A Brief Stay at Earth Human Camp: Book 1 of the Secrets of Farbookonia Series

Copyright © 2014 Marie C. Collins

All Rights Reserved

First Smashwords Edition (v. 1.0)

(Also available in print at most online retailers)

This story reflects a Farbookonian perspective and is in no way intended to disparage Earth humans or Earth human society. It is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. While the author chose real locations in New Jersey as settings for this book, Camp Wannabelikem exists only in her imagination. And while some geographic details about the N.J. Pinelands (also known as the N.J. Pine Barrens) are borrowed from life, they are relocated and re-imagined to suit A Brief Stay at Earth Human Camp. The author encourages all readers to enjoy sensitive environments like the Pine Barrens responsibly.

License & Permissions

This ebook is licensed for the personal enjoyment of the purchaser only. No part of this book may be reproduced or disseminated without permission from the author, except that a writer may quote brief passages for purposes of review.

For Laurel, who insisted on a code word,

known only to us,

so she could be sure a robot

didn’t take my place in the night

"I simply believe that some part

of the human Self or Soul

is not subject to the laws of space and time."

— Carl Jung

Author’s Note

Thank you in advance for reading

A Brief Stay at Earth Human Camp.

I would like to know what you thought of it!

I invite all readers to post their reactions,

comments, and questions on the series website:

SecretsofFarbookonia.com

Once you’re on the website,

sign up for emails to qualify for giveaways

of signed books & other goodies.

And like the series Facebook page so updates

about books-in-progress appear in your feed:

Facebook.com/SecretsofFarbookonia

The Camp Handouts on the next pages may

be helpful as you read Parts II and III of

A Brief Stay at Earth Human Camp.

If you have trouble viewing them on your

reading device, try accessing them from the

website. You can make them larger

on a desktop or laptop computer.

Contents

Preface

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Epigraph

Author’s Note

Map: Camp Proper

Map: Camp Environs

Schedule: Camp Day

Camp Roster: Key Earth Humans Encountered

Part I: Innocence

1: In which we first meet Anne and Atticus Reade ...

2: A very unusual family meeting unfolds ...

3: Family secrets emerge ...

4: The parents prepare the children for the journey ...

5: Protective new friends?

6: The adventure begins ...

Part II: Awakening

7: Strangers in a strange land ...

8: The Bobcats ...

9: The Timber Rattlesnakes ...

10: Second chances ...

11: Kindred spirits ...

12: Social volley ...

13: War games ...

14: Creative statements ...

15: Zip-a-dee-doo-dah ...

16: A welcome time-out ...

17: Flying a freak flag ...

18: Budding naturalists ...

19: Something fishy this way comes ...

20: Day is done ...

21: Day 2 and still standing ...

22: Trailblazers ...

23: Social experiments ...

24: S’more, please ...

25: In the still of the night ...

26: The ghost children of Gravity Hill ...

27: Vintage Sci-fi Friday ...

28: A day at the beach ...

29: The lady with the lantern ...

30: A glimpse of the world at large ...

31: Problems with reality ...

32: That’s the news! Now the weather ...

33: Kia kaha ...

Part III: Action

34: All Camp Day ...

35: Robot logic ...

36: Realities collide ...

37: I scream, you scream ...

38: Certain unsavory individuals ...

39: Appearances can be deceptive ...

40: Zombie apocalypse ...

41: Phone home ...

42: The sting ...

43: Parents’ Day ...

Epilogue: Bigger on the inside ...

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Your Thoughts Matter

Part I:

Innocence

Chapter 1:

In which we first meet Anne and Atticus Reade ...

The curious thing about the Reade children — there are just two of them: 12-year-old Anne and 10-year-old Atticus — is that they want nothing more than to be seen as ordinary. Ordinary! And by that they mean, just like everyone else their age. Most ridiculous. If there is anything the Reades are not, it’s ordinary.

Perhaps you can answer a question for me: What is it that makes young people prize being just like everyone else? No one is, you know. And why should they be? Things are special because they are different. Take ice cream, for example. Every flavor leaves a one-of-a-kind imprint in your taste-memory that is so specific, it can make you long precisely for that flavor when you least expect it.

When you get an urge for ice cream, do you calmly remark to friends and family, I wish I had some ordinary ice cream right now? Of course not. More likely you say, I could really go for some strawberry ice-cream! — or toffee-crunch, or coconut, or double-fudge brownie, or peach. Why, you might even crave vanilla, the flavor that is synonymous with ordinary yet tastes like no other!

