2015 Young Explorer's Adventure Guide Read online

  “What’s it all mean, Pa?” Samuel asked.

  “The veoles are all female aren’t they?” Masher asked. “I don’t know if their customs would suit us.”

  “Co-operation law is Co-operation law,” said Ma. Not even Masher could argue with her on that point. Every species adhered to Co-operation law, otherwise there would be anarchy in the colonies.

  “Sure is going to be a lot of changes around here,” It was a female Graviller’s voice from the back of the crowd.

  “Pa, how come we never knew they were sentient?” Samuel asked.

  “Looks like they were just waiting for the right mind to come along,” Pa said. “I can’t believe it. My little girl has made first contact with an alien species. That’s the way it is in the colonies. This world is wide open for exploration.” Pa looked over to the back of the crowd where the Graviller girls were petting their bothers’ fighting veoles. “These little critters have got some kind of connection with the females.”

  “Wonder what kind of society they’ve got going?” Berick said.

  “Reckon there’s going to be a few changes, for sure,” Samuel said. He looked at his Ma. She was smiling, and Samuel was, too.

  The Best Cheesecake in the Universe

  Cory Cone

  For my nieces, Madalynn and Sophia

  Cory Cone lives, works and writes in Baltimore, MD. He studied painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art, where he met and married his wife. He now works full time at the college and writes strange fiction in the evenings. His website is www.corycone.com, and you can follow him on Twitter, @corycone

  Madalynn leaned her bicycle against the porch steps and gently lifted the plastic container from the bike basket. There was an entire cheesecake inside, and she inspected it thoroughly to be certain it hadn’t been damaged on the ride over to Nana’s house—Nana’s old house; technically, it belonged to Madalynn now. She felt the weight of the silver key in her pocket and still couldn’t believe that she had a real house of her very own, and she was only twelve!

  Madalynn walked up the porch stairs, placed the cheesecake on Nana’s rocker and plucked the key from her pocket. A breeze swept through and swayed the rocker back and forth.

  Sliding the key into the lock, Madalynn feared that it wouldn’t turn. What if this was all a misunderstanding, and the note had been written a long time ago, and Nana had actually changed her mind? The key refused to turn. She looked over her shoulder, praying her father wouldn’t come barreling up the dirt driveway and demand to know what she was doing at her great-grandmother’s house, alone, and with a cheesecake. She twisted the key harder, but still it wouldn’t go.

  The sun would soon set, an hour of light remained at best. She needed to get the cheesecake into the fridge and the table set up before she ran out of time. She’d get inside, even if it meant breaking a window and climbing in.

  Madalynn shoved her palm painfully against the back of the key and it slid a bit further into the lock. Breath held, eyes closed, she tried once more. The key turned and the door unlocked with a loud click. Hoisting the cake back into her hands, Madalynn stepped into her house.

  …………………………

  Nana had died when she was ninety-four, but boasted that she never looked a day over ninety-two. She attributed her longevity to three things: waking with a smile, a glass of chocolate milk three times a week, and always having something to look forward to. Nana loved visitors and even kept a small calendar so she would not lose track of when she’d be having them. They all came, Nana said, because of her universally renowned cheesecake.

  On most of Madalynn’s visits, Nana would allow her a slice.

  “Only one,” Nana would say. “I have to save the rest for my guests.” According to Nana, those guests traveled far and wide for the privilege.

  Once, when Madalynn was munching away, eyes rolled back in her head because it was always so very tasty, she asked if she could stay and meet the guests. Her father didn’t believe that his grandmother ever had guests besides the family. He always warned Madalynn to take everything her great-grandmother said with a grain of especially fine salt. “They must be very fancy if they can make such long trips to visit you,” he said once.

  Her Nana said, “They are fancy! The fanciest of folks I have ever met. Each one comes once a year, every year, just for a piece of this cheesecake. Some of them have coffee too, but my coffee pales in comparison to the sort they get on their travels. My cheesecake though, they say, is by far the best.”

  “So, may I meet them?”

  “No,” said Nana. Madalynn was hurt because she didn’t think it was such an unreasonable request. Surely Nana would love to introduce these world travelers to her best and favorite great-granddaughter. “Don’t look so sad, Maddy. I’ve promised them all that I will never tell a soul that they come, though they’ve spread the word themselves, as my calendar can attest. Still, it must remain secret.”

  “But you’ve told me!”

  “I have, haven’t I.” She grinned slyly and leaned in close to Madalynn’s ear. “One day, you see, I will finally have to leave this earth. Shocking, I know! Believe me, I’d stay another thousand years if I could. But it’s true, I haven’t got all that much left in me.” The thought of Nana dying made the cheesecake taste bittersweet in Madalynn’s mouth. “But when that day comes, I’d like you to prepare my cake for the guests.”

  “Me? Really?”

  “I think you’d like them, and they you. It has to wait until then though, and you might be sad on that day but I hope you’ll be excited too.”

  And Madalynn smiled because she really was, though she wondered if they would like her as much as they all seemed to like Nana.

