him and Corrie. It was lumpy and not perfectly round, but just as good as anything else they’d had here. The soft inside was sprinkled with small, slightly melted chocolate balls covered with a crunchy colored outside. But it wasn’t all that different from the usual chocolate chip cookie.

He sat down and watched the box. The storyline was weird, but it was like watching a shrunken-down play. And it was a great distraction from thinking about more worrisome things.

“Heyyy guys!” Tori danced into the room twenty minutes later, her long hair wet and wrapped with a towel. She wore the same pajamas as Vic, but she had rolled the sleeves and cuffed the bottoms.

“Victoria! Victoria!” Corrie chanted, though it sounded more like ‘Vic-tow-ia!’

She plopped down next to her. “Corrie! Corrie! Corrie!”

Giggling, Corrie pointed to her head. “Is that your new crown, Victoria? I want one too! I want one too!”

“It’s just a towel, silly,” she responded, eyes glued to the screen. She seemed much more fascinated with it than Vic had been. “I can do one for you, if you’d like. I’m not positive it’ll work, though, because your hair’s already all dry.”

She made a sad face, and Tori laughed.

“The end!” one of the plump pigs shouted, and they all bowed together.

“Perfect timing.” The father rose from his chair and picked up Corrie, and she squealed happily. “It’s way past your bedtime! Get to your bed so I can read you a story.”

“Peppa pig! Peppa pig! Peppa pig!” she sang as she ran to her small room. “Bye, Victoria! Bye, Victor!”

Tori sighed happily just as the father and his daughter disappeared into the room. Vic could hear the faint sound of him reading some book about a daddy pig, a mommy pig, someone named Peppa, and someone else named George. It seemed this world was very interested in pigs, to say the least.

“That TV was so funny,” Tori remarked, playing with one of the gold bracelets on her arm. “It could be a comedian. It is very boxy, but still.”

Vic looked up at the ceiling where a dusty fan was. “Yeah.”

It seemed that everything good here was amplified by 100 to Tori.

“What was your favorite thing?” he asked thoughtfully, still staring up.

“Hm?”

“Your favorite thing you did today,” he clarified. “It was a long day, after all. I personally loved those hot dogs. Maybe even more than the ice cream. But I’m sure both would be really popular back home.”

“I think the parade was great,” Tori told him. “It was so cool to see other royals here. Especially because it didn’t seem like there were any princesses or princes in town. And the underwater-creatures float was fun, too.”

“But the cyclops one was super weird,” Vic jumped in.

“It was!” Tori laughed. “And–” She looked behind her when she heard shuffling. The father was shelving the book he’d read to Corrie.

“Hello!” Tori said as Vic practically dozed off. His eyes were closed, and his head was resting on his arm.

“Hello,” the father replied, dusting his hands off on his pants and standing up. He glanced at Vic. “Looks like your brother is tired.”

“I guess so.” She looked around for a clock; it read 11:57. “Oh my gosh! It’s so late! I’ve never been up this late before–I didn’t even notice.”

This was true. Their bedtime in Alternia was 9:00 sharp.

“Wow,” Vic mumbled, suddenly jolted awake. “I always thought it’d be different. But I just feel… sleepy.” He yawned, then tried to rub the cloudiness from his eyes. No luck.

The father laughed heartily. “It is late,” he agreed. “Let’s get you two situated. My office has a small spare bed you can stay in for the night. Sound good?”

Vic nodded, his surroundings blurry. He felt like he might collapse if he tried to stand up, and his eyes were half closed–they just wouldn’t stay open. “Sounds amazing.”

***

Corrie’s bowl was full of bright rainbow colors and tasted like sugar, unlike the hard cereals made of oats they sometimes ate back at home. Tori noticed Corrie had only left the yellow ones floating in her bowl, but the rest were finished.

“Corrie, it’s time to go to daycare!” the father said just as Corrie finished her cereal. 

“Daycare! Daycare!” she exclaimed.

Tori cocked her head to the side, examining her. “How old is she?”

He patted Corrie’s shoulder. “Just turned five this month. She’s going to kindergarten next year. She’s getting big!”

“I am!” Corrie exclaimed, grinning. “I’m a very big girl. But I don’t want to leave my friends behind.”`

“You’re not leaving them,” he assured her. “They’re going to kindergarten with you, remember? Don’t worry.” The father took the bowl to the sink and dumped it out, grabbing a pink lunch box decorated with unicorns and a water bottle as he opened the front door. “Cor, let’s go to daycare, now. Say bye!”

“Bye!” Corrie sang.

Tori hugged her and patted her hair, which had been braided into pigtails that morning. “Bye bye. Have a fun day, okay?”

“Okay,” she promised.

“Bye,” Vic smiled at her, and she smiled back with all her small baby teeth.

Tori stared at the door as the two left. “This place is really interesting, huh?”

He sighed. “I guess so.” Looking down at his own cereal bowl, which was untouched and starting to get soggy, he took a bite. It tasted just like pure sugar. And… as much as he hated to admit it, it was good.

“Not just ‘I guess so,’” Tori insisted. “It really really is.” She took the red cereal box and studied it. “It says Fruit Loops. Isn’t that funny?”

“I guess so,” he repeated.

Tori knew that tone, and she playfully batted his arm. “Don’t be such a downer. You’re supposed to be having fun. Remember?”

“I do remember,” Vic agreed. “But I don’t know. It’s kind of hard, considering all the facts. Case in point–we’re at some stranger’s house, we don’t know where to go, we’re super lost, and we have no way back.” He slapped his forehead, and the sound echoed in the creaky house. “Why didn’t I ask Angeline?”

