The Other World

By J.J. Roberts

Zac is a smart, athletic, twelve-year-old who enjoys life, having fun, spending time with his friends, and especially playing baseball. His world turns topsy-turvy one spring break when his dreams begin. The dreams are so real, hes not sure if hes dreaming or actually traveling to these unusual places.

After one dream, he wakes up with black-and-blue marks on his arms. Could they possibly be from the pirate he ran into during his dream? Zacs discoveries leave him knowing hes involved in a very serious fight for leadership between the aliens, the Mayans, and the current world as he knows it.

Zac finds out hes a descendant of the Mayans, but theres no one to ask about how to deal with his unique capabilities. Hes on his own; he doesnt have a clue how to address the issues and save his family and his world. When his mother gives him a book, handed down through the generations and not opened for more than one hundred years, it may help him through these struggles. Or does it just make the situation more confusing?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Dec 15, 2017
• ISBN: 9781480854239

J.J. Roberts

J.J. Roberts is a technology entrepreneur who earned a Masters degree in Decision Science and started three successful software companies. His engineering background was the motivation to learn more of the Mayan civilization and their amazing capabilities. Roberts motivation to write The Other World was the story telling and fun he had playing with his two daughters and currently, one granddaughter.

Book preview

CHAPTER

1

IT WAS FINALLY A SUNNY spring day. This year, the weather had been rainier than normal, and the winter school break had been no different. Zac enjoyed living in Atlanta because there were a lot of things to do, and the weather usually allowed him to do them. The city wasn’t too cold but had some snowy days. Other than when it rained, it was unusual to be stuck inside. Zac loved to be outside as often as he could, playing whatever sport he could. Zac’s parents were from Wisconsin, and he was certain he didn’t want to live there. Whenever they visited in the winter, he had fun, but it was way too cold. Snow was fun for a while, but he couldn’t play baseball with snow on the ground. He had tried tossing the ball around with his father one Christmas, but his dad had missed the ball once, and it had rolled under the snow, never to be seen again. Yes, he enjoyed living in Atlanta and going outside almost any time of year.

Zac was glad the rain had finally stopped, so they could get outside for the final days of spring break. Spring breaks were supposed to be fun, with a lot of playing outside, and everyone was anxious to get outside to play. Needless to say, the parents were also excited to have the children out of the house for a while. Zac and his twin sisters, Sarah and Samantha, had gotten a new trampoline for Christmas but had barely been able to use it because of the rain. Zac had gotten up early to get outside, but it seemed to take forever to get Sarah and Samantha moving. The sun was shining brightly, and there were no schedules to meet—no parties, no practices, no chores, and no homework.

Zac waited at the door until his sisters got there. He was a good brother, and even though he loved to pick on them, he was always there if they needed something. He let the girls out first, knowing he could still beat them to the tramp. Samantha took off running first, with Sarah right on her tail. Zac slammed the door shut and took off as fast as he could. He was four years older and much faster, so he easily reached the trampoline first, jumping through the small opening almost before he unzipped it. Sarah and Samantha got there shortly after but struggled to get on as Zac jumped as close as he could to the unzipped doorway. In the beginning, they all took turns and played, laughed, and wrestled together. However, that organized, pleasant fun between siblings could only last so long. Soon they were back to acting like normal siblings, with the typical brother-sister scuffles all families enjoyed. Zac, as always, was the first to start.

He knew he was a good athlete but always wanted to be better. At twelve years old, he was able to keep up with the older boys in most activities and could usually pick up most sports quickly. His bright medium-brown eyes were unusual, and he often wondered why the color of his eyes was so different from the eyes of the rest of his family. Several friends had told him his eyes seemed to change color as the sun hit them from different directions. Often, people had to look several times before they decided what color Zac’s eyes actually were. His eyes sometimes gave him a mysterious appearance, and they matched his personality as a free spirit ready to tackle any game or task with a dedication rarely seen in a twelve-year-old. However, this spirit also made it difficult for him to stay focused when a task was less of a challenge or less interesting. Often, he tried to stay focused but found himself thinking about another topic before he even realized it.

