It began innocently enough on a sunny August afternoon. Mom, Alex and I had just moved from our cramped apartment in London all the way to the US. Now we were living in a roomy farm house in Cheshire, Connecticut. All this because of Mom's promotion.

"Look at it, Paul. It's great!" my eleven year old brother, Alex said, scurrying up the ladder of the splendid tree house. "We didn't have anything like this back in England. Come on up here."

The air rippled through the leaves of the huge oak tree making a sunlight pattern on the tree house. It was a remarkably solid structure. Planted among the branches like a fortress, it was made of the same oak as the tree itself.

"You go ahead. I'll come up later." I leaned against the tree looking at the expanse of lawn in our new yard. Taking a deep breath, I inhaled the aroma of freshly cut grass. It smelled nice, but all I could think about was how much I didn't want to be here; I wanted to be back home with my friends. Moving to a whole new country was hard to get used to.

"Just because you're going into the ninth grade doesn't mean you have to always act like a jerk."

"All right," I said following him up the ladder.

It was a plain structure, about six feet tall by seven feet wide. There were two windows, set high in the front wall, nearly touching the roof. We climbed up to a shallow platform. The wood was smooth and the panels finely crafted. I ran my fingers along the surface, fascinated, in spite of myself. "It even has a roof and a door," I said. As Alex pulled the door, it opened with a tidy click.
When I set foot into it, I couldn't believe what I saw. The space inside seemed bigger than its outer appearance. I raised my arms and could barely touch the ceiling. The walls were made of polished wood, and a small sofa rested against the far wall. The air smelled like roses.

"This is great. We can come here to get away from everything. It feels so sturdy." Alex jumped up and down. "This can be our secret clubhouse -- no girls allowed."

"Alex," I said, pointing to the floor in the left hand corner of the room. "What's that blue rock?" It looked like a huge blue diamond that pulsated with light. About the size of a door knob, it was connected to a socket in the floor, kind of like a light bulb, and it made a soft humming sound.

Alex immediately went over to touch it. I was suddenly afraid. "Wait a minute, Alex."

"Don't worry. It's okay." He crouched on the floor and placed both hands on it, making it pulse wildly. "It's warm." He stared at it in amazement. "Look at this. I can see a scene in there."

I peered into it and saw something I could not believe. In the blue diamond I viewed an emerald-colored valley surrounded by snow capped mountains. There were beautiful trees and rivers. Wildflowers sprouted everywhere. And picking the wildflowers was a girl.

"Oh no, a girl," Alex said, looking disgusted.

I was spellbound. She wore a white tunic. Her dark hair fluttered in the wind as she bent to pluck a delicate purple flower. What was this?

"Is this a video camera?" Alex asked, looking around the sides of it to find some clue.

"No, I don't think so. What, it is, I don't know. It's as though we can see something that's happening far away."

"Do you suppose it can tell the future?" Alex was kneeling, rubbing his hands against his thighs.

My mother's voice calling us for dinner snapped me back to reality. "Let's not say anything about this to Mom until we figure out what it is. All right?"

Alex shrugged. "Okay," he said.

That night I lay awake, haunted by the thought of the tree house and the strange blue gem. Something was drawing me to it. I had to go see it again. That girl in the mountain scene -- I couldn't forget about her.

Throwing on my shorts and sweatshirt, I grabbed a flashlight and crept out the door.

The night was warm and breezy, bright from the three quarter moon. I gazed up at the tree house. It looked like a monolith to me now, tall and forbidding. I was scared, but I continued on. Slowly I climbed the ladder, rung by rung, and opened the door.

The room was dark except for the pulsating glow of the blue diamond. The humming sound was loud now. Trance-like I crept forward. I felt as though I was in its spell.

As I looked into it, all I could see was the outline of a person. When my eyes got more used to gazing into it in the total dark, I realized that the silhouette was the girl I had seen that afternoon. She was dressed in a Grecian tunic made of lightweight cloth, and her body was framed in a golden light.

The smell of roses was so strong I could taste it.

The blue diamond was pulling me into it as though into another dimension. I couldn't tear my eyes from the girl, nor did I want to.
"Come with me," she said, beckoning me with one hand.

Obediently I followed. I could do nothing else.