“Ask her what?”

“How to get home!”

“Vic.” Tori stared into his eyes until he looked at her. “Come on, stop worrying! It’s only been two days since we’ve left. We already survived a day–we can make it two. And three. And maybe four. Besides, it helps that we now have a place to sleep and a food source.”

“You want to stay here for four days?” Vic asked, looking dumbfounded. “Four days? Really, Tori? That’s enough time for missing posters to go up all around the kingdom.”

She fiddled with the ends of her hair. “Well, we came here and sacrificed our powers for this, didn’t we?”

“Oh my gosh.” Vic put his head between his knees and groaned. “Mom and Dad are going to kill us after they hear we lost our powers–they’ll freak! Then the whole kingdom will know, and they’ll probably brand us as unroyal children.”

Tori raised her hand. “Isn’t that what we’ve been going for?”

“No!”

“Well, we lose our powers at sixteen anyway. What’s a measly three extra years going to do for us?” Tori tried to smile jokingly, but it felt more like a grimace. She definitely did miss feeling magical. But wasn’t all this worth it?

Vic sighed and looked up into the ceiling, where a slightly cracked light was bolted up. He wished all the answers to all his problems could suddenly be written onto that ceiling. He wished he could find a way home. He wished he could convince Tori to leave. He wished he still had Hammy, so that if he could convince Tori, she’d have a special friend to take back home with her. He even sort of wished he were home right then, eating something yummy. Like a cake. Or candy. Or crackers.

But the ceiling did not carry all the answers. He didn’t know the way to find home. He didn’t know how to convince Tori, or if it was even remotely possible. He didn’t know how to do anything at all. He was stuck. Just stuck.

“Hello?”

Vic blinked as Tori waved her hand in front of his face like she was trying to hypnotize him.

“You looked like you were in a trance.” She laughed a little but quickly stopped when she noticed Vic’s slightly-more-than-depressed face. Poking his arm, she asked, “wanna go do something fun? Maybe we could visit a nearby shop, or something.”

“No,” Vic muttered, kicking the wood floor and almost slipping. “I’ll be in the office.”

***

“I’m home!” the father exclaimed, opening the door. He looked around. “Kids?”

Vic was lying on the spare bed, sort of hoping it would turn into a portal and suck him back to Alterina. He was still stuck. And he felt like a hard piece of gum that had been underneath someone’s shoe for months.

Tori was sitting on the carpeted floor, propped up against the bed, reading one of the father’s old books. It was large, hardcover, and very heavy. It was something about CPUs and transistors, none of which she knew about, but she didn’t care. This was especially concerning to Vic because Tori never, ever read, and she did everything to avoid it. He was positive Tori had to re-learn the alphabet at the least but–there she was.

“You guys look like you need a bit of cheering up,” the father noted as he stepped into the room. Vic flipped over onto his stomach and sighed into the pillow. Tori continued to read.

“Come out. This office is dark–at least too dark to read.”

Vic stepped outside. It was much brighter, but he felt a tiny bit less mopey now. And right now, he wanted to feel mopey. Tori abandoned her book and followed.

“So,” the father prompted as he slipped on rubber gloves and stood in front of the sink. “How’s Chicago been?”

“Good,” Vic answered slowly. Because it had been good. But his face was still frowny, and he couldn’t make the sourness in his stomach go away.

“Hmm.” He seemed to be thinking hard as he turned the water spout on, then said, “any way to make it into ‘great’?”

Tori shrugged.

He drummed his fingers on a dirty plate. “Hey, would you like to help me with the chores? I have a couple questions to ask.”

“Sure,” Vic agreed.

“I’m up for it,” Tori finally said.

“Great.” The father paused. “First things first, my name’s Andy–what’s yours?”

Vic glanced at Tori. “I’m Vic,” he answered. “And my twin sister, Tori.”

“Wonderful. It’s great to meet you two officially.” Andy smiled. “Anyway, it’d be great if you two could wipe the table and take the dishes to the sink. Then I can wash them.”

Tori made a face. “But the dishes are all splattered with milk and mushy cereal!”

He shrugged. “It’s life.”

Vic picked up a couple of bowls, stacked them on top of each other, and grimaced as he placed them on the counter top. Tori took a tissue and swiped the crumbs onto the ground.

Andy chuckled and shook his head. “If you leave it on the ground, is that any better than leaving it on the table?”

She frowned hard at the crumbs. “No, I guess not. But I do always see our maids doing it.” She took another tissue and tried to gather the crumbs into a pile and stick them on. But it was much harder than it seemed, and the bits of cereal kept blowing away every time she captured another crumb.

“Ugh,” Tori muttered when the fifteenth piece blew away.

Andy laughed again. “Here, let me show you.” He wiped his soapy, gloved hands, hung them on a silver rod, and wet a paper towel. “If you soak the tissue in a little water, the food bits will usually stick more easily.” He smiled, his face breaking out into small wrinkles and smile lines, and handed her the paper towel.

Tori took it and blotted at the crumbs. Just like magic, they stuck.

“Thank you,” she told him, now smiling.

“No, thank you,” he corrected. “Both of you are a big help. I ought to keep you around.”

Sitting down, Vic smiled, too, feeling like he’d achieved something.

“Alright, so, again with the questions,” Andy said as he put his yellow gloves back on and turned on the water. “It’s a weird thing to ask and I’m not quite sure how to word this but… have you never known anyone named Sojourner?”

