Chapter Twenty-One (Part One)

The doorbell rang at the Tinker place at about lunchtime. Standing in front of Wanda was Malcolm Landgraab IV, a tall, tanned, muscular blond with a furrowed brow and piercing gray-blue eyes. Malcolm, the latest scion of the Landgraab dynasty, owned a mansion not too far from the Tinker residence, and indeed there was a view of it from what was Melody's bedroom window.
"How do you do, Mrs. Tinker?" asked Malcolm as he shook her hand.
"Do, please, come in," Wanda said, ushering him inside. "I was just about to cook some chili con carne. Would you like some?"
Refusing Wanda's kind offer of a meal, Malcolm got right down to business. "My board of trustees and I have been discussing the possibility of acquiring Tinker Toys."
"Really?" Wanda asked. "You mean like making a brand out of it?"
"That's something like what we have in mind. You see, we'd like to make Tinker Toys part of Landgraab Enterprises."
Wanda piped up. "How much?"
"Well, we haven't completed the paperwork yet, but all the day-to-day handling of Tinker Toys, all the franchising fees, all the business operations, would be handled by Landgraab Enterprises."
Wanda nodded her overwhelming approval. "I would say yes immediately but I would have to contact my daughter first. She's at Academie Le Tour, you know."
After Malcolm left, Wanda immediately dialed Melody. "Hey, sweetie. How are you today?"
Melody replied, "I'm doing okay, but I was on my way to class. What's up?"
"I got an offer to buy the toy shop. And I told him I would accept, pending approval from you."
Melody, amidst the hustle and bustle of her dorm, was aghast. "Mom! How could you?"
Wanda couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Melody!"
"How could you just give up like that? Stephen Tinker worked his hiney off for that shop, and you're just going to throw it away? Just like that?"
"Melody!" Wanda shouted in amazement, hearing her daughter's words ring over the receiver. "The guy promised he'd make an international brand out of it."
Melody shook her head. "Well who was the guy?"
"Malcolm something or other, he said his name was."
"Malcolm Landgraab, that snake! Mom, selling to him would be like selling your soul to the devil!"
"Melody!" Wanda shouted, "I don't believe you!"

"Don't make a mistake like this, mom. You just can't do it. Selling the toyshop would be a huge mistake you would never be able to forgive yourself for."
"Melody!" Wanda continued to scream, almost merely to hear herself scream. She could not believe Melody was objecting so vehemently. But then again, thought Wanda, this was Melody, always getting in the way of what needed to be done.
"I knew Malcolm would worm himself in here somehow. You just knew the minute daddy's death certificate got signed he'd show up to try to snatch up the pieces. He's like a vulture waiting to pounce on the ashes of our family. And as long as I'm alive I'm not going to let him. Look, I've got to go to class, we'll talk more about this later."
Wanda put the receiver down and sighed. "Melody." She couldn't believe Melody felt this way, especially about the toy shop which she'd never shown any interest in before. She had never heard her daughter emote such passion in an argument before. What was going on? What was behind Melody's tirade? Wanda knew there was something else going on, something Melody wasn't telling her about.

Even though she had taken a couple lessons from Chaz Whippler, Melody still didn't feel entirely comfortable behind the wheel. So after her seminars at Le Tour, she took classes at the Sim City Driving Academy (SCDA) twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, lugging home books on automobile safety and cars in general. There were times when she wondered if she would ever learn to drive.
Melody walked in the dorm and immediately crashed on the sofa in front of the television. Marla, sitting next to her, thought she was napping peacefully, but then saw her eyelids were still moving behind her thick glasses and her eyes were partially open. Lost in thought, Marla realized. I wonder what she's thinking about. Despite having become more outgoing at college, Melody was still an introvert at her core and prone to brooding, and sometimes liked to recharge her batteries by just thinking, shutting off the world and everyone around her.
Marla knew not to pry and just continued to watch her, with Melody unaware that she was being watched. She looks at peace, Marla thought, unaware of the internal turmoil concealed within.

Dr. Hyden was busy at his desk, typing up notes for his next lecture, when he heard a knock on his door. "Come in, Miss Tinker."
Melody laughed. "How did you know who I was?" "Because you're the only one of my students who would come knocking right after I've done my day's classes.
"Dr. Hyden," Melody began, taking a deep breath before beginning, "for one of my term papers, I've got to profile an influential person in the world of astronomy, and I chose you."
"I'm flattered, Miss Tinker, but -- why did you choose me?"
"Your studies on the origins of the universe and the possibility of life on other planets intrigued me."
"I see." Taking out her tape recorder, Melody proceeded to ask him general questions on where he was born, if he had siblings, where he went to college, how he got interested in astronomy, and Dr. Hyden answered them in his calm but commanding voice. "I was actually born in Strangetown, and I had one younger sister. I attended La Fiesta Tech..."
Then Melody got serious and personal. "Have you ever gotten married?" she asked him.
Dr. Hyden wondered about that question but answered it anyway. "No," he said, "but I came close a couple times."
Melody realized that Dr. Hyden had fallen right into her trap. Hardly daring to breathe, she asked, "Do you remember a student named Wanda Zarubin?"
Stroking his chin thoughtfully, Dr. Hyden replied, eyeing her beadily, "Hmm, can't say that I do. Why?" He leaned forward, his hands clasped together. "Exactly where are you going with these leading questions, young lady?"
Melody's heart sank, he'd ratted her out. She realized she had to go in for the kill now. "She's my mother."
"Interesting," Dr. Hyden said, "I've had only a couple sets of mother-daughter students before this."
"Anyway, Dr. Hyden, my mother says that -- while she was a student at Sim State -- you and she had a relationship -- and that I'm -- I'm -- I'm the fruit of that relationship."
Dr. Hyden's mouth fell to the floor. "Are you saying I'm your father?" he asked in astonishment.
"That's what my mother says."
"Impossible!" Dr. Hyden shouted. "I can't have anything like this over my head, not with the annual astronomers' meeting coming up. I have to present the findings of my latest study on black holes."
Melody glared at him. "My mother would have no reason to lie to me."
"Oh, I believe she probably was a student at Sim State. Sim State is a large school, much bigger than this. It's just that, well, it was quite a number of years ago, and I've had so many students since then, I can't possibly remember them all by name."
Melody paused for a moment, deep in thought. "I'd like to take a DNA test."
"A DNA test?"
"It's the only way we'll know the truth once and for all. They can take it with your DNA, my DNA, and Stephen's DNA that's on file at the police station."
Dr. Hyden shook his head. "Stephen?"
"Stephen Tinker, my mother's husband and the man who raised me. He died a couple weeks ago, and that's when my mother told me about you."
"I see." Dr. Hyden thought about it for a moment. "Well, it'll have to be after the holidays and the convention," he told her. Satisfied with his response for the moment, Melody got up from her chair and left, leaving Dr. Hyden deep in thought as to who this Wanda Zarubin character could have been. He thought even more about Melody and her physical similarities to him.

Chapter Twenty

Back in Bluewater, the gossip and innuendo had reached a crescendo. It seemed everywhere Wanda turned these days, she couldn't escape it. All she heard in town was that she'd slept with a college professor and had his baby, then hidden it from her loving and devoted husband. Sweet, kind-hearted little Wanda Tinker, the dutiful toymaker's wife, had hidden a deep dark secret for many years. Now pretty much all of Bluewater knew Melody was not the late Stephen Tinker's child, making Wanda feel even worse about the situation than she already did.
The rumors also persisted about Melody's sexuality and general all-around "oddness," another hot topic of conversation in the Village. Wanda tried her best to diffuse them, but they spread like wildfire despite her denials.
It was a bittersweet moment for her as she reflected on the changes that had taken place in the lives of her family -- Stephen's death, Melody's departure, and the revelation that Stephen wasn't Melody's father after all. Deep down, Wanda feared for Harmony's life and future. Would she end up like Melody -- defiant, rebellious, and generally a royal thorn in Wanda's side?
Wanda's thoughts also turned to the man she believed was Melody's biological father, her former physics professor Dr. Marcel Hyden. She wondered what he was doing, where he was, how he was doing. Was he married? Did he have other children? How had his life turned out? How might her life have been different had she been with him instead of Stephen?
After her trip to Bluewater Baths and Salon in a last-ditch effort to recapture some of her lost youth, Wanda walked into Le Magnifique Restaurant to treat herself to a meal. There she got a host of dirty looks from the patrons as she was led to her seat.
The only thing keeping Wanda's sanity intact was her weekly chats over tea, coffee, and pastries with Florence Delarosa. Florence, out of the entire town, was the only person who refused to turn her back on the suddenly lonely widow. She truly felt sorry for Wanda, felt that a woman like Wanda did not deserve the hand she'd been dealt. Her daughter ran off to college, then her husband passed away, then the house of cards that had been her charmed little life came crashing down around her. Wanda would even take little Harmony with her, and the child would happily play around in the flower beds.
"My husband used to say all the time, he thought Melody might have been a nun in a previous life, for all the time she spent studying and working on her projects," Wanda said while sipping coffee. "He used to call her his little sky princess."
"I'd love to have a child someday," Florence said wistfully. "Unfortunately, I spend so much time with the flower shop that I don't really have much time to socialize. But if I were to have a child, I'd want her to be just like your Melody."
Wanda brightened. "Seriously?"
"Seriously. You know, I was on the Sim City Arts Council, the committee that determined the winner of the student art contest a couple years back. I saw your daughter's painting."
Wanda was stunned. "Really?" she asked.
"She has a lot of talent and a lot of potential. Too much potential as an artist for it to go to waste, if you ask me. You think it's at all possible -- I know she's wrapped up in school and her scientific interests -- but is it at all possible you could convince her to take up painting again?"
"I don't know, Florence. She just seems to want to know as much as she can about as many different things as she can. She just loves to learn, always has. She gets that from her father. That's why I think Le Tour is perfect for her."
"A girl as gifted as she is," Florence smiled, "can probably do absolutely anything."

