Free Wheels by Lorijo Metz

called it? Particle-weave? A perfect description. If they could particle-weave—and much better than she—then how was she supposed to save them?
    Pietas stretched her arms and yawned. “Dear me,” she declared, “I have been asleep for four loonocks and am feeling ravenously hungry.” Then, suddenly, she rolled over to the wall at the end of the cave and glanced back. “Come along,” she said and disappeared.
     
     
     

Chapter 11
    FBI TRANSCRIPT 21202
    Agent Wink Krumm and Rudy B. Hayes
Tuesday, April 21st
    KRUMM : Do you know why you’re here?
    HAYES : That toilet exploding was not my fault. Josh—
    KRUMM : It’s not school related.
    HAYES : Mr. Moore’s tool shed?
    KRUMM : Not …Earth related. Look,… you know what I’m talking about. We’ve seen the alien dog.
    HAYES : You have?
    KRUMM : Ah ha!
    HAYES : No, no. I mean, ha ha, that’s funny. You’re funny, Agent Krumm, ‘cuz you’re obviously talking about my new poodle. Right?
    KRUMM : You seem nervous.
    HAYES : Me? Nervous. Well, maybe a little. My aunt’s been kinda p, p—punchy lately…with the new poodle and all.
    KRUMM : Not surprising.
    HAYES : Can I go now?
    KRUMM : First, tell me about the new poodle, or should I say… poonchi ?
    HAYES : Poonchi! Is that a new breed?
    KRUMM : You tell me. In fact, why not save us both the time and tell me the truth. The truth, Mr. Hayes, and then you can leave. Veritas vos liberabit! The truth will set you free!
    ***
    LOONOCKS & EPOKS & LOONS, OH MY!
    Monday, March 16th
Circanthos
    “ M ac, hurry up! You gotta see the blue trees.”
    Though the torches had gone out, the cave glowed dimly under the light of the bioluminescent creatures that lived within its walls. McKenzie leaned forward and touched the spot where Pietas had removed the book. The wall blurred before her tear-filled eyes. She could almost imagine the particles moving aside to reveal the book. So, too…
    The broken window, opening…
    but not open.
    Her mother’s arm, there…
    then no longer there.
    Her screams…
    “Come along dears,” called Pietas. “ Cera san is quite useless this deep in the forest. We haven’t time to poke about.”
    McKenzie pushed herself away from the wall, her heart pounding wildly against her chest. A tear rolled down her cheek. Who am I? She wiped her face and turned towards the wall through which Pietas and Hayes had so recently walked. What am I? The opening was still there. Pietas acted as if particle-weaving were second nature, like breathing or walking. Surely, she would be able to help McKenzie find out the truth.
    Hayes appeared. He held out his hand. “Come on. Even if you are only part of my dream, you gotta see the blue trees.”
    McKenzie smiled. “Sure.” Then a thought occurred. If this wasn’t a dream, she would need far more than the truth—she would need Pietas’ help to find their way home.
    ********
    Hayes hadn’t exaggerated. The trunks of the tree were the same blue as the box in Principal Provost’s office. Not only that, but they were at least two elephant-widths wide and grew row upon row as far as the eye could see. “Wow…” murmured McKenzie. The cave had looked like a cave, but this… She ran her fingers across several layers of coarse, pale-blue bark. They really weren’t in Avondale.
    Running from tree to tree like wall-to-wall carpet was something that looked like plush, mustard colored moss. There appeared to be no other vegetation. No flowers or weeds. No limbs of any kind until fifty, maybe sixty feet in the air, at which point the canopy was thick with growth and bursting with life. Hints of greens and yellows, aqua blues, and lots of shimmering dark red leaves pushed their way through. There was hardly any space for sunlight to find its way through to the forest floor. Nothing grew farther than a few inches below the bottom-most leaves. And yet, there was light.
    “Time to go,” called Pietas.
    “EEEEEE, tsoot, tsoot, tsoot!”
    Hayes thrust something