Oracle--Mutant Wood Read online

  “You built all of that by yourself?” Ret asked. “Trilithons are huge!”

  “Actually, Heliu helped me before he found his element,” Neo remembered fondly. “He moved those stones like they were feathers.”

  “Didn’t people wonder what you were doing?” Ret inquired.

  “That region was not populated then like it is today,” Neo answered. “But as people began to settle there, yes, they were very curious about my monument. I’d come across their rumors and speculations occasionally. Some said it had to do with astronomy, others said religion. They even came up with a clever name for it: Stonehenge.”

  “For a while, my decoy worked, but Lye couldn’t be fooled forever,” Neo retold. “One day, when I went to the trilithon to warp to this land, he was there waiting for me. A fight ensued. Much of Stonehenge was destroyed. I tried to escape the area without warping because I didn’t want to confirm any more of my secret to him, but the vicinity was too open to make a run for it. My only hope was to get away through the trilithon. Moments later, when sunrise came, I stood between the pillars, but Lye lunged for me. Although there was no room for him between the pillars, he latched onto my arm, which, as I learned, was enough for him to join the journey.”

  “We warped here together, arriving in the stone arch as usual,” Neo detailed. “Apparently, my arm was not the only thing that Lye was touching when we were transported: the entire trilithon from Stonehenge came with us, too. But that was not my concern at the moment; I had to get rid of Lye. I purposely headed straight for the great tree, knowing it would take care of him. Sure enough, it did: as soon as Lye got close, the roots bound him and dragged him up to ground level. The tree knows who it does and doesn’t want around.”

  “Sounds familiar,” Ret muttered, remembering how the roots had done a similar thing to him.

  “I knew Lye would try to come back,” Neo picked up where he had left off. “To make sure he could not do so, I destroyed the arch that marked the portal into this land. I could not destroy the portal itself, so I left those English tiles with the trilithon and abandoned them, leaving the trilithon as a symbol of my folly. Not much later, however, people started showing up here randomly. They came on accident but for a purpose, each with the same story: they were outcasts, longing for a place where they could feel loved and accepted, standing at Stonehenge one moment and then here the next. This was when I realized the portal at Stonehenge was still there. It had not been transported with the trilithon when Lye followed me, as I had assumed. And because I had left the English tiles inside the trilithon, the two portals were still linked.”

  Ret loved listening to Guardians.

  “Rather than put a stop to this, however, I let it happen,” Neo said. “The people who were coming here needed what the portal provided: an opportunity to feel loved and accepted. At first, these valiant vagabonds were few. But over time, as I have traveled and installed more and more portals across the globe, the number of newcomers has increased dramatically. As I said, they come on accident but for a purpose. And no one has ever left.”

  “How does a portal decide where to send someone?” Ret asked. “Is it random?”

  “Oh no, it is specific to each person,” Neo described. “In a very real way, the portal is able to read a traveler’s mind, and it transports him based on whatever he has been spending the majority of his time thinking about. Our thoughts run through our brains like pulses of energy, and, like a radio wave, there is information encoded in such energy. The trouble is, it is stuck in a person’s brain and needs an external stimulus in order to access it.” Ret thought of a neuroscope. “An intense supply of light is needed not only to read the electrical impulses in the traveler’s brain but also to pixelate his physical composition, blast through the dimensional barrier, and then transmit him to his destination through the continuum of time. This is why the portals always face whichever way the sun rises: a sunrise—not even a sunset—is the only thing I have found so far that is capable of providing this kind of energy, and even then only because the rays are intensified when they bounce within each trilithon-like archway.”

  Ret sat silently for a few moments, his mind a bit overloaded.

  “Sorry if I’m not explaining things very well,” Neo apologized. “I’m a Guardian, not a scientist.” He smiled. “Portals are a lot more complicated than my previous method of travel.”

  “What was your previous method?” Ret asked.

  “Remember those cleats you used when you were searching for the fire element?” Neo reminded. “I designed those for Argo.”

  “Really?” Ret asked with awe. “What haven’t you done?”