I simply will never understand why young people don’t take as much pride in their differences. I admit, Dear Reader, that in the case of the Reade children, we are talking about differences of a very unusual nature. That does complicate things a bit. But what do the Reade children know about ordinary? The irony is they know very little indeed.

Forgive me — I keep forgetting you don’t know Anne and Atticus. You see, up until the time when our story begins, the young Reades could count on one hand the number of other children they had ever seen or met. In fact, now that I think of it, they could count that on one finger: Anne for Atticus and Atticus for Anne. They had lived their entire lives in a sparsely settled part of the northern Midwest United States — a place of deep, dark forests, long, cold winters, and extreme isolation. They had no experience with what most people — here on Earth, anyway — call civilization.

How can this be, you wonder? Well, due to what you would likely consider some very unusual family circumstances — which by the way, Anne and Atticus were also in the dark about — their parents had carefully sheltered them from the outside world since birth. Neither child had ever seen what you would call a television show (although they did watch some films that their parents believed had educational value). And until this time, they had never left home. Not just overnight. I mean at all. The Reades got milk, eggs, meat, and produce from their own cows, chickens, pigs, and greenhouse, and had other provisions shipped to them. (That Internet of yours is a lifesaver.)

You would think deliveries might bring the children in contact with the outside world ... but no, the Reades are not the type to leave such things to chance. They hid their house, laboratory, greenhouse, barns, and garages deep in an old-growth forest and took steps to make sure the compound was invisible. I don’t pretend to understand how they engineered their home security system, but somehow the Reades’ unusually quiet right-hand man — who they called Friday — always knew when an outsider was approaching. He intercepted all deliveries at the gate, then carted them in a rusty red pickup truck to wherever they belonged.

The Reade children didn’t go to school as you probably know it. Oh, I don’t mean they were uneducated. On the contrary, their mother, Cameo, and father, Einstein, deeply valued learning and wanted the children to be well-versed in all subjects — literature, mathematics, history, science, the arts, languages. They tutored Anne and Atticus from eight until noon every day except Sunday. Then, after lunch and a brief recess, the children studied on their own while the parents worked in their laboratory.

In the afternoons, Anne and Atticus researched topics that interested them in their home library, occasionally using — well, something similar to your Internet connection. They wrote essays on this and that. They drew and painted and sculpted. They conducted experiments and invented things (Anne’s self-cleaning hamster cage, powered by the hamster itself, was a family favorite). They read literary classics; explored maps of Earth and the universe; solved mathematical problems and puzzles; wrote, directed, and acted in short plays; and closely observed the flora and fauna of their northerly habitat. They were always surprised when the day ended and they were called to supper.

In the evenings, the Reades entertained themselves and each other by playing musical instruments, competing at board games, performing in skits, making things, reading aloud, or just talking. They enjoyed each other’s company very much, you see.

It never actually occurred to Anne or Atticus that they might be different than other families. They were so busy, I’m not sure they even thought about other families. They more or less took it on faith that other people — whoever and wherever they were — lived the same sort of — well, ordinary lives.

But oh, Dear Reader, this innocent time was about to end. Anne and Atticus would soon learn something that would make them question everything they took for granted, including the parents who created this childhood paradise.

One day in early summer, Mr. and Mrs. Reade announced during dinner that there would be a family meeting later in the evening. That by itself caused no stir. The elder Reades called family meetings all the time — to map the year of homeschooling, discuss scientific breakthroughs, plan the summer garden, brainstorm ideas for recycling. Anne and Atticus didn’t give it a second thought. They glimpsed the pale light of the setting sun through the back windows of their happy home and calculated that they still had an hour to themselves. They finished dinner, grabbed the sample jars they had prepared, and ran out the back door to collect insects for the science project they were working on.

As they walked in the deeply shaded woods, long spears of light pushed through the tree limbs to the understory of the forest, surrounding them like the bars of a comfortable cage. A small chorus of common field crickets (which in spite of their name, are relatively uncommon in these parts) chirped their evening song. And as the children plucked unsuspecting bugs from leaves and deposited them in glass jars, they talked about how the creatures’ unique features — color, shape, wing structure, stingers, antennae — helped them surmount the obstacles they faced in their surprisingly treacherous daily lives.

Chapter 2:

A very unusual family meeting unfolds ...

That evening, Anne plopped herself down on a big comfy chair in the great room and pulled a large ball of wool from the bag by her side. She had an idea for a scarf based on pi and wanted to try it out. She pushed a fugitive brown curl out of her eyes, cast a row of stitches onto a needle, and started knitting.