  …………………………

  Madalynn scoured the kitchen, opening cupboard after cupboard until she found the white cake stand that Nana always served her cheesecake on. She set it on the table and cautiously lifted the cheesecake from the plastic container and transferred it onto the stand. Then, balancing the cake stand as if she were crossing a tightrope, she walked to the refrigerator and set the cake inside.

  A photograph of her and Nana greeted her when she closed the door. It was stuck to the refrigerator with an apple shaped magnet. Nana was smiling in her rocker on the porch, Madalynn grinning ear to ear at her side.

  Between the exciting secrecy and the preparations for the visitors, Madalynn had allowed herself little time to grieve. In that moment, seeing the photo and how happy they were together, she realized that Nana had been so much more than just a great-grandmother. She was a friend, a companion, and one of the few people who she never thought she could live without. She wept softly for a brief moment, and then snatched the small calendar from her back pocket to see how many visitors would be there tonight.

  The notes for that day mentioned two groups, the first arriving an hour after sunset. Madalynn set the calendar down and scanned the room for candles to begin decorating.

  She could cry later. There was work to do.

  …………………………

  After Nana’s funeral, Madalynn went straight to her room to be alone and planned on crying all evening. Her body and mind wrapped themselves into a strange, uncomfortable tapestry of emotions that was completely alien to her. The weight of the loss was in many ways as confusing as it was tragic. But when she entered her room, Madalynn found an envelope had been placed on her pillow. Her name was handwritten in the middle in Nana’s recognizable script. It contained a note, a small, pocket-sized calendar, and a key.

  Dearest Madalynn,

  I know that you are sad, and that is perfectly normal. I am sad too. I’ll miss you deeply.

  Be sad as long as you’d like, or at least until the first marked date on the calendar I’ve given you. That is when the first visitor shall arrive after I’ve gone, and you must be sure to have the cheesecake ready! You’re young and probably haven’t thought about what may happen to my house when I am gone, but I tho
ught about it a lot. My guests know no other house, and there is simply not enough time for new arrangements. In order to prevent the house from being sold or going to one of your older, reclusive cousins, I have bequeathed it to you. Bequeathed means given. It’s yours.

  My grandson—sorry, I mean your father—probably won’t tell you about this gift until you’re much older so pretend you don’t know. You’ll have to sneak over, but I’m sure that won’t be difficult. You’re a crafty young woman.

  The guests will be expecting you.

  The recipe is below. Share it with no one.

  “Nana’s Cheesecake:”

  -Go to the Super Fresh in Primrose and pick one out.

  Heartbroken? Don’t be. I happened to have one at home when they first stopped by, and I fibbed a little. Never had the heart to change my story.

  Our little secret, dear.

  Love always, Nana

  …………………………

  Before long, Madalynn had set the dining room table with several tall red candles and enough place settings to seat six. She had no idea how many people would be stopping by per group, but if there were more than six they’d have to deal with standing. Each setting consisted of a small desert plate, a fleshly cleaned fork, and a coffee cup. A French press sat waiting to be plunged in the kitchen. She also placed a small knife for slicing on the table.

  The dining room glowed in the candlelight and Madalynn was very proud. She hoped desperately that she would live up the visitors’ expectations.

  Moonlight mixed with candlelight in the room, and a wind moaned just outside the windows.

  She couldn’t keep still and spent the next half hour checking and rechecking the cake, to make sure it looked okay, and blowing out and relighting the candles so that they wouldn’t burn too low before they arrived.

  Then, when she thought that perhaps her father was right, and that Nana was making up stories, there came a timid knock at the front door.

  Madalynn froze. Her first thought was not that visitors had arrived, but that her father had discovered where she was. She contemplated hiding beneath the table to avoid discovery, but realized if it was her father, he would have stormed into the house by then. He surely had a key of his own.

  The knocking came again, softly, as if whoever was out there was terrified that someone might actually open the door. Madalynn also heard the creak of the rocker swaying back and forth.

  A dark, elongated shadow hovered beyond the window by the door, obscured by the curtains. Whoever stood just beyond the door was trying to see inside. Its shape was skewed and made Madalynn feel dizzy just looking at it. It looked as if the person had to bend over just to look through the window.

  Madalynn reconsidered hiding after all.

  Again, the knock sounded at the door. Muffled voices spoke.

  Madalynn swallowed and stepped slowly through the dining room. She placed her hand on the doorknob but did not turn it.

  “Who is it?” she called out, her heart racing.

  The squeaking of the chair stopped.

  “Oh, she sounds adorable!” said a woman.

  “She’s actually there?” asked a man. “I was so worried it’d be empty.”

  Madalynn wiped sweat from her brow and tried to peer through the window to see them, but they were too close to the door now for her to get a good glimpse.

  “What brings you to these parts?” Madalynn said, feeling foolish as the words slipped from her lips.

  “A delicacy worth traveling for,” said the woman.

  “And company,” said the man.

  Madalynn opened the door.

  There stood in the threshold the tallest creature she had ever seen. The woman’s chest towered far above the door. Motherly comfort radiated from her. A thin blue outfit was wrapped tightly around her entire body, the surface smooth and glimmering in the starlight. It ended at the neck, where the woman’s moss-green neck sprouted out of the outfit like a plant stem. Her head was large and oblong, and enormous jet black eyes sat like slate in her face. Her lips were full and red, and were the only feature that looked even remotely human.

