The History of the Ear Men
Chapter 7: Will Grandfather Trick the Ear Men
The weather system Catkaty’s grandfather was asked to make for the Ear Men was nothing like you’d expect. He created man‑made clouds controlled by a computer that could drop rain exactly when the plants needed it. He also made a fake sunlight.
He didn’t want to help the Ear Men, so one day he changed the program: the fake sun would shine for only one hour, and rain would fall for thirty‑six. That was not the best for the plants.
He didn’t know anyone else from his family was in this world, so he didn’t care if the plants died. He just wanted the Ear Men to fire him. He also didn’t want to go back to the real world to return to a care home. He liked that he was younger here.
Just then, Catkaty wheeled into the greenhouse to make sure her promises were being kept. She didn’t know anyone but the Ear Men would be there, so when she saw another wheelchair she screamed in shock. She was afraid her promise was about to be broken.
The grandfather didn’t recognize her, and she didn’t recognize him. They stared at each other until he said, “What are you doing here, little one?”
Catkaty replied, “The Ear Men gave me the job of making sure no living wheelchair wrecks their flowers. As a living wheelchair did many wheels ago by driving over them.”
Then the grandfather recognized her voice and said, “We’ve got to get out of here before they destroy the city.”
Just as they were about to leave, twelve Ear Men blocked the door and demanded, “What’s going on here?”
The grandfather explained, “I made a typo in my code, so the flowers got more weather than they needed. Before I could fix it, this girl wanted me out of here.”
The grandfather was given another chance after Catkaty convinced them to let her stay in the room and report anything strange.
Little did the grandfather know, Catkaty felt bad for the Ear Men. She felt bad because they had been bullied many wheels ago. She wanted to do everything she could to stay on their good side.
Now she had the mind of a six‑year‑old but the body of a fifteen‑wheel‑old. She had no idea whether her grandfather’s code was right or wrong, so she just checked with him.
Her grandfather wanted the girl to stop bugging him, so as he coded he said, “Aren’t your parents looking for you?”
Catkaty replied, “Maybe, but until you fix the code, I must protect those flowers.”
It was getting late. She was planning to be home in time for dinner.
The grandfather didn’t know the rest of the family was in Silla‑Tierra, so he said, “We need two of those flowers to get back to your parents in the other world.”
Catkaty laughed softly. “We don’t need the flowers to see my parents. They’re just on the other side of that town. If you stop destroying the flowers, we can go see them.”
The grandfather realized he didn’t need to ruin the flowers. With the family all here, they could all live in Silla‑Tierra forever.
All the other chairs just wanted the spell to end. They thought it should have ended when Zuphixy had married his wife, but it hadn’t.
Meanwhile, her father was beside himself with fear. “Why would she do that? We drilled into her not to talk to strangers! Doesn’t she remember they locked me up for three days when I was sixteen?”
After a day’s work with the Ear Men, Catkaty came home, unaware she had frightened her parents and brother. “I’m home from a day’s work with the nice Ear Men,” she said.
Purpleten was furious. “No living wheelchair has ever worked for those awful men! The whole town is looking for you, young woman!”
She sent a message to Zuphixy that their daughter had returned.
Zuphixy raced home, angry that he had spent hours searching for her instead of doing his job. “You’re not allowed to go back to see the Ear Men until you’re forty‑five wheels old,” he said.