Melody, meanwhile, was blossoming at Academie Le Tour. Through her hard work, she had made the dean's list, and found herself surrounded by a steady group of loyal friends for the first time in her life, friends who were willing to help her and protect her at all costs. She was amazed and mystified as to how this happened. She was the same person she always was, and she wondered why all of a sudden people were drawn to her, instead of running away from her like they did in high school. These new friends understood that she preferred to keep her own company, and gave her her space when she requested it, but at the same time she was learning that research was much more fun with a group.
Melody involved herself even deeper in her paranormal activities. Besides maintaining her website, she and Chester Gieke started the Astronomy Club for like-minded students. The pair, along with Marla, Edwin, and other students they'd enlisted, went around campus passing flyers everywhere. All they needed was a faculty sponsor. Not to mention, besides investigating paranormal activity and studying mathematics and astronomy, she had resumed her robot building hobby and taken up computer programming. Not bad for a young woman whose ever-present thirst for knowledge was such that she used to lock herself in libraries just to learn more. She could feel her mind expanding more than it ever had before. She found there was so much to do, so much she wanted to do -- and so little time for her to do it.
On the notices section right by Dr. Hyden's office, he had posted an advertisement for a student assistant, someone who would help him with students, grade papers, and also do some speaking in public. "You know the dean's looking for an assistant," Melody muttered during a research session.
"I heard about that," Edwin answered. "I think you should go for it."
"Me?" Melody asked, pointing at herself with disgust.
"Why not?" replied Chester, looking at her. "You'd be perfect. You already know the material."
"But it requires public speaking."
"So? You can't talk in public?"
"I freeze out when I'm practicing charisma in front of a mirror, what do you think would happen if I'm talking in a room full of people?"
Marla smiled. "You'll do fine, Mel. You'll see."
Chester, the jokester of the bunch, added, "Imagine all those suits in their underwear. That should loosen you up."
"Seriously though, if the topic is something you're interested in," said Edwin, "it should just flow. You'll forget you're talking in public."

The popularity of Melody's website captured the attention of Dr. Marcel Hyden, dean of the astronomy department at Le Tour, and he called Melody into his office right after class. "We were able to trace the website address to you, Miss Tinker," he said, stroking his chin.
Melody's heart beat about four thousand times a minute as she realized that she was in the presence of the man her mother said was her biological father. She looked upon him with awe and reverence as her cheeks blushed. As she looked around his office, all the telltale signs of his profession were glaringly evident -- walls lined with books, ungraded papers on his desk, posters of aliens and the solar system, and unfinished scientific experiments. Tongue-tied and fidgety, Melody took deep breaths as she reluctantly sat down opposite him.
"A very intriguing project you've embarked on," he said, looking directly into her face. "Is there any -- personal reason you've started this?"
"No special reason," replied Melody, taking deep breaths in between her deliberate statements, "I'm -- I'm just wanting to find out how many alien abductions there have been and how many people are scared to come forward."
Dr. Hyden smiled. "Have you always had this interest?"
"Yes," Melody replied. "I've always felt that we weren't alone in the universe."
Dr. Hyden forced himself to gaze into the eyes of the young woman seated before him. They were hauntingly, strangely familiar. The two of them stared at each other a good long while. The physical resemblance was apparent and obvious. And so, too, thought Melody, was the similarity in interests. The situation was awkward, to say the least.
Filing this in the back of his mind, Dr. Hyden changed the subject. "Have you selected a major, Miss Tinker?" he asked.
"Yes," she said. "I've decided to major in astronomy."
"You want to study the stars?"
Melody nodded her head yes.
"There's more to astronomy than just stargazing, Miss Tinker," he told her.
"I know that," she smiled. "That's what I'd love to learn. All the little nuances, even about extraterrestrial life."
Dr. Hyden shook his head. This Melody Tinker intrigued him. At first, she was shy and awkward, stuttering over her words, shuffling her feet and avoiding his gaze. But as soon as the topic turned to astronomy, it was as if a beam of light had cut through the awkwardness as she lit up within. He remembered that feeling. It was the exact one he'd had, when he'd first discovered the universe and all its possibilities. She reminded him a lot of his favorite niece Delilah, also a student at the Academie, who possessed this same otherworldly passion -- only it was for art.
After Melody left, Dr. Hyden templed his fingers and gazed down at Melody's profile, pondering. Looking back at his life, he wondered how things could have been. Was he so single-minded in the pursuit of one goal, only to have it consume his entire life?
He had never found his heart. He'd spent too many years analyzing every possible nuance, that the part of his heart that stored away love, had shrunken and withered away to dust. Or had it?
Was there someone out there who would show him the way after all? He shook his head, his heart and soul belonged to Academie Le Tour now. Besides, he decided, he was far too old to chase dreams and fantasies.

Every day after classes Chaz met Melody in the parking lot of Aldrich dorm for driving lessons. Obediently, Melody pulled into the curb at the end of Aldrich Avenue where her dorm was, turned the ignition off, and glared hard at Chaz. Immediately he pulled his hand from her knee. "Are you going to teach me to drive or not?" she asked angrily, her eyes hard as stones beneath her glasses.
Chaz blushed crimson. "Sorry," he murmured. He definitely wasn't going to get anywhere with this ice queen at all.
And right after driving lessons there was math tutoring. As time went on, Melody became pleased with the progress Chaz was making -- and, secretly, with the fact that she was able to help. This 'odd pairing' certainly had dorm residents shaking their heads, even more so when, after dinner, they were playing rock-paper-scissors in the dorm cafeteria. Even more shocking was that Chaz had managed to elicit laughter out of the usually dour Melody with his playfulness. "You know, you're not half bad," Chaz said. "It isn't often I can play rock-paper-scissors with a girl."
Melody flashed him a surreptitious, mischievous grin. "Well, you obviously haven't met me yet."
"Hah!" Chaz chuckled. There was a wicked glint in his eyes. "Is that a challenge?" he asked.
Normally Melody wouldn't try to rise to the occasion, but she needed a welcome break. "I can beat you hands down," she said, grinning broadly.
"Try me."
"Okay, what's first?"
"How about a game of pool."
"Heh," sniggered Chaz, "easy peasy. I learned from the best. You're on."
The pair of them walked to the pool table. Melody watched intently as Chaz set up the balls in a rhythmic order. "You first," she said.
"Nah, I'm a gentleman. It's always ladies first."
"Fine, if you say so," Melody grinned. Walking toward the cue ball, she aimed her pool stick right at it. She watched Chaz land the first shot. "Not bad," she murmured.
"Like I said," he bluffed, "I learned from the best. My dad was a world-class hustler."
We'll just see about that, Melody thought to herself. Over the course of the next half-hour, Chaz could not believe what he was seeing. This girl, this 'geeky' girl, was taking him to the cleaners. His face fell to the floor as he watched Melody pot the final ball. "That was a fluke!" he protested. "My dad taught me all the moves!"
Melody just smiled as he handed over the money. Grumbling under his breath, he turned away.
"You could always have a rematch," called Melody, feeling slightly guilty.
Chaz slouched off, waving his hand dismissively, "Nah, you're okay," he said, "I don't fancy getting slaughtered by you a second time. I'll take my chances with someone else."
Melody stepped up to Chaz, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's okay," she said, handing the money back to him. "It was a simple question of mathematics. That's all. Once I worked out all the angles, it was pretty straightforward. Besides, I really don't need this. I just wanted to take a break from studying." She continued to explain the different angles of the pool balls. "So, when I cued the balls, they scattered in all sorts of different directions. It looks chaotic, but there's a simple pattern to it all, one where angles play a key role. Let's take the six ball for instance. It was located perpendicular to the five-ball but was at a forty-five-degree angle to the pot...."
Chaz shrugged his shoulders and looked directly at her, a broad smile spread across his face. "I guess I don't really know you at all," he said, curling her fingers over the bunch of simoleans in her hand. "You take it."
"No," replied Melody, taken slightly aback, "I don't need it."
"Listen kid," came the reply, "you won it, fair and square." Chaz crossed the room, then turned to look at Melody. "I guess there's a lot to learn from you." He winked, sticking his thumbs up and vanished out the door. His wallet was a little lighter but his respect for Melody had grown a little deeper.