“I don’t think so.” Vic racked his brain. “The name’s pretty uncommon. Why?” His eyes grew wide. “Do you know her? Do you have family in Alterina?”

“I suppose you could put it that way.” Andy sighed, scrubbing away at the bowl. “Perhaps my late wife. I thought maybe she might’ve been from there. She had always talked about all these amazing, magical things. I thought she just had a big imagination, but…” He paused. “I’ve always thought that she was just a creative person, but now I’m not sure. Maybe the imagination wasn’t really imagination.”

Tori finally looked up. Her brown eyes were crinkled in surprise. “What makes you think she was Alternian?”

“It’s a long story,” he told them through another long sigh. “If you two want to hear it, I could tell you. But there’s tons of other fun stuff to do, too, if you don’t want to. I could take you to the supermarket, or something like that.” He checked his watch.

“No, we want to hear,” Tori said eagerly. She looked at Vic. “Do you?”

He nodded.

“Alright.” Andy rubbed his hands together. “So, maybe a week and a half ago, I was cleaning out the basement and I found something strange.” He took his gloves off once more. “It might be a little bit easier to just show you–follow me.”

The twins got up, glancing at each other before trailing after him. He led them to a small door tucked away near the coat rack and ducked underneath it. Vic and Tori did the same.

The basement was a crowded, messy space. There was a worn wooden desk with shelves that held hundreds of books, boxes filled with miscellaneous objects from broken baby toys to hats to board games, yard tools, and more. The room was dark except for a dim light bulb hanging from the ceiling.

“Sorry it’s so messy,” Andy said as he stepped over a box and almost tripped. “We never have people over.” He dusted off his pants.

“No problem,” Vic assured him.

“What did you find?” Tori asked, unable to contain her excitement.

Andy sidestepped another box and opened one of the  drawers underneath the shelf. “It was an old notebook.” He took out a journal, yellowed and was breaking at the edges, and flipped through the pages. “It was a different language entirely. I did quite a few Google searches, and it definitely wasn’t an existing language.” When the twins looked confused, he explained, “it’s like a program that can answer all of your questions.”

“Can I see one of the pages?” Tori asked.

He nodded and opened up to a random page. Both the kids gasped together. It was Alternian–a very ancient language, too.

“The whole thing looked like journal entries, or maybe a diary, sometimes less than a page and sometimes going on and on for pages. I couldn’t read anything. Anything but the word ‘Alterina’ and the dates.”

Vic stared at him, hanging on to his every word. Maybe this was the key to getting home.

He then flipped to the very end of the book, where a bookmark had been placed. It was dark pink, also aging, and the only words written in English were ‘second shelf third drawer’ on it.

“I went to the second shelf and the third drawer.” Andy pointed to the drawer he had just opened. “There was another note–this time ‘third shelf second drawer’.” He opened the second drawer. Inside were strange items: dried flowers. A small bottle with water inside. A piece of rock. Nail clippings. And a ruby necklace.

“What is all this?” Tori stared at the objects.

“I wasn’t so sure,” Andy admitted. “But that ruby necklace had runes written on the underside. And as far as I could tell, they were in the same language as the book was in. You can check if you want.”

Vic’s eyes grew wider with each sentence. Tori gaped at him as he talked.

“I can’t believe that,” Vic said quietly. He picked up the heavy necklace with careful hands. They were in Alternian.

“And I tried to figure out what all of it had to mean. That’s when I found another small note card, and it had a list written on it. It wasn’t Sojourner’s handwriting this time, though, but again written in Alternian. ” He showed them the piece of paper.

“Wow,” Vic whispered as he stared at the journal and the papers and the items in the drawer.

“Wow,” Tori echoed, taking the paper from him.

“Can you two read any of it?” Andy asked.

“I’m not sure, but it’s a super old, ancient Alternian language,” she told him. “We only know because we had to learn a unit on it at school. It was torture.”

“It was fun!” Vic protested. “And helpful!”

Andy’s eyes widened. “So it’s true? Sojourner… she lived there?”

“Pretty sure.” Tori looked at Vic. “I can’t remember all of what we learned, but I bet all my gold that Vic still knows how.”

“I do know,” Vic agreed, cheeks flushed with happiness and maybe a sprinkle of pride. “If you let me, I could translate it so you could read it. Maybe not every single thing, but the important parts might be helpful.”

Tori gasped loudly. “Wait, Vic, do you know what this means?” she asked, her voice hushed with excitement.

“What does it mean?” he said, his eyebrows knitted together.

“If Sojourner lived back in Alternia and she got here and married Andy, that means she might have a way to get back.” Her hands were shaking. “I told you we would find a way, Vic! I told you so!”

Vic opened his mouth, but no words came out. “Thank goodness,” he finally exclaimed, not being able to contain the relief in his voice. “We’re going home!”

Vic worked to translate the journal, but the first parts he’d read had just been about Andy’s wife, Sojourner, playing with her cat. And other than that, the day passed quickly, and it was already time to pick Corrie up.

The daycare was cute and quaint, made of wood painted pastel colors with fairy lights decorating the roof. Different kinds of plants grew around a playground, and Corrie was picking berries from bushes with about fifteen other small children around her. Some chased butterflies, others held ladybugs, and the remaining kids picked various fruits from bushes.

“Hi, Dad!” she exclaimed when she saw Andy. Her eyes lit up. “Victoria! Victor!”

Andy pushed open the gate and scooped her up. She laughed, a short, giggly sound, and squealed.

“We’re going to Piggy’s Palace today,” he told her as he led the three into the daycare. She clapped with delight.