At the other end of the high-ceilinged room, Atticus launched a lightweight airplane he designed and built to demonstrate the principles of flight. He kept an eye on his stopwatch as the plane navigated the ceiling rafters, then glided to the floor. Three minutes, 14 seconds! he called out.

Not bad, Anne said from her chair. I think it might stay aloft even longer if you trimmed the fuselage and tilted the prop back a little more.

Through the French doors that led to the next room, Anne could see their mother and father whispering earnestly to one another, but she could not hear what they were saying. That’s odd, she thought mindlessly as she clicked her knitting needles back and forth. Mom’s just Mom tonight.

Cameo usually started family meetings by masquerading as important figures from books the children read. Anne and Atticus were always astounded by what they thought of as their mother’s theatrical flair. Her impersonations were startlingly convincing. Even her children had trouble recognizing her through her uncanny disguises. Often, the only reason they agreed it had to be her was that the actual character was fictional or dead!

For example, once Cameo appeared as the literary character Anne was named after — Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables. At the time, the children wondered how their mother managed this costume.

"Does she look shorter than Mom to you?" Atticus whispered anxiously to his sister.

Anne nodded. What about the freckles and red hair?! she whispered back.

"How do we know it really is Mom? Atticus worried. What if it’s actually an alien from another planet, who has killed Mom and is here to abduct us or experiment on us?"

Dressed as Anne of Green Gables? Anne said skeptically. "I don’t think so, Atticus. An alien would need more cunning than that just to get here. Trust me. It’s Mom."

When Marco Polo came to visit, Anne again insisted they take it on faith that it was their mother.

But the hair in the ears?! Atticus challenged her.

I don’t know how she does it, Anne admitted, but it’s the only plausible answer.

Anne was about to say something to her brother about how odd it was that their mother wasn’t in character tonight, when their parents stepped into the room and paused uncertainly near the doorway.

Einstein had an unhappy relationship with fashion. He wore faded bell-bottom jeans and a tie-dye tee-shirt imprinted with a large peace sign — both won on eBay. He adopted this retro style when he was quite young and saw no need to think about that troublesome topic again. As he stood in the doorway, curly hair askew, he clung to a small box with both hands and looked to his wife for guidance.

Cameo’s ivory skin contrasted sharply with her cropped dark hair. Comfort was her primary fashion statement. In the house she liked to go barefoot and wear loose-fitting dresses that fluttered like a breeze when she walked. As she stood there tonight, she gazed at the children with a gravity they never saw before.

Mom, why aren’t you — ? Anne started to ask.

But at the same time, their mother moved toward them, proclaiming with alarming seriousness, We have something very important to discuss with you.

It’s a f-family emergency, their father stammered, following her across the room.

Anxious by nature, Atticus suddenly felt sick to his stomach. He set his plane on a table, walked over to the oversized chair in which Anne sat, and nestled next to her.

Anne leaned close to him. Ordinarily, she was the calmer of the two, but tonight she was overcome by foreboding. She looked down at her lap and resumed knitting — faster and faster — as if that might prevent their parents’ strange news from unfolding.

Cameo and Einstein perched on the edge of the sofa across from the children. They eyed the unusual scarf that was rapidly emerging from between Anne’s knitting needles and glanced at one another meaningfully.

Their father started. You know that your mother and I have been working for several years on an important government project, right? he said.

Do we? Atticus whispered to his sister. I don’t remember anything about that.

Anne kept her eyes on her scarf. It was already five feet long.

Well, Einstein continued, we recently completed something — something that is expected to be very useful to the citizens of our nation — to the entire planet, really, but that’s a longer story —

Cameo elbowed him.

The problem, he went on awkwardly, is that — well — once it’s public, certain unsavory individuals will want to get their hands on this thing of ours. Worry flashed across his brow. The less you know about that, actually, the better.

The important thing, their mother interjected, is that we agree with others in the program that it’s time to go into protective custody.

Protective custo — Atticus sputtered. "What’s that?"

Anne kept knitting — eight feet, nine feet ...

It means we have to close this lab and move the project to a secret location so our government colleagues can provide protection while we finish our work, Cameo said.

"Protection from ... what again?" Atticus asked, struggling to form a mental picture of something that had the power to frighten his parents.

From the unsavory individuals I mentioned, Einstein said. We believe they’ll be very motivated to steal the technology we’ve developed and use it for their own purposes.