It so happened that Melody was passing by Delilah O'Feefe's rental house and handed her a flyer advertising the latest Astronomy Club meeting. Delilah, like Melody, was tall and beautiful, with dark, silky hair. Melody caught Delilah's eye, and she invited her in.
"Your apartment looks cozy," Melody said, warming herself with a cup of Delilah's hot coffee. "Thanks." Delilah gave Melody a warm smile. "So, your name's Melody, right? Edwin was telling me, you're in his calculus class."
Melody nodded.
"So, what are you majoring in?" Delilah couldn't help but notice the physical similarities between herself and the girl she'd invited in her apartment.
"Astronomy, with a concentration in applied mathematics."
Delilah was impressed. "I'm an art major." The girls spoke for quite a long while about their chosen interests. When Delilah talked about loving to paint, and wanting to become an artist, Melody couldn't resist telling her about her experiences with art, even to the point of bragging that she'd been Darren Dreamer's apprentice. "You were Darren Dreamer's apprentice?" Delilah asked, astonished. "God!" Melody gazed at Delilah in awe. Delilah had the sophistication and worldliness that Melody wished she had, and Delilah herself longed for Melody's innocence about the way the world worked.
"Dr. Hyden's doing a lecture series on the big bang theory of the origin of the universe."
"Uncle Marcel and his silly theories about aliens." Delilah laughed.
But she looked over at Melody and saw her frown. "Uncle Marcel?" Melody asked.
"Yeah, Dr. Hyden is my uncle. His sister, Dahlia Hyden O'Feefe, was my mother."

The name Dahlia O'Feefe sounded familiar to Melody. When she was studying art history, she'd seen some of Dahlia's abstract paintings. Just then she got a mental image, of a tall and stunningly beautiful woman in a foreign country, surrounded by bohemian artists and philosophers. I don't believe this, she thought, this girl and I are cousins! And Dahlia O'Feefe was my aunt!
"After my mom died, Uncle Marcel took me in, and then took me here, where he taught, says he wanted to keep an eye on me."

Wires and motherboards littered the landscape at Chester Gieke's off campus apartment at Focaccia Place. Moldy pizza boxes and cartons of day-old Chinese food were also scattered about, along with the distinctive smell of a soldering iron mixing with sweaty socks. It was this atmosphere to which Melody had come, again. The pair of them constantly together definitely had tongues wagging around Academie Le Tour. And the fact that she'd be there until four in the morning -- that really had them talking.
Mostly, though, she wanted to tinker with his brand-new toy, a Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer from the early 1980s that he'd purchased with his grant money off Simbay for his computer science class, that he had bragged about in chat.
"I didn't know you took up programming," Chester asked.
Melody's insatiable curiosity was piqued as she sat down in front of the Spectrum, examining its keys and wondering what every function was. "I dabbled in it a little bit, yeah, what with the toy robots. I'm also taking computer science, learning BASIC and stuff."
"Sounds fascinating." Chester grinned. "Hey, you never finished telling me what happened that night."
"What night?" Melody asked.
"The night you were abducted."
Melody looked back at Chester, stopping her typing for one moment. "There isn't much I remember about it, actually. All I remember is going out to stargaze after I'd had an argument with my mom, and being beamed up on the mothership --"
"Well, what happened when you got on the mothership?"
Melody briefly changed the subject. "You had to program every single BASIC command by hand?"
Chester leaned over. "Yeah, quite a challenge, and you'd need plenty of patience. Now, what happened on the mothership again?"
"All I could see were green bipeds with huge black eyes, all staring at me. It was like they could see right through me. There I was, standing in my school uniform. I must have been quite a sight for them to see."
"And then what happened?"
"I don't remember much else, except there was this extremely bright light shining in my eyes. I didn't know where I was or if I'd ever return. I couldn't see the ground below because I was so far above everything. It was like I'd prepared my whole life for it to happen, I'd wanted it to happen so badly, I'd known it would happen because I'd believed it would happen, and when it did happen, I didn't know how to react. And I knew nobody would believe me because everyone in Bluewater thought I was a kook anyway. Especially my parents. They'd have had me committed to an asylum if I'd have told them."
"So they blocked your memory."
"And pretty much as soon as they'd picked me up, I was ejected from the ship back onto Eagle Lane, right in front of my house. The entire trip had taken about four earth hours, but only a few minutes in their time. I was looking at the clock, it was about two in the morning. My parents and baby sister were asleep. So I got onto the computer and I told you."
Chester grinned again. "Hey, how's your website going?"
Melody chuckled as she turned off the Spectrum and switched to his much more modern Moneywell. "I'm getting so many hits on it, I can hardly keep up. There's obviously an interest in this sort of thing."
"How many people have reported abductions -- or at least paranormal activity?"
"I've gotten at least a thousand e-mails. I can't separate my website mail from my regular mail." Chester laughed. "Perhaps you should get a separate e-mail address for your website."
"I didn't think about it, that's a good idea. That way, I can separate my regular mail from the mail I'm getting because of the website." Melody sat down and read her letters. "Most of them are about seeing spaceships circling the sky at night, as if they're spying on them."
"You mean the aliens?"
Melody nodded as she answered email. "They're canvassing neighborhoods seeking more potential victims." She stopped for a moment. "Hey, here's this one letter, it's from a teenage girl. She says her parents don't like her interest in astronomy, they want her to 'get her head out of the clouds.' Unfortunately this scenario sounds very familiar."
"You should write a book," suggested Chester. Melody stopped typing her email and looked at Chester behind her, thinking he would burst out laughing. But his facial expression never changed. "I mean, your abduction, this website, all your research -- "
"Nah, I don't know. I wouldn't want people to know who I am. Especially the gossip hounds in Bluewater."
"Hey, maybe the folks in Bluewater won't read your book."
"Yeah, but they'd know about it from the book shows on TV."
"You could use a pen name. All you'd have to do in your book is detail your experiences with extraterrestrial activity, maybe add in some autobiographical anecdotes. I'm telling you, Mel, people would gobble this up. You've got a story to tell."

Chapter Nineteen

With the stunning revelations of her mother still ringing in her ears, Melody returned to Academie Le Tour and immediately embarked on her journey of self-discovery. "He teaches here?" she asked herself as her internet search for Dr. Marcel Hyden revealed he was currently the dean of the astronomy department. Determined to learn everything she could about this man, almost to the point of obsession, she clicked on the link to his faculty page, and first read his biography. As a child and teenager, he was fascinated with the stars, and he'd spend hours with his telescope stargazing. Hmm, sounds familiar, she thought as she continued to read. The author of several books on the origin of the universe and alien conspiracy theory, he'd begun his career as a physics professor at Sim State University after graduating from La Fiesta Tech with his degree in astronomy. "I read some of those books!" Melody thought to herself in disbelief.
Then her eyes fell to his portrait and she looked at it in astonishment. She saw her eyes, her nose, her cheekbones, reflected in him. No, this can't be, she thought to herself, this is probably just a coincidence. But then she looked at the portrait again. Could her mother have been telling the truth? Was this man her biological father? After her weekend at home, there were suddenly more questions than answers. And Melody, she was even more confused than ever before.
In the meantime, though, Melody enveloped herself in her coursework and her extracurricular interests in paranormal activity. Those came as naturally to her as breathing. Now that she was in college, she felt free to pursue her passion, encouraged by her dorm mates, who had given her a nickname -- "Star Girl." With the help of Edwin Sharpe, the dorm's resident computer guru, she built a website on her personal space on the campus server dedicated to alien abductions and other astrophysical phenomena, enlisting others to talk about their experiences. She even designed all of the artwork. In the first week her website got over twenty thousand hits.
Every day after classes, she would log on to see if anyone else had shared a story. One tale, however, made Melody think long and hard. "My mother was abducted by aliens," the person wrote, "and she never returned. I miss her terribly. She's missed important events of my life -- my wedding, the birth of my child, my brother's birthday..."
Just why was she abducted? What did the abductors actually want from her? And more importantly, why was she allowed to return, relatively unscathed? These were questions she was allowed to ponder for the first time since it happened, and these were questions she vowed she would spend the rest of her life trying to answer.

Edwin watched in awe as Melody unwrapped her telescope. "Wow, is that a Farstar e3?"
Melody grinned. "Yep."
"Cool! I wanted one, but my parents couldn't afford it. Too busy paying for private school for Roxie and me." Edwin walked outside with her. "I know a great vantage point, where you could see far into the galaxies."
Melody looked around. "This is great! Too bad at home we didn't have a balcony, so I had to settle for the back hallway with the window to try and see through."
Edwin turned to Melody, his cheeks flushed, "I know I can talk to you," he said, twisting his greenish T-shirt in his hands, "but I think there is life out there, you know. That's why I was so happy when you asked me to help you set up that web page."
Melody looked at him in the moonlight, half-expecting a snort of derision, but he stood there, a solemn expression on his face. She knew she was face-to-face with a kindred spirit.

