A Tether To Another World

To this world, my dad was Lewis C. Kaiser—famed explorer, adventurer and TV personality.

To me, he was dad—supportive, funny (or as funny as his lame dad jokes go), and a walking ATM. He was the greatest dad ever.

But to his people, he was Augustus Roy Caesar, the exiled second Prince of Lumiera, a world populated by mythical creatures, wizards and valiant knights.

It was months ago when elf-soldiers magically appeared in our living room to summon my dad back to his world.

"Danny, let's go play Mario Kart upstairs," my mom said to me after she got over her initial shock. I looked at her incredulously, "but I want to stay here and do my homework," I said. No, I did not. I just wanted to stare at the elf-soldiers a little longer and then kick them in the knee for being the ones who banished dad in the first place.

My dad gave me a reassuring look that made all those feelings go away. He always had a way of doing that and making me understand why I had to do things that grownups wanted me to do, so I relented and went upstairs with my mom. While I was busy getting wrecked more than usual in Mario Kart, I was trying to eavesdrop as best I could on their conversation, but it was in a language I never heard of before.

When it was all over, mom and dad talked in private while I had my ear pressed onto a cup, and the cup pressed onto the door. I could hear and understand every word this time.

"...There's been a coup. They want me back to lead the rebellion. I don't want to go, but I want to at the same time." Dad sounded genuinely torn.

"I was afraid this day would come." Mom said with a defeated sigh. "But hey, you wouldn't be the man I fell in love with if you decide to let your own people suffer while you do nothing." I wanted to hurl, grownups could get so cheezy sometimes.

"What will I say to Danny?" Dad said.

"You don't have to say anything else. He's been eavesdropping anyway. Isn't that right, Danny?" Mom said. There was no use pretending, so I knocked and opened the door.

"Oh wow, you really were listening. I wasn't even sure." My mom shrugged. Well played, mother. Well played. All that aside, I was happy to encourage my dad to go. I imagined he was going to be a knight riding a fearsome dragon into battle, and who wouldn't want to see their fathers do that, but as the days turned into weeks and then into months, I was beginning to regret asking him to go.

To make his disappearance look less suspicious, my dad set out on a forest expedition and met with the elf-soldiers there to be transported back into his world, but out of sheer stupidity, the expensive equipment he brought with him was rented, and without enough money to pay it back (plus fines), my mom decided to auction off his stuff to teach him a lesson. Unfortunately, she accidentally gave away was a small black notebook.

That notebook was a Tether—magical items that "tethers" this world to my dad's—and this one allowed us to write to each other. We went to the auction house to request the book back but it had already been sold to an anonymous buyer. My mom wanted to comfort me, but instead, I yelled at her for being so stupid and told her I hated her.

I regretted everything I said as I ran off, I knew what I said had hurt her, but there were too many feelings in my head for an 8-year-old to properly process. I had just lost my only connection to my dad. I could hear my mom calling out to me, but I just wanted to be left alone to cry right now.

"You should go to your mother, child." An old man approached me. "I'm sure she's very worried about you."

I ignored him.

"What is it you're looking for? Perhaps I can help, I am friends with the manager of the auction house."

I wiped away my tears and sucked in my snot, there was no harm in trying. "My mom sold off my dad's notebook by accident, and now we can't find the buyer."

The old man smiled. "I will see what I can do. Until then, go back to your mother and apologize. Those were some harsh words you said back there." He said it with such kindness that it did not feel like a lecture or a scolding, instead, I thought a saw a tear in his eyes as he said it.

I apologized and we went back home. It had been a week since we went to the auction house and we had not heard anything from them or that old man, I was starting to think it was all empty promises. Then, one day, I saw him standing at the front gate just as I finished school.

"Remember me, child?" He said.

"You found the buyer?!" I asked, I was barely able to contain my excitement.

"Oh yes. In fact, I'm here to meet him."

"But...I don't have any money to buy it back."

"Oh don't you worry, child. That will be taken care of. Perchance, do you know a student here by the name Golberg?"

