RETURN TO MISTASIA
PHILLIP & WHIZZY TRILOGY (BOOK 2)
MISTASIAN MATH
Chapter 4
During
dinner, I had talked my mom into letting Phillip spend the night. She usually
never minded. It had been a few months since he was on the basketball team now.
Most weekends he had had a game or practice, but now he had more free time. I
didn’t quite understand why he had joined the team…I guess it was because he
was tall. He thought it helped him fit in. Phillip had somehow figured out how
to work his body in the past couple of months, too. If he had tried to play a
sport of any kind last year, it would have meant total humiliation. He
struggled to walk and chew gum before, and now he suddenly figured out how to
run and dribble a basketball without falling down.
Don’t
get me wrong…it’s great! I go to every game. I hate basketball really, but he’s
my best friend. It just hasn’t been the same since we got back from Mistasia…I
almost wish we hadn’t gone. Phillip and Rachel both had changed…for the better,
but I still felt the same- small, angry all the time and …well, I don’t know.
Anyway, Phillip and I sat up watching television. We
had moved back to the basement. Rachel hadn’t come downstairs in a while, so I
had started to relax. Neither of us talked. It was like there was nothing to
say. When we did talk, it was about stupid things, like a commercial about
shoes or some new video game. Then, Rachel startled me.
“Whizzy!” was all she said, but it scared the heck
out of me. I almost fell off the couch.
“Jezz, Rachel! Don’t sneak up on me like that.”
Phillip started to laugh. I shot him a nasty glare.
“What do you want?” I snapped. My heart pounded in
my chest. It echoed all the way into my ears.
“Sorry, Whizzy. I was just thinking. How long has it
been?” She just looked at me as if I had any idea what she was talking about.
I could feel my frustration growing. Sometimes the
slightest thing would get me going…and Rachel was at the top of the list of
frustrations.
“Rachel, I have no idea what you are even asking me?
“Since when, Rachel?” Phillip asked trying to avoid
my meltdown.
She sat down between us on the couch and looked
behind us. I turned around to see what she was looking at. It was nothing…just
the staircase. I thought she was losing her mind. Then, she unfolded a piece of
paper in her hand. It had writing all over it. Maps, numbers, and drawings…it
looked like Mistasia.
“Wow, is that Mistasia?” Phillip seemed overly
interested.
Rachel nodded and then smiled. She pushed her hair
back from her face and tucked it behind her ears.
I caught Phillip staring at her. He saw my
expression and quickly refocused on the drawing in her hands.
“I can’t figure this out. I hoped maybe you guys
could help me.”
“Sure!” Phillip answered.
“Fine,” I replied out of disgust. I could see that
my sister was never going to leave us alone.
“I was trying to do the math, but it just doesn’t
seem possible.” Rachel pointed to a jumble of numbers in the upper right corner
of the map she had sketched. Just next to the title “Mistasia”, was her attempt
to figure out something.
I had no idea what it was. “What are you doing? This
is a mess.” I barked and slid back on the couch.
Rachel shook her head in frustration. “If you would
let me explain, Whizzy, I would tell you. I am trying to figure out how long
it’s been since we were in Mistasia.”
“Well, it was right when we got outta school last
year,” Phillip replied eagerly.
“June 17th,” I elaborated.
“Yes, I know. And today is December 15th.
That makes two hundred and ten days,” Rachel said as she refigured the math on
her paper.
“Alright problem solved. Goodbye!” I quickly
responded.
Phillip, however, got pretty upset. Sometimes I
forgot that he liked my sister…apparently more than he favors our friendship.
He didn’t even look at me when he barked, “Shut up, Whizzy!” He never yelled at
me. I was shocked and kind of angry actually.
“Guys, stop it!” Rachel pleaded before she
continued. “I know it’s been two hundred and ten days here in Greenville, but I
am trying to figure out how long it has been for the people in Mistasia.”
“Oh, well, how do we figure that out?” Phillip asked
while he studied her math problem on the paper still in her hands. “Grace said
that every day in Mistasia was equal to an hour here.”
“Right!” Rachel responded. “That’s what I thought
she said, but that’s impossible.”
I sat up as I tried to do the Mistasian math in my
head.
“No, we had only been gone for like a little more
than five hours when we returned home remember,” Phillip empathically
responded.
“He’s right, Rachel,” I agreed. “It had only been
five hours when we came back. The math would work.”
“So what’s wrong with that?” Phillip asked Rachel
who seemed hesitant to give her answer.
“That would mean it’s been more than thirteen
years.”
Copyright Held by: Christopher M. Purrett
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