Melody ate breakfast the next morning with Marla. The dorm cook had made pipin' hot pancakes and Melody tried to resist them in order to keep the figure she'd worked so hard to build, but no avail. She scarfed them down. After an intriguing conversation about the ancient Greek sculptures in their art history class, Marla asked, "Mel, how was your dad's funeral?"
Marla took a good long look at Melody's face. It was a blank slate, completely unreadable. Beneath Melody's thick lenses, her brown eyes were dull -- the only giveaway that her suite mate was conflicted about her situation. Marla didn't want to push, for fear of being rebuffed, but she was hopelessly drawn to this young woman, so lost she was in her own thoughts.
"That bad, huh?" Marla muttered, looking down at her pancakes, which had barely been touched.
Melody shook her head. "He wasn't my father," she whispered.
Marla's eyes popped open. "Are you serious?" she asked.
Melody's stare told Marla all she needed to know.
"Oh my gosh. Your mother told you?"
"Yeah," replied Melody quietly.
"Well, could you tell me who he is?"
"My mother said, some professor."
"Well, I could help you find information on him, if that's what you want --"Melody shook her head. "No, I think I need to do this on my own."
Marla put her hand on Melody's. "Well, you know where I am, where we all are -- all your friends."
Melody was confused. "What friends?"
"You have a lot more than you think you do." Marla smiled. "I'm late for my biology class. See ya later."

After her own classes, Melody set up camp in the spacious Le Tour library, and for a bookworm like herself, it was like she'd arrived in heaven. Books were stacked high to the ceiling, on every subject imaginable. She wanted to read them all, but that was for another time. Now, though, she had one thing on her mind, and that was to check out every book on the solar system that Dr. Marcel Hyden had ever written, and there were quite a few of those.
So she went up to the computer, where the card catalogs were kept now, and looked up everything they had at the library that he'd written.
"The science section is in the five hundreds right?" she said to herself as she searched shelf after shelf. This was unlike any research project she'd ever undertaken. She emerged from the bookshelves with a stack of books piled almost to her forehead.
Edwin sat in a corner with his nose stuck in a book. "Hey, Mel, that's quite a bit of heavy reading you've got there. Doing some research?"
Melody replied, "Sort of... yes, actually."
Edwin smiled knowingly, putting his own book down and picking up the topmost book. "Dr. Marcel Hyden," he reminisced, "I've read that one. He's amazing, you know, the way he explains the 'big bang'. That's how I got into astronomy. His books are very comprehensive yet thought-provoking."
With that Melody's eyes widened with decided interest as she walked up to the counter to check them out. "Are you going to read all those books?" the checker asked.
Melody grinned. "If I don't, I'll die trying."
When she got back to her dorm, she found an email. "Hi Melody, I found your email address in the student directory. How have you been? I heard about your dad, I'm so sorry about that. I'm writing this note to tell you I haven't stopped thinking about you, and I'm really sorry for what happened on prom night. I lost my head and my cool. Please forgive me. Dirk."
Melody took a deep breath. She didn't know what to think. She wanted to forget everything that had happened before her arrival at Le Tour. But somehow, at least one small piece of her past had managed to follow her. What did Dirk want from her, exactly? she wondered. And why had he taken the time to find her email address and contact her?
Clicking off the computer, Melody began to immerse herself in the writings of the man her mother said was her biological father. She tried to get a feel for his voice, how he must sound. She also tried to picture him in her mind, what he must look like.
While searching for more information on Dr. Hyden's astronomy seminars on the notice boards, she came across another announcement, this one advertising free driving lessons at this dinky auto shop downtown. Hmm, Melody thought to herself, I think I might check this out.

So the next day, which was a Saturday, Melody called the cab and asked the driver to drive her to this place downtown. When she got there, she saw an advertisement for free driving lessons.
Looking around the dinky auto shop, careful not to get any of her clothes dirty, Melody spotted Chaz Whippler from the dorm and wondered what he was doing there.
Chaz (short for Charles Lee) Whippler was the son of an auto mechanic. He certainly didn't fit the profile of a 'typical' Le Tour student. A self-proclaimed expert on looking for love in all the wrong places, he was dressed in baggy shorts and a hoodie, with stringy blond neck-length hair. He'd spent his weekends working there when he wasn't on campus trying to lure every woman to his bed.
Melody looked at Chaz with a feeling of foreboding as he wiped his grimy hands on an oil rag, her eyes glued to a smudge of axle grease streaked across his cheek. "Yeah, baby," Chaz grinned to himself, "these ladies just can't get enough of me."
"I was told you offered free driving lessons?" asked Melody, pointing her words in the direction of Chaz, who seemed briefly distracted.
He hurriedly wiped the grease off his face as he spied Melody standing in front of him. "And?" he asked.
"I've come to take you up on that."
"Aren't you at Le Tour?" he asked her. "Don't you know how to drive already?"
Melody looked at him sheepishly.
"Don't tell me you're one of those nose-in-a-book types who wanna see what the real world's got to offer --"
Melody glared at him, impatiently. "Let's just begin my first lesson."
"Oooh, touchy!" Chaz wrapped his arm around Melody's shoulder. Melody, squirming away, removed his arm and reluctantly followed him. Chaz immediately got the clue that he was dealing with a different kettle of fish.
Chaz and Melody found themselves inside one of the many cars littering the shop. Chaz was in the driver's seat and Melody took the passenger. Stealing a close-up look at her, Chaz thought, hey, if you get rid of the glasses she's pretty cute. I wonder what else she's hiding underneath that T-shirt and jeans. She might have a great body.
What am I doing? Melody thought to herself. What the heck am I doing?
After Chaz explained to her the basic parts of a car, he told them to switch sides. With Melody trying to remember which part was the shift and which part was the brakes, she nervously sat down behind the steering wheel.
"Don't tell me you've never driven a car before," Chaz said, "not even for pretend? All kids do that."
For one of the first times in her life, Melody was clueless. Putting her hands on the steering wheel, she then shifted the lever all the way to the bottom.
"What are you doing?" Chaz asked in astonishment. "You're supposed to start the car off before you shift it into gear."
"Start it off?" asked Melody, befuddled. "Where are the keys?"
Chaz dangled them in front of her. Jerking them out of his hands, Melody then wondered, "Now where do they go?"
"In the ignition, smartass."
"Okay, ignition," Melody said to nobody in particular, unsure if anyone heard her, "where's the ignition?"
"You see that keyhole behind the windshield wiper?"
Melody was still confused. But finally she found the keyhole and inserted the key. "Okay, now what?"
"You turn it!" Chaz couldn't help but chuckle to himself.
Exhaling deeply, Melody turned the key to the ignition, starting the car. "Okay, okay, now what?" Before she could speak, though, the car careened off the driveway, through the sidewalk, and into a nearby tree. Chaz had to shift it again to prevent further disaster.
The car sputtered into action, the gear lever sticking, as Melody ground it into first. There was a definite groan, followed by a clunk.
"What was that?" she asked, looking nervously around.
"That's okay," came the reply. It was difficult to see who was the most scared -- Melody, sitting behind the wheel of a car for the first time, or Chaz, who'd volunteered to help her with lessons.
Spitting out choking black plumes of carbon smoke, the car jerked forward.
His face turning white, Chaz sighed. "We've got a long way to go."
But Melody walked away determined. I'm going to get this, she thought to herself, if it's the last thing I do.

On Monday, returning to the dorm, Chaz approached Melody, who was studying in the dorm library. "Listen, since I'm teaching you how to drive a car, you think it's possible you could tutor me in freshman math? I know you're smart and all --"
"Who said I was smart?" asked Melody.
"Oh come on. I know you're smart, I've seen you up on the balcony with the telescope and stuff. Besides, you even look the part, the glasses and all."
"Who says because a person wears glasses that means they're smart?"
"Well you obviously are, Melody Tinker," Chaz laughed. "Now, could you help me?"
How does he know my name? Melody thought to herself as she also pondered Chaz's question. "What do you need help in?" she asked.
Chaz looked at Melody with a plaintive face. "Everything. Those formulas are so confusing to me."
Melody sat down, opposite Chaz, and sighed. "Let me see your assignments." She realized that the concepts he was currently studying in freshman math, she had already covered in high school. Melody liked math and numbers, and was drawn to its exactness.
"Pi is nearly infinite," she began, "it's been calculated to billions of digits. But for the purpose of this exercise, and our lesson today, we're going to use five digits, pi equals 3.14159..."
Chaz listened to Melody talk, amazed. Not by the subject matter, of course, dry as it was, but he found himself fascinated by her. He watched her eyes, the same ones that looked like deer in headlights when sitting behind the wheel of a car, become radiant and full of life when explaining complex mathematical equations, and was amazed by the dichotomy between the two. At that moment he realized that they could be of great help to each other.

