Chapter ten:

Kim dodged under a low hanging branch, she wish she could be enjoying herself as much as the others, but she couldn't. How could she not remember going to the beach with her parents. Splashing in the waves with her dad. She let out a sigh, why had her daddy left her? Usually the little girl didn't think much of it, but being at the beach had brought them to the front of her mind.

She shook her head, being a mermaid sucks, she thought to herself. Jason, Zack and Trini were all splashing in the waves while Billy and Lori were exploring the zip line network across the island.

Kim had decided that she needed some time alone so she had decided to explore the jungle below. Tonight at sundown was the start of the feast of heroes, another one of the Eltarian holidays that Zordon was teaching them.

Just then there was a rustling sound as Billy dropped down from a zip line platform, "Are you okay?" The little boy asked.

Kim nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine." Then, "Why don't Mommy and Daddy love me anymore?"

Billy rubbed the back of his neck the way his daddy use to do when he asked a difficult question. For crying out loud he was only seven, how was he suppose to answer that question? Sure he knew a lot of stuff, he was smart after all, but he didn't know how to answer that question. And he didn't like saying I don't know. So he did the next best thing, he changed the subject, "Want to go for a swim in the reef?"

Kim nodded wiping at watery eyes, that was something that probably wouldn't make her think of her parents.

...

Linda Denman dropped anchor and peered through a pair of binoculars at the small tropical island. She snorted, why did rich people have to flaunt their money around by buying unrealistic things. Who needed an island get away anyway?

She wished she could get closer, but that would be trespassing. There had to be a way to get on the island without being caught. Just then a sudden wave rocked the boat. Linda Denman hurried over to pull her underwater camera that she had underneath her boat up, if the motion sensor worked it should have taken a picture of whatever had just swam pass at such a high speed. Ask she had to do was develop the film.

...

The reef was beautiful, and Kim couldn't help but enjoy the fact that she was swimming with the dolphins. It was fun, and Billy and Lori were on either side of her. This was what made life special. No parents just her and her friends, no her and her siblings.

...

Zordon glanced up at the sky, half an hour until Sun down, he better call the children in. The Feast of Heroes was a sentimental holiday for him. As a child it meant staying up late telling stories. That had changed after his mother's death. On Eltar, a hero was someone who made a difference on someone else's life, so suddenly the holiday went from celebrating living people and dead people he never met, too honoring his mother and the lost of his family who turned their back in him after that.

Zordon made sure that the candles were placed in the right slots of the Galbrenda, black candle in the left slot to represent those who had died beforehand. The red candle in the center, the highest one, that represents the sacrifices made today, and the white candle went on the right, the hope of a better future.

The Galbrenda was a common center piece for many of the Eltarian Celebrations. Different colored candles in the different slots meant different things. Rumor had it that long ago they used the Galbrenda as a way to pass messages during a time of war.

Zordon shook his head to clear it, Salpika Fretaya was just a fun holiday for the children, like Halloween. But Fretaya Gal was something completely different. Everything done was done for a specific reason.

"Hey what is that," Zack asked, entering the main room of the bungalow, picking up a candlestick to examine it.

Zordon grabbed it back, "The Galbrenda represents the past present and future. The different colored candles ran something different depending on the colors you use and the order you put them."

As the children gathered around the coffee table, Zordon explained what each candle represented before he lit the first candle, "Black for those no longer with us," he picked the candle up from its holder and touched it to the red candle wick, "gave birth to the sacrifice today," he placed the black candle back into its place and picked up the red candle to repeat the ritual with the white candle, "So our future might be bright."

After lighting the candles Zordon smiled, "The candles will stay lit until dawn."

"Then what?" Trini asked.

"Then we light them again tomorrow at sundown." Zordon explained, "Tonight we tell stories and write letters to our love ones."

...

Zordon looked around the room, everyone was writing letters to their parents and other family members. Tomorrow they will go to shore and mail the letters, and tomorrow night he will teach them how to send letters through candles.

However as he looked around he noticed that Kim wasn't writing any letters.

"Kim what's wrong?" He asked gently, pulling her to the side.

"I don't have anyone to write to," she explained, "Mommy and Daddy don't love me and I don't know why."

Zordon let out a sigh, he had known that someday, at some point, one of the children would say something like this to him and he would have to explain it to them in a way that they can understand.

"Well, Kim you see..." he paused how do you explain it to a seven year old?

"They're stupid, and don't realize how totally awesome you are." Zack interrupted hugging Kim after sneaking over to see what they where talking about.

Zordon blinked and almost corrected him, before deciding, since he was right to just let it go, Kim didn't seem upset about it.