Fractured Worlds (Book 1 of the Fractured Worlds Trilogy)

Fractured

  Worlds

  Book one of the Fractured Worlds saga.

  By Alan VanMeter

  Copyright © 2014 Alan VanMeter

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 1500988022

  ISBN-13: 978-1500988029

  For Leena and Tristan; May your dreams always be as big, and pure as your hearts are.

  CONTENTS

  Prologue

  i

  1

  You are a lucky winner!

  9

  2

  It will be fun, really

  14

  3

  The Greatest Adventure

  24

  4

  The Quest

  35

  5

  No return

  43

  6

  They must vanish

  53

  7

  Gateway

  65

  8

  Finding Favor

  88

  9

  The Golden Fish

  113

  10

  Never in your wildest dreams.

  121

  11

  12

  13

  14

  15

  16

  17

  18

  19

  20

  21

  22

  Success at last

  Captured

  The Bird Cage

  Welcome to Tomorrow

  Time to Fly

  Together Forever

  The Deep Blue Sea

  The Impossible

  A Strange Sort of Welcome

  Fractures

  A Million to One

  A New Home

  147

  159

  175

  252

  285

  309

  327

  341

  352

  387

  396

  416

  Do not imagine that an integral being has the

  ambition of enlightening the unaware or raising worldly people to the Divine Realm.

  To her there is no self and other; and hence no one to be raised; no heaven and hell, and hence no destination.

  Therefore her only concern is her own sincerity.

  -Lao Tzu-

  Prologue

  As the last speaker finished his short tribute, he introduced the next speaker, the one everyone had really come to hear. A woman of great beauty rose from the front row of the huge crowd, and made her way to the podium. She wore a form fitting, yet lightly loose silky black dress with white pin stripes that stopped just above her knees. Her long straight hair was even more light and silky than the dress, and sparkled with her naturally shiny silver color. Instantly she captivated the many eyes of all who were present. She took the podium with poise, and confidence that was obvious.

  “The beginning of everything was before my Mother was even born, but I heard the stories about it from her, and her parents as though it were only yesterday, or perhaps tomorrow. Everything changes, and everything returns. This they taught me as a matter of life itself.” She smiled sincerely before proceeding.

  “To say I was blessed would be to put it mildly indeed!” She insisted. “Our destiny is not a mere blessing you see, it is a birthright! It was earned with bodies, minds, and souls.”

  1: You are a lucky winner!

  The advertisements were all over the internet, in every major magazine, on billboards lining the roads, and seemed to be repeated every commercial break on the major networks. It was being hyped as the biggest contest ever, and indeed it was.

  The corporation promoting the event; ‘Dreamland’, was a household word. It had become a global monopoly controlling a large market share of the entertainment industry. With its’ humble beginnings as an amusement park, the company had grown until it now had its hands in everything from movies, to toys, to leading edge technology development. There were several crazy days on Wall Street when they made public their intentions to hold a contest with such a prize. Some members of the media even went so far as to dub it the ‘Willie Wonka’ contest.

  The promotion stated; “We are looking for someone special. Someone special enough to run our company for us! You heard us right. Seven lucky winners will each receive an equal part of the majority of Dreamland stock, making these seven lucky people the new presidents and acting CEO’s of the entire Dreamland Corporation. Sound too good to be true? Well here’s the catch; we are only looking for good people. Such good people in fact that only children twelve years old and under may enter. Simply write an essay in fifty words or less describing what ‘good’ means to you. Forty nine finalists will be chosen from the entries, and those good kids will be invited to take part in a very special quest at Dreamland’s biggest amusement park to determine whom the seven lucky winners are. A note to any parent or adult who would attempt to put words into their children’s mouths, or onto their essays; don’t bother, it won’t work.”

  That was what sparked the most fevered burst of writing that the world had ever known. Scores of professional writers, philosophers, and parents didn’t pay heed to the warning, and true to the promise made, most all of these essays were disregarded. Of all the millions of works written by children, forty nine good hearts were found. This is not to say that there were only forty nine good children, but rather those that were chosen were truly very special indeed, with perhaps a single exception.

  When Tristan Welsh and his younger sister Leena sat down to start writing their essays, their parents were a little apprehensive as to why they wanted to enter such a contest. After all they had tried to instill a sense that material possessions were not the most important things in life, but rather that love was. Tristan had explained that he was describing the love in his heart, and when Leena had added, “Yeah, and if we win; we’ll make Dreamland a real nice place for people to visit.” the Welsh’s’ could tell that their children were quite serious. This didn’t worry them too much however, as the odds of winning were only several hundred million to one.

  It didn’t take long for Leena to finish her essay, as she knew exactly what was good. The essay read; “My Mom, and Dad, and big brother are good. I love them and they love me. I guess that means love is good, but it’s only good if it is shared.” This was the ultimate truth to her and that shone with the light of a thousand suns. Tristan had a slightly harder time getting started than did his sister. It is difficult to try to describe something you feel very deeply. The more he thought about it the harder it became. When frustration clouded his mind, he finally stopped trying so hard, and that was when the words came. “Good is that warm feeling in your heart that can’t be described, but you know it is right because it’s not selfish. Now I know this must be the source of it.”

  Several months rolled by, and then on a warm sunny Saturday afternoon the telephone rang. Neither Tristan nor Leena thought much of this at first, until they heard their mother’s voice raise in exclamation, “What?...This has to be a joke!...Wait, what was your name again?” There was a lengthy pause as she scribbled something down while listening. Then, “Both of them?” she almost shouted. “Now I know this has to be a prank!” She was quiet for several more moments. By now both of the children’s interest was piqued, for they had never heard their mother raise her voice on the phone before. “No, I haven’t checked my E-mail recently. Is there a number I can call to confirm this?” She again wrote something down. “Well, all ri
ght, thank you.” And with that she hung up.

  The perplexed looks from her children did not elicit a response, instead she called their father in from the backyard. After a quick, hushed exchange, both of them went to their bedroom and shut the door. Tristan and Leena crept close to listen, but the door muted their parent’s voices so they couldn’t pick up the conversation. Within a few minutes their father came out of the room with a shocked look on his face, and then got on-line. After which he made a phone call from their bedroom. Stranger still; within a half hour an express delivery package arrived, and then their parents again retreated to their room. Finally after what seemed like forever being left in the dark, their mother called them into their room, and told them to have a seat on the bed.

  Their father was already seated on the bed, and had the strange package with its contents spread out before him. After both were seated, he began; “Well it looks like you’ve really gone and done it this time.” Michael Welsh gazed sternly at both of his children. “It seems as though….” He let the words hang for a moment before his expression changed to a vigorous smile, “You are both lucky winners in the Dreamland essay contest!” He finished almost shouting. Several long moments rolled by as Tristan and Leena looked at each other in wild amazement. Screams of delight erupted, followed by hugs and kisses.

  2: It will be fun, really.