Chapter Eighteen

The phone rang in the dormitory just after Melody returned from her jog around the campus. With trepidation she picked it up. On the other end of the line was Wanda, sobbing uncontrollably. "Your father -- your father's dead."
Melody was numb. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. Stephen Tinker, the rock of the family, the man who'd seen her off to college it seemed like only a few days earlier, was gone. "W-what happened?" she stammered.
"He was gone before the paramedics arrived. He was at his bench -- you could say he died doing what he loved."
After Melody hung up the receiver and slumped down underneath it, Marla came near. "What happened?"
"That was my mom. She said my dad had a massive heart attack and died." Melody buried her head in her arms.
"Oh, my gosh, I'm sooo sorry!" Marla put her hand on Melody's shoulder. She followed Melody upstairs to her second-story dorm room to help her pack a few clothes for an unexpected and unwelcome trip back home. Melody couldn't get her mother's wails out of her head.


A soggy, chilly late-fall day in Bluewater Village ended with the funeral of one of its founding citizens, Stephen Tinker, owner and proprietor of Tinker Toys. After Melody delivered a moving eulogy to her late father, Stephen's grieving widow, Wanda, his companion, playmate, best friend, and wife of many years, stood at his gravesite and wept unceasingly. She cradled his lookalike toddler daughter, Harmony, in her arms, playing with her dark bouncy curls.
Ever since Melody's unceremonious departure from Bluewater -- and some time before it -- the talk about her and her "odd ways" continued to fester, and now it seemed the eyes of the entire town were on her. They were watching how she looked, how she acted, and picking for anything they could possibly say about her. She knew that while returning here, she'd have to be on her very best behavior. The townsfolk's attitude towards her, in her mind, confirmed the reason she'd left in the first place.

Melody approached her mother and tried her best to console her. Having just received a full scholarship to the prestigious Academie Le Tour, she didn't want to come home to a task this unpleasant. She had to get her father's affairs in order, pay off his debts, and above all be strong for her devastated mother and kid sister. She was far too young to be in this position. Not now. She hadn't even lived yet. Florence Delarosa of Delarosa Flowers had done the gorgeous floral arrangements surrounding Stephen's newly erected tombstone -- free of charge -- and Denise Jacquet had cooked all the food for the funeral dinner.



A few minutes after the small, intimate service, Wanda, wearing a black widow's veil and a shawl, called Melody aside. "Honey," she began haltingly, tears streaming down her white-washed face, "there's something I've got to get off my chest."
Not knowing what to expect, Melody followed her mother back in the house, where they sat at the dining room table. Learning that she had a secret was a surprise to her. Wanda told her to sit down and held her hand. Taking a deep breath, she began. "Steve and I had been dating, and we had talked about getting married, but we weren't engaged yet. One night my physics professor, Dr. Marcel Hyden, called and I thought we were just going to have dinner. We ended up going to this place downtown, I can't remember the name. I got drunk, and we woohooed in the photo booth and continued it in the car."
All Melody could do was look at her mother in disbelief. She couldn't console or comfort her. She couldn't say or do anything. She had to continue to listen.
"I didn't know how to tell Steve. When I left Marcel's apartment downtown, I went over to Sim State to see him. Steve proposed to me on the spot, we left college, and the next day we were married. The morning of the wedding, I realized I was pregnant. The most important day of my life, I was miserable. Then, lo and behold, you were born. That day should have been the happiest, most fulfilling day of my life, because all I'd ever wanted was to be a mother. Instead I was filled with doubt. You were such a beautiful baby but I wasn't sure whether you were Marcel's or Steve's. I hoped you were Steve's so our family would be complete.
"Then as you grew up it became obvious to me that you weren't Steve's child. He never knew, but I cried myself to sleep at night. I felt like I'd failed at the one thing I'd really wanted to do. There was no way I could keep up with your energy. You were everywhere, doing everything. The day you leapt in fright from the jack-in-the-box was the day I knew for sure that you were Marcel's child. Steve went ahead and bought the telescope because you'd wanted it, and you spent your nights up there, just gazing at the stars. I couldn't bear to tell Steve. Chalk it up to being chicken or whatever, but I just couldn't do it. I knew it would break his heart." Wanda continued to sob uncontrollably. "I was never completely satisfied until after Harmony was born. That's when I knew our family was complete."
Melody took a deep breath. She saw this surreal conversation with her guilt-ridden mother as an opportunity to answer some of the long-pressing questions in her mind. She'd always known she was different from her family but didn't know exactly why. Now she knew. She was the daughter of a college professor she'd never met, a man she never knew, a man whose fate remained a mystery. Stephen Tinker was the man who'd raised her, the man she'd called daddy for many years -- but he wasn't her father. Not biologically, anyway.
It all made sense now. Melody always felt more at home around books and gadgets than around her parents' toys. Nobody in the family had the interests she had. "Tell me about Marcel," Melody demanded. "What was he like?"
"Marcel was a brilliant man, incredibly charming and handsome. He was perfect in every way -- almost, in a way, too perfect. I could look into his deep brown eyes all day and all night, but I think I was seduced by his intellect more than anything else. I could listen to him talk all day."
"Were you in love with Marcel?"
"I guess you can say that in some respects, I was. Marcel was a different type of man from Steve. He seemed so worldly, so cultured. It was like he was from another place and another time. He was so well-traveled, it seemed like he'd been everywhere and done everything. He talked about fine wines, opera, foreign foods. He seemed to know everything, like you do at times. I will always be incredibly grateful to Marcel because he gave me you."
As Wanda continued to wipe tears from her eyes, Melody looked at her. She wasn't sure exactly how to react to her mother's stunning revelation. She'd grown up believing that Stephen Tinker was her father, and that because she wasn't interested in toys or toymaking like the rest of her family that she was a misfit. Now, of course, she knew that she wasn't truly a Tinker after all. Processing all this in her mind, she wondered what exactly she would do if placed in her mother's impossible situation. "Mother!" she exclaimed, more in disbelief than in anger. "All this time!"
"I know, sweetheart. I've been racked by this for years."
"So you mean dad went to his grave thinking I was his child."
"Yes, he did. I feel terrible about it! I couldn't tell him. I was chicken." Wanda sighed in resignation.
Melody walked away from the scene and the conversation in disbelief, with a lot to ponder. At that moment she knew what she had to do. She had to locate this man.

When Wanda returned from the house, Florence Delarosa put an arm around her. "I feel so sorry for your loss. My condolences to you and your family."
Wanda looked up from her tears. "Thank you."
"Do you want some tea? I have some left over from this morning."
Thanking Florence for her kindness, Wanda followed her to her home on Lake Meadow Circle, which was around the bend. The walk was good exercise for Wanda, it helped to clear her head.
Wanda was in awe of the exquisitely decorated garden and the surrounding pond, thinking to herself that the environment looked serene. After they got there, Florence handed Wanda tissues and a cup of tea. Wanda proceeded to tell Florence everything she had just told Melody, and Florence, like Melody, simply listened. "So Melody wasn't Stephen's child?" Florence asked.
"No," Wanda sobbed. "And I feel terrible about it! He loved her so much -- adored her, really. She was his heart."
"Don't," said Florence in her soft, kind voice. "This man took advantage of a naive, vulnerable college girl, but in return you got the greatest gift you could ever hope to receive."
"And I love her to pieces, but we're just so different. Personality wise, Melody is a lot more like her father than she is like me."
"She keeps to herself," Florence said silently.
"I first suspected she was Marcel's child back when she was a toddler. She would jerk away from any toy we'd make for her, and then when she got older she began burying herself in books. We couldn't keep any books out of her hands. Then she taught herself how to paint, then she asked for the telescope -- I mean, I saw all the signs. I put them out of my mind, hoping they weren't real. And no matter how I tried to believe she was Steve's child, deep down in my heart I knew I just couldn't --"
"She's a lot like I was when I was her age," Florence said gently. "Head full of dreams and ambitions. I left home at sixteen -- my obsession was with plants -- and I started this flower shop. After my parents died -- one after the other -- I sold the family home and came here."
Wanda looked at Florence with disbelief. "When I was a girl, all I wanted was to get married and have a bunch of children. But Melody -- she doesn't seem to want any of that."
"Times change, people change, dear," added Florence, putting a hand on Wanda's shoulder. "People of your daughter's ilk will take over the world."