Zac was good at just about everything he tried, but the trampoline was different. Of all the activities he was good at, this was one he could not get the hang of. It seemed that if an activity involved flipping or twisting, he could not make his body move the way he wanted. It drove him nuts. That was his problem with the trampoline. His sisters had the activity down pat, and he could only take so much of being third best on the trampoline. Zac and his sisters had a wonderful relationship, and the friendly teasing among them seemed to make the bond even stronger. Zac was frustrated that they were so much better on the trampoline. He could tell Sarah was about to start a little challenge, so being the oldest, he decided to take control and knock Samantha gently into the netting around the edge of the trampoline.

She screamed at him, half in anger and half in jest, and acted as if she were really upset. Zac had seen this act before and smiled, as he knew he had achieved his goal of starting a new session of a brother-sister clash that would result in his superiority over the girls once again. He was proud of them and could watch them for hours outdo the other children in the neighborhood with their variety of tricks, flips, and jumps, but brothers would be brothers, and so the struggle began.

Zac had been fascinated with his sisters from the moment they were born, and he liked watching them grow up. Sarah and Samantha had become two of the best friends he could ever have imagined. The girls were virtually identical in looks, and only their closest companions could tell the difference. Zac’s bond with them was strong, and he’d been able to tell the difference between them from the moment they’d come home for the first time. Their deep brown eyes set between long white-blonde hair gave them a magical appearance that they could change with a smile. Each could fill the role of a raucous tomboy ready to play any sport and take on the best little boys or quickly change to the role of a sweet, innocent little girl. Zac had seen this trait in action many times, and it kept them in even competition with him.

As Samantha yelled at Zac for pushing her, Sarah sensed the opportunity to gain an advantage and quickly joined sides with her brother. She jumped as high as she could and landed so close to Samantha that she caused Samantha to bounce again into the safety net surrounding the tramp. Then it was Zac’s turn again to knock Samantha off her feet. This continued for ten minutes, and the two were able to sufficiently annoy Samantha to tears. Although they were the best of friends most of the time, fighting among siblings was inevitable, and they were no different. Their relationship was typical of a million brothers and sisters growing up throughout time. Zac was in control as the oldest sibling and the leader of the group, happily working the situation in his favor for the moment.

Zac smiled as the competition continued. He and Sarah were having great fun at Samantha’s expense. Zac did his best to keep the noise to a minimum, but as the friendly scuffle continued and Samantha’s complaining grew louder, he tried to stop Sarah. He turned and glanced up at the house just in time to hear his mother call out from the deck above the tramp. He knew the fun was about to stop, and he quickly tried to think of a reasonable explanation to stay out of trouble.

There were always three options. The first was to deny any wrongdoing. He had learned this rarely worked, and in this case, Samantha’s cries would be more convincing than his sincerest denial. The second option was to blame Sarah. This used to work well, but as the girls had grown older and wiser, they’d become more convincing in their arguments, and they frequently stuck together with their stories, putting him alone to fight the battle with his parents. Without hesitation, he jumped at his third option.

Moving next to Samantha, he told her he was sorry and reminded her that if she complained, they would have to stop playing and go inside. He was counting on the fact that she wanted to play longer and would understand that they could stay out if there were no problems. He leaned closer, whispering in her ear, If you complain, we might all have to go in the house. Let’s stay out, and we can pick on Sarah. That would be more fun. He was sure he had convinced her to support this story, and he smiled as Samantha stood to assure her mother there wasn’t any problem.

He knew he was in trouble the instant Samantha began her story. With tears still in her eyes, she said, Zac pushed me down and would not let me up at all. In her best tearful retelling of the incident, she accused Zac of pushing her down and repeatedly jumping at her so she could not get up. The details of the events surprised even Zac, as according to Samantha, he was the instigator, tormentor, and problem the whole day. Not only had he been caught in the act, but she described him as the sole problem. Samantha left Sarah out of the details completely. He knew his fate was sealed, since the girls would surely stick together in this story.