  Horror gripped Madalynn by the throat, choking her. A scream threatened at her mouth. But the woman leaned down and placed her long gloved fingers gently onto her shoulder, and Madalynn calmed to her touch.

  “Gosh, so sorry!” the woman said. Her voice was soothing and slightly raspy with age. It reminded Madalynn of Nana. “Sometimes we forget to warn people. Surprise! I’m Agatha, and you must be Maddy.”

  Madalynn found the will to speak. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “George!” Agatha said to the other tall creature, lounging in the rocker. He rose to his feet and stood equally as tall as she. “Say hello to the child before we frighten her to death. Where will your cake be then, huh?”

  “My dear,” said George, and a wave of warmth ran through Madalynn’s body. His voice was like the lowest, softest note echoing from a piano. “It is an absolute pleasure. We have heard so very much about you, haven’t we, Agatha?”

  “Yes,” said Agatha. “Nothing but good things, I might add.” The two strangers stood shoulder to shoulder on the porch, staring expectantly at Madalynn. “Might we come in?”

  Madalynn’s face went red with embarrassment. “Oh my gosh, of course!” she said and stepped aside.

  Agatha and George bent low and stepped into the house. Madalynn gazed in astonishment at what their absence on the porch revealed. A tiny ship, speckled in blinking lights, sat perched in the yard, smoke hissing from beneath. It was unlike any craft she’d ever seen, but reminded her in many ways of small car, like the one her father took her to school in—if it could fly. She closed the door, excitement filling her to the brim.

  The guests had already sat themselves at the table. They were so tall that they had to lean over it, their round, green heads nearly touching above the candles. Their anticipating smiles flickered in the candlelight.

  Madalynn retrieved the cheesecake from the refrigerator and carefully brought it to the table. Would they know it was store bought? What if they suspected something was wrong, would they be angry with her? Would they ever come back?

  “Please,” said Agatha, “do us the honors.” She held out her plate.

  Madalynn took the knife from the table and sliced two ample triangles of cheesecake. Sweat brimmed on her face. They were going to hate it. They would take one bite and declare it the worst they’d ever had, and then steal her away in their craft to wherever they had come from. What awful, tortuous things would they do to her if they were not pleased with the cake?

  She balanced first one slice over to Agatha’s plate, and then another to George’s.

  They licked their lips enthusiastically and then set the plates tenderly onto the table. They did not begin to eat, but to Madalynn’s surprise, each wiped thick tears from their black eyes.

  “We are so very sorry for your loss,” said Agatha, her words choked with grief.

  “She was a dear, sweet friend to us,” said George.

  Madalynn swiped away tears of her own. “She was a dear friend to me as well,” she said.

  “She loved you very much.” Agatha ran a long finger along Madalynn cheek. “Talked nonstop about you when we visited. Always told us that when she died, you’d be here to greet us and then, only then, would we know the taste of the best cheesecake in the universe.”

  Madalynn held her breath. She thought maybe it would be wise to tell them that she had not made it. It was from the store and it might not be as good as Nana’s and please forgive her if it’s terrible. The guests each picked up their forks, and Madalynn held her tongue.

  They carved away the tip of their slices of cake, lifted them teasingly to their lips, and then chomped down. They chewed, and Madalynn’s chest ached for air as she watched them for any reactions.

  They both moaned in unison, swallowed, and leaned as far back in their chairs as their tall figures allowed.

  Madalynn breat
hed in a long and thankful breath.

  “I didn’t think it could be done,” said George.

  “It seemed impossible!” said Agatha. “But she was right. This cake, right here, that has just passed into my belly, is the best cheesecake in the universe.”

  “Bar none!”

  And Madalynn smiled and clapped with joy. So she had to fib a little, but it was worth it to make these two travelers so happy. She rushed to the kitchen and retrieved the French press and poured them both steaming cups of coffee.

  “Oh, perfect!” said George, sipping slowly. “Hits the spot.”

  Madalynn, her face aching with cheer, said, “I’m so very glad you’ve come, and that you enjoy the cheesecake.”

  “It’s a highlight of our travels, dear. Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” said Agatha.

  “Where are you two from?”

  “Ah,” said George, reaching into a hidden pocket in his shimmering blue outfit.

  “He loves using this thing,” Agatha said, eyeing him sweetly from across the table. Madalynn knew that they must be madly in love.

  George produced a small, golden orb and balanced it in his palm for Madalynn to see. It was beautiful, perfectly round, and produced a small humming sound. Before her eyes, it broke apart into a million tinier spheres and they burst about the room, hovering in midair. “This,” said George, pointing a tiny blue sphere near Madalynn’s face, “is Earth. And that,” he pointed across the room to a pulsing orange sphere that was hovering near the door, “is Caliphon.”

  “That’s our planet,” said Agatha.

  In an instant, the spheres regrouped into the orb in George’s hand and he replaced it into his pocket.