Chapter Seventeen

"Hi honey," Wanda said sweetly as Melody returned home from the prom. She looked up at the clock. It was only just before midnight. "What happened?"
"I don't want to talk about it!" Melody tore into her mother as she fled upstairs to her bedroom and slammed the door shut.
Uh oh, Wanda said to herself as she chased after Melody as best as she could. Listening at the door, she heard muffled tears coming from behind it. "Sweetie? Honey, what happened?"
"I told you, me going to prom would be a bad idea."
"Okay, okay, so you didn't have a good time at the prom."
Just then Melody emerged, her makeup even more smeared than before. She walked right past Wanda toward the shower, where she proceeded to tear off her dress and wash off most of her makeup. She returned to her bedroom, fumbling for her glasses.
"I have your glasses, honey," Wanda said, handing them over as Melody put them on. "You looked gorgeous tonight, darling. I bet you were the prettiest girl there."

As Wanda left, Melody walked to her computer, where she went to her favorite chatroom.
UBERGIEKE: How was it?
TINKERBELL: What?
UBERGIEKE: Your prom. You said you were going.
TINKERBELL: A disaster, like I thought it would be.
UBERGIEKE: That bad huh?
TINKERBELL: Picture hundreds of sweaty kids crammed in our school auditorium, with loud music, spiked punch, and dancing. I'd rather have been home.
UBERGIEKE: I'm glad I didn't go to my prom. What about the guy you went with? Derek something or other --
TINKERBELL: Dirk Dreamer, Darren's son. I could smell the alcohol on his breath. He tried to hit on me. I got to the garden and he was standing there. Luckily there was a telescope there, so I could stargaze.
UBERGIEKE: ROFL! Stargazing on prom night. Somehow, Tinkerbell, that doesn't surprise me.
TINKERBELL: Believe me, that was the best part of the evening.
UBERGIEKE: Going slightly off topic, have you read Dr. Hyden's latest, From the Earth to the Stars?
TINKERBELL: I have to confess I haven't yet, usually I read all his books on the origin of the universe. When did it come out?
UBERGIEKE: Last week.
TINKERBELL: I don't know how that could've escaped me, probably because I was busy preparing for prom.
UBERGIEKE: Anyway, he mentions the Big Bang, kind of glossed it over, but he also talks about the universe's expansion.
TINKERBELL: Hmm, interesting. I think I'll have to check it out. Does he talk about the possibility of communication with aliens?
UBERGIEKE: Actually, this book isn't about aliens or extraterrestrial activity.
TINKERBELL: Wow, that's interesting. Well, I'll still have to check it out.

After prom, Melody began counting down the days until graduation -- until she would finally leave the halls of misery known as Hanover Academy. She took her final exams and turned in her books to the principal and the librarian. To no one's surprise (except maybe Tracy Glick's) Melody was named valedictorian, and it had also been revealed that she'd received a full-tuition scholarship to the prestigious Academie Le Tour.
"Mel," Sarah called, watching Melody walk through the halls of Hanover for the final time.
Melody turned around, facing the person who'd broken her heart at the beginning of the school year. Somehow, she'd gotten through it. But in her mind's eye Sarah looked upset, and her body language told the story. "What's wrong?" Melody asked, hesitating.
"I'm not graduating," Sarah replied, wiping a stray tear from her eyes. "I didn't pass the test."
Melody let out a deep sigh. "Sarah, I'm sorry. Really, I am."

Facing Melody again, Sarah heaved a deep sigh. "Do you even care?" she asked angrily, shaking her head. "This whole time you've cared about no one but yourself and your studies. I guess that's why you're graduating valedictorian tonight. Congratulations."
Melody detected the bitter tone in Sarah's voice when she said the word 'valedictorian.' "Thanks," she muttered to herself. "But what am I going to say?"
Managing a chuckle, Sarah shook her head. "You'll do fine, Mel. You always find a way to knock 'em dead." As Sarah walked away, she engendered thoughts of their very painful breakup in Melody's head. Eight months removed, and the wound was still as fresh as ever.

As the Hanover auditorium began filling with other students, parents, and guests, Tracy asked Melody to adjust her gown, but not before taking her opportunity to talk. "So -- you're valedictorian," repeated Tracy, making a face as she flicked her hair. She couldn't hide her disappointment.
Melody took a deep breath. "I would easily switch places with you, so I wouldn't have to make that speech."
Jerking away, Tracy dusted off her shoulders in disgust. "Yeah, sure you would," she responded sarcastically.
"I'm serious, Tracy!" cried Melody. "I'm petrified! I'm going to have to talk in front of everybody."
Tracy scoffed. "Mel, seriously, you're gonna do fine."
Melody shook her head. "Easy for you to say. You've been public speaking since you were in diapers."
"And you have been smart as a whip probably since then too," teased Tracy as she turned to face Melody. Then her tone turned reflective. "Can you believe this is it? Goodbye, Hanover Academy."
"I sure won't be sad to leave this place," mused Melody. "I'm ready to move on."
Suddenly, startlingly, Tracy reached for Melody and gave her a hug. And even more surprisingly, Melody reciprocated. The pair of them walked, arm in arm, to the auditorium and took their assigned seats, right next to each other in the graduation line.

The annual Bluewater Village summer festival was taking place over at Hunter's Park, sponsored by Landgraab Enterprises. Lisa Ramirez was making all the arrangements again this year, of course, with Wanda Tinker and Denise Jacquet bringing up the rear providing toys, trinkets, and cakes. Of course, with Lisa arranging all the festivities, she naturally made time to pipe Wanda about goings on at the Tinker place.
And Wanda, of course, was all too happy to oblige. "Stephen took a leave of absence from work for us to deal with Harmony," she said. "We've been in the middle of potty training all over again. You know we haven't had to do any of that kind of stuff since Melody was a toddler."
"Speaking of Melody, isn't she off to college soon?"
Wanda grinned. "Academie Le Tour, on full scholarship. She graduated tops in her class."
"Le Tour, full scholarship, wow, I'm impressed. Hope Tessa could do as well."
"Wanda, is it true that your daughter's a lesbian?" Denise asked.
Wanda was aghast. "Where'd you hear that?"
"It's all over town, really. Supposedly it was some girl from Sim City. Dirty people --"
Wanda shook her head. "Of course it isn't true," Wanda vehemently denied, continuing to set up her table for the raffle of a handmade water wiggler sponsored by Tinker Toys. "She went to her prom with that nice Dreamer boy. Derek, I think his name was --" Wanda lost her train of thought as she gazed down at Harmony, who was sitting at her feet.
Meanwhile Melody had elected to skip the annual festival this year. It was evident by now that she had blossomed into a beautiful young woman. Gone was her teenage gangliness, replaced by womanly curves and a sculpted physique, crafted from hours of work in the Hanover gym, aided by a sudden six-inch growth spurt, and nurtured by a healthy diet. Her black-rimmed glasses had been replaced by frameless versions that flattered her face. Her hair was now somewhat longer and just dusted her shoulders, curling in just the right places to frame her face. Everyone seemed to notice it -- except Melody herself.

It was six-thirty on an otherwise ordinary Saturday morning. Stephen rose from his bed, gazing at the thunderclouds hovering overhead. Groaning, he then walked toward Melody's room. Realizing that she was probably working out, he then walked to the exercise room, a set of gym equipment he'd purchased specifically for Melody because she'd wanted it. "Say, Mel," he announced cheerfully, "how about you and I go on a little trip?"
Melody looked confused. "What trip?"
"A fishing trip, just you and me."
Melody was still confused. "Dad -- why is it all of a sudden you want to go fishing? With me?"
"I haven't been able to spend as much time with you as I want to, sweetheart. And besides, you used to love to go fishing with me when you were a little girl."
"Yeah, but I was little then."
Stephen reached to tickle Melody. "I bet you still -- ooh! -- I bet you still like to go fishing!"
Wanda crept in the room, vehemently objecting. "Why are you taking her fishing? It's about to pour! It's hard enough dealing with this teething baby!"
"Oh well," Stephen said, walking out with Melody, "we'll be bonding together."
Particularly perturbed that two years at Hanover had not quite cured Melody of her tomboyish ways, Wanda gave her daughter a once-over. Dressed in a T-shirt and a pair of jeans, she glared at her mother as she pushed up her glasses and her father wrapped his arm around her.
Despite the low clouds hovering overhead, the pond was fairly still, with only a slight breeze rustling the bullrushes, as Stephen hauled his fishing reel, rod, and stool to a shady spot. Melody remembered the peace and tranquility here as she helped him to set everything up. The occasional chirping of the cicadas cut through the silence as the two of them, father and daughter, stood side by side, casting their own lines.
"I remember the day you were born like it was yesterday. It was a day much like today, and I can remember looking into your big brown eyes and just losing it. I had to pinch myself to make sure I was dreaming. You were mine, all mine, and I wasn't going to let you go." Stephen cast a fond glance at Melody, who was intently concentrating on her line. "Now I look at you and wonder where all the time went. Soon you'll be off to college."
"Oooh, I feel something biting!" exclaimed Melody excitedly.
Stephen turned to look at her. He instantly recognized that expression on her face. It was the one she got when she figured out the robot crafter.
But alas, she reeled in an old boot. Then her overactive mind got to thinking. "I wonder who this old boot belonged to?" she wondered aloud. "Did he drown in the pond?"
Stephen couldn't help but laugh aloud. This was still his little girl, all right, the child whose insatiable curiosity was both endearing and daunting to her parents.
"There's an old wives' tale that if you put the boot in the puree mixer and drink the juice some 'crazy' things might happen to you."
Stephen chuckled again. "I'm sure that you wouldn't put that boot in the mixer. Throw it back out in the water."
"And risk catching it again?" asked Melody with a wide grin on her face.
"Well, I suppose that's true, I guess." Stephen decided to change the subject. "So, you're going to Academie Le Tour, right?"
Melody grinned. "Yep. And I got a scholarship, too."
"I thought you were going to Sim State. My alma mater."
"Dad," Melody pleaded, "not this again." She sighed at the prospect of hearing the story she'd heard many times since she was a girl -- how Stephen had been a llama mascot at Sim State and courted Wanda, who was on the spirit team.
"It was always a given that you'd go to Sim State -- like I did and my father before me did."
Melody scoffed. "I've always wanted to go to Le Tour," she retorted, "ever since I was little. And now I'll actually be there in a couple weeks."
But Stephen dismissed her. "I'm really proud of you, Melody," he said fondly as he reeled in a minnow. "I remember when you were younger and my tools kept disappearing. I had a sneaking suspicion where they were going, so I'd come by your bedroom door and peep at you. You'd be spread out with something you'd taken apart, with my screwdriver in your little hand..."
"Oh, Daddy," Melody teased, lightly punching his arm.
"There isn't a day that goes by when I don't realize how lucky I am to have had you for a daughter." He lovingly wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "I love you so much."
Melody looked at her father. "I love you too, Daddy."
"And I'm going to miss you terribly when you're gone." They stayed at Hunter's Park until dusk, determined to catch the 'big one.'

