The Crystal Diary - Me (best book club books for discussion .TXT) 📗

and just at that moment mom came inside with a bagful of necessities and frowned at the chief.

“We‘re leaving, ok?” and I hobbled over to her. We stepped outside and hurried across the gravel walkway, down the street and ran down the sidewalk until we reached the bus stop. After the longest and most nerve racking bus ride in history we arrived at the train station and caught the earliest train headed for Albany. Neither of us breathed easily until we reached the train station and sat down in our seats. The train ride was comfortable and quiet and was spent contemplating where Minet might be. Then I decided to ask mom a question I never thought about before.

“ Mom, how long were you and Minet friends?” I saw her face change color with pain.

“ Since we were five years old. She wasn’t like she is now, over the years in school she got into more and more trouble. I always had her over at my house when we had sleepovers. She said she didn’t want to impose upon me but she said she couldn’t let me come over to her house. Minet didn’t describe her home in detail but she basically said that her parents fought and got drunk every night.” My mom sighed then, stopped and wouldn’t let the subject go on any longer and we were silent for the rest of the trip.

“ALBANY, NEXT STOP!” yelled the conductor and I looked out the window trying not step on Mom’s toes as I stood up to look out the window. In the distance, just ahead of us a building universe was rushing closer and closer. Before I had stared for as long as I had wanted to we sped into the train station. I prayed that Minet wouldn’t somehow catch up and destroy our ‘almost reunion’ with dad. Mom held my pack as I struggled down the steep painful train steps. Once we were off the train we both recited the directions to dad ‘s work office in our heads while we waited at the bus stop. At last I the words became so familiar I was sure that I could say them in my sleep. Then I felt something around my neck grow ice cold. I looked down and saw that my crystal or maybe I should say mom’s crystal had turned a dark purple.

“ GWEN! Let me out!” I heard someone yell, and then I looked up and saw that mom was gone. I heard the voice repeat the same demand then I realized that the small voice was coming from the crystal. I held the necklace up to the light then saw a small figure inside the crystal tapping on the glass. I squinted then saw it was mom. I then began to feel like fainting. How on earth did I trap mom inside there? Or rather how did the crystal trap mom like that? Was this thing magical? I knew that I wasn’t!

“ How can I get you out mom?” I tried to whisper into the crystal looking around to make sure that nobody was looking at me.

“ Sit down and hold the crystal up to the light.” I looked inside at
My miniature mom and tried to restrain a giggle. Then I held the crystal up to the light and watched as mom return to her normal size outside the crystal. I half expected her to yell at me for imprisoning her but instead she took a deep breath and sat down in her former spot.

“ Ok, do me a favor and let me switch places with you.” I switched places with her and mom winced at the puzzled look on my face. I sat down and she and I began to talk at the same time. “I know that you want me to tell you how the crystal trapped me inside itself.” I sighed and then nodded as I rested my head on her shoulder. “Well I wish that I could tell you for sure. The only explanation I can come up with is that the sunlight causes the crystal to imprison the people directly in front of or right next to it’s wearer when it is dark purple.”

“But mom it never turned colors until it had been in the fire. It also was perfectly harmless before this adventure started.”

“ Your dad dipped the crystal in violet paint and made it into a necklace so that I could keep it safe and avoid it kidnapping people every time it turned purple.”
“ What was the original color mom?”

“ There was no original color, I found it on our honeymoon. Luke and I went on a honeymoon/camping trip and during the first night a huge meteor storm hit and afterward I found this stone right outside our tent. Your dad turned it into a necklace for me, but right after I first put it on the crystal turned the color it is now and a sunbeam went through and it trapped your dad inside. I sat down and held it up to the light and your dad was let out. So to ensure his safety and everyone else’s he dipped it in paint and it couldn’t suck people in. Afterwards your dad made me the crystal diary partly as a gift and partly to conceal its real use.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this or anything about my dad before?”

“ I didn’t tell you about your dad when you were really young because I knew that you would probably tell Minet. When you got old enough to keep secrets I….I just couldn’t bring myself to tell you.” I understood, but I was still upset about mom being secretive. Then our bus came along with a herd of tourists and we left to begin a better life.

Chapter 16
Family Again

Just as dad said we should do, we changed buses at every stop we came to costing mom about one hundred dollars. At last we reached X Fifth Street and acting like a couple of silly shoppers was no big deal until I noticed one lady, an old lady apparently always seemed to be on the same bus we were traveling on and I could have sworn that I saw her on the train I was on before. A strange feeling that I knew her crossed my mind and I wondered if Minet had senior spies. I persuaded mom to let us split up and see if she would follow either one of us.

I walked into a nearby beauty shop while mom decided to wait for five minutes around the corner and then come and get me. I walked inside casually and pretended to be interested in buying a pair of earrings and looked into the mirror and waited for the lady to walk inside the shop. But thankfully I was wrong about her, and her being at the same place at the same time was just chance. I began to walk out of the shop then I stopped myself. I looked at the stand of human hair wigs. Well it may have been wasteful since mom and I were nearly in U.S.E.G.F. but anything could happen on our way. I bought two wigs one red/ brown and one blonde; I put the reddish brown one on and then walked out of the store. I found mom and after explaining why my hair had “changed” I persuaded her to put it on and we in our disguises set off to find the alley that dad talked about. Finally we reached it and I stepped toward the green power box and could hardly believe that I would be able to see dad for the first time.

Mom had the same tears in her eyes as I opened the green door that to our disappointment could hold only one person. We debated about it. I wanted her to go first because she hadn’t seen dad in thirteen years and I knew that she was dying to see him. She said that I should go because of my never seeing him before and wanting to see him. At last she won and I agreed to go down first.

“ What is the code to get inside again Mom?” I knew she probably wouldn’t remember and that I would have to open the diary and find out.

“ 91119,” mom replied and then made me whisper all of the information that dad had sent her to ensure my survival. I whispered the information in an annoyed tone and she nodded. I crawled inside as mom looked around to make sure that no one was spying on us. She shut the door telling me that she would be down soon. I felt the blackness surround me and a light bulb lit up button pad cut it with the strength of a little kid’s night-light. I pushed the code in and the small elevator jerked into action taking me down one hundred stories in five minutes. The small elevator produced a small dinner bell like ding and I crawled out into a different world inside a world.

A stainless steel metal universe met my eyes as I stood up stretching limbs that were stir crazy. Herds of people walked by with their shoes clanging against the metal floor. Florescent bulbs lit the space ship like hall. Soon just as I expected a guard rushed toward me as I heard mom crawl out the shaft. His was unlike any type of government uniform I had ever seen. Instead of being green like the army it was a brownish red color like the earth.

“ What on earth are you two people doing here?” He asked sternly, and then he listened to make sure that no more people were coming down.

“ We are looking for Carl Finch, he is my dad.” I made my eyes as cold and crossed my arms. “Would you please step aside?” He hearing a fellow co-worker’s name stepped aside with repeated apologies. I waited for mom and then we together walked down the hall.

You would think that U.S.E.G.F. would