Coming of the Travel Gods

Coming of the Travel Gods

Bertha sighed again. Carl looked upward toward her. He sat on a puffy couch-like chair reading a book. “What’s the matter? Are you thinking of visiting your parents?”
“The last time I saw them was 18 years ago, in 1862. Our two sons have never had the chance to see them. I pray I can see them again, and let them see their grandchildren.”
About halfway between them, they observed a reddish glow begin to form. Then, it changed into a purple color and began to grow larger. There was no sound from it as it grew into a monster-shaped figure. It had a dinosaur-shaped head, unicorn horn, and zebra stripes. Its main body was a zebra shape with four legs, but it had a saddle shape on its back.
Bertha stepped backward until she hit the wall of the room. Carl jumped up and ran around the monster to stand beside his wife. The beast turned its head to look at them. “Be not afraid. We are here to help you, not hurt you.”
Carl blurted out “What are you? How did you come here? What do you want?”
“We are the travel Gods. We give rides to all who wish it. We go anywhere and everywhere.”
“Dad, what is that thing?”
Carl looked across the room to see his sons, Eugen, and Richard, standing in the kitchen doorway. “Don’t come any closer. Whatever it is looks dangerous.”
Bertha stepped toward the monster. “You say that you give rides to all who wish it? I wish it.”
As Bertha walked toward the monster, Carl and her two nearly grown children rushed to intercept her. As the four came together, they were all lifted into the air and deposited on the monster's saddle-shaped back.
Then they felt the rushing of air past them for ten seconds. They were outside the house. They were in a different town. They looked over the grassy lawn in which the monster stood. Bertha cried. “It’s my home!” She slid off the monster’s back and ran to the front door. Carl and the children fell to the ground as the beast vanished. Richard landed, standing upright, Eugen fell forward to catch himself on his hands, while Carl fell into a sitting position.
Bertha knocked on the house’s front door and turned toward her family to beckon them forward. The front door opened, and Bertha stepped forward to hug her father.
***
Three days later Bertha and her family were ready to return home. Bertha’s father followed them outside. “You said that you believe special travel gods will give you a ride back home? I thought all of you were joking when you told me how you got here.”
Bertha carried grass seeds in a pouch and a magazine her father had given her. The magazine explained how she could grow a grassy lawn. He also gave Carl an instruction book on how to build a lawn mower.
They stopped at the edge of the road. Bertha looked around, expecting to see the coming of the travel gods. When they did not appear, she looked back to see her father smirk. Spinning around, she looked toward the sky, and spoke loudly, “I pray for a ride back home”.
Two bright spots appeared in the air. As they widened, the travel gods’ monster shapes formed. Bertha smiled and stepped toward them. Her father yelled and leaped forward to pull her back.
Then they both were on the saddle of the travel god. Before her father could catch his wits, they were dumped near the front door of Bertha’s and Carl’s home. Bertha saw her father’s frown as he studied his surroundings. Her frown matched his as she ran to him. “Oh, daddy. It’s ok. This is where Carl and I live.” She rolled the magazine into a tube shape and tossed it toward her front door. “Oh, dear. Is Carl trapped at your house with Mom?”
As if in answer to her question, a purple dot appeared in the air a few feet beyond them closer to the road. Then Carl, her two children, and her mother sat on the ground near her. Bertha ran to Carl. “Thank you for bringing mom.”
Carl pushed himself up and brushed the dust off his pants leg. “Eugen figured out how to get the other travel god to give us a ride. I still felt dazed as Eugen gathered us all to get on it.”