The morning of Melody's departure was crystal clear, bright, and sunny. Her parents and baby sister rose at six am, and she would leave in another hour. She took one last look at her girlhood home, as she wouldn't see it for awhile. She cooked herself her last breakfast, an omelette, and packed her suitcases to leave for Academie Le Tour.
The horn blew. Melody walked outside, suitcases in hand, inhaling the fresh coastal breezes with which she'd grown up for the last time. Melody didn't even wave back, and her anticipation of what her life would hold in store for her at Academie Le Tour consumed her. These thoughts filled her head as she closed the door of the cab.
Stephen ran out of the house to the middle of the street, watching Melody get in the cab and waving her goodbye. When his oldest child finally disappeared, he screamed her name.
Upon arrival, she took out her suitcases and inhaled the air. Finally, she was free. No uniforms, no curfew, no parents or chaperones. She could do what she wanted, when she wanted. It was a strange feeling, being so free.
She had been assigned to the Aldrich Honors Dormitory, which, Ubergieke had told her, was clearly the best one on campus. It was larger than Mariel Simwell and even more imposing, having the air of a small castle. Each room had a private suite, featuring a personal bathroom, a bookcase, a desk, and a comfortable bed.
After she looked around and claimed her room, which was on the second floor, she watched as some of the other kids moved in. She had never met any of these people before, and she didn't see any familiar faces, which, in a way, she was glad of. She could make a fresh start, free of the baggage of Hanover.
After she finished unpacking her things, she saw a chubby, solitary girl with black braids wearing a purple oxford and beige skirt seated at the chess table, with a confused expression on her face. The girl looked up, seemingly in awe. "Could you teach me how to play?" she asked shyly, her green eyes pleading behind thick, round glasses.
Over the years Melody had become a fairly good chess player, but her mind flashed back to those times when Sarah used to beat her time and again. There was something about this poor girl that appealed to Melody, but she wasn't sure exactly what it was. The two girls involved themselves in the finer points of rooks and kings, and even strayed from chess-related topics with current events and the environment. "What's your name?" Melody got the courage to ask.
"Marla," the girl whispered shyly. "Marla Biggs. You?"
"Melody Tinker."
The two girls smiled at each other. Each of them had made their first new acquaintance.
Declaring a major at Academie Le Tour was now done by computer. She wasn't sure what she'd study, so she decided she'd try the school's general studies program for incoming freshmen.
Melody's first class was scheduled at 3 in the afternoon, so she left the dorm an hour early just so she could find the building. When she got there, though, she discovered she'd amassed enough credits in her advanced-placement courses in high school to skip her entire first semester of freshman year, so she could immediately declare a major and skip all the introductory classes other freshmen had to take. But what would she major in? She liked art, but she also liked math and science. She liked history as well. In general, though, she just loved to learn. Diving headfirst into her coursework, she enjoyed every moment of the intellectual stimulation it provided.
She was also surprised to have made the acquaintance of a couple of other new students. Edwin Sharpe, a chubby, sweet-looking guy with blond hair, had moved back into the dorms after an almighty bustup with his sister's loser boyfriend. Chaz Whippler and Ellen Frost were a couple of other new students she'd seen. She spotted Chaz trying to make a move on Ellen, but Ellen repelling his advances. With this diverse group of students, she knew it would be an interesting year.
On her way to class, Melody picked up a copy of the campus newspaper, the Le Tour Ledger, and thumbed through it. In it she noticed that Chester Gieke, the paranormal activities editor, was looking for an assistant. "I think I might check this out," she thought to herself.
So after class, she wandered into the student union press center, and she saw a mop-haired redhead wearing a shirt that matched his hair and dingy black shorts. He seemed to be so lost in thought as he was concentrating on his article that he didn't even see her come in. Finally he looked up and saw Melody standing in front of him. "Uh, what can I -- do for you?"
"I'm answering your ad, for an assistant editor for the paranormal activities section."
Chester burst into laughter. He had no illusions about his appearance. Many students had passed through but none had stayed due to his geekiness. "You?" he asked, giving Melody a once-over. "But you're gorgeous. What would you want to do with a geek like me?"
Melody brushed the comment aside. "I'm interested in the position."
She's serious, Chester thought to himself. Okay, I've got to quit joking around. Chester told Melody to have a seat next to him, beside the vacant terminal. They proceeded to talk for nearly half an hour about alien conspiracy theories and various paranormal phenomena. Chester was amazed. "Have we met before?"
Melody managed a grin. "Sure seems like it," she mused. "I feel like I've known you forever."
After a brief pause, Chester asked in astonishment, "You're Tinkerbell, aren't you? From the AlienNation newsgroup." Then, tipping her a wink, he whispered, "Don't worry, honey, your secret is safe with me."
Melody was floored. In that moment she realized she was face to face with Ubergieke, her online pal, the one to whom she'd told the full details of her abduction to. "I don't believe this!"
"I knew we would meet one day, Tinkerbell," Chester said, grinning from ear to ear, "I just knew it."
Melody, of course, had mixed feelings about finally laying eyes on Ubergieke. She knew that the anonymity she enjoyed online, at least temporarily, was gone. And there was the possibility of her secret getting out. But at the same time, she was surprised to learn that at Academie Le Tour, there were others who shared her interests.
"Hey, what's your real name?" Chester asked, "so I don't have to call you Tinkerbell all the time."
Melody smiled shyly and gave him her name. Chester gave her another once-over. "Hey, Melody is a pretty name," he shouted as she turned around and left. He then muttered to himself, "...a pretty name for a pretty girl." His prayers had been answered in an unexpected manner.

Chapter Sixteen (Part Three)

Melody was in the school auditorium practicing piano when she noticed Miss Hanover escorting a tall red-haired gentleman and an Asian woman wearing a gray business suit. The man appeared tired and uncomfortable, his shoulders slouching as he half-heartedly attempted to be interested. His wife, however, appeared to cast a critical eye at the decor. From Melody's vantage point, this woman was looking her nose down at the place. She was snooty and haughty.
"Two daughters?" asked Miss Hanover excitedly. "Yes," said the Asian woman with a stiff upper lip, "they're identical twins -- in looks. But their personalities are as different as can be."
"Now what did you say you did for a living, Mr. Pleasant?" asked Miss Hanover.
"I'm the assistant coach of the Llamas, the semi-professional baseball team. My wife," the gentleman added, pointing to the Asian woman, "works in the Mayor's office."
"My husband and I have talked about this, we think Hanover will be the best place for our daughters."
"Well," explained Miss Hanover, "they'll have to submit an application, and they'll have to write an admissions essay. Same as anyone else who gets in here. We have a waiting list to get in."
Melody turned to listen to the couple. They spoke of one girl dating a boy they didn't approve of and the other girl constantly in trouble with the law.
"Mrs. Pleasant," said Miss Hanover gently, "we're not a correctional facility. We're a college-preparatory institution with a focus on academics and skill building for the future."
"Yes, I'm aware of this," replied the Asian woman. "I just want them to get back on the right track."