“Piggy’s Palace, Piggy’s Palace, Piggy’s Palace, Piggy’s Palace!” she shouted, dancing around the hallway.

“People here are really obsessed with pigs, aren’t they?” Vic sighed.

Tori smiled, fondly watching Tori. “Yes, yes they are.”

Piggy’s Palace was a kids’ diner with strange foods like Hay Buns and Wolf Burgers. And strangest of all, the waiters were dressed like pigs–pink ears, pink outfits, and pink boots. The waiters had startled Vic at first, and Corrie only laughed along with Tori. She seemed to be a bad influence on the small girl.

“Hello, can I take your order?” a pig asked the group as he sat them down to a round table and handed them menus.

“I’d like a mini Wolf Burger for her, and a Twig Spaghetti in white sauce for myself,” Andy answered. “For drinks, Boiling Pot Water and orange juice.” He glanced at the twins. “What about you?”

“I want the Brick House,” Tori replied, grinning proudly.

Vic examined the picture printed next to the words. “It’s a gingerbread house,” he disagreed in a hushed tone. “And you can’t just have a large cookie molded into a house for dinner. Choose actual food. Eat something good!”

“Like a Wolf Burger?” She mimed throwing up.

Andy must’ve heard them, because he laughed heartily. “Oh, those burgers aren’t made of wolves’ meat. It’s just plain old chicken.”

“Want me to give you guys a few more minutes?” the waiter suggested.

“Yes please,” Vic muttered with an eye roll in his sister’s direction.

“Can I have the Brick Houseeeeeee,” Tori begged.

Vic slapped his forehead! “Tori!”

Corrie giggled. “Brick House! Brick House!”

Andy smiled. “How about you get the Twig Spaghetti–it’s my favorite and so delicious–for your main and then we can all have the Brick House for dessert?”

“Sounds good.” Tori bounced in her seat excitedly, twiddling her thumbs.

Soon enough, the waiter came back. He held two plates of hot pasta covered in creamy sauce and pieces of something that looked like bacon. There was also a wrapped Wolf Burger, and the same thing in the mini size.

“Guess something amazing about this place?” Andy asked the two while digging in with his fork.

“That they have normal foods with super creepy weird names and waiters dressed like pigs?” Vic offered, laughing.

He nodded seriously. “That, too.” Waving his hands around mysteriously, he added, “but there’s another reason–Corrie knows. Don’t spill the secret, okay?”

“I won’t–promise!” she agreed.

“We’ll get to it after we finish dinner and have our Brick House.” Andy winked. “It should be coming out soon.”

The Brick House was made of gingerbread with frosting on the sides, and three small bowls of candy were offered, too, so they could hand decorate it. It was supposed to be an activity for Christmas, a holiday which the two had never heard of, but Piggy’s Palace had it all year long.

“This is delicious,” she sighed as she broke off a piece of the Brick House and popped it into her mouth. Tingly sweetness erupted in her mouth, mixed with gooey red frosting and a punch of rainbow sprinkles that Corrie had thrown all over the gingerbread house.

“It’s good, isn’t it?” Andy agreed.

Vic grinned.

“This reminds me of our eighth birthday cake. Do you remember?” Tori looked fascinated by the Brick House as she took another bite.

But a pang tugged in Vic’s chest. It did look similar to his and Tori’s eighth birthday cake, which had been in the giant shape of their castle. It had been the highlight of their day. Everyone in the village came to celebrate, and he, Tori, Nathan, and Carly had had an epic dance competition, partied, and ate the delicious cake flavored red velvet. At the end, edible rainbow confetti that had been conjured up by a team of fairies rained down from the sky and onto the villagers. It was one of his favorite memories.

“Alright, time for your surprise!” Andy called, waving him over and snapping him back to the present. Vic quickly realized that Andy, Tori, and Corrie were already standing up.

He followed suit, too, pushed his chair in, and trailed after Corrie and Andy towards a big red door that seemed to be painted in a bricked-house design. There was a white sign that read ‘Come Meet the Famous Pig!’ with arrows pointing to the door.

“Yay, yay, yayyy,” Corrie sang as she tried to open the door. But it was heavy, and Tori helped her open it.

Both her and Vic gasped when they came inside. They were in a large room. The room was divided in half, with one horizontal side  painted a bright blue,a gleaming sun shining in the sky, and fluffy clouds that dotted the ceiling. The lower half, including the floor, was dark green, and fake flowers were glued around the room. Smack dab in the middle was a mini brick house that looked to have been made of plastic. Corrie sprinted to the door and opened it, running inside. Vic and Tori ducked in after her.

The inside was brightly lit and had a small plastic kitchen, a painted fireplace with a black bucket hanging over the fake fire, and about five small children, along with a pig who was greeting them. He was pale pink and fuzzy and wore blue suspenders, with large red shoes and a yellow cap.

“Howdy, friends!” the pig exclaimed in a high-pitched voice, reaching out to high-five Corrie. “I’m the Third Little Pig. Nice to meet you!”

Corrie danced around with the other kids, and the twins took a seat near the pig next to the fireplace.

“Nice to meet you, too,” Tori grinned. She looked at Vic, beaming, then whispered, “this place is amazing–I love it here!”

He couldn’t even deny it.

It was amazing.

“Want me to teach you a fun game?” the Third Little Pig asked. “All the children love it. I bet you will, too.”

