It was my sophomore year in high school when that man with dressed entirely in black came to visit. Black hat, black coat, black shirt, black pants, black shoes, black socks, everything I could see was black. They called me over the loud speaker between classes and told me to report to the office. I had taken all of one step inside the double doors when they slammed shut by themselves. I remember saying in my head, “Wow, that was a little freaky,” but it only got worse. The man in black appeared out of nowhere.
“Krista Hughes,” I listened to the unusually low voice, “We’d like to take this opportunity to tell you what your really here for.”
“Wait a minute,” I heard myself replying, “what I’m here for, or what you’re here for?”
“You,” was the only thing he responded.
“What are you talking about,” I demanded. “I’m Krista Hughes a normal kid who goes to a normal high school with normal friends and other normal things. This is not normal!”
“You’re right about that. We are traveling to Kravaca tonight; you have a situation there to take care of. We will fill you in on the voyage there is no time now the ship leaves in ten,” the strange unfamiliar guy answers.
“Ten what, minutes?”
“No, seconds.”
“What, how--”
I didn’t get to finish asking the question. Before I knew a strong wind came from within the black suitcase the peculiar man was holding and we were being sucked inside. The next thing I knew I was standing on the deck of a cruise ship, but this was no everyday cruise ship. It seemed to be enclosed within a type of clear bubbly substance. I reached out to touch it, but was stopped by the strange man.
“Where am I,” I wanted to know.
“Follow me, and don’t touch anything. My name is Marco and I’m from Kravaca.”
“Kravaca, I’ve never heard of it.”
“Nobody from this side of the world has.”
“Oh, so Kravaca is in like Europe or Asia or whatever.”
“No. The other, other side of the world.”
“Okay, you lost me there. What other side of the world is there,” I asked.
“A quarter is round, right,” Marco began, “Well, just imagine the earth as one giant quarter where you live on the head of George Washington and I live on the eagles tail.”
I gave Marco a strange look, “That makes no sense whatsoever, the Earth is a sphere, not some larger version of a coin.”
“And that’s where you’re wrong. Most humans from this dimension stopped exploring when Columbus discovered the America’s. Not us. We found you all but were sworn to secrecy.”

“Why, that’s not cool. Not cool at all. Who would make you do that?”
“At first, our government told us it was the other dimension, Earth as we call it in Kravaca. But recently your mom escaped and found out otherwise.”
“My mom? Why wouldn’t she tell me all of this was happening.”
“Because your biological mother, Loni, was killed when she came back to Kravaca. You’ve been living with your mom’s sister all of this time.”
I felt tears welling up in my eyes. I was so confused. I had so many thoughts rushing through my mind. I stuttered I didn’t know what to say. “Aba wa uh, I, I don’t understand. Why are you bringing me into this now?”
“Because. It was our government all along wanting to keep the secret. Our technology is so far passed what you have on Earth, we could over throw you at any moment now. But we don’t want violence. The majority of the Kravacians want peace.”
“Where do I come into all of this?”
“You get to be the peacemaker.”
“Oh, so you’re just bringing in some random Earthling, namely me, to do your dirty work?”
“Not exactly, you see, your father, is the President of my world.”
“But if my father killed my mother in her peace attempt 16 years ago, won’t I be killed by my father too?”
“Not likely, your mother wasn’t killed by your father; it was his board members that did the dirty work, behind his back might I add. They told your dad that your mom ran away and found love on Earth, and that’s why he wants to take over your planet now. If you explain to him everything that happens, you will be forever worshiped here and on Earth.”
“I can’t do this, you can’t make me.”
“Your right, I can’t. But I can beg you. Please. Your world and my world both depend on you. All you have to do is try.”
“But where do I go?”
“I’ll take care of that, all you have to do is agree to try.”
“Okay, fine I’ll try. But what do I say?”
“Whatever it takes. Make your dad fall in love with your mother again, tell him she’s dead because of what he’s trying to do.”
With that the wind was once again rushing in every direction around me. This time when it stopped I was alone in a room full of screens. Those screens were watched by someone, but who?
The guy watching over everything spun around in his chair to face me. “Who are you and what are you doing in here? How did you get here?” His voice scared me. I wanted to wake up and pretend this was all a dream. I shut my eyes and told myself to wake up but when I reopened them I was still in that dreadful place. “I asked you a question,” the man boomed, “now answer me!”
“I, I, I’m Krista,” I hesitated, “Krista Hughes.” When I said my last name I saw a bit of confusion on his face.
“Well Krista, darling, just because you have the same last name as the President doesn’t can wander around his home,” he grimaced.
“That’s just it though sir,” I pleaded, “I’m looking for the President, you see he’s, he’s my dad.”
“Silly little girl,” he laughed, “I am the President and you should know that I have no kids. My first and only wife left me for some fool.”
“Loni was my mother. This guy Marco sent me here to tell you that.”
“Impossible,” my so called father yelled, “only one person knew about Loni and now he’s dead.”
“Wrong,” came a voice that I recognized to be Marco’s. “There were two people that knew about her. My father, Lance, told me everything. He was afraid for his life if he tried to set things straight, so he confided in me for all the years he worked for you, and on his deathbed I swore to him I would fix everything. And that’s what I’m doing now.”
My father refused to believe my new friend Marco. He said, “Why would you send in the kid and make up some bogus story.”
I stood up for me, and for my mom. “I’m real dad. I’ve been living with Aunt Lacy and Uncle John on Earth. I’m not some random kid, I’m yours.”
“Listen to her, Ben,” Marco started, “I sent her in to remind you of Loni. Look how much she looks like her, she’s your kid.”
“No, she’s not; Loni didn’t have a kid with me she ran off with some monster.”
“You’ve been told wrong by your board members. Loni had Krista on Earth and knew when she returned it would be dangerous so she left her with her sister for safety. Your board members killed your wife because she wanted to make peace with Earth. They lied to you because they wanted you to hate Earth and conquer it. They want all the power for themselves. You have to stop. Do it for Loni,” Marco pleaded.
“Yeah dad, do it for mom, do it for me,” I added.
All of a sudden my father fell to the ground and broke down crying. “I love Loni, I have all along, and my own people turned me against her!” He was sobbing so hard. Marco and I just looked at each other, then back at the man kneeling on the floor.
“Sir, if I do say so you can change this, change it now,” Marco advised.
My dad stood up and wiped away his tears. “You are absolutely right son. I will put an end to this right now.”
I look back on this day that happened twenty years ago and I know that the fate of everything everywhere depended on me. This still scares me. A sixteen year old girl I was and I saved the world. All I had to do was try. If I didn’t even make an attempt I definitely would not have succeeded.
I still tell this story to my kids when I put them to bed at night. But they don’t know that it’s a true, and that I was the Krista in the story. After saving the Earth that day I returned home. My father fired his entire staff and turned over his title to Marco to come live on Earth with me. Marco and I together decided to keep the secret between the Earth and Kravaca remaining. What people don’t know won’t hurt them.