Artland Series: MINORITY TALENT
Again, Time Always Has Answers to Every Question

A honey brown curly-haired man stared at Casey from behind the hood of a shiny black leather jacket. A pinch of withered curly hair covered one of his eyes that was plump and sparkling.

Casey cupped her palms together covering her dumbfounded mouth. "Ezra!"

"Case...?!"

"Dw..." Casey's words immediately stuck in his throat when he felt someone's strong hand gripping Casey's shoulder and shaking it. Casey opened her eyes and stuttered to find a panicked face above her head. "Daaad..." Casey hissing a little raucous.

Then he heard his father sigh heavily and groan. The old man then sat his body on the edge of Casey's bed and turned his back. He cupped his palms together covering his face that was wrinkled in frustration.

Casey pulled her body into a sitting position and looked at her clueless father. Slowly the girl touched her father's shoulder and called out to him gently. "Dad..."

His father did not react. Both of his palms were still caught covering his face. Shortly after, his body shook.

Is she crying? Casey frowned. "Are you ok, Dad?" He asked doubtfully.

"Yeah, Sweetheart!" His father sighed then rubbed his face without looking. "I'm just tired" he sisnya. Then get out of Casey's bed. "Continue sleeping, Sweetheart!"

Casey was still dumbfounded looking at the departure of her father. Even after his father shut the door. Casey is still in a sitting position. Trying to remember if he said something that hurt his father. But no, Casey's pretty sure. He was just dreaming and maybe delirious. Oh, shits! Casey realized and patted her forehead. He knew that nothing could hurt his father except Ezra.

Early in the morning Casey's father had already left home. Then in the afternoon Casey's father didn't come home on time either. The breakfast and dinner that day were all Casey's passing without his father. As soon as her father came home, Casey was already in her room, preparing to go to sleep. Tired and lonely shackled her all that day. Even an unseen man named Denta never appears again after Casey alludes to his existence. Casey really felt alone.

Lightning crept outside the window, followed by the sound of wind and a thin drizzle accompanied it.

Casey curled up under her blanket, trying to close her eyes. But the contents of his head were suddenly busy without any clear focus. Some of his brain was thinking about how to improve communication with his father, some were thinking about Denta, some were remembering his dreams about Ezra, some were thinking about the secret room behind the mini-library Denta showed. His chest rumbled filled with erratic emotions. Casey could no longer tell if he was angry or sad. Is he worried or anxious.

Phew!

Casey kicked the blanket. Then get out of his bed. He had to go down to see his father.

"Dad...." Casey knocked slowly on her father's room door.

Silent!

"Daddy?!" Casey knocked on her father's bedroom door even harder.

There's still no answer!

Perhaps her father was asleep, Casey concluded. But when he turned the doorknob, it easily opened the door. Casey looked into her father's room but there was no one in there. "Dad?!" Casey called him again half-screaming. Then he stepped into his father's room and checked into his bathroom. His father was not there either. Casey began to panic, then came out of her father's room half-run. "Daddy?!" Casey called again. But the whole room in his house was completely deserted. Casey pecked in the living room with a pale face.

Casey rushed to check on her but suddenly her heart was racing. What if it wasn't his father? Casey's worried.

Casey soon heard a thumping sound from the library, followed by a suspicious creaking sound.

Casey jumped out of place and ran towards the library without a second thought. At first glance the girl caught the figure of a person in a black leather jacket, disappearing behind the library wall. Denta. Casey realized. Then try to catch up with him. But as soon as he reached the library, the wall was already closed. Casey sighed and surveyed the wall with clutched eyebrows. How do I open it? He asks. Then begin to examine the wooden shelves along that wall closely. He remembered Denta had shown him how, but he had forgotten where the book was the key to opening the secret door.

Before long Casey found a gap between the books that were partially skewed. Casey peered into the crack and found some kind of combination lock that was commonly attached to the safe. Casey reached into the gap and tried to touch the key. Then groan. I don't know the combination number Casey muttered sourly.

Casey looked down at the black-bound tome lying on the floor, not far from her feet. He recalled that when Denta gave the book, he read the title: DIARY PARAVISI 1999

There it is, Casey thought. Perhaps the combination number is 1999. Casey peered again into the crack. But the combination key consists of only three digits. Casey tried a series of combinations of 199, then 999, but none of them had any effect. The walls of the library remained in place. Not shifting one bit.

It's a complete waste of time Casey muttered sourly.

Speaking of time, suddenly passing this sentence in Casey's head: TIME ALWAYS HAS AN ANSWER FOR EVERY PROBLEM

Where did I find that phrase? Casey tried to remember. Why do I suddenly remember that word? Casey wonders. What does the combination number have to do with time? Casey's mind began to drift erratically. His head was filled with things that were not related to each other. Suddenly he remembered the sentence as the title of Ezra's favorite book, then suddenly he also remembered every 9 pm, Ezra always waiting for him in the yard. Could it be a combination of 900? Casey tried.

And succeed!

The walls of the library were simultaneously shifting.

Casey could hardly believe what was happening before her eyes. Does that room belong to Ezra?

Suddenly his whole dream flashed through his head. Could Ezra be in there like his dream?

There is only one way to prove it, Casey thought expectantly. Without a second thought, the girl rushed into the room behind the wall half-running.

As soon as she got inside, the girl found a concrete staircase leading to a dim room under her feet. Casey stood hesitatingly at the top of the stairs, then stepped slowly down the stairs with a beating heart. Then held his breath as he reached the bottom of the stairs and stared at the scene in front of him half in disbelief. Everything looks exactly the same as in his dream.

There were three people dressed in mysterious clothing as Denta used to wear, they gathered in the middle of the room, under the dim yellow light of golf ball-sized light bulbs hanging low from the ceiling. The light bulbs were not few in number, but still did not make the room look bright.

Casey smothered her mouth with both palms as one of the men raised her face and looked towards Casey. Casey recognized his face. They had met at the Deasy Grunting Reading Garden. But that's not all Casey was surprised by. One of the three men in mysterious clothes was also a female. Just like his dream. The difference between the woman in front of her is Ary Caroline. A Real Estate agent who met his father on the first day they arrived at their new home.

Seeing his two colleagues flabbergasted, a man turned his back to Casey then followed the two colleagues' eyes and turned to Casey.

Casey gave a stifled strangle as the man exposed his face. "Daddy?!"