Tori high-fived Vic. He called the other kids over, and they ran to him like a stampede of wild buffaloes. “Everyone, sit in a circle,” he instructed. Tori and Vic joined Corrie, the pig, and the five others. “Put your hands out.” The Third Little Pig demonstrated, and everyone copied him. “Put your right hand underneath the person on your right’s left hand and put your left hand on top of the person on your left’s right hand. Everyone knows their lefts and rights, correct?” All the kids nodded eagerly.

Vic slid his right hand underneath Tori’s hand and his left on top of Corrie’s.

“I don’t know if this will beat card games,” Tori sighed. “But I hope it’ll be good.”

The pig started to sing: “down by the banks of the hanky panky…”

The other kids joined in and went around slapping each other’s hands and singing about bullfrogs until the song ended. “SPLASH!” they all screamed, their squeaky voices all competing for the prize of Loudest Sound Ever.

 The twins had no idea what was going on as one little girl with red hair exited the circle, pouting. The rest of the group continued their song.

Vic grinned as they played, happiness swelling in his chest like a brand-new balloon. This childish game that really made no sense and had no meaning was so… fun.

At the end of the day, Andy bought them each a little pink lollipop that looked like a swine’s face. The twins laughed about this world’s questionable pig products.

They went to the house, and while Andy helped Corrie wash up, Tori and Vic lay down head to foot on the couch, both staring up at the ceiling.

“Today was really great,” Vic said, chomping on something called an animal cracker, which tasted like graham crackers and were shaped into elephants and bears and lions.

“Yeah,” Tori hesitated. “We can really get back, right?”

Honestly, she was starting to really miss home, even if her parents weren’t the best. She kind of missed the food too, and she knew people had to be worrying— right? They were two runaway royal children; the public had to know.

“Of course,” Vic reassured, snapping Tori out of her trance. “Speaking of, I’ll get to the journal tonight. I’ll read some, okay?

Tori nodded, and she set off to brush her teeth, while Vic got comfortable in the spare bed and placed the journal out in front of him. The first page read “This Journal Belongs To” in ancient Alterian, with “Sojourner” scribbled on the promoted line with a purple pen.

He read through a couple pages, but they weren’t much help. He had just finished page four when Tori came into the room, in her casual messy ponytail and borrowed pajamas.

“I’m not getting anything,” Vic admitted as she laid on the floor in a star, the wooden floor refreshingly cold against her face. “So far it’s just been about how Sojourner’s day had gone, or the crazy lightshow a group of fairies had put on, or her brown cat Sprinkles.”

“That’s a really good name,” Tori remarked, somehow managing to miss the point. “I wish we’d named Hammy something better, like Toasty or Bunhead or something.”

“Toasty? Bunhead?” Vic shook his head, chuckling. “Those aren’t much better. And I still think Hammy is cute. But I’m not reading any ‘how to return to Alternia in five easy steps’ or even a list.”

Tori rolled onto her back, crossing her legs in a way Georgia would call the twisty pretzel position, and shrugged from her position on the floor.

Vic flipped through it half-heartedly, when suddenly, a small pink paper slipped out, fluttering onto Tori’s stomach. She sat up, picked it up, and cocked her head to the side, squinting.

Tori handed it to Vic as she flopped back to the floor. “I can’t read it, but maybe you coul–”

He took the paper, and his eyes raced over the tiny letters. “Tori,” he whispered, and his breath hitched as he silently reread. “This is our ticket home!”

Tori stood up so quickly, the blood rushed to her head, but she didn’t care. She jumped onto the bed next to him and took the paper, shaking. “What does it say?”

First flower of spring, the petals there of

Water from a rushing flood

Golden treasure with detail

Your beloved’s fingernail

The prized possession from your homeland

Beams of sunlight

And with hope hand in hand

Forming a door so bright

Brings you back to where you started

And forever you’ll be back

But never twice departed

“It’s a poem,” Tori realized, looking at the paragraphs that had to be stanzas. “What does all of this mean?”

He yawned, then placed the journal on the nightstand and put his head down on the flat pillow. “I say we sleep now–it’s really late. Then we can try to figure out what this means tomorrow. Deal?”

Tori nodded, getting under the covers. Her eyes were closed. “Good night, Vic.”

“Good night, Tori.”

Bright and early the next day, the twins stepped out of the office, buzzing with adrenaline and energy. They had oatmeal this time, soggier than the palace’s with no toppings, but it was filling enough anyway. They spent the rest of the morning telling Andy about the journal as he put Corrie in her jacket and got ready to drop her off. He quietly listened as they explained, and Vic swore he could see a couple tears in the kind man’s eyes.

Vic led Tori back to the room as Andy left. He sat down on Andy’s desk chair and spun around. It really spun. Spun! It was like an easy-at-home amusement ride.

“Should we start translating?” Tori wondered as she sat on the bed. It squeaked as she leaned against the wall. She fidgeted with the thin blanket, tapped her fingers on her knee, and scratched an itch on her hand as she watched Vic go around and around and around.

“Hello?” she finally exclaimed, throwing her hands up.

He sighed as he skidded the chair to a stop and opened the journal up to where he’d safely tucked the pink paper away. After he was done scribbling the words down on a spare piece of paper, he handed it to Tori.

Vic tapped his chin. “I think it means that those are the things we need to create a portal to get back home. See how it says ‘And with hope hand in hand, forming a door so bright, brings you back to where you started’?”

“Where would we even get water from a flood or the first flower of spring?” Tori looked out the window. Bright light was spilling in through the half-open blinds. The grass was a light shade of green, and flowers were blooming everywhere. “It kind of looks like spring. And there’s definitely enough flowers to go around.”

