Chapter Three: Caitlin's Got Game!

"Do you have your tokens?" Audrey asked Caitlin as they walked toward the park.

"Yeah, why?" Caitlin asked.

"You're probably not going to like this, but it will take all five tokens for you to buy your gear to play disk golf. You need to own all your own equipment in order to play."

"What will five tokens get me?" Caitlin asked.

"All the disks you'll need, plus a canvas bag to carry them in. I hope you're telling the truth about being good at this game."

"I was the best in my neighborhood back on Thanatar!" said Caitlin. "But the games were all amateur, I never won a trophy or anything. I have an Uncle who was a pro at disk golf, and he taught me."

The girls approached a disk golf shop near the park, where kids could buy sports equipment, Audrey and Caitlin walked in and looked at the equipment.

"Pick out your disks." Audrey said.

There were no other customers in the shop. There were a multitude of colored disks to choose from.

"I need drivers, mid-range disks and putters!" Caitlin said. "How many of each can I get?"

"I'm not sure," Audrey replied. "I've never actually played disk golf."

"Then how do you know so much about it?" Caitlin asked.

"It's the most popular game played by our race on Dakadania, and it's the only televised game we play. I watch it when it's on. To answer your question, maybe the android behind the counter can help you."

Audrey approached the counter. "How many disks can she get, along with a carrying bag, for five tokens?"

"Three disks per token, and two tokens for a carrying bag!" the android answered.

"That means I can get three of each!" Caitlin carefully picked out the disks she would need to play the game.

"I've got some extra tokens," said Audrey. "In case you need more disks."

"I don't think that will be necessary!" said Caitlin. "By the way, is gambling allowed here on Dakadania?"

"To a certain extent, as long as it involves disk golf. You can play for more tokens, but you need to be able to ante up."

Caitlin paid for her equipment, and the two girls left the disk golf shop and headed toward the park.

Meanwhile, back at Audrey and Caitlin's locked dormicile, Tony and Phillip were trying in vain to reach the lamp on the top shelf.

"I'm telling you, you're wasting your time!" said Derek. "There's no escape from the thunder children!"

"That lamp is capable of granting wishes!" said Phillip. "If we can get it, we can wish our way off this world!"

Derek and his buddy looked at each other like they thought Phillip was crazy.

"He's right," said Tony. "That lamp can grant any wish!"

"How is that even possible?" Derek asked.

"It was given to us by a woman from fifty-thousand years in the future!" said Tony. "She wielded technology beyond belief!"

"Oh, so it's not magic?" Derek asked. "That sounds like Titan technology!"

"The planet where these giant children is from is called Thanatar," said Peter, "and there the giants are known as Titans!"

"Tony wrote and illustrated the graphic novel version of 'Planet of the Titans' before he drew Dakadania!" said Phillip. "He created those worlds!"

"It's imperative that Caitlin and Audrey never find out about the power of that lamp!" said Tony. "Can the two of you promise never to rat us out?"

"Yeah, us humans have to stick together!" Derek shook hands with Tony.

"Wait a minute," said Peter, "I'm not cool with this!"

"What's the problem?" Tony asked.

"If you created Thanatar and Dakadania, then it's your fault we're stuck here under the dominion of some voracious vixens! If it wasn't for you, we'd be back on Earth living our lives!"

"If it wasn't for Tony," said Phillip, "none of you would exist! The version of Earth you come from would've never been created!"

"He's right, Peter!" said Derek.

"Logically I can understand where you're coming from," said Peter, "but emotionally I still feel violated. Why would you create a world like this? Where giants eat people like us?"

"It's been something that he's been into since he was a kid!" said Phillip. "He just likes giant girls rampaging!"

"Why couldn't they be nice giant people?" Peter asked. "Why did you make them so sadistic?"

"A graphic novel about nice giants wouldn't sell graphic novels!" said Tony. "Violence sells!"

"I'm telling Audrey about the lamp when she returns!" said Peter. "I think it would be poetic justice if you, the creator of Dakadania, ended up in the belly of one of the giant girls from here! That would be a fitting end for you!"

Meanwhile, back at the disk golf park, Audrey and Caitlin were on par one. They could see one of the other pars in the distance, and some other kids were playing, but there was no one to interfere with them on par one.

"I'll break out one of my drivers," said Caitlin. She twisted her body and flung the disk, and it glided through the air toward the basket. Caitlin picked up her bag of disks and headed toward the disk she had just thrown. When they reached it, she picked it up and put it in her bag, then took out a mid-range disk and flung it toward the basket. The disk landed fairly close to the basket. The girls approached, and Caitlin picked up the mid-range disk and put it in her bag, and got out a putter and threw it into the basket.

"This was a par four, and you made a basket in three throws!" said Audrey. "Maybe you're really as good as you say you are!"

"Before I got put in a foster home a couple of weeks ago, I was the best player out of all the kids I knew who played disk golf!

"I have ten tokens with me right now," said Audrey, holding the tokens in her hand. "How about if we gamble against those people over there!" Audrey pointed toward the kids on another hole elsewhere in the park. "I doubt they're as good as you!"

"Okay!" said Caitlin. "But what if I lose?"

