Free The Return by Jennifer Torres Page B

Tim had learned, Canary was being held at the Reef Institute, a large facility just outside town. He’d seen it once before when he was younger when he’d ridden his bike a little too far one day and gotten lost. His father had found him about an hour after he left the house. His mother had been so angry—or worried. He wasn’t really sure which. But he remembered asking about the building then, and his father had told him it was a place for people who made mistakes.
    This had really scared Tim because he made a lot of mistakes. But his dad had reassured him someone had to make a really
big
mistake to end up there.
    When Tim was older, he had gone back and seen it again, this time taking his friends. Together they still couldn’t figure out how people got inside. He couldn’t see any windows or doors. It seemed empty, no cars outside, and no movement. The whole thing was surrounded by a huge fence. The friends had come back another day and saw a man in uniform standing outside the building, but they could not see any door that he could have come through. All he did was stand there for about two hours until Tim and his friends got tired of waiting for something to happen and went home.
    It had taken a few trips for the building to finally reveal a secret. Watching from a wooded hill, just out of sight, Tim could see a large door open as a black car approached. The car went through it and the door quickly closed. Once shut, there was no sign a door was ever there.
    Tim knew he had to go back there. He had to talk to Canary.
    â€œTim, what are you doing?”
    His mother eyed him curiously from the bottom of the stairs.
    â€œAre you okay?” she asked.
    â€œYeah mom, fine. I’m running late though, so I have to skip breakfast.”
    â€œBut Timothy, I made your favorite; you have to eat a few bites.”
    Looking past his mom into the kitchen, he could see it was indeed his favorite meal on the table, toasted grasshopper. He grabbed a few for the road, gave his mom a peck on the cheek, and headed out the door to school.
    â€œBe careful!” he heard his mom call after him.
    As he turned to wave, a Meganeura buzzed right over his head, knocking his cap clear off. The annoying gigantic dragonflies were everywhere this time of year. He picked up his hat, hopped on his skateboard, and rode past rows of red and purple trees down the hill to school.
    Max was waiting for him at the bottom.
    â€œYou’re going to make us late, man,” he scolded.
    â€œSorry, my mom made me breakfast,” Tim replied, holding out a few of the tasty critters for Max to sample.
    â€œHey, thanks, dude!” Max said as he grabbed the goodies and popped them in his mouth. “Your mom makes the best hoppers in town.”
    The two friends arrived at school within minutes of the final bell.
    â€œSee you at lunch,” Max called out as he disappeared into his classroom.
    Tim barely made it to his class on time, plunking down in his seat just as the teacher, Mr. DeLuca, closed and locked the door. There was no excuse for being late to his class. Arriving after the door closed meant an automatic trip to see the principal, Ms. Leavitt.
    â€œGlad you could join us,” Mr. DeLuca said looking directly at Tim.
    DeLuca’s geography class moved at an excruciatingly slow pace, and the clock seemed to move backwards each time Tim checked it.
    Today’s topic was the ocean and waterways of their planet.
    Indus was made primarily of water with only about 10 percent land. There were four land regions. Each had its own town: the Falls, River Bend, Shoreland, and Briny Deep. Each was separated by vast oceans. Travel between the regions was limited to those with a credential for passage, something difficult to get approval for—and expensive. Tim’s father had a credential, and so did Luke’s dad who traveled between regions for business a lot.
    Of course Tim wanted to see what the other