  Neo laughed, “Like I said, I’ve been around a long time. Everything I know, I owe to the element.”

  “I was wrong about you, sir,” Ret regretted. “I said you were the most unhelpful Guardian I’ve ever worked with, but the truth is you might be the most helpful. I’m sorry I judged you before I got to know you.”

  “Apology accepted,” Neo beamed. “Oh and by the way, you’re free to collect the element now.”

  “I am?!” Ret choked.

  “Yep, you’re ready,” Neo said. “You’ve learned what you needed to learn.”

  “How do you know?” Ret wondered.

  “Because of the simple fact that you stayed here,” Neo told him. “You did not have to stay. You could have gone aboveground and retrieved the Oracle, then returned here and collected the element—which you were so bent on doing when we first met. But you didn’t.”

  “Because you told me not to,” Ret reasoned.

  “But you don’t need me to collect the element,” Neo reminded.

  “Then why did you stop me?” Ret asked.

  “Because I could tell you lacked something that I knew would stop you later on,” Neo explained.

  “You mean the Oracle?”

  “No, I mean knowledge,” Neo stated. “You needed to learn to see things not as they look or seem or appear but as they are and were and will be. You needed to develop the ability to view things through the lens of time so as to give your perceptions a whole new dimension. And if you couldn’t even do this with people, then I knew you’d never be able to collect the wood element.” Then, with a twinkle in his eye, he added, “Good thing you’re a fast learner.”

  Although Ret had finally gotten the ‘okay’ to collect the fifth element, he suddenly wasn’t too eager to do so. Things were following a horrifyingly familiar pattern: discover a hidden civilization, become acquainted with its people, develop feelings for their female leader—yes, this was Sunken Earth all over again. The next steps were to collect the element, send the land into irreversible meltdown, and then leave everyone to die—right? Sure, the Guardian had spared this land of Lye, but if he really wanted to save it, maybe he should have spared it from Ret. Although Lye ruined societies by taking control, it was Ret who destroyed lands by taking elements. At Sunken Earth, Lye had carved out the hierarchy, yes, but Ret had caved in the ceiling. Would Nika and her people suffer the same fate? Ret wasn’t sure he could tolerate any more innocent blood on his hands.

  “But what about the tests?” Ret put forth, looking for a way to postpone his procurement date with the wood element. “You know, to prove I’ve collected the previous elements?”

  “I won’t be conducting any tests,” Neo stated. “I’ve been watching you for years; I don’t need any more proof.”

  “Okay…” Ret thought. “What about the relic? Let’s talk about that for a few minutes. Isn’t there something that the First Father gave you to give to me?

  “Yes, but I can’t give it to you right now,” Neo informed him, “not until after you’ve collected the element.”

  Ret sunk in his seat. This was all so different. He was so confused.

  “You know, Ret,” Neo said, “I’m getting the feeling you’re not as jazzed about collecting the element as you were when we first met.”

  “I still am,” Ret sighed, “but I’
m worried about what will happen to the people down here. Do you think they’d ever consider returning aboveground?”

  “Well, here comes your admirer now,” Neo pointed out, seeing Nika bounding up the path toward the town square. “You can ask her.”

  Spying Nika, Ret wondered, “But what if she—”

  But the Guardian was gone.

  “Figures,” Ret remarked with a frustrated smile. “The guy talks my ear off and then bails when I need his advice the most. Lame!” Just then, a large pinecone broke away from the tree above and struck Ret in the head—clearly an act of Neo.

  “Hey, handsome!” Nika called out as she skipped toward Ret.

  “Hi,” Ret said, massaging his head.

  “What’ve you been up to?” Nika asked, sitting next to him on the bench.

  “Not much,” Ret fibbed. Then he took a deep breath and said, “Nika, there’s something I need to tell you.”

  “Yes?” she wondered with great interest.

  Ret stared into her eyes, those windows of the soul. On the surface, he saw beauty and gentleness, even some mystery. But looking with the lens of time, he saw pain and heartache, even a general distrust. He couldn’t ask her to return to the world that had cast her out. He knew how much she loathed it up there and loved it down here.