Miss Hanover was in her usual position, behind her computer, going over her students' records, when she saw Melody come in. "Please, have a seat."
Melody did as she was told, and once again looked around at the cavernous cubicle.
"Melody Autumn Tinker, highest grade point average in the class --"
Melody shook her head.
"Do you realize you have enough credits now to graduate?"
Melody couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Are you serious?"
"The state requirement is seventeen credits and you currently have nineteen. You're probably eligible to take the advanced placement test and simply test out of high school. The next test date is December 3, right before the holidays."
Melody couldn't wait to get started preparing for her test date. She wanted to get away from Hanover Academy as soon as she possibly could.

The Asian woman was back, and this time, she brought two redhaired girls with her. Melody, Tracy, Mallory, and Shannon peered outside Mariel Simwell's windows and watched them come in. Miss Hanover instructed Tracy to take the girls while she talked to their mother. "What are your names?" Tracy asked, showing them the dormitory kitchen, library, and entertainment areas.
"Angela," said the first girl, wearing a green sundress. "That is my evil twin sister Lilith."
"If you ask me, you're the one who's evil," shot back Lilith, who was dressed head to toe in black, including her lipstick.
Shannon gave Melody a nudge. "Are they the ones you were telling me about?"
"Seems like it," Melody shrugged.
"Isn't their dad some kind of bigshot baseball coach?" asked Mallory.
"I don't know, I only heard bits and pieces of their conversation while I was practicing." Melody's curiosity had gotten the better of her and, stopping her homework assignment, peered around to see what was going on.

Miss Hanover and the girls spent the night before Thanksgving cooking a fabulous feast, consisting of everything Tracy had put forth in her menu more than a month earlier. Laughter rang out from the school kitchen as powder from dough scattered across noses, letting out sneezes from more than one girl. "Doesn't it feel good that you're helping someone else?" Miss Hanover asked the girls in between sneezes.
The next morning, Miss Hanover and a group of girls, carrying crates of food plates individually wrapped in aluminum foil, boarded the school charter to set out to deliver their plates on the town.
She divided the girls into groups of 2, and, as expected, she paired Melody with Tracy and sent them to the Broke residence, a pink mobile home on the outskirts of Pleasantview. Brandi Broke, a single mom, lived here with her two sons -- and she was pregnant again. She struggled to make ends meet, working nights at a no-count convenience store. She'd given birth to her first son, Dustin, while still in her teens.
Skipping forth toward the front door, Tracy rang the doorbell. Melody stood off to the side, hoping to blend in with the scenery.
As his younger brother screamed, Dustin walked to the door. He had a pained expression as he stared at Tracy's perky face. Tracy studied Dustin carefully. He was ruggedly handsome, she'd decided as she smiled at him and reached him the plate she had in her hands. But Dustin was looking at the bespectacled, dark-skinned girl who seemed vaguely familiar to him. Melody hung her head and folded her arms as she walked back into the school van.

One early morning before classes Melody went to the mailbox at Mariel Simwell. In her haste she forgot to leave the packages for the other girls and they went upstairs along with hers. "Dear Miss Tinker," read the letter, "Congratulations on being accepted into Academie Le Tour's incoming freshman class. Enclosed are a description of your dormitory assignment fees and a schedule of courses for the upcoming fall semester." In addition to the acceptance letter, she also learned she had received a full scholarship.
Melody pored over the papers. So many intriguing class choices, she wanted to take them all! Nuclear astrophysics, marine biology, art history, political science, computer programming, parapsychology -- any and everything was interesting to her. In her indecision she put the packet away, she would whittle down her choices some other time.

Meanwhile, Miss Hanover walked into the school auditorium, which served as homeroom for all the students, with one of the redhaired girls. "I'd like to introduce everyone to a new student," she announced cheerfully as Angela stood next to her, wearing her spanking-new Hanover uniform. "This is Angela. She'll be moving into Simwell tonight."

Angela flashed a saccharine smile at everyone in the audience and took a seat next to Alecia Charvat, who flicked her blond hair back.
Melody watched as Angela's suitcases full of clothes were brought upstairs by the redhaired gentleman she'd seen the first day. He must be her dad, she decided, they look alike. Angela had been assigned the empty room right next to Sarah's.

In nearly no time at all, Angela was scooped up by the popular girls in school. She was sitting with them at every turn, an active participant in the merciless teasing that made Melody's second year at Hanover far worse than her first.

Wanda came to pick Melody up from the dormitory at seven-thirty that evening, and mother and daughter made their way to Amelia's Closet, the swanky clothing store on the other side of Bluewater Village. "I want an uneventful mother-daughter shopping trip, Melody," Wanda had said. "You know your prom is coming up, and I figure you need a new dress."
"I'm not going." Melody folded her arms defiantly.
"C'mon, Melody, every girl your age goes to her prom. What would the high school experience be without it?"
"Forget it, I'm not going."
Wanda sighed. "Melody, goodness, you're so doggone stubborn!"
"Mom, I have better things to do with my time than to stand around in high heels and be bored for four hours while people dance around and get drunk and woohoo all over the place."
"Melody -- let's just find you a new formal." The two of them combed through an endless array of shelves in silence.

"Hey Dirk," Darren called from his studio, "could you come see for a second?"
"Sure Dad." Dirk bounded up the staircase toward where his father was at his easel, trying to work up an idea for another painting.
"Hey, Dad," Dirk noted, "that's a portrait of Melody."
"Yeah, I was working on giving it to her for her graduation gift."
"That's sweet."
"Speaking of which, her prom at Hanover Academy is coming up. Do you think you could do me a favor and -- accompany her there?"
Dirk couldn't believe his father's request. "Dad, you know I have a --"
"Yes, I know about Lilith. But this should only be a one-time thing. Just make sure she doesn't get herself into any kind of trouble there and -- well, protect her."
Dirk was confused. "Protect her -- from what?"
Darren sighed. "She's a smart girl but she's socially isolated." Dirk gave Darren his word and promised he'd take care of her for him.
"Hey, why do you care so much about this girl, anyway?" Dirk asked.
Darren thought about it for a second. "She's a lost soul," he said, taking another glance at his painting, "just like I was."

Dirk had arrived at the Tinker residence in Bluewater at eight-fifteen that Saturday evening in late May. With a little apprehension, he rang the doorbell. Stephen came. Clearing his throat, Dirk asked, "Is Melody ready? I'm here to take her to her prom."

Melody gave herself a once-over in the mirror. She really didn't want to go, but was only going to please her mother.
Wanda, coming in from the back, studied Dirk's chiseled face carefully and nodded her overwhelming approval. He's handsome, she thought to herself.
Soon afterward, Melody descended the staircase, and Stephen had difficulty containing tears. Moving out of the way, he allowed Melody to greet her date.
Dirk could not believe what he was seeing. She's a vision, he thought as he studied her iridescent chiffon dress. My goodness, she's even prettier than I thought she was. "You're beautiful," Dirk stammered as he gave her a corsage, "do you know that?"
As much as Dirk tried to fight it, he knew he was attracted to this girl and everything about her. Her shyness, her innocence, her deliberate manner were so different from that of the wild and crazy Lilith. If he hadn't met Lilith first this was probably the girl he should have dated, and he knew it.
And she seemed to know everything. During the limo ride to Hanover the two teens had a stirring conversation about current events, politics, and the stock market. Dirk couldn't talk about those things with Lilith. But with Melody, no problem.
The prom committee had spent days on the decorations. Balloons and streamers were everywhere, all to the "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" theme. The Hanover auditorium looked more radiant than it had ever looked before.
Girls arrived with their dates and immediately began to dance and have a good time. Miss Hanover sat in the background, observing the festivities, trying to make sure nobody got out of hand.
"Who's that guy with Melody?" Alecia asked Sarah. "He's actually kind of cute. And I thought she wasn't into guys."
Meanwhile, Dirk, for a while, did as he'd been instructed by his father, never leaving Melody's side. And he didn't want to -- he felt she was the prettiest girl at that dance. He grabbed a drink and asked her if she wanted one. She refused. "I don't drink," she said.
"You mind if we go outside?" Dirk asked her. "Too crowded in here."
Melody nodded and walked outside with him. She should have been on top of the world, with such a handsome fellow on her shoulder, the envy of every girl there. Instead she was miserable. Her heels were too tight, her contacts hurt her eyes, and her dress kept slipping up and down. Even more, she'd rather be home.
After a couple more drinks, which had apparently been spiked, Dirk suddenly found himself unable to control his urges. When he touched Melody on her cheek, she jerked away, and when he tried to kiss her, she slapped his face.
She ran away as fast as she could, until she found a marble waterfall on the other side of the school grounds. While sitting here, she allowed her tears to collect with the running water.
Then she heard a voice. "Melody."
It was Dirk. He had found her.
"Get away from me," she shouted.
"I'm sorry, Melody. I -- I just got carried away."
"Dirk, could you take me home?" Melody looked up at Dirk, her face stained from her tears mixing with her mascara.
At that moment Dirk couldn't help but feel sorry for the sheltered young woman he had in his charge. To him, she was as fragile as a china doll, and he had to protect her -- even from himself.