Atticus took in these limited details. So we have to go to a secret place ... that doesn’t sound so bad. Will we like it? Anne’s scarf had fallen in folds on his lap, and without thinking, he brushed it from his leg. It tumbled to the floor in a large, colorful heap.

Well, that’s not exactly right, their father clarified. "Your mother and I must go to this place, but it wouldn’t be appropriate for the two of you to come with us."

Atticus’s mouth fell open.

Anne knitted faster.

While we’re figuring things out, we’ve arranged for the two of you to spend a few weeks at a summer camp in New Jersey, their mother said.

What’s a summer camp?! the children asked in unison.

"Is it anything like a prison camp?!" Atticus shuddered.

No, Einstein said sympathetically. Not at all.

A summer camp is a place where children go on a kind of vacation without their parents, Cameo put in. A few adults are in charge of the camp as a whole, but for the most part, young adults called camp counselors run things. They have all kinds of fun things to do — canoeing, rock climbing, crafts, campfires ... She watched the children’s faces for a sign of interest. You’ll make friends with other children, bunk with them in cabins, learn to swim. It’ll be fun! she added, doing her best to sound excited. You’ll see.

Anne ran out of wool and had to stop knitting. She looked up from the very long scarf that lay in a pile at her feet. "We’re going alone?" she said with disbelief.

Yes, their father stated. Friday will take you. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to learn how to get along with other children your age. And we think you’ll be able to handle yourselves very well in this new environment — so long as we explain a few things first.

Atticus let out a soft moan.

His sister put her arm around him. "What kind of things?" Anne asked.

Well, some things your mother and I have never spoken to you about have suddenly become very important, Einstein said, looking at the mound of knitting on the floor. Quite a scarf, he remarked absentmindedly. Is it done?

"It’s based on pi, Anne told him. Theoretically, it could go on forever."

Very clever, sweetheart, Cameo said.

"Thanks, but what things?" Anne repeated.

We were never sure how to begin, Einstein continued distractedly. Living here the way we do ... it didn’t seem to matter. I’m afraid we’ve all been existing in a bit of a bubble.

It concerns your family background, their mother put in. The beginnings of the Reade family and, well, your, um ... origin as a species.

"Origin as a species?! Atticus echoed incredulously. Who says that? Even in books they don’t say that! I don’t understand. He turned to his sister. Do you understand?"

I think we will soon, Atticus, Anne reassured him, even as her own stomach churned. She looked at her parents and said, I’ve been having these strange dreams ...

Chapter 3:

Family secrets emerge ...

That’s wonderful, Anne! Cameo said. She elbowed her husband and whispered proudly, Early adolescence. I told you it would happen this way.

Now we know, he smiled back, taking her hand.

Will somebody please tell me what’s going on? Atticus interrupted impatiently. What dreams?! What species?! What origins?!

Why don’t you start at the beginning, dear, Cameo suggested to her husband.

"Certainly, darling. Well, you know your mother is a very special individual, Einstein hinted, looking at the children for a reaction. She has no equal on this planet."

Atticus looked quizzically at his sister. "Okay, she’s out of this world, he translated, raising two fingers on each hand in air-quotes. How does that help us?"

What your father’s trying to say, Cameo helped, "is I’m literally not from Earth."

You’re — Atticus stuttered. Wait, what?

I was born on the planet Farbookonia in galaxy M87 of the Virgo cluster — not far from here, really, but Earth scientists still know very little about our part of the universe.

Anne and Atticus sat in stunned silence.

Their mother continued. Farbookonians are very similar to Earthlings biologically. We’re descended from an advanced civilization that fled Earth before its last ice age. But as our people evolved, we developed some unique qualities that now set us apart.

Wait, Atticus commanded. "You’re telling us you’re an alien? Are you an alien, too, Dad?"

"Now son, we don’t use the term alien; it’s derogatory. Your mother is a Farbookonian human and I’m an Earth human."

But no ordinary Earth human, Cameo gushed proudly before resuming her story. My early studies on Farbookonia were focused on science. But what I really wanted to do was help make the universe a better place to live. So I became an interplanetary social worker — a person whose job is to prevent the people on other planets from destroying each other. The mission I designed involves living as an Earth human to save the planet from within. She raised her arms with a flourish. And here I am!

The children stared at her blankly.

This is where I come in, Einstein beamed.

