Page 86 of The Otherworld

He sets the plates on the table and takes a seat in his chair. “The end of next month.”

I nod slowly, picking at my food with a fork. “You know, at first, I thought it would be strange to have this modern automation. But perhaps it’s better this way. I mean, if no one needs to be here to keep the light… then maybe I can go with you to the mainland. Next time.”

“There won’t be a next time.”

“Oh?”

Papa nods, not looking up. “Yes, thankfully, I’ll be spared any more meetings for the foreseeable future.”

“Well, it doesn’t have to be a business trip,” I remind him. “It could be just for fun—”

“No.” Papa glances up into my eyes, his expression resolute and unflinching. “No, Orca.”

“What do you mean, no? Papa, I… I thought you were proud of me. For everything I did here while you were gone.”

He looks at me as though I’ve changed the topic. “I am. Very proud of you.”

“You said I proved myself strong, capable. Didn’t you?”

“Orca—”

“Didn’t you say that earlier, on the beach?”

“Yes.”

“But you didn’t mean it.”

“I did mean it,” Papa says, holding my gaze firmly. “I’ve always known you to be extremely bright and capable, Orca. That’s why I trusted you to stay here and manage things.”

“But you don’t trust me enough to go to the Otherworld.”

“It’s not about trust.”

“Then what is it about?” I sit back in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest.

Papa draws a weary breath, then lets it all out again. “Orca, I know you feel like there’s so much more out there. Like your life is passing you by. But the mainland isn’t as wonderful as you imagine it to be. It’s—”

“Full of dangers and darkness, I know,” I finish for him, a sharp edge to my voice. “But if you really think I’m as strong as you say, then surely I can handle it.”

“I can handle it, too,” Papa says, “but I choose not to. I chose this life because it is far superior in many ways to what the so-called ‘real world’ has to offer.”

Adam would agree with him there. I recall him saying something about my world being far more real than his.

“Yes, you chose that,” I fire back. “But when have I ever had the chance to choose what I want?”

“I’m not trying to deprive you of anything, Orca,” Papa says, his voice low and somber. “I only wanted to keep you—to protect you from it.”

To keep me here. That’s what he was going to say. That’s what his real motive is. To keep me here, forever—not for my sake, but for his. All the while watching me yearn for the Otherworld. All the while, watching me stare through the spyglass at the pinpricks of light on the horizon, hoping to catch a glimpse of the place I long to see.

Anger bubbles up inside me, squeezing tighter, tighter, tighter around my heart—crushing my tender bruises and extinguishing my last flicker of hope.

Adam’s gone. And it is forever.

I think of the way he hugged me, the way he said goodbye. A sadness in his eyes so final, a sadness I saw only after Papa spoke to him.

“Papa… What did you tell Adam? Before he left?”

Papa looks like he would give anything not to answer that question. “I told him of our situation here.”

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