DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters created by Alexander Key and
owned by Walt Disney Pictures. This is fan fiction, and not endorsed by
Mr. Key, his estate, or Walt Disney. No copyright infringement is
intended, and no money is being made from this story. It is based on plot
elements used in both the book Escape to Witch Mountain as well as the
movie of the same name, although the book and the movie differ extensively.
Please direct all queries, comments, etc. to kevinpkhaynes@yahoo.com. It
is my sincere desire that you enjoy the story as the pure entertainment it
was intended to be.
LIFE ON WITCH MOUNTAIN
By Kevin Haynes
CHAPTER 1
Tony was exhausted. As he listened to the quiet hum of the lifeboat's motor, he couldn't help but turn over in his mind again and again the events of the past few days. What was supposed to have been a fun outing to the big city with his sister, Tia, turned nearly disastrous when he was kidnapped by a scientist and forced to do his bidding.
How had all of this come to be? His mind, wracked by confusion, wandered even farther back to his first day on Witch Mountain. He smiled inwardly as he thought about that name - "Witch Mountain." Back in the early 1900's, when the very first scouts from his home planet came to Earth to look for a place to live, they were scorned because they looked like "foreigners" and couldn't speak English. Being mountain dwellers on their home planet, this mountain in the eastern United States seemed perfect.
When the local people named that particular peak "Witch Mountain," Tony's people realized that it would only help them. People scared of witches, or anyone different from themselves, would stay away from the mountain. And that suited Tony's people just fine. They wanted to be left alone.
Of course, Tony's people weren't witches. They were aliens, extraterrestrials, "Martians." Their own planet was on a course that would take it into one of their suns - their world actually orbited two suns, a double star - and they had to find a new home quickly. Being mountain people did not mean they had no technology. They were light years ahead of Earth in that area, particularly because of the unique capabilities of their people.
While in appearance they resembled the citizens of Earth, there were many differences. No two people on Tony's planet possessed the exact same abilities, but some could energize matter simply by using their minds. All of them used an ultrasonic speech that Earth people could not hear - however, many of them were unable to form sounds that Earth people could hear, so they were considered mute . or "dumb," the term used generations ago. They also possessed unique sensory capabilities, which enabled them to commune with animals as well as sense when something was going to happen. It also allowed them to know if someone was telling the truth.
As proud as Tony had been of the differences between his people and those of Earth, he shuddered to think that twice in his brief life he had encountered Earthmen that would have given everything they had - and indeed, nearly did - to be able to control the power he possessed. What would they have done if they had known that many of his people were able to do far more than he could? Would they dare to actually mount an armed assault on his people?
Now approaching Witch Mountain, Tony remembered more of his first day there. After waiting for years to feel a part of something, and after running for his and Tia's lives for almost a week, it felt so . inviting . to be among his own kind. Everyone welcomed him, some verbally, some without moving their mouths. He searched the faces of his people, looking for any that were familiar, but he had been so young when they escaped their dying planet that most were completely unknown to him.
He remembered asking what the name of their planet had been. It had been less than 24 hours since he had realized he was not of Earth . now he couldn't wait to find out where he was from! He smiled to himself as he remembered his first reaction to the answer - it was a word he couldn't understand nor even pronounce! Of course, they had spoken a different language on their home planet, and that was the only language in which one could say the name of the planet. When he asked if anyone could tell him what that meant in English, Uncle Bené replied that the closest English word for it was simply "Home."
"Home!" Tony repeated it to himself. He was finally home! No more running . Home at last.
More and more information came quickly after his and Tia's arrival to Witch Mountain. Within a few days he was getting acquainted with everyone, learning how they had lived on Home. Being mountain people, their dwellings were simple and fit into the environment. Some were underground, some were caves carved into rock, and some were simply thatch dwellings that, from the air, resembled a grassy knoll.
While clothing on their Home had been simple garments made of plain cloth, some now preferred to dress more in keeping with the customs of Earth. At Home no one wore shoes or had pockets - there was no need for them there. The rougher terrain of Earth caused some to use footwear, but made only of cloth.
Tony learned early on that, while his immediate family died in the crash of their lifeboat (except for Tia) everyone that survived the trip to Earth considered themselves family. They had all adopted the name Castaway, and everyone was "Aunt," "Uncle," or "Cousin." No exceptions. "Uncle" Bené was not really the brother of his father or mother, but that didn't make him any less a family member.
Being used to Earth customs, he was expecting to find a school building. He had been attending school all of his life, and usually hated it because he was so different from the other kids, and because he always felt he needed to take care of Tia. It took some time for him to get used to the idea that "school" for his people simply meant learning - all the time, every day, from every situation. Some of the people taught him how to build a dwelling from what he could find in nature. Some of them taught him how to hone his skills, such as manipulating matter, communicating in the language of Home without using his audible voice, and learning to communicate with the animals and trees.
Another adjustment for him was his people's use of technology. On the exterior, with their simple clothes and earthen dwellings, they seemed so . well, "primitive" was the only English word he could think of. But they had wonderful technology! They could monitor Earth transmissions by radio and television. They could even monitor "top secret" transmissions by the military and government. And yet Tony never saw many wires attached to the machines, and there were no towers or poles such as those he had seen in the city. It wasn't until much later that he learned how it all worked. The goal was not spying, of course, but self-preservation. They needed to know if anyone was onto their settlement or who they really were. And, of course they were always on the lookout for more people still missing from crashed lifeboats.
"Tony? Are you OK?" The voice of Tia broke his reverie. He snapped to, as if coming out of a trance, and said, "Oh . yeah. I'm fine. Just lost in thought, I guess."