Samantha had learned that if both of her playmates were accused and in trouble, they would both have to go inside to deal with their punishment, which would leave her to play alone or also go inside. She did not feel like playing alone, so she conveniently left Sarah out of the story. That way, the two could stay outside to play. She was mad at Sarah for picking on her, but she knew the situation had been reversed many times in the past. It seemed to her that three playmates always had more trouble than two or four playmates.

Zac argued briefly, but he knew it was a battle he would not win, so as he turned to get off the trampoline, he shoved Samantha down one last time. Since the sisters would both be allowed to stay out and play, he decided to knock Sarah down as well, bringing about a staged yell and cry that would force him inside for several hours. As his mind wandered through various punishments, he heard his mother scream once more, telling him to get in the house immediately.

Zac slowly moved forward, thinking about turtles—how deliberate their motion was and how slowly they moved forward. He dreaded what was to happen next, so he crawled off the trampoline so slowly that he almost thought he was stuck. Once off the tramp, he walked toward the house, looking around the yard. He bent over to pick up every item of interest he could find. He knew this was irritating his mother, but he also knew the damage was already done.

At that instant, he had a strange feeling he had never encountered before. It was almost as if the whole world were hollow and cold. He had been in a cave one time on a camping trip with his friend Josh, and that was the best description he could come up with. He thought about Josh for an instant and remembered many of the fun times they’d had before Josh moved away. Zac had enjoyed Josh and looked up to him as if he were a big brother. Josh was always helping him out and teaching him things that parents seemed to ignore. Josh was five years older than Zac and a great athlete. He was tops in his class and good at all sports. In fact, Josh was the one who’d taught Zac how to throw a good curveball.

Zac snapped back to the present with another chill creeping down his spine. The feeling was eerie as he walked toward the house. He looked up to see if anything strange was around, but everything seemed normal.

Zac continued his slow trudge toward the house, looking in every direction for something unusual to find and delay his punishment. At that moment, he thought he saw a shadowy head looking at him from behind the giant oak tree in their yard. He was so startled he dropped the caterpillar he had picked up and almost stumbled on nothing. He looked back at the oak tree, but nothing was there.

The feeling of the hollow chill was still in the air, but he could not decide what it was. The sound of his mother’s voice shouting at him broke the feeling instantly. He looked up to realize he was standing right in front of her. If she had not called his name, he would have run into her for sure. She looked at him curiously but grabbed his arm and dragged him into the house. Normally, he would have resisted, but the feeling had so startled him that he effortlessly followed her inside. He turned his head one last time toward the backyard but saw and felt nothing. Still, the feeling had been so unusual that he somehow knew something was about to happen.

CHAPTER

2

ZAC COULD SOMETIMES BE A handful, but Rachel was up to the task. It wasn’t that she was a harsh mother, but she demanded the best in all her children. Heck, she demanded the best in herself, and she put that same attitude to work in everything she did. She was proud of the fact that in addition to creating a successful business by the time she was forty, she managed to keep a spotless house and stay fairly fit after three children.

Sarah and Samantha continued to play, challenging each other to try new tricks. Both had learned front flips easily and were now on to backflips. Rachel looked outside to encourage the girls to be careful and was shocked to see Samantha pushing Sarah backward while in the air in an awkward motion. Sarah came down hard on her head, and Rachel shrieked, sure Sarah had broken her neck.

As usual, though, Sarah popped right back up with a huge smile, ready for Samantha to take her turn at the same stunt. It was more than Rachel could stand, and she had one foot out the door to give them a stern warning, when she realized how much fun they were having and recalled how Mike, her husband, continuously chided her about being overprotective. She paused to watch them a moment longer and thought that maybe Mike was right, at least this one time.

The afternoon seemed long to Zac since he was forced to stay inside and read. It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy reading, but he only had a week of spring break, and he didn’t want to be in the house. He could hear the girls playing and laughing and thought about his actions. Sometimes he wasn’t sure why he picked on them. But it was always fun when it was happening. He wondered if he would still be picking on them in five years or if he really would grow up, as his parents frequently suggested.

