Worlds Apart

By Christine Lyons

In Ryans world, the sun is purple, the air is a green mist, and there are bars on the window. He and his family are prisonersan exhibit in an alien zoo. But one day, while playing hoops in the outdoor compound, Ryan meets Humphree, an alien figure who comes and goes mysteriously. Its then that Ryan discovers not only a special disc, but also a tunnel that leads to another worldone where the sun is yellow, the grass is green, and the sky is blue.

As Ryan explores, he wonders about his familys current circumstances. He cannot question his parents because he believes all of their lives are monitored by cameras and listening devices. The alien elders experiment on the humans in order to understand human behaviours, abilities and emotions, while the other aliens view them in captivity.

Together, Ryan and Humphree formulate an escape plan for the family. However, not everything is as it seems. Revelation after revelation unravels mysterious secrets about the aliens.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Apr 7, 2014
• ISBN: 9781480806733

Christine Lyons

Hi, my name is William Lyons. Let me tell you a little about myself. I was born at a place called Tip Top, Tennessee, at the Cumberland Gap along the Cumberland River just north west of Dover, Tennessee. In 1944, in to a sheer crop family at the age four, we moved to a sheer crop farm in Kentucky. The farm I speak of in the story called “Silence of Midnight” is the actual farm we lived on. The story is fictional, but the location is real. I got out behind a mule and a plow in 1962 to go in to the army in 1964. I was in Korea from 1966 to 1967; I was in Vietnam. After returning home, in the early 1970s, I was a firefighter. I worked myself up to a lieutenant and on the board of directors. In late 1970s I became a police officer. Things happened to where I went into the VA Hospital. As I was lying in bed, the books I was reading was three to four hundred pages long. And I got to thinking, why not write a short storybook? So I started writing. The more I wrote, the more it came to me. This is how and why my book was written. You know this uniform I am wearing is a uniform I wore when I got out of the army in 1968. And you know, it still fits.

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Copyright © 2014 Christine Lyons.

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ISBN: 978-1-4808-0673-3 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-0672-6 (sc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014905808

Archway Publishing rev. date: 4/7/2014

CONTENTS

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Prologue

The Visitors

Chapter 1

The Game

Chapter 2

The First Job

Chapter 3

Good Luck. Bad Luck

Chapter 4

A Mystery

Chapter 5

The Running Club

Chapter 6

A Discovery

Chapter 7

A View On The Bridge

Chapter 8

The Moon

Chapter 9

The Sanctuary

Chapter 10

The Escape

Chapter 11

Jelly

Chapter 12

A Disappointment

Chapter 13

Flashing In The Dark

Chapter 14

Neighbourly Feelings

Chapter 15

A Plan

Chapter 16

Problems

Chapter 17

Freedom

Epilogue

Remembering

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to my wonderful family, especially my husband, John, and our two sons, Alan and Jamie.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank my writing group, who has helped me by offering ideas and choosing the titles to each chapter. I am fortunate in having friends and family who have listened to the text of Worlds Apart many times and added their comments, suggestions, and encouragement. To my younger friends Alex and Alicia, who read and enjoyed my book, I am also very appreciative of their input. Of course, I must include my loving husband, John, who has patiently put up with my idiosyncrasies and storytelling throughout our marriage. I could not have written this book without him.

PROLOGUE

The Visitors

Misty green droplets of water entered the small house through a vent in the door. A long ray of purple sunlight stretched across the floor, creeping between a crack in the drapes. The shuffling and murmuring from outside was muffled.

The interior of the residence shone with perfection. A flurry of activity had begun early. Knowing the nature of the day, the family had worked hard to make their house spotlessly clean. At the last minute, they all met in the living space and sat down on the sofa, facing the closed window coverings.

Two minutes to go. Today was a national holiday. A huge crowd was expected to pass through the exhibit area. The family felt the stress and tension. They could hear rumblings and mutterings outside on the road. A bell tolled.

Slowly the drapes parted. The iron bars, covering the window, cast deep shadows across the carpet. A huge crowd stood outside, pointing and nodding their enlarged heads. They stared for awhile then ambled on. More and more came to replace the first visitors and then they too moved on to the next exhibit.

The people inside became restless. As they shifted around in their space, the outside noise became louder. Strange and eerie high-pitched moans rose and fell.

Inside the cage, the smallest human, looking at a larger one, said, Dad, tell us about the time when you were a boy and the sun was yellow, the sky was blue and everyone looked like us. You know, the time when there were no bars on the windows and we were free. His father stared off into the distance at a demolished space shuttle and, with tears running down his face, began to talk to his young son, Ryan.

CHAPTER 1

The Game

Ryan ran