Door to Kandalaura Read Free Page B

toothbrush, toothpaste, and that sort of
thing. I have plenty of clothes he can wear, and we have lots of food.”
    So I grabbed my toothbrush and a few other items and put them in a small bag.
    “When can we leave?” I asked.
    “What?” exclaimed Mom. “Hold on there. I’m not anywhere near ready for the two of
you to leave. I’m still adjusting to your going at all. We need some time together.
After all, it’s not as if you take a trip like this every day.”
    So we compromised and set our departure for two days later after breakfast. I wasn’t
sure I could wait, but Andron wanted to try out my pogo stick and roller blades again.
Ben and Mary joined us when they saw us outside. I didn’t have a chance to tell Ben
about the trip. Mary had no idea Andron was from another planet. They usually share
everything, being twins and all, but we decided to wait till the time was right before
telling anyone else.
    Though the wait seemed long, I was actually glad that we had the extra time together.
We were like a family of four instead of three.
    The morning of our departure still came a little slowly for me but way too fast for
Mom.
    After breakfast Andron showed us all my special suit and helmet. “These will protect
him from any danger and allow him to breathe normally,” he said. “When we get to
Kandalaura, he’ll eat our fruit and drink our water. He’ll be fine. You’ll see.”
    Mom was comforted a little, but she took my leaving harder than I thought she would.
We hugged and said our goodbyes. I put on my special suit and helmet, and hopped
into the transport.
    The inside of the cockpit didn’t seem nearly as complicated as all the instruments
in our commercial planes. Andron knew exactly what do, and it was just like before.
We waved goodbye and shot into the sky like a bullet.
    At first earth’s gravity pulled hard on my face and body, but that only lasted a
few seconds. Sky, earth, and clouds whizzed by so fast, I didn’t even have time to
think about it. Suddenly we were no longer in earth’s atmosphere. I was seeing amazing
colors of galaxies as we travelled rapidly through space. Our speed was so extreme
that I couldn’t really get a good look. So Andron stopped the transport midair at
one point.
    “What’s wrong?” I asked.
    “Nothing,” he replied. “Take off your helmet.”
    “Are you crazy?” I asked.
    “It’ll be all right,” he said. “Trust me. I want you to listen.” He flipped on a
switch.
    Slowly I removed my helmet. I was puzzled, but I listened. Then I heard it—music,
but not like anything on earth. It wasn’t like singing. Yet there was harmony. It
reminded me of the frogs in Grammy’s pond. First one frog, usually a bullfrog, would
sound out. Then slowly all the others would join until there was a whole choir of
frogs.
    It was a little mechanical sounding compared to our singing voices, but still very
sweet. Sometimes it would start with one low note like the frogs; other times it
would start with a high duet. The notes covered far more than eight octaves. I learned
about octaves in band, so I was pretty sure I was right.
    “Is that what I think it is?” I asked Andron.
    Andron knew, of course, what I was thinking. He nodded.
    “I never dreamed that stars could really sing. It’s just like the Bible says,” I
remarked.
    Andron smiled. I was pretty sure he had been reading my Bible. We gazed at the beauty
of pink, purple, and gold galaxies. I doubted that my little camera would do the
scene justice, but I took a few shots anyway. Then Andron had me replace my helmet,
and we sped on to Kandalaura.
    Even Andron didn’t know for sure how much earth time this journey would take. Did
Kandalaura even have time? I didn’t know, but I was soon to find out.

Chapter 5
    ADVENTURE ON KANDALAURA
    W E LEFT EARTH shortly after breakfast.
    When we arrived on Kandalaura, it was early afternoon. My trip in space had been
spectacular. If this had been all there was, it would have