For now, he was forced to sit and read. Fortunately, he had picked up an interesting book from the library on the last day of school. It was a book about Ty Cobb, the Georgia Peach, who was one of his favorite baseball players. Zac often dreamed of playing baseball at a higher level, but for now, he had to be satisfied with playing on the local all-star travel team. He wasn’t the best player on the team, but he was good and one of their best pitchers. He loved the game and was always ready for practice.

Zac was reading and daydreaming a little, when he felt a cold chill moving down his neck. The feeling was more tangible than the sensation outside, and now fully aware of the movement on his neck, he jumped so high that he was sure he was three feet off the ground. He wasn’t sure what had happened, but he was petrified. He had slapped at his neck during the jump and was staring everywhere to see if anything might actually have been on his neck. He realized he had been daydreaming but wasn’t sure if he’d been asleep and imagining the sensation or if it had really happened. Now he was certain there’d been something on his neck, probably trying to crawl under his skin. He frantically looked around but could see nothing. He was about ready to scream out, when he noticed two little blonde-headed girls peeking out of his closet. On the ground, he noticed the same caterpillar he’d picked up earlier, crawling away as fast as it could, hoping to escape the craziness going on around the room.

Zac pretended to go over to his dresser to look for another book. More giggles rose from the closet. Abruptly, he switched directions and threw open the closet door. His sisters squealed and shot past him. Oh, it’s on! he shouted as he tore off after them.

Shrieks and laughter arose from the twins as they rushed down the stairs. Zac felt a big smile spread across his face, and he followed right behind. He took the stairs two at a time. A warning against running in the house rose from somewhere in the back of his mind, but it went unheeded as he closed in on his sisters.

Zac raced past the front door and, luckily, noticed his dad just pulling into the driveway. If they were all wrestling when he walked through the door, there would be a lot of explaining to do, and that usually worked in the girls’ favor. Zac and the girls loved this type of rough play, and it always seemed to have a good ending—well, almost always. Zac decided to let them go this time and noticed the twins glance around, disappointed the fun was stopping. It almost felt like a victory as he threw a smile their way and watched them jerk to a stop, staring back in his direction with sad eyes. Besides, he was tired of staying in his room and wanted to get back outside while there was still some sunlight left.

For once, he thought ahead; he stopped in his tracks, turned, and quickly went upstairs to salvage the caterpillar for any future plan. He had to keep it safely hidden from the girls so he could get his revenge at a later date. After finding the caterpillar and safely tucking it away in a secret jar he kept for such things, he scurried back downstairs to pleasantly greet his dad.

On his way down, he gave the girls the necessary smile with a sinister background. They knew he planned on getting even, but they did not know when or how. This was sometimes the most painful payback one could have. It was always scarier not to know when or what was going to happen. Zac watched Sarah look at Samantha and knew she was having second thoughts about their prank, but as he watched Samantha, he could tell she was more confident and ready for whatever Zac had in mind. She was satisfied and happy she had put the caterpillar on Zac’s neck.

Mike was a big man, standing about six foot two and weighing close to 230 pounds. He wasn’t necessarily fat, but he was big and had kept most of the shape he had had during a college track career. Mike had begun building houses outside of Atlanta right after college, and he was fairly successful. He built good homes and had a reputation for such. He did not build many, but somehow, he managed to keep going through a couple recessions. He never made a lot of money, but he was always able to make ends meet. Plus, he liked the fact that both he and Rachel had flexible schedules, so they could both spend quality time with the kids.

Zac ran up to his dad as soon as Mike walked through the door. How was your day? he blurted out.

Zac was a great kid but not the type who was always looking to butter up an adult. Mike looked at Zac with curiosity, surprised by his friendly and polite behavior. He wondered if everything was okay or if he was about to find out from Rachel that Zac was in trouble. As he was about to push that thought to the side, Rachel walked into the room and filled him in on Zac’s dastardly deeds of the day. Zac and Mike both stood there listening to Rachel retell the trampoline story. Mike was more lenient about rough play, so he didn’t get quite as upset as Rachel had.

