The History of the Ear Men

Chapter 5: Family Reunion in Silla-Tierra

Zuphixy found himself in the detective’s office in Silla‑Tierra with a report of a teen living wheelchair had been kidnapped by the Ear Men. He didn’t know that Catkaty was the living wheelchair, though he assumed she had come to Silla‑Tierra.

Zoofixy Jr. had arrived in Silla‑Tierra an hour before his dad and found himself in the mayor’s office, just as his grandfather had six years earlier. Then a female wheelchair said to him, “Mayor, how do you plan to stop the Oidohombres?” It took Zoofixy Jr. a moment to translate it in his head. Once he did realize she was talking about the Ear Men.

Just then, Zuphixy came into the room, not knowing Zoofixy Jr was the mayor, and said, “Mayor, have you told the family of the living wheelchair about the girl the Oidohombres have?”

Zoofixy Jr. replied, “I haven’t figured out who her parents are yet. The teacher who told us the girl was with the Ear Men thought she was an orphan.”

The police chief entered the room, happy to see Zuphixy. As now he could ask him to confirm whether the Ear Men had really taken the girl with the last name Quzefuly.

At that time, the Ear Men were running tests to see if Catkaty was the one that wrecked the field all those wheels ago. The tests took a few hours. When they found out she was not the one they were looking for, they let her go.

Because she had been with them for so long, she didn’t know her family was also in  Silla‑Tierra. Even though her body was fifteen, her mind thought about things like a six‑year‑old.

Thinking like a six‑year‑old Catkaty promised them she wouldn’t let any wheelchair destroy the heart‑shaped flowers. Little did she know how hard that promise would be to keep.

Zuphixy was walking beside the field, looking for clues about where they had taken the girl, when he bumped into Catkaty. He did not recognize her as his daughter. Yet she recognized him as he still looked the same as he did in the real world. Without thinking, she said, “Hi, Dad.”

Since this was Zuphixy’s fourth time in Silla‑Tierra, he wasn’t too shocked to hear his daughter’s voice. “Is that you, Catkaty?” he asked.

Catkaty, forgetting for a second that she was a wheelchair, she replied, “Of course it’s me, Dad.”

Zuphixy asked, “Have you seen another chair around here? I got a report to save a girl from the Ear Men.”

Catkaty responded, “I’m probably the girl the report was talking about. I was with the Ear Men! They let me go! Because I promised that all living wheelchair would not touch the flowers without Ear Men permission.”

Zuphixy said, “Catkaty, we need the flowers to get back to our own world! Also they don’t like me or any wheelchairs.”

Catkaty, confused, replied, “I’m now a chair, and they don’t seem too bad to me.”

Zuphixy took his daughter home, not knowing his wife was there cooking dinner as a living wheelchair. Catkaty at first thought her mom was a stranger and wondered why her dad had brought her to this house. Purpleten, on the other hand, was so used to being in this world that she acted as though everyone had always been here. Even though Catkaty had only been here for one day, the rest of her family had been here for three hours.

Just then, Zoofixy Jr. who only knew that Zuphixy was in this world came home. The rest of their family did not know that Zoofixy Jr. was in that world. Purpleten until then did not know anyone from her family was there.

Out of nowhere, Catkaty said, “I made a promise to the nice Ear Men that as long as I’m here, the flowers won’t be touched by any wheelchair.”

Zoofixy Jr. looked at his sister and said, “I’m the mayor. You can’t guarantee that. There are about a million wheelchairs here! How can you promise that?”

Catkaty replied, “I thought that since this is just a dream, I could make a law that prevents anyone from doing so.” The rest of her family knew it wasn’t a dream. They knew because they had been here before.

Zoofixy Jr. said, “Sister, don’t you remember that when we were in the other world, I told you I was born here?”

Meanwhile, Mr. Stripes, the not so smart, police chief, was inspecting the field of flowers that Zoofixy Jr. had destroyed as a rebellious teen. He was trying to fix them so the Ear Men wouldn’t be angry anymore. Because he was not smart, his chair broke more flowers, and he was caught by the Ear Men. No one knew about this, as the family was having dinner together.

Zuphixy received a notification sent directly to his brain through their high‑tech system. The message from the Ear Men saying the police chief had been captured and wouldn’t be released until they had guarantees that no flowers would be touched.

Zoofixy Jr., who got the same message, said, “Too bad Grandfather isn’t here to help us invent something to save the chief from the deaf Ear Men.”

Catkaty went for a ride down the road to think. Her mind kept repeating: If we just get along with the Ear Men, maybe that’s what will break the spell. She found herself at the door of the Ear Men’s hideout, but they weren’t happy with her. As they believed she had broken her promise.

One of the Ear Men said, “How dare you come here! You broke your promise!” They grabbed her and tied her to the police chief. Then they sent a message to the detective’s brain. The message was an image of Catkaty tied up. They didn’t know she was his daughter.

When Zuphixy got the message, he screamed, “Nooo!” That shocking his wife and son, who looked at him as if he were dying. He forwarded the image to his son but, not wanting to upset his wife, simply said, “I just got bad news about the case.”

The men of the house immediately left for the mayor’s office to figure out what to do.

Meanwhile, Catkaty used her six‑year‑old charm to convince the Ear Men to let the police chief go if she stayed behind. Believing they would be kind to her like before, she agreed.

The Ear Men decided to release the chief as they had only room for one living wheelchair.

When Mr. Stripes was freed, he was so terrified that, if he were human, he’d have been as white as a ghost. But since he was a living wheelchair, his whole frame began to vibrate.

He went straight to the mayor’s office, and when he arrived, he spat up some oil before stumbling over his words when saying, “The Ear Men let me go only after the orphan agreed to stay. They warned me not to touch the heart‑shaped flowers again, or they’ll paint me."