The decision was soon made, after establishing they were in the right city and discovering that Uncle Jack still had some money on him, to catch a bus that should get them within easy walking distance of home. They waited for a few minutes, none saying what was on all their minds. "Was Rick Marshall still living at the same house...or at all?"

Finally, the bus arrived and all stepped aboard, with Jack paying the bus fare for each. For a moment, he forgot himself upon seeing the cost of bus fare. "A dollar seventy-five for fare?!" he exclaimed.

The bus driver looked at the man strangely. "Yeah. So what?" he finally said.

Jack caught himself and waved it off saying, "Sorry. It's just been a while since I took the bus," and proceeded to insert twos $1's into the machine, receiving a change card to use on a later trip.

He quickly joined Will and Holly, who were already seated along one side. Will was admiring an attractive woman who was looking out the window, while Holly was fascinated with the strange-looking cordless telephones everyone seemed to have. She wouldn't have known what they were if she hadn't seen several people having conversations while talking into them. Will had noticed them as well, although he was more interested in how some people seemed to be using a finger to do things on the screen. It was more futuristic than something off of Star Trek.

Jack was busy worrying about the rest of his family who had apparently been without him for almost 40 years. What had happened to them? He was probably a grandfather by now...or even a great-grandfather! And what about his brother? He would be 77 years-old! How was he?

Before they knew it, it was time to pull the cable to signal for a stop, as they were just a few blocks away from the house that Rick, Will, and Holly had called home before their fateful trip that eventually led to their being trapped in the Land of the Lost.

Will noticed his sister was looking worried as they walked toward the house. "Don't worry, Holly. I'm sure Dad's fine. He'll be glad to see us."

The young woman smiled a little, "Yeah, especially if it's really been 40 years."

At last, they arrived in front of the house and anxiously walked up to the door.

"Do you still have your key?" Holly asked Will.

"No. Do you?"

"Nope. I guess we'll have to ring the doorbell," she replied, pressing the button.

After a few seconds, the door was answered by a girl about Holly's age. "Hi. Can I help you?"

"I'm sorry. We were looking for Rick Marshall," Jack spoke up.

"Dad?!" came a voice from inside the house.

The woman whom the voice belonged to walked from the kitchen, to the door. "Dad? Is that really you?" she asked in disbelief.

"I don't believe it...Laura?" Jack responded in disbelief.

Father and daughter shared a hug, before the strangeness of the situation registered with her. "Wait a minute. Is that Will and Holly with you? You all look the same as you did several decades ago. I think I need to sit down. Come on in."

Motioning for her daughter to come to her, Laura explained, "Melissa, this is your grandfather and your cousins Will and Holly."

A very confused Melissa, who'd been having a boring day up to this point, could only manage, "Ummm. Hi."

Everyone walked in and found places to sit in the living room. "Can I get you something to drink?" Melissa asked the group somewhat hesitantly.

Everyone accepted the offer and, after each stated their preference, Laura asked, "Okay. Now, what in the world is going on, here?"

The trio managed to cover the majority of their adventures, from the day Rick, Will, and Holly had gone rafting, to Jack going searching for them, up to the present. "I know it sounds crazy, but it really happened," Holly pleaded somewhat.

Laura had been nodding slowly, still in shock, somewhat, and finally replied, "I agree. It does sound crazy, but here you are right in front of me, all looking like you did 40 years ago. Since I don't believe in ghosts, I can only believe everything you said must be true."

"What happened to dad?" Holly finally had the opportunity to ask.

"As long as he was able to, he never stopped trying to find you. To be honest, everyone thought he was crazy when he told them you were all still alive, living in a parallel world. Some people had more sinister suspicions, but nobody really pushed the issue. My husband Tom and I moved here with Melissa and Jack a few years ago, to take care of him. He's been taking a nap, but I bet he's awake by now. Let's go see him," came the reply.

The group walked into what Will and Holly remembered as their father's bedroom. He was reclined in bed, watching TV, when they prepared to walk in. "Uncle Rick, there's some people here who want to see you," Laura announced, motion for the others to enter.

Rick's eyes lit up. "Will? Holly? Jack? Is that really you."

"It sure is, Dad," Will said as he and Holly each gave their father a big hug. Both noticed his now-silver hair and aged face that still carried the same strength they had always known.

"Wait. But what happened? You look like you did back in the 70s," Rick asked with some confusion. "How did you end up here?"

"Remember the time doorway Ta and Sa were getting their food from?" Holly asked.

Rick nodded slowly. "Yeah."

"Well, 3 years afterward, when the moons lined up right, we were going to try to go through it again, but something went wrong and we ended up here."

Marshall looked as his family sorrowfully, "I hate that you missed out on so much, but you don't know how happy I may that you finally made it home. I wasn't sure I'd ever see you kids again."

"We thought the same thing, Dad," replied Will.

As father and children continued to talk, Jack asked his daughter, "So tell me about my son-in-law and grandkids."

Laura smiled, "Well, Tom is an architect and we've been married for 23 years, now. Our son Jack is playing football at Cal, and Melissa is getting ready to start college, this fall," she began.

For the rest of the afternoon, everyone had a wonderful time catching up on everything that had happened, before Tom arrived and had to be brought up to speed. He was more skeptical than his wife, but eventually came to believe everything that had been said, especially after noticing the resemblance these people had to old pictures he'd seen.

After everyone had eaten dinner, Jack asked, "Hey Tom, can we go outside for a little while? I never got to know you."

"Sure. Why not?"

Eventually, after talking to his children for a few more hours, Rick was ready for bed. At that point, Holly and Melissa paired off to go talk. Holly was so glad to have another girl, especially one her age, to hang out with. Will alternated between talking to Laura and occasionally stepping outside just to walk around by himself.

At last, everyone was ready to get some sleep. For the time being, Holly would sleep on the floor in Melissa's room, Will on the couch, and Jack in a recliner. As Laura attempted to apologize for the lack of extra sleeping space, Will pointed out, "We've spent the last 5 years in a cave or an ancient temple sleeping on a stone floor. Even carpeting is an improvement."

Finally, everybody was ready to get some rest and see what tomorrow would bring.