Mike watched Zac out of the corner of his eye and could tell he was surprised at the detail Rachel was providing. At one point, he could see Zac shaking his head back and forth as if to silently say, I didn’t do that or that or even that. He was about to smile but forced it away and continued to listen intently to Rachel. Mike half expected to hear an argument from Zac, but none emerged. He turned to look at Zac, who had shifted his gaze to the twins. Let’s talk later, he said firmly, hoping for an apologetic Yes, sir from Zac.

Luckily, Zac had been half listening while thinking about getting even with his sisters and responded with the appropriate Yes, sir.

CHAPTER

3

THE REST OF THE EVENING was uneventful. They had supper, played video games, and eventually got ready for bed. Suddenly, while Zac was in the shower, his skin began to crawl. He was standing there, thinking about Ty Cobb and how hard he’d worked to be good at baseball, when the water seemed to suddenly turn cold. Rather than the entire stream feeling cold, it seemed to be just one tiny section of water running straight down the middle of his back.

He turned to try to catch his sisters, but there was no one else in the room. He put his hand under the stream of water, and it was all the same temperature. Feeling he had imagined the whole thing, he turned to let the water run down his back again—and it happened again. Cold water was running down the middle of his back, while warm water was pouring over his shoulders.

He didn’t know much about plumbing, but he was sure this was not normal. Rather than turning around, he put his hand over his shoulder to redirect the water so he could see it. To his shock, the cold water in the middle was a slightly different color: deep blue green. This made him more curious, and he put his hand to his lips, not even knowing why. As he tasted the water, it was salty—not just a little salty but very salty, like the ocean. He turned once again to see if anything unusual was around, but nothing was there, and as soon as he faced the water, it returned to its normal temperature and color. He tasted it once again, and there was no salt taste at all.

His mind was flying all around at a mile a minute. He had no idea what was going on, but he jumped out of the shower, quickly dried off, and raced to his parents’ bedroom. The girls were sitting there with his mother, watching a new Disney movie and laughing loudly. He was staring at Samantha when she turned to look at him. He could tell from her wide-open eyes that he must have had an odd look on his face. That thought was confirmed as she jumped up and asked quietly, What’s wrong, Zac?

Nothing, he responded, but she knew his look was not normal. She wondered if it was all part of the great revenge plot she knew was coming or if something had caught Zac’s interest. She turned to watch the end of the movie before it was time for bed.

Sarah never looked up, as she was deeply involved in drawing flowers for a school assignment due the next day. Of all the children, Sarah liked school the best. She was always interested in doing well and put in a little extra effort to try to get a special smile from the teacher. Sometimes she became frustrated because she seemed to work harder in school than Zac or Samantha, and often, they received the same accolades.

Zac looked at them, trying to decide what to do. He wanted to tell his mother, but he didn’t want everyone else to know what had happened. She had glanced his way as he entered the room, but she went back to the movie when Sarah tugged at her arm to watch her favorite part. His mom might listen, but the girls would laugh, and his dad would probably think he was making it up. He thought better of the situation and decided to keep it to himself until something else happened.

That night, Zac had a hard time getting to sleep but eventually dozed off. Before he fell asleep, he thought about telling his mother about the shower incident but decided against it. Part of him didn’t believe it actually had happened, and if he didn’t believe it, why would anyone else? He was about to change his mind, but his eyes were getting heavier, and his thoughts began to wander toward baseball and sleep.

When he finally fell asleep, he slept more soundly than ever, never even turning over. When his mom came in to wake him for breakfast the next morning, he could hardly move. He could not remember ever having been in such a sound sleep. As Rachel tugged at him, he was finally able to roll over and get out of bed. He would certainly be well rested for some extra play that day. As he was standing up to go downstairs, he decided he was going to be nice to the girls that day. His revenge would have to wait. That reminded him of his caterpillar. He opened his closet and grabbed his bug box to let the caterpillar go. He did not like hurting anything and felt it was best to put the creature back outside, where it should be.

Zac thought back to feeling he’d had outside and the strange water in the shower. He thought once again about telling his mom. He was pretty sure she