Page 48 of The Otherworld

The Real World

ADAM

It takes a ten-minute phone conversation with my parents before I convince them that it’s really me and that I’m truly alive. That’s when I realize just how much anguish my family has been through. They all thought I was gone, and who could blame them? They found my wrecked Beaver; they knew I went down over the water. No one in their right mind would assume I survived.

Except for Jack.

“He never gave up hope,” Mom says after she recovers from the shock, her voice still wobbly with tears. “He refused to believe that you were gone. In fact, your father and I… were starting to worry about him.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it was kind of hard to believe that he’d met this mysterious girl called Orca living in a lighthouse on an uninhabited island somewhere…”

Orca is sitting right across from me, sipping her mug of coffee in her colonial-style kitchen.

“He was telling the truth,” I say, holding back a grin.

“I can see that now,” Mom continues, between a laugh and a sob. “And she has my gratitude for the rest of my life. Oh god, Adam…” She trails off, crying.

“Hey. It’s okay, Mom. I’m okay.”

“I know,” she whispers.

Orca gets a far-off look in her eyes as she listens to me trying to comfort my mother. I wonder what lies behind that look.

“We’re going to tell the coast guard right away.” Mom sniffles. “We’re going to get you home as soon as possible.”

“No need to send the coast guard out here. Tell them I’m okay, and Jack can fly out and get me when the storm has passed. Visibility is crap right now, and there’s more to this system. Wouldn’t be surprised if it lasts a few days.”

“Days? Adam—”

“I’m fine. Really. Bruises and scratches, that’s it. Maybe a broken rib.”

Mom gasps.

“Mom, I’m fine. It’s madness to try to fly out to this island. The weather is a nightmare.”

While I’m talking, Orca slips out of the kitchen and returns a minute later, wearing a gray jumpsuit and a hooded cloak. “I’ll be right back,” she says, slinging a huge woven basket over her shoulder before vanishing again with the dog at her heels.

“Are you sure?” Mom persists. “You might have a concussion—”

“I don’t think so. Orca’s taking good care of me,” I add that because Mom will be far less concerned about the situation if she knows a woman is involved.

“C’mon, Mom, leave him alone. Can I have my phone back now?” Jack’s voice drifts back onto the line. “Shit, man, I still can’t believe it.”

I grin. “What do you mean? Mom said you were the only one who believed I was still alive.”

“Yeah, I was, for a long time. But last night was rough, Adam. And this morning, I was… I was at the end of my rope.”

“I’m so sorry I put you all through that.”

“What the hell happened out there, anyway?”

“My worst nightmare. It was partially my fault. I should have paid more attention to the forecast. I wasn’t pushing the weather when I took off, but halfway across the straits, the wind shifted, and… the sky fell.”

Jack curses under his breath. “You were flying blind?”

“Until I hit the water.”

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