"Trust me, you won't!" said Audrey. "I may not play this game, but I've watched enough games to know when someone is good, and you're exceptional! You're good enough to be playing in a regional tournament!"

"If you really think I'm that good, then let's go for it!" said Caitlin. "But if I win, do I get to keep any of the tokens?"

"If we double my ten tokens, you get ten and I get ten!" said Audrey.

"That sounds fair!" said Caitlin, and they walked toward the other players on the field. A boy and a girl were playing, and Audrey approached the boy.

"My friend here just stepped out of the portal today, and she wants to gamble for tokens against you! I've got ten tokens, double or nothing?"

The boy and girl started laughing. "An F.O.P.?" the boy asked.

"What's that?" Caitlin asked Audrey.

"It's an acronym that means 'Fresh Out of the Portal." Audrey replied.

"I've got ten tokens," said the boy. "I agree to your challenge!"

Meanwhile, back at the dormicile, Tony and Phillip were getting to know Derek and Peter.

"So how did you guys end up here?" Phillip asked.

"We were in a plane that was about to crash, and we were pulled through a dimensional wormhole to this place," said Derek.

"Yeah, we probably would've died if we didn't end up here." said Peter.

"Tony, are all the victims on Dakadania people who would've otherwise died on Earth? I don't remember that in your graphic novel."

"It was in the rough draft of the written version, but when I started drawing the graphic novel, that information seemed extraneous so I omitted it."

"Audrey had other captives that she swallowed already," said Derek, "and when I talked to them they all had stories similar to mine. They were all in near death situations when they were brought here. Without being pulled through a wormhole, they would've all perished back on Earth."

"We need something sticky to climb the wall to get to that lamp!" said Tony. "Do you know if Audrey chews gum?"

Back at the park, Caitlin finished the game, beating the boy and his girlfriend.

"Here's your five tokens," said the boy.

"Hey!" said Caitlin, "you owe me ten!"

"I was just kidding!" said the boy, "here's ten! You're a real hustler! You could hit the big time with those skills!"

Caitlin packed up her disks in the canvas bag and slung it over her shoulder. She put five of the tokens in her pocket, and held out the other five to Audrey.

"Here! Take five tokens!" said Caitlin.

"No, you keep them!" said Audrey. "You earned them!"

"Where can we go spend some of them?" Caitlin asked.

"I'll show you where there is a store nearby," said Audrey. "There is a monorail that can take you just about anywhere, but this store is within walking distance. Maybe after school tomorrow I can show you the monorail system."

"What grade will I be in?" Caitlin asked.

"You're thirteen, right?" Audrey asked.

"Yes!" said Caitlin.

"Everyone that age pretty much starts out in seventh grade," said Audrey. "I'm in eighth, but I've been here a while. When you've been here at least a year, you'll get to mentor a new girl from Thanatar just like I'm doing for you!"

"Cool!" said Caitlin, and they rounded a corner and came to the store Audrey had spoken of.

"Here it is!" said Audrey. "Don't go too crazy in there!"

Caitlin entered the store and saw that there were hundreds of choices of different candies and pastries to choose from. An android behind the counter waited for her to order.

"I'll take a pint of ice cream, a candy bar, and a pack of bubble gum!" said Caitlin.

"That will be three tokens!" the android responded.

Caitlin paid the android, and took her sack of goodies and exited the store.

"I got you a candy bar!" said Caitlin, handing the candy bar to Audrey.

"Thanks!" said Audrey.

When Audrey and Caitlin entered the dormicile, Caitlin was blowing a bubble with her bubble gum that she was chewing. Tony, Phillip, Derek, and Peter stopped what they were doing and waited for the girls to address them.

"Slaves!" said Audrey. "How have you been conducting yourselves while we've been gone?"

"They want that lamp you took from them!" said Peter. "It grants wishes!"

Audrey looked up at the lamp that was on the top shelf. "Oh, really?" Audrey said, as she stood on her toes and retrieved the lamp. "Will it grant wishes to people of our size, or just tinies from Earth?"

"I don't know!" said Peter. "You might as well try!"

Audrey rubbed the lamp and said, "I wish for a thousand tokens!" Instantly, a thousand tokens rained down onto the floor in front of her.

"It worked!" said Audrey, as she set the lamp on the floor and swept up the tokens into a pile with her hand.

Audrey grabbed the lamp again and rubbed it. "For my second wish, I wish Jimmy, the cutest boy at my school, was madly in love with me!"

Just then, there was a message on the computer, and a light was blinking.

"What's that?" Audrey asked herself, as she clutched the lamp in her right hand and clicked on the computer with her left hand.

"It's an instant message from Jimmy!" said Audrey. She read the message out loud: "I have come to realize that I like you more than the other girls, would you like to go out some time?" Audrey jumped up and down and screamed really loud.

"What is your third wish?" Caitlin asked. "We get three wishes each, right slave?" Caitlin directed the question at Peter.

"That is my understanding, mighty mistress!" Peter replied.

"For my third wish," said Audrey, "I wish I was the most popular girl in school!" Audrey handed the lamp to Caitlin.

"I really want to think about my wishes, I don't want to waste them!" said Caitlin. "Put the lamp back up on the shelf where the tinies can't reach it!"

Audrey did as Caitlin requested.

To Be Continued!