  “All I wanted to say was,” Ret changed his mind, “thanks for being such a good friend to me.”

  “Oh, Ret,” Nika crooned, holding his hand. “Of course.” She leaned in close and said softly, “There’s something I want to tell you, too.” Ever since meeting Ret, Nika had been wanting to kiss him. She figured now was as good an opportunity as ever to make her move. She brought her face to his, as if to whisper a secret, but then kissed him, taking Ret by surprise.

  “Oh,” Ret said with an awkward laugh.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow, sweetie,” Nika said flirtatiously as she got up to leave.

  “Yeah, see ya,” Ret replied, now even more torn inside about whether or not to collect the element.

  Not far away, hidden in the bushes, a young woman was observing this romantic exchange. She had recently arrived in this new land and was exploring her surroundings when she stumbled upon this happy couple in the town square. She immediately recognized Ret, overjoyed to have found him, as no one back home had known where he was or what he was doing. She would have ran to him right then and there, in fact, if it hadn’t been for the stranger that had been sitting next to him, receiving his affection. She didn’t know who this stranger was; all that mattered was that it wasn’t her.

  Heartbroken, Paige dragged herself back toward the trilithon through which she had come, shedding heavy tears with every step.

  CHAPTER 14

  THE SKINNY ON FATS

  Ana opened her eyes to darkness. Although she didn’t know where she was, it was obvious she wasn’t at Stonehenge anymore. She took a few steps forward, sinking slightly into the moist and swampy ground. She could hear crickets chirping and see fireflies dancing. The bright moon overhead told her it was the middle of the night, while the mansion house in the distance told her she was at the Keep.

  “How in the world did we get here?” Ana asked aloud. No one answered. “Guys?” She glanced around. “Paige? Mr. Coy?” But they were nowhere to be found.

  Now a little scared and very much confused, Ana investigated her surroundings. She had arrived in the cloven trunk of a bald cypress tree. Tall and mature, it was one of many trees growing literally on the bank of the Keep’s backyard bog, their large roots preferring the exceptionally wet soil. But unlike the others, this tree’s trunk had split at the bottom, creating a sort of arched doorway. Actually, it looked a lot like a trilithon.

  Just then, Ana remembered her ah-ha moment at Stonehenge, when she started to think of the trilithons as food groups. She hastened toward the mansion house to find her mother.

  “Mom!” Ana yelled as she burst through the front door of the Coopers’ modest dwelling on the top floor of the Keep. “Mom!”

  “My word!” Pauline replied as she came out of her bedroom, half-awake and wrapping herself in her robe. “What is it—deer?” Ana was still wearing her deer costume.

  “Long story,” Ana said, throwing off her disguise. “Anyway, I think I figured out the truth about nutrition.”

  “Honey, it’s two o’clock in the morning,” Pauline protested with a yawn. “Can’t this wait until later?”

  “Just let me get it down on paper,” Ana supplicated, “while it’s still fresh in my mind.”

  Ana fetched a pen and some paper, then met her Mom at the kitchen table.

  “Okay, this is a trilithon,” Ana taught, drawing two posts with a lintel across the top.

  “I thought a trilithon was a kind of race,” Pauline wondered.

  “That’s triathlon,” Ana corrected. “This is trilithon.”

  “Oh, got it,” Pauline rubbed her tired face.

  “There are five trilithons at Stonehenge,” Ana said, drawing four more in a circle. “Three of them are fully intact, but two of them only have one post still standing. And then there’s a big gap. That makes the inner circle.”

  “Looks more like a horseshoe, if you ask me,” Pauline muttered.

  “There’s also an outer circle, but it has really fallen apart.” Ana sketched a dilapidated outer circle around the inner circle. “Okay, now with that in mind, let’s talk nutrition.”

  Next, Ana drew a triangle and said, “This is the Food Guide Pyramid. It has six groups.” She divided the pyramid into six horizontal sections. “On the bottom is the biggest group: grains. Then come fruits and vegetables, followed by meat and dairy, and finally a small section for fats at the top.”