Vic looked around the room for a calendar. “Oh no. It’s June here too! Just like home is.” He cradled his head between his knees, rocking back and forth. “We can’t wait a year.”

“And if it’s summer, it’s definitely not going to flood,” Tori added. “There’s kind of a lot of flaws in this plan.”

“‘Golden treasure with detail, your beloved’s fingernail, the prized possession from your homeland, beams of sunlight,’” Vic kept reading. “Oh! You have your bracelets, so we have the gold covered. And it shouldn’t be too hard to clip one of your nails. Not sure what ‘prized possession from your homeland’ could be, though. All my stuff is in Alternia, and even if I had it, I’d never want to give up my science textbook.”

Tori fidgeted with the edge of her fraying pajama pants. “Well…”

His eyes lit up. “Oh! Do you have something?”

“Yeah, actually…” She trailed off, and then reached into her pocket to pull out a marbled blue, gold, and silver stone.

“You carry that around?” Vic’s mouth gaped open. “You brought it here?”

She sighed, rubbing her finger back and forth along the edges of the cold stone. “Don’t laugh, but it’s kind of like a good-luck charm? I don’t know. It’s pretty special.”

It really was. Back in Alternia, years ago, Vic and Tori had planned a surprise anniversary party for their parents. They’d gone to Fairyland’s Trinkets to get tons of materials, and made cards and crafts and decorations and everything. Though their efforts had been underappreciated by their busy parents, Vic had gotten Tori a small stone she’d wanted from the store, and he vividly remembered her ecstatic face when he’d given it to her.

“Wow,” was all he could say, his eyes just the tiniest bit shiny.

“I guess I’ll have to give it up to go home, though,” Tori mumbled, the edges of her mouth turned down. “Maybe it’ll be worth it.”

Vic thought for a moment, but couldn’t think  of anything to say.

Tori’s eyes scanned over the letters again. “But what does ‘And forever you’ll be back, but never twice departed’ mean? That we can’t come back again? Ever?”

He sighed, looking down at the amazing spinny chair with longing. He doubted Alternia had those. “I guess so.”

“It’s not like we could come back anyway,” Tori reasoned. “Angeline wanted our powers, and now that we don’t have them, what would we have that she would want? Nothing.”

“Our tongue?” Vic suggested.

“Ew, no. And why would she want our tongue anyway?”

“Why would she want our powers?” Vic countered.

Tori slapped her palm against her forehead. “Because they make you powerful! It’s even in the name. There’s not much you could do with a detached tongue, don’t you think?”

“Okay, okay,” he finally agreed, before the conversation turned into a heated debate. “I get it. So I guess we’re never coming back again.”

She nodded, gazing around. This place was homey and cute, but she was starting to get a little claustrophobic. She missed the castle and its gorgeous balcony where she could look out into the whole of Alternia.

SLAM!

The sudden sound made the twins jump, and they turned to the open office door.

“I’m back!” Andy called, his footsteps echoing through the house. “How are you guys doing?”

Vic did another spin on the chair as he entered. “Good. We think the poem is kind of like a list of things to create a portal to bring us home.”

“Hmm,” Andy said, tapping his foot. “What are the ingredients?”

“The first flower of spring, water from a flood, something made of gold, the fingernail of someone you love, a prized possession from your homeland, and sunlight,” Tori recited in one single breath. “We have the gold, the prized possession, and the fingernail and sunlight should be easy. But I’m not sure what to do about the first flower of spring and water from a flood.”

“Maybe you could look in the basement,” Andy suggested. “You’re welcome to go through there to look for more clues.”

Vic glanced over to him. “Hey, Andy, could you maybe help us search? If you have time, I mean.”

“Of course!” He motioned to them to follow him, to the door underneath the coat rack. Vic clicked the light on as cool air slapped them in their faces. There were many old cardboard boxes with a sticky residue on the flaps, filled with strange items.

Andy gazed around the room and at all of the boxes and things scattered on the ground. “How about we take a box each and search?”

Vic nodded and pulled one of the boxes over, sitting down on the dusty stone floor. He could feel the cold on his skin even through his striped pajama bottoms. The box was labeled ‘Corrie’ in the same loopy handwriting as the journal. Inside were rattley baby toys, chewed up rubber shapes, and ripped blankets that smelled like mothballs.

“Find anything?” Tori asked, her voice hopeful as she dug through a box marked ‘wedding’. “Because I’m not getting much.”

Vic wrinkled his nose as he pulled out a baby binky, with teeth marks all over the thing. Then he came upon some baby clothes with silly phrases on them.

“I’m definitely not,” Andy sighed as he looked through a box of vases and cracked plates, the clanking of the ceramic ringing. “Keep your hopes up, though. This place is small, but it is crammed with stuff.”

Tori pulled out a circle of wire with ribbons, flowers, and stems wrapped around it. The flowers were dried and brownish, not pretty at all, and the silky ribbon was fraying. “Hey, Andy? Why do you keep all these things?”

He laughed heartily, a grin on his face. “They’re memories, times that I want to remember forever. It only proves how fast time flies. Like our wedding. Or when Corrie was just a tiny little bean. Or the plates–” He gestured to the cracked ones in the box–“that my grandmother gave me.”

Vic stared at him with a whole new understanding. Though the King and Queen back in Alternia threw away all of their unneeded things to get new things, like their baby clothes and old gifts from the other royals, it made him want to treasure all of his memories like Andy. Maybe he could get a box back at home, too.

“That’s cool,” Tori said, fingering the edge of a meshy white veil. White glitter sprinkled on her hands. “Doesn’t it get too messy? My maid hates messes.”