"Ummm yes, there's my friend Ellie right there." I pointed to Ellie Golberg, my classmate.

"Ah, lovely young girl. I know for a fact that her father comes on Fridays to pick her up himself, and he is whom I am here to see today...and there he is right now. Come." The old man gestured for me to follow him.

"Richard, my boy! How much you've grown!" The old man cheerfully called out to Ellie's dad.

"Charles?! It's been ages! How've you been?!"

"I'm doing better, and will hopefully do better by the end of the day. I admit, we are not meeting by chance and I am here to ask for a favour about a notebook you recently purchased at the auction house."

Ellie's dad was instantly flustered.

"Look, I'm sorry I bought that book behind your back, Charles." He said defensively. "But you know how much of a fan I am of Lewis Kaiser. I couldn't help myself."

I did not mind how he was talking about my "missing" dad right in front of me because a) he wasn't really missing; and b) I kept such a low profile at school that no one knew I was his son.

"Oh no, it's not that. I'm not angry or anything, but I was wondering if I could buy it off your hands."

Ellie's dad was shocked at the old man's words, as was I. What he said later shocked me more.

"Or rather, this young boy here would like to buy it back." The old man placed his hand on my shoulder. "If memory serves me right, I recall Ed telling me you bought it for $20,000, am I right?"

I was not expecting to buy it back right now, I hadn't even given it much thought yet, all I had was $88 in my piggy bank and $4 left in my pockets.

"Umm...umm...I-I-I don't have the 20,000 dollars, Mr.Golberg." I stuttered.

"My my, you must really want Kaiser's book huh? But I'm afraid I can't accept it even if you offered me twice the price. Bless the man's soul, but to have an item that belonged to a great explorer like him means more to me than money."

"How about we broker a deal then? This young boy here buys it for the price you paid, and you get exclusive access to some more personal belongings of Lewis Kaiser that are not on the market, with the expressed blessing of his family of course."

"Charles..." Ellie's dad looked shocked. "Are you..."

The old man simply smiled and nodded to the unspoken question.

I had no idea what was being said between these two, but as long as the man was willing to sell us back the black notebook, I was happy. There was only one small problem.

"U-u-u-ummmm...I don't have 20,000 dollars. Can I pay you 10 dollars every week instead, Mr. Golberg?"

The old man laughed. "Of course you do, child. Why, I believe you dropped this. I saw it fall out of your backpack earlier. You ought to be careful with your money." The old man handed me a cheque with $20,000 written on it.

"What's going on?" Ellie finally spoke up, unable to hold in her confusion any longer. I had the same question too.

***

Later that day

"Mom! I brought a friend over!" I shouted as I came home.

"Oh, would your friend like some sandwi-" My mom was at a lost for words upon seeing the old man.

"Good evening, Lily. It's a nice cozy home you've got," he said.

"What are you doing here, father?"

"Lewis is gone, right?"

My mom crossed her arms. Turns out, grandpa had wanted mom to marry Richard Golberg and he never approved of my dad. In fact, the last time my mom saw grandpa, it ended on bad terms. That was before I was born.

"I'm just joking. I can tell from watching you on TV that he's fine. Even so, it must be hard now that he's gone."

"We're...managing." My mom kept her arms crossed.

"Danny tells me that this soggy old book is important. I don't have to understand it but as long as it makes you happy."

Mom perked up momentarily at the sight of the book and regained her composure in an instance.

"Would you...like to stay for dinner?" Mom was keeping her cool while I was simply too blown away with all the revelations thrown at me in an afternoon to even speak.

"You do have your mother's fine taste in food. I've missed her cooking very much," my grandpa said. "Errmmm, Lewis isn't coming back anytime soon, is he?"

My mom stared daggers at him.

"I'm joking, of course!"

"You didn't used to be funny at all. You still aren't."

"I've been taking comedy lessons in my spare time. Really popular with children these days. I'd say it would've been a good skill to have when you were a child, but I'm sure you're still one now," grandpa chuckled.

My mom turned away from grandpa as she did it, but it was the first time I had seen her smile in a long time.