She sighed. Sent a single text to her mother to let her know she was okay. She can't talk, because she didn't have time, but she was alive and well. And would have more info for her soon. She ended it with a reference that only her mom would know, so hopefully she knew it really was her.
She almost ran up the beach to the back door, and when she reached it, she tried to open the door, but the door was locked. Strange, because they rarely locked the back door.
So, she knocked.
Her grandmother came to the door, and she could hear her inside, wanting to know who was coming up to her back door.
"It better not be one of those reporters from the beach again," she said as she jerked the door open.
"Hi Grandma," Tina said.
Her grandmother screamed.
Grandpa came running, took one look at her. "Where the hell have you been? You're soaking wet!"
"Space, not to put too fine a point on it," Tina said. "May I come in?"
"We've been so worried about you," Grandma said as she led her inside, now that she was recovered. She grabbed a nearby blanket and wrapped it around her.
It felt so good.
It smelled like her grandmother.
"You're taller," Grandad said.
"Oh, who cares. She's here. Are you hurt? Do you need food? I have a lasagna I made the other day; I could warm you up a piece?"
Tina shook her head. "I'm fine, thank you."
"What about pie? I have some pecan pie, I thought, just in case you came home, you might--"
"It's my favorite," Tina said, and tears welled up in her eyes. Her grandmother always made pie when someone was upset or something, just in case they needed a piece to feel better. It shouldn't have surprised her that her grandmother had her favorite pie ready to go, just in case she showed up and needed some pie.
Her grandmother got her a cup of milk and a slice of the pecan pie. Complete with a dollop of whipped cream on top.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I worried you. I didn't mean for this to happen."
"What did happen?" her grandfather asked.
For a moment, she saw him. Like truly saw him--the detective he had been in many of his days, the man who solved all kinds of crimes throughout his tenure. And like before, now he was looking for answers. She hated that she brought this stress on him in his golden years. but it did warm her heart a bit to see that old spark in his eyes and not the lost expression from the PTSD moments.
"I really was in space," she said. "There's a portal in the cave that I like to go to. I was down by it, with Gianna, and we were talking, that day when we left here."
"Eleven days ago," her grandmother said.
"Did not realize that Gianna was gone too," he said.
She nodded, though she was surprised that no one realized Gianna was gone as well. Gianna lived by herself and sort of kept to herself, always said she could up and move anywhere the wind took her. The downside was that no one noticed if she wasn't around.
"We searched that cave over and over and could not find any trace of you." Her grandfather crossed his arms, in that expression he used when interrogating someone. "The only thing we found was your little lantern."
Truly, Tina probably did need an interrogation over this one, so she couldn't blame him.
"I don't think that you would. I just went through the portal. I didn't have anything with me but my clothes and cell phone. I think I even left my purse here because I figured I'd be back in a little bit. I must have put the lantern down before we walked through it."
"You did," her grandmother said. "What was that like? The portal?"
"A bright light. Very confusing, in fact."