Andy smiled, eyes bittersweet as they fixed on the veil she was holding. “Clutter is all you’ll see here, especially in the basement. But memories are more important than always being tidy. I’d rather keep the special things.”

Vic nodded, as he kept sifting through the old toys. There were plastic ring tosses, more baby chew toys, and a pacifier. “Should we look around the house? Because I–”

“Wait!” Tori waved her arms as both him and Andy stared at her.

“What?”

She held up a hold on sign as she moved a wrinkled white dress out of the box. “Yesss!” she cheered. “I was right!”

“Could you fill us in?” Andy asked, his eyebrows scrunched up.

Tori pulled out a shimmery see-through bag. Both Vic and Andy’s mouths gaped open as she opened it and poured out the contents: three small glass vials with cork stoppers, and a pair of small ruby earrings. One of the bottles had dried flower petals, the other had nail clippings, and the last had muddy water.

“What is that?” Vic kept on staring at his sister as if she was bonkers. “Why are you so excited?”

She laughed. “Are you kidding? We’re already halfway home!"

Vic examined the small, clear bottle before slowly opening the lid. Tori watched intently, and Corrie, holding her dad’s hand, peered closer.

He shook the bottle lightly, and the three crisp flower petals floated down into the bottom of the blue bowl, wafting out the smell of rosy perfume.

Dead silence filled the air as all four of them held their breath.

Vic tapped his foot on the carpeted floor and sighed loudly.

“This is going to work,” Tori announced defiantly, glaring at the blue ceramic like it had personally offended her. “I just know it.”

“Add the water!” Corrie suggested. She poked her finger at one of the petals, and it crunched loudly.

Andy patted her hair. “They’re going to add it last, with the sunlight,” he explained, watching the petals with a careful eye.

“Wait, but maybe Corrie’s right,” Vic said thoughtfully, glancing at the bottle filled with muddy water. “Should we go in the order of the poem?”

Tori shrugged, and he took that as a yes.

He took out the cork, and the stench of smelly wet laundry filled the room. Everyone plugged their noses as he poured out the sludge, trying not to gag at the dirt, leaves, and rubble mixed into the chunky green water. And then, right before their eyes, the mud fizzed into runny liquid, and the brown color grew brighter, until it was sparkly purple. When the substance touched the petals, they started to melt and turned the same shade.

Corrie squealed, her eyes as large as if they were squealing too. Andy’s eyes were equally wide, and his mouth hung open in a perfect O.

Tori slipped off her bracelet, dropping it into the bowl. It clanged against the bottom and disintegrated.

Vic shook Corrie’s fingernail clippings out of a small bag and sprinkled them into the liquid. And then it was time for the prized possession.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Vic whispered, staring at the marbled blue stone. His reflection stared back.

Tori’s hands shook as she pulled it out, rubbing her thumb against the cold stone one last time, and nodded, a determined yet sad look in her eyes. She kissed it goodbye, and with longing, gently placed it into the bowl. It fizzed and melted purple.

Corrie hugged Tori’s leg as she dabbed at the corners of her eyes.

“Do we just leave it out, now?” Tori asked, clearing her throat. “For the sunlight part of this?”

Vic nodded, and Andy helped them carry it outside as Corrie trailed after them. The sunlight was warm on their skin, and the sky was the perfect shade of blue.

“Why don’t we stay out here?” he suggested, pulling out three fold out chairs. Corrie slipped on sparkly rainbow sandals and ran to a girl with pigtails and crooked teeth who was riding a tricycle.

The twins shrugged. They decided to sit in the shade of the garage and leave the bowl a couple feet away, so it could get sun and they could look at it without getting up. Andy took out a newspaper, but quickly fell asleep snoring.

“Is anything happening?” Tori asked, her eyes closed, too. Major jet lag and nerves had them sleeping close to midnight every day, and she was pretty sure she was getting premature wrinkles and baggy under eyes. Was this how her parents felt all the time?

“Not sure,” Vic replied, squinting.

An hour passed, and Corrie and the other girl ran to Andy and shook him awake for frozen-fruit-on-a-stick, or what they called popsicles. They both had hair stuck to their foreheads and sweat running down their cheeks, faces flushed with happiness.

“I want the red one!” the girl exclaimed.

“And I want the blue one!” Corrie added, jumping around when she got hers. They peeled off the plastic wrapper and licked the popsicles like there would be no tomorrow. Tori stared at the two little girls, and then Andy. The toddlers were so joyful at every small thing that happened, and Andy seemed more than happy to give Corrie his time and hang out with her.

After they hit the second-hour mark, the girl’s parents came outside to get their child. They chatted with Andy for a bit, and then went back inside their house.

Tori picked up the bowl and peered inside. “Vic!” she cried, carefully running over to him to make sure nothing spilled. “Look!”

The sparkly liquid inside wasn’t the deep shade of purple anymore–it was orange. It almost looked like orange juice, but what it looked exactly like was Angeline’s potion–the potion they had used to get to Chicago in the first place.

Hearts soaring, the twins rushed into the house to show Andy. If his eyes got any wider, they might’ve popped out of his head.

“This is incredible,” he breathed, shifting the bowl slightly. The motion created ripples through the elixir, and the sparkles glinted off the fluorescent ceiling lights.

Vic nodded, grinning widely.

“I’ve lived in a magical world but I’ve never seen anything like this,” Tori added, beaming.

“Should we try to go home now?” Vic asked, dipping his finger into the bowl. The mixture felt like water but slightly thicker.