Yes, my parents supported my choice, but were very protective of me, Cameo explained. "When I told them my plans, they began a quest for the perfect Earth human to become my partner — someone who was my equal, intellectually ... who would be loyal to me and my family ... who could be trusted with Farbookonian secrets ... who would help me understand Earth culture ... and who shared my mission. It was a tall order! But when they found your father, they said he was the ideal specimen — the most intelligent, kind, hardworking, and principled Earth man alive."

Einstein winked at his children. Just a little hard to live up to, he chuckled. I was moonlighting as a UFO investigator in the Dakotas at the time. There I was one night in the middle of nowhere, when your mother literally materialized out of thin air! I’ll never forget it. I thought I was hallucinating!

Cameo laughed. I haven’t had that effect on another man since.

I had no idea what was in store for me that night, Einstein continued, "but I always believed there was life on other planets. I had been watching and listening for signs since — well, for a very long time. I think that’s part of the reason your mother’s parents chose me. In fact, I would have been an astronaut if it wasn’t for my motion sickness. So when I saw your mother, I was stunned, yes, but I just pinched my arm and told myself, This is what you’ve always dreamed of, man! Don’t lose your nerve now!"

Anne and Atticus looked at each other and rolled their eyes, but couldn’t help smiling a little, too. The story their parents were telling was strange, but this is what they were really like — sweet and corny and passionate.

I risked everything by telling your father all of my secrets right then and there, their mother recalled.

It was love at first sight, their father returned dreamily.

Fate, karma, kismet ... Cameo cooed, her voice trailing off. My parents chose better than they knew.

Einstein and Cameo gazed into each other’s eyes, momentarily lost in the shared recollection.

"Ahem! Anne coughed. I think we’re getting a little off track here."

The Reade parents sat up straight.

Let me see if I have this right, Anne said. "Atticus and I are half — um — Earth human and half Farbookonian?!"

That’s right, they confirmed hastily.

"Do we look like other Earth humans?" Atticus asked.

Cameo and Einstein shook their heads yes, but with scientists, nothing is ever simple. "Well, technically, no two Earth humans — with the exception of identical twins and other identical multiples — look exactly alike, their mother qualified, but I don’t think that’s what you mean. You both have all the right parts in all the right places. Nothing physical distinguishes you as half Farbookonian."

So what’s the big deal? Anne asked. We’ll fit in fine with other Earth kids, right?

Their parents’ eyes dropped to the scarf on the floor.

"Your physical characteristics don’t give away your Farbookonian ancestry ..." Cameo said gently.

Mm, yes, their father put in, but as your mother said earlier, Farbookonians do have other characteristics that set them apart from Earth humans.

All Farbookonians are extremely intelligent — in excess of most Earth humans, Cameo said. Looking at her husband, she added, For instance, photographic memories like yours, dear, are rare among Earth humans, but commonplace on my side of the family.

I’m very lucky to have one, Einstein admitted humbly.

Also, every Farbookonian is born with one unique talent, Cameo continued. Take you, Anne. You have the ability to do things at a pace other Earth humans can’t match. That 25-foot scarf on the floor would have taken an Earth human a few hours to knit, but it only took you a few minutes.

Their father laughed. When you were a baby, you crawled so fast, we had to run to keep up with you. He slapped his leg. That was one parenting challenge we couldn’t find a solution for in Earth human baby books!

I’ve always wondered why none of you can beat me when I run — not even George Eliot, Anne noted. Although the dogs do come closest.

At the sound of her name, Georgie — one of the Reades’ two pet Border Collies and a very talented runner — looked up at Anne and wagged her tail hopefully.

Anne reached down and scratched the dog’s creamy white-and-caramel-colored ears.

What about me? Atticus asked, scooting forward until he was more leaning on the chair than sitting on it.

You, Atticus, were born with the ability to communicate psychically with animals, Einstein said. You just naturally know what they are thinking and feeling, and they in turn can sense what’s on your mind.

Really?

Cameo nodded. We knew the moment you were born. You let loose your first cry, and without skipping a beat, the dogs started howling, the cows mooed in distress, the chickens squawked and ran in circles, and the cats meowed as if they were caught in a thunderstorm. Then you started nursing, and as quickly as it all began, the animals went back about their business.

Is that why — no matter where I am — when I think about the dogs, they just appear? Atticus asked.

Most likely, Cameo answered. It’s probably like you’re calling them in your mind.

As if to add their input on the matter, Charlotte Bronte bounded into the room and sat on Atticus’s left, while George Eliot nuzzled up to him on the right.

Stop, Lottie! Atticus cried halfheartedly as the black-and-white dog reached up and licked his face. Both dogs nosed Atticus’s hands until he scratched their heads in tandem. You’re so demanding! he complained.

