Chapter 4: Haliku

The space rocket zoomed through a brightly guided path and through a round tunnel filled with pink shimmering lights. 

"Fasten your seat belts...you are getting close," said Callisto. "I will see you soon." His voice faded as his image quickly dissolved. 

Xymna quickly increased the engine power so they could launch to the Far Right Starlight Realm. This Path needs the rocket to travel ten million times faster than the speed of light. So far they had been traveling much slower.  As the rocket sped up the Smart Auto-Launch and Steer controls were activated to avoid colliding with any cosmoparticles. Cosmoparticles line the orbital paths. All traveling ships or rockets have to avoid them. 

As they entered the Realm, a hexagonal blue and white gate appeared. Around it, a dizzying array of blue colors collided into a swirling matrix. Myrna was ecstatic as she saw the wonderful display of comets and cosmoparticles around her.

Soon enough, they entered the StarLight Kingdom. And there, in all its glory,  planet Haliku appeared. Haliku was light maroon and royal purplewith its magnificent blue swirling streams visible even from outer space. It looked heavenly within the dark cosmos.

Xymna expertly maneuvered the Phoenix to the south side of Haliku, where Callisto and his family lived. Unlike the cold and dry north side, South Haliku was full of exciting life and cool streams. As the Phoenix landed, Callisto was there waiting for them. With a huge smile and outstretched arms, he was ready to greet them with a big hug! As soon as they landed, they jumped out and ran straight toward Callisto, hugging him and almost knocking him over! ​

"I missed you so much!" Xymna yelled excitedly. "I can’t wait to go exploring, play, and have so much fun! She started jumping up and down, doing her happy dance and waving her arms. ​

Myrna just stood there, almost stunned at the magnificence of the planet. She saw the absolutely stunning horizon with the magenta mountains lining it.  It was a beautiful sight. The weather was warm and sunny with a slightly cool breeze. She looked up and saw that this plant had two suns- one to the east and one to the west. 

I have never seen anything like this, thought Myrna. The air was cool and refreshing, going down her lungs and rejuvenating her. She was lucky to have caught Xymna as she was leaving earlier that night!

Callisto smiled at her, "Welcome to Haliku! I’ll give you a tour of my planet but first I want to show you where I live. Perhaps we can drink some refreshing sweet Kokol. You can also meet my mom and dad."

Kokol is a thick, sweet, vanilla drink, with tapioca-like chocolate nuggets and light smooth cream on top. It can be served warm or cold (depending on the season) and gives those who drink it a lot of energy. 

Xymna and Myrna followed Callisto down a lush path alongside a Swirling Stream in the green, blue and magenta forest. The trees had large, elongated leaves and swayed in the mellow breeze. The branches and leaves seemed to move for them as they walked along. Around them they could hear chirping, clucking, and the chitter and chatter sounds of the animals and birds in the forest.  The euphony was lively and joyous. Myrna caught a glimpse of a few Terios jumping from tree to tree. 

The two suns shone down on their faces as the made their way through the thicket. A winding maroon, brick walkway led to one of the largest trees Myrna had ever seen. The tree stood very tall, with its massive roots deep within the blue and green Haliku soil. Each leaf was as big as Myrna and was a deep purple with an indigo outline. ​

"Is that your home?' Myrna asked with an amazed look on her face.

"Yes it is!" Xymna declared. "Isn't it so grand?"

They climbed a twirling set of stairs through the large leaves to Callisto’s home.

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