Tori thought for a moment. “Better question, how do we use the potion to get home? Do we pour it on our heads or something?”

“I think that’d be too risky,” Vic admitted, sighing. “If it worked, great, but if it didn’t, we couldn’t, that’d be a serious issue.”

“How did you come here in the first place?” Andy wondered.

Vic racked his brain. The trip had been just four days ago, but his memories were fuzzy. “Well, we ran out of the palace and into the woods… and we… well… I’m not sure how to explain this, but Tori and I used to have magic powers.”

Corrie’s eyes widened. “MAGIC POWERS!” she screamed, her eyes looking alive and full of excitement.

“Amazing,” Andy breathed. “Is there any chance Sojourner had a magic power?”

“Probably not, if she wasn’t a royal,” Tori explained. “It’s in the royals’ DNA, and it just gets passed down. Commoners usually don’t have powers. Besides, powers disappear at sixteen, so she wouldn’t have had them now either way.”

“Anyway,” Vic continued. “We ran into the woods, and Tori’s teleportation could somehow sense where the portal would be, I guess. Or how to get to the portal. We came to a house, and there was a lady named Angeline. We traded our powers for her potion. We drank it, and a portal suddenly appeared. We jum–”

Andy gasped, cutting him off. “You drink it!” he exclaimed, throwing his hands up.

Vic and Tori clapped at the same time. Corrie’s eyebrows were knit together, but she seemed happy enough.

“Are you sure it’s sanitary?” Vic had to wonder. “I mean… there’s random rubble, gold, dirty water, mud, a rock, and flower petals in there.”

Tori shrugged. “We have to try, right?”

He nodded, and then swallowed down his doubts and fear to channel Tori’s confidence.

This was it.

Going home was what he had wanted all along, but now his insides were all squirmy. Just when he had started to get used to the place, he was now leaving. Not that he had planned on staying long, but just like they had wanted back then in Alternia, this place was fun and free and happy. He would definitely miss that.

But it really was time to go. Time to let go, too, since they could never come back.

Andy poured the liquid into two mugs, and Vic gripped the handle  of it so tightly, his knuckles were white. Tori was holding Corrie’s hand, staring into her cup.

“Three… two… one!” Andy counted for them.

Vic gulped it down before his gut could tell him no, gagging as the taste of raw fish and oil filled his mouth. He did not remember it tasting this foul.

 A strange tingling sensation suddenly rose through his stomach, making him laugh uncontrollably. Tori was giggling next to him.

All of a sudden, a giant, swirling golden door appeared before them as the tingling disappeared. It shined so brightly none of them could stare at it for too long. Andy looked befuddled. Corrie was jumping up and down, dancing around the kitchen. And Vic and Tori stood slack jawed, their eyes filled with tears.

“What do we do now?” Tori screamed, flapping her hands like she was unable to contain her excitement.

Vic tried to open the door, but it stood firmly closed. “I don’t know!” Panic was filling his body now, and his hands were shaking. “What do we do?”

He ran over the lines of the poem again and again.

“Hope!” he shouted, grabbing Tori’s hand. “‘And with hope hand in hand, forming a door so bright’!”

Tori hugged Corrie goodbye, tears streaking down her face as she kissed the top of her head.

“It’s okay!” Corrie said to Tori, grinning as dimples appeared on her chubby cheeks. “We can see each other again!”

Tori shook her head hard, hair sticking to her forehead as she desperately tried to explain the poem. The little toddler just looked positively confused.

“Sweetheart,” Andy said quietly, lifting her into his arms. “I think this will be the last time we see them.” Corrie started to sob, her tears wetting Andy’s shirt, and Tori cried even harder. Vic put his hand on Tori’s back.

“We need to go home now,” he told her gently. Tori wiped her red eyes and looked back at Corrie and Andy.

“Okay,” she whispered, her voice sounding pained and wobbly, as if a knife had just been stabbed into her heart. “Okay.”

They gripped each other’s hands, closing their eyes in concentration.

Vic opened his left eye thirty seconds later. The portal was still in front of them, in an almost taunting way. Tori stomped her foot in frustration.

“Mind if I help?” Andy asked, moving his daughter to his other hip. “It might help if you know what’s keeping you from totally wanting to go back.” I like how they have to get their hearts right before the portal will open!

Tori sighed. “Our parents,” she finally confessed, glancing at Vic. “They’ve just been so horrible our whole lives, ignoring us all the time but caring every time we slipped up even a little. We also have a horrible principal at our school who would yell at us about not being perfect. When we came here, it felt like all the rules were lifted.”

“It was like we were free for the first time,” Vic added, his voice low.

She nodded. “We’ll miss this place a lot. And we’ll miss you guys. Thank you… so much. We couldn’t have ever gotten the chance to go back if not for you.”

Andy smiled thoughtfully. “I thank you two. I now know so much more about my wife than I ever would’ve. And, as for you parents, I think you should give them another chance. I know your mother and father want the best for you. Be patient with them, okay?” His voice broke as he sucked in a slow, deep breath.

Tori nodded, tucking the words deep inside her chest, and the four of them held each other in their arms.

Then the twins locked hands again, closed their eyes, and lowered their heads.

Pop!

They both gasped as the door swung open, leaving them with a glittery entrance back to Alternia, their homeland. They would get to see their parents again, grouchy Georgia, all of the guards who kept them safe, horses galloping in the lush fields, and their beautiful castle. Their hearts soared, and their hopes and dreams lay in the misty gold ahead of them.

Hand in hand, Tori and Vic stepped inside, and the door closed behind them, never to be opened again.