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INTERLOG

Mom, Dad, Jenny, and Kevin the Squid,

I’m sorry

I’m sorry I left and I’ I’h in the past however iven this note and knoas here but left without saying hello or good-bye I was never even supposed to coer I stay, the er

I shouldn’t even be writing this But I couldn’t co I uys every day I bet the Squid is so big now! You probably don’t call hih, tell hiot stuck with the nicknah he won’t remember me

Jenny, I hope you’re enjoyingelse, really I’ is yours I miss you, kid

Dad, I’h to tell Mo is to keep you all safe, even though youit to keep everyone safe I think you’d be proud of me

Moavefor I irl Her na, but I think you’d like her She’s tough She doesn’t take crap from anybody, especially me

I miss you all so much I know the chances are astronoain so

I love you

J H

HAVE YOU EVER HAD to ith a broken rib? If not, count yourself lucky—and if you have, I sympathize If you’ve ever had to walk three blocks with a broken rib, wrist, and fractured shoulder, all while trying to make it look like you were out for a stroll in the parkwell, then you and I should exchange stories sometime For now, here’s mine

My name is Joseph Harker I’m almost seventeen, and I’m back on my version of Earth for the first tier It’s hard to tell exactly howfrom world to world

When I left, I gave up everything I’d ever known My friends,the little brother who hadn’t quite learned to say ht As onh the crisp fall leaves on Saturday afternoons My ht ly

I’d lost so much more than that in the past two days

It was dark; the sun had just been going dohen I’d arrived I’d stayed in the park to watch the red-gold light set the familiar town afire one last time, then started off toward my school My old school, I should say “School” noas the long, sterile halls and compact rooms of InterWorld Base Town; the Hazard Zone combat sessions; and the field trips that were all for field training At least, it had been Maybe InterWorld Base Toas my old school now, too

No, I thought fiercely, as I concentrated on keeping et back there I would see InterWorld again

I had to

Through the park, off the grass, onto the sidewalk Even being away for so long, I knehere I was going—which wasn’t due to any innate sense of direction, believe me I just knew that the park was between my house and my school, and I had landed house side instead of school side Not too difficult, even for soht not have a concussion I hadn’t hit the ground froh dimensions, but it’d sure felt like I had

I kept e to keepI wanted to do was draw attention to myself I didn’t kno my parents had explainedrecognized I was here to see one person, and one person only Soh any number of crazy situations even before I had turned into an interdihter

My social studies teacher

His house was right next to the school, and I only knehere that was because he’d made it a point to tell every kid in his class that if they ever needed anything, day or night, his address was 1234, the same street the school was on I once asked if he’d picked that number on purpose so it would be easy for us to remember He shook his head and said, “No, I picked it on purpose so it would be easy for me to remember”

12181220It was getting harder and harder to , but I did s or supervising young children I could see a fareen Jeep in the distance, parked at the end of a short driveway 12261230Almost there I reached the mailbox marked 1234, stepped around the Jeep, and went up to the front door The lights were out