The History of the Ear Men
Chapter 3: Catkaty Thinks She Is Dreaming When She's Not
Catkaty had never been in Silla‑Tierra before, so when she saw that she was in a classroom with living wheelchairs, she first thought she was just dreaming about the story her family had told her.
The teacher in the magic world said, “Are you dreaming again?” All the other living wheelchair students started laughing. The teacher explained to the class that about fifteen hundred wheels ago, a human had come to this world who could walk. Back then, they thought he was going to break the spell, but for some reason it still hadn’t been broken. Then the teacher said that, unlike them, all humans from planet Earth walk on two legs.
Catkaty couldn’t help herself; she had to correct the teacher and explain that some humans use wheelchairs to get around, like her dad.
The teacher, having no idea that humans use wheelchairs in the real world, sent Catkaty to the wheel principal, believing she was lying in class.
On her way to the principal’s office, she pulled a leaf out of her back pocket and, without really thinking, popped it into her mouth. Only to realize she had just eaten a leaf. Then she noticed how it tasted so much like a chocolate bar.
The principal said, “Young lady, you’re fifteen wheels old. You should know better than to make up stories in class.” As he entered data into the database to record that she had acted out, he noticed her last name was Quzefuly. The principal thought, Isn’t that the name of the mayor from fifteen hundred wheels ago, when a human named Zuphixy was here?
Suddenly, the principal made a school‑wide announcement over the PA system, convinced that if she was a Quzefuly, the Ear Men must be nearby. The school had to be closed for safety, since the last time a Quzefuly came, the Ear Men had tried to bulldoze the school.
The principal thought to himself, I’d better contact Mr. Stripe. Just like that, a screen appeared showing the head of Mr. Stripe, the chief of police, sitting in his red‑and‑blue striped chair.
Mr. Stripe asked, “What’s up?”
The principal, stumbling over his words in fear, said, “I have a wheelchair teen here with the last name Quzefuly. As a safety measure, I’m activating the emergency protocol!” The principal believed that because she had the Quzefuly name, they were trouble from the Oidohombres (Ear Men).
Mr. Stripe was annoyed at the principal for overreacting, unaware that his own computer screen was flashing the same warning: “the Oidohombres were about to attack”.
Catkaty knew from her mom’s story that if she was in Silla‑Tierra, the Ear Men would be causing trouble for the wheelchairs. Now that she was one of the living wheelchairs, she spoke Spanish like everyone in this world.
She decided to wheel out of school to look for the Ear Men, believing she had been sent to stop them. But the adults were terrified for her safety, since her parents were still in the other world.
Because she was only six in the real world, she had never read her family’s books: The Mysterious Wheelchair, How Many Mysterious Wheelchairs Are There?, and Silla‑Tierra, sold at Lulu.com. Because of that she didn’t know the full danger she was facing.
Just as she was wheeling beside a field of heart‑shaped flowers, the Ear Men grabbed her and took her to their place, thinking she was the one who had wrecked the field.
Her teacher was shocked to hear that a student had left school alone during an emergency lockdown, so she followed and witnessed the Ear Men take Catkaty. The teacher knew that, as a chair, she couldn’t help — so she went to Mr. Stripe for assistance.
When Mr. Stripe heard that a wheelchair and Ear Men were together, he was at a loss. Without Zuphixy, he wouldn’t dare go near the Ear Men — they were like humans who walked on two feet.