Everyone laughed.

How about the time Georgie injured her paw, Atticus? Anne asked. "It was bedtime, but you kept saying, Where’s Georgie? Why isn’t she home? She’s hurt — I know it! We have to go find her!"

Oh yeah, Atticus recalled. I couldn’t sleep. When I closed my eyes, I saw her lying near the creek and heard her whimpering.

We tried to convince you that everything was all right, but you were unshakable, Einstein added. "You held your arm and moaned, She can’t move it! It hurts! Finally, we put on our coats, put a flashlight in your hand, and said, Take us to Georgie, Atticus."

Because of you, she didn’t suffer in the cold all night, Cameo pointed out.

And Anne, more than once, your speed allowed you to get help for your brother when he was hurt, their father said.

Don’t you see how special each of you is? Cameo asked hopefully.

The children looked at them blankly.

Chapter 4:

The parents prepare the children for the journey ...

So-o-o, Anne said, attempting to make sense of all she had heard. "In the past you told us everyone has special talents, but really, that’s not the case at all."

It’s all been a lie! Atticus wailed — eliciting sympathetic howls from the dogs.

"No one else — at least, not on Earth — has special talents quite like our family’s, Anne went on. Is that right?"

We’re freaks! Atticus cried.

Ow-woo-woo-w-o-o-o-o-o! echoed Georgie and Lottie.

"The two of you — who we innocently believed had our best interests at heart — actually gave birth to us as part of an ‘Earth mission.’ And now you’re sending us into the world for the first time, alone, to be mocked, ridiculed — who knows, maybe even eaten alive! — by young Earth humans, Anne concluded. Does that about sum things up?"

Why not just feed us to wolves like fairytale parents? Atticus ventured.

He has a point, Anne added. "It would be faster and more humane."

Now, now, said their father, growing impatient. "Atticus! I can’t hear myself think — calm those dogs, please!"

There, there, pups, Atticus said, faking a cheery good dog voice. The nice parents are going to feed their children to Earth humans! Won’t that be fun?!

The dogs tilted their speckled heads in confusion.

Wait! Is this a game? Anne asked as she stood up. That’s it, isn’t it?! I’ve got it — Atticus and I are Hansel and Gretel. Dad, you’re the poor, misguided woodcutter. And Mom, you’re the wicked stepmother! Atticus! Quick! Grab some crumbs! We’re going for a long walk in the forest.

Not this time, I’m afraid, Cameo said. This is no game.

Please don’t be overly dramatic, Einstein pleaded. You’re not making this any easier for us. There’s more good here than you realize right now.

As it slowly sank in that her parents were serious, Anne’s dread of what was ahead for her and her brother grew. Didn’t you think some knowledge of normal Earth human children might be useful to us at some point in our lives? she asked.

In the little time we have left to us tonight, it would be impossible for us to explain the reasons why we raised you the way we did, Einstein offered. "But this is a conversation we can continue. We are talking about a brief separation. You can do this."

The important thing to remember, Cameo stressed, is that you will someday have trusted friends you can share your unique talents and background with, but for now, you must keep what we’ve told you to yourselves.

Do you understand what your mother is telling you? Einstein asked. Most of the time, to protect yourselves — and us — you will have to keep your Farbookonian background a secret. You can’t tell anyone.

Which means you will have to restrain yourself from using your Farbookonian abilities in front of Earth humans, their mother added.

Anne, I’m sure you realize it would be unfair of you to use your speed to win a race against an Earth child who doesn’t share your ability, their father pointed out.

And Atticus, if you try to convince Earth human children that you can talk to animals, I’m afraid they’ll make terrible fun of you, their mother predicted.

Everyone was quiet for a moment — except the dogs, who barked protectively at Atticus’s mental picture of an imaginary crowd of small Earth humans mocking him.

Einstein cleared his throat meaningfully. Anne, in your case, this is going to be a little extra complicated, he said.

Anne put her hands over her ears, but after a few moments, reluctantly let them fall.

Your father is right, Cameo agreed. As Farbookonians, we begin developing our adult talents in early adolescence, which you are approaching. Until they emerge, we have no way of knowing what they will be. I suspect those dreams you mentioned earlier are a sign of your first adult ability. Are you dreaming things that come true sometime later?

Anne nodded. "First it was little things. One night I dreamed I was running with George and Lottie and found an arrowhead near the creek. Then, the next day, we were playing in that very spot