Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life Read online

  “True,” he admits. “But I still have to abide by the same fundamental laws of nature as everyone else.”

  Gluck puts his hand on my arm. “Listen, Joss. What happened to Kal is very straightforward. As the arrow of time sped backward, his parents got younger and younger. As the billions of years wound down, and the last of their essence was lost, Kal was lost, too.”

  I turn to Dad for verification of this. He nods. “I’m sorry, son, but look on the bright side. Kal doesn’t know he’s gone, so he’s not suffering.” He gestures over to the sleeping girl. “And now you have a new companion. She seems… nice.”

  “And she has a lot of spunk,” adds Gluck.

  I know they’re just trying to be helpful, but do they really think Kal, who was supposed to be my sidekick for the rest of eternity, can be replaced by a strange girl from a terrestrial planet who hates red parkas and will live no longer than two billion heartbeats? I shake my head. “Gluck has pimples that have longer life spans than her.”

  “Now that’s just rude,” Dad scolds.

  “I’ll let it go,” Gluck says, “since you’re obviously upset.”

  “How can she even BE here?” I ask. “We don’t have an atmosphere like Earth’s at all. No oxygen or sunlight or any of the things she needs to live.”

  Dad shrugs. “And yet she lives.”

  “For now, anyway,” Gluck adds.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You saw how easily she fell asleep.”

  “So?”

  “Never mind that now,” my father says. “We have more important things to worry about than her sleeping habits. We have a living human in The Realms for the first time in the history of the universe. This is exactly why the consequences for viewing The Realms are so swift and dire. Anomalies like this.” He grimaces, but I wonder if it’s heartfelt. My father enjoys a good mystery too much not to be enjoying this at least to some degree.

  My thoughts are swirling. Kal is gone. Annika is here. And then it hits me. “But Dad! If Annika is the one who saw Aunt Rae, and she’s stuck here in The Realms, then she can’t tell anyone about us. That means you can bring back her planet without having to worry about upsetting the natural order of things, or whatever you said before. And then Kal and his parents will come back!”

  Dad grips my shoulder. “Joss, I cannot bring her planet back. It does not exist anymore. You must accept it. Kal will always be alive in your memories.”

  I cringe at his words. I can’t accept it, no matter what he says. I have no experience with losing anyone. Immortality in The Realms can be incredibly, mind-numbingly, chew-your-own-foot-off boring, but on the plus side, no death. Except now, apparently, with a chain of events that started with some girl looking in the wrong spot at the wrong time and ended with my best friend going poof, never to be seen again.

  I shake my head. “There must be something—”

  “She’s waking up,” Dad says, cutting me off. “Go over there and convince her this is still a dream.”

  But I don’t move. I don’t want to talk to the girl ever again. All of this—ALL OF IT—is her fault. I’ve never ignored a direct order from my father before, but I just can’t do it. I dig my heels into the floor. Literally, I push them in a few inches.

  Dad scowls. “You don’t have a choice, Joss. If she figures out where she is, who knows what the cosmic consequences would be. At the very least she can’t know what happened to her planet, her family and friends. It’s up to you to protect her. To protect The Realms.”

  Dad always did have a flair for the dramatic. How am I supposed to take care of this girl? Mom won’t even let us have a pet even though we all promised to help take care of it. Forget a pet, she won’t even let me have a plant! I’m about to dig my heels in even further, when a gasp from across the room diverts our attention.

  Annika is standing in front of the huge window, staring wide eyed at the billions of galaxies swirling before her. Slowly, she lifts her arm and points straight out at them. “WHAT in the WORLD is THAT?”

  Also by Wendy Mass:

  A Mango-Shaped Space

  Leap Day

  Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall

  Every Soul a Star

  The Candymakers

  Praise and accolades for

  Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life:

  “This exquisitely executed plot twist, combined with an ending that requires a few tissues, makes this soulful novel one not to miss.”

  —Publishers Weekly, starred review

  “This is an unforgettable book that you will want to give to someone the minute you reluctantly turn the final page.”

  —BookPage

  “Well-written and captivating; the reader gets a chance to discover the meaning of life as well and will not be disappointed.”

  —KLIATT

  “[A] warm picture of parental love and wisdom and of a boy growing into his understanding and acceptance of life.”

  —School Library Journal

  “Mass fashions an adventure in which both journey and destination are worth the trip.”

  —The Horn Book

  “Readers will be hooked by the kids’ fast, funny urban adventure, as well as by the quest and the ‘existential crisis.’ ”

  —Booklist

  Junior Library Guild Premier Selection

  Book Sense Children’s Pick

  Texas Lone Star Reading List Selection

  Contents

  Welcome

  Dedication

  Epigraph

  Preface

  Chapter 1: The Box

  Chapter 2: The Explanation

  Chapter 3: The Keys

  Chapter 4: The Flea Market

  Chapter 5: Plan F

  Chapter 6: The Office

  Chapter 7: The Job

  Chapter 8: The Old Man

  Chapter 9: The Book

  Chapter 10: Oswald Oswald

  Chapter 11: The Lamp

  Chapter 12: The Existential Crisis

  Chapter 13: The Telescope

  Chapter 14: Life, the Universe, and Everything

  Chapter 15: The Boardwalk

  Chapter 16: Flotsam and Jetsam

  Chapter 17: Milestones

  Chapter 18: The State Fair

  Chapter 19: Happy Birthday

  Chapter 20: The String

  About the Author

  A Preview of Pi in the Sky

  Also by Wendy Mass

  Praise and accolades for Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life:

  Copyright

  Copyright

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Copyright © 2006 by Wendy Mass

  Apple quote on here by Ken Kesey

  Universe quote on here by JBS Haldene

  Music quote on here by Mickey Hart

  A section in Chapter 12 originally appeared in similar form as “The Invisible Boy,” Girl’s Life, Volume 8 #5, April/May 2002.

  The Tale of Two Wolves, in Chapter 19, is a Native American folk tale.

  The American Museum of Natural History as described in Chapter 13 is a fictionalized version.

  All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected] Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  Little, Brown and Company

  Hachette Book Group

  237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017

  www.hachettebookgroup.com

  Second e-book edition: November 2010

  Little, Brown and Company is a division of Hachette Book Group