"Is that all?" Tia responded, somewhat gently. She could sense a change in Tony . as if something dark was lurking under the surface. She had the ability to sense what others were feeling. In fact, her ability to do that was greater than most of her people had. And she could sense fear, uncertainty, anger, distrust, doubt . all clouding in Tony's eyes, in his soul. She feared for him. He had always been there for her. She would be there for him - no matter what.
LIFE ON WITCH MOUNTAIN
By Kevin Haynes
CHAPTER 1
Tony was exhausted. As he listened to the quiet hum of the lifeboat's motor, he couldn't help but turn over in his mind again and again the events of the past few days. What was supposed to have been a fun outing to the big city with his sister, Tia, turned nearly disastrous when he was kidnapped by a scientist and forced to do his bidding.
How had all of this come to be? His mind, wracked by confusion, wandered even farther back to his first day on Witch Mountain. He smiled inwardly as he thought about that name - "Witch Mountain." Back in the early 1900's, when the very first scouts from his home planet came to Earth to look for a place to live, they were scorned because they looked like "foreigners" and couldn't speak English. Being mountain dwellers on their home planet, this mountain in the eastern United States seemed perfect.
When the local people named that particular peak "Witch Mountain," Tony's people realized that it would only help them. People scared of witches, or anyone different from themselves, would stay away from the mountain. And that suited Tony's people just fine. They wanted to be left alone.
Of course, Tony's people weren't witches. They were aliens, extraterrestrials, "Martians." Their own planet was on a course that would take it into one of their suns - their world actually orbited two suns, a double star - and they had to find a new home quickly. Being mountain people did not mean they had no technology. They were light years ahead of Earth in that area, particularly because of the unique capabilities of their people.
While in appearance they resembled the citizens of Earth, there were many differences. No two people on Tony's planet possessed the exact same abilities, but some could energize matter simply by using their minds. All of them used an ultrasonic speech that Earth people could not hear - however, many of them were unable to form sounds that Earth people could hear, so they were considered mute . or "dumb," the term used generations ago. They also possessed unique sensory capabilities, which enabled them to commune with animals as well as sense when something was going to happen. It also allowed them to know if someone was telling the truth.
As proud as Tony had been of the differences between his people and those of Earth, he shuddered to think that twice in his brief life he had encountered Earthmen that would have given everything they had - and indeed, nearly did - to be able to control the power he possessed. What would they have done if they had known that many of his people were able to do far more than he could? Would they dare to actually mount an armed assault on his people?
Now approaching Witch Mountain, Tony remembered more of his first day there. After waiting for years to feel a part of something, and after running for his and Tia's lives for almost a week, it felt so . inviting . to be among his own kind. Everyone welcomed him, some verbally, some without moving their mouths. He searched the faces of his people, looking for any that were familiar, but he had been so young when they escaped their dying planet that most were completely unknown to him.
He remembered asking what the name of their planet had been. It had been less than 24 hours since he had realized he was not of Earth . now he couldn't wait to find out where he was from! He smiled to himself as he remembered his first reaction to the answer - it was a word he couldn't understand nor even pronounce! Of course, they had spoken a different language on their home planet, and that was the only language in which one could say the name of the planet. When he asked if anyone could tell him what that meant in English, Uncle Bené replied that the closest English word for it was simply "Home."
"Home!" Tony repeated it to himself. He was finally home! No more running . Home at last.
More and more information came quickly after his and Tia's arrival to Witch Mountain. Within a few days he was getting acquainted with everyone, learning how they had lived on Home. Being mountain people, their dwellings were simple and fit into the environment. Some were underground, some were caves carved into rock, and some were simply thatch dwellings that, from the air, resembled a grassy knoll.
While clothing on their Home had been simple garments made of plain cloth, some now preferred to dress more in keeping with the customs of Earth. At Home no one wore shoes or had pockets - there was no need for them there. The rougher terrain of Earth caused some to use footwear, but made only of cloth.
Tony learned early on that, while his immediate family died in the crash of their lifeboat (except for Tia) everyone that survived the trip to Earth considered themselves family. They had all adopted the name Castaway, and everyone was "Aunt," "Uncle," or "Cousin." No exceptions. "Uncle" Bené was not really the brother of his father or mother, but that didn't make him any less a family member.
Being used to Earth customs, he was expecting to find a school building. He had been attending school all of his life, and usually hated it because he was so different from the other kids, and because he always felt he needed to take care of Tia. It took some time for him to get used to the idea that "school" for his people simply meant learning - all the time, every day, from every situation. Some of the people taught him how to build a dwelling from what he could find in nature. Some of them taught him how to hone his skills, such as manipulating matter, communicating in the language of Home without using his audible voice, and learning to communicate with the animals and trees.
Another adjustment for him was his people's use of technology. On the exterior, with their simple clothes and earthen dwellings, they seemed so . well, "primitive" was the only English word he could think of. But they had wonderful technology! They could monitor Earth transmissions by radio and television. They could even monitor "top secret" transmissions by the military and government. And yet Tony never saw many wires attached to the machines, and there were no towers or poles such as those he had seen in the city. It wasn't until much later that he learned how it all worked. The goal was not spying, of course, but self-preservation. They needed to know if anyone was onto their settlement or who they really were. And, of course they were always on the lookout for more people still missing from crashed lifeboats.
"Tony? Are you OK?" The voice of Tia broke his reverie. He snapped to, as if coming out of a trance, and said, "Oh . yeah. I'm fine. Just lost in thought, I guess."
"Is that all?" Tia responded, somewhat gently. She could sense a change in Tony . as if something dark was lurking under the surface. She had the ability to sense what others were feeling. In fact, her ability to do that was greater than most of her people had. And she could sense fear, uncertainty, anger, distrust, doubt . all clouding in Tony's eyes, in his soul. She feared for him. He had always been there for her. She would be there for him - no matter what.