  “Where are you going with this, child?” Pauline inquired.

  “Just hear me out,” Ana returned. “A few years after the government published the Food Guide Pyramid, they revised it and called it MyPyramid.” She drew a second triangle. “It also has six food groups.” She divided this pyramid into six vertical sections. “Grains is still the largest, followed by vegetables and dairy, then fruits, and finally a much smaller meat group.”

  “That’s only five,” Pauline pointed out.

  “Precisely!” Ana cheered. “Do you see this tiny sliver between fruit and dairy?”

  “Hold on, I need my glasses.”

  “That’s the fats food group!” Ana informed. “It’s not even labeled.”

  “Okay…what are you getting at?” Pauline asked.

  “One more graphic.” Ana then drew a circle and said, “Most recently, the government scrapped the pyramid idea and came out with MyPlate. The big plate is divided into four sections: grains and vegetables are the largest, then a smaller wedge for fruit, and an even smaller one for meat.” She split the plate into quadrants and labeled each. “Then there’s a small side dish for dairy.” She drew a small circle at the top right of the main plate.

  Ana paused to let things sink in.

  “That’s it?” Pauline asked.

  “That’s it,” Ana repeated.

  “So what’s your point?”

  “Ugh,” Ana groaned. “Mother, how many food groups do you see on MyPlate?”

  “Five,” Pauline counted.

  “What happened to the sixth food group?” Ana said.

  “It’s missing?”

  “Bingo!” Ana clapped. “The fats food group is missing. It went from ‘use sparingly’ on the Food Guide Pyramid to not being identified on MyPyramid to totally gone on MyPlate. It’s not even on the table anymore.”

  “So what does this have to do with Stonehenge?” Pauline asked.

  “Think of each trilithon as a food group,” Ana instructed. “The three intact trilithons are like the three food groups that have always been large and in charge: grains, fruits, and vegetables.”

  “Okay,” Pauline said to show she was following.

  “The other two trilithons, the ones that only have one post still standing,” Ana said, “those are
like the meat and dairy food groups: they keep getting smaller.”

  “Okay.”

  “And this big empty space?” Ana said, pointing to her rendition of Stonehenge. “That’s where a sixth trilithon used to stand—or a sixth food group—until it was removed.” Pauline glared at her daughter. “Yep, fats.”

  “What does all of this mean?” Pauline questioned.

  “It means the secret to eating healthy isn’t a pyramid or a plate—it’s a balance,” Ana concluded. “The diet that we have been taught to follow is out of balance. It has removed fats, reduced protein, and filled the gap with grains, fruits, and vegetables—which are all mostly carbohydrates or, when broken down, sugars. Our over-emphasis on avoiding fats has caused us to rely heavily on carbs and turn a blind eye to sugars. Ironically, our obsession with keeping our fats in check has left our sugar consumption unchecked. And look what it has done to our health! As a society, we are sick. In many ways, inside and out, we have mutated. Clearly, something is out of balance.”

  “So stay away from carbs, watch the sugar—is that what you’re saying?” Pauline observed with a hint of offense.

  “I’m not saying carbs and sugar are bad,” Ana replied. “Grains are part of the balance. As much as it seems like it sometimes, this isn’t an either-or battle between fats and carbs. The truth is, we need both. Neither is unhealthy—what’s unhealthy is an imbalance of either. So what I’m saying is, we should pursue a more balanced diet, which, for most of us, will mean eating more fats and protein at the expense of carbs. This can be challenging in a culture where ‘balanced’ has been defined as ‘low-fat’ or ‘non-fat’—selling points that are trumpeted on food labels. For example, next time you’re at the grocery store, try to find a yogurt that has nearly equal amounts of fat, protein, and carbs. And all this because we’ve assumed fats will make us fat, which, though studies may suggest, no one has ever proven. I’m no scholar, but based on common sense, I don’t believe fat makes us fat—carbs do. The body stores extra sugars; I’m not so sure it does the same with fats. Our logic should be flipped: we should be more concerned about our carb intake than our fat intake.”