The Astral Projection Protection Propulsion Device.

They had taken the ASTRAL PROJECTION PROTECTION PROPULSION DEVICE. The APPPV. Who? I have no idea. But it was very important that I get it back. I needed answers, fast. So I went to the TREE.

The sign appeared on the tree and on the amazing pears hanging from it's branches on this dark starless night. Was it the power or the strength or the intense projection of desire in my mind for a solution to the problem I was facing that made it happen?. Not at all. It was magic, well, sort of. And it started me on a fantastic journey fraught with danger and mystery. But, what I gained in the end was worth the frustration.

More Alien Technology than magic.

There was the map, drawn on the tree, and mirrored on the pears in such detail that it was almost impossible to believe it was not there one minute, but there the next. The map contained clues. But this was not a map of directions, this was a visual map with characters.

You see, like Midas and his golden hand, I had a magic pear tree, whenever I touched the tree it gave me messages from my planet. Suddenly it had become the center of a very intriguing and adventurous undertaking.

What did the various arrows pointing to a large sundial, the picture of a cucumber shaped dome at 30 St. Mary Axe, a man with a horse and a picture with facts about Jamaica mean. I had no clue. I knew I had to unravel the meaning behind each picture and figure out how they all connected to lead me to my destination. The fifth piece of the puzzle, the mystic pear, I already knew the answer to.

The power of the mind can be harnessed to the power of the nth to infinity. My people had figured out this power and harnessed it.

I started my research quickly, there was no time to waste. The faster I figured the clues out, the nearer I would get to the answers.

I had taken pictures of the map. I also took them frame by frame to get a clearer snapshot of them individually.

I typed in Large dome and Large domes of the world, nothing, Where can we find large outdoor domes shaped like a cucumber?. Ping. London. Then, 'No access' popped up. No access?. It's a regular everyday question. Then I realized, they were monitoring my house, my computer, my life.

I typed in large outdoor sundials. Ping. London. 'No access.' This was getting ridiculous. So the dome and sundial were in London. Flag of Jamaica insinuating the color black, gold and green, but not red, white or blue was a bit baffling.

I should give you a brief history about myself and my family and the event that started this unbelievable miasma of circumstances.

We are not from this planet. We were banished from our home planet and cursed with immortality. With us was sent the 'Astral Protection Projection Propulsion mechanism/lifeline' that we need to possess and partake of to continue our existence on your planet.

Without this object we could not hope to return to our homeland when the time was right. We would do anything to get it back.

Yes, my family is, more or less, IMMORTAL. No, it is not a joke. We do not die. We have riches untold, our planet is made up of emeralds and diamonds, much like stones on the ground here. We receive an ample supply to keep us well situated in your world. One of my family members inadvertently gave away our secret to a group of government spies. They had been trying for ages to understand why we accumulated, owned and funded businesses, built schools, playgrounds, helped colleges and universities and funded many philanthropical ventures all over the world without a visible source of income.

We have mortal spouses and produce immortal children. Unfortunately we have been outliving our spouses for generations. They are sworn to secrecy once they enter the family. It is heartbreaking, but it is the reality of who we are. I am not yet in possession of a spouse, I am a free agent.

We have tried to live as modestly as we can, but there are always those family members who lose their ways sometimes and revel in an obscene life of luxury which raises a myriad of questions to the watching eyes.

We live on a huge expanse of farmland with a great house, it is huge and maze like and was built that way because we have a lot to hide. You could easily get lost in it. There are many outlying buildings and structures which house our workers. But, it is a farm, no one was suspicious of the space, farms needed space. We cultivated pears, there were pear trees everywhere. Pears are basically perennial fruits, so hiding our intricate and special pear trees was easy. They were hidden in plain sight. Regular pears until touched by the right hands.

So, I retrieved the miniature propulsion device and with the right coordinates teleported myself to London. The miniature can transport us within this world, the Original can take us to our home planet. They have our 'home' and we must get it back. I was at 30 St. Mary Axe. I hurriedly and cautiously proceeded inside. The building map had names for all but the top floor. It read 'Anonymous'. Instinctively, I knew this was where I needed to go.

I turned invisible. What? I am from another planet. One armed guard. Sorry, I bonked him on the head. 'Splat". Down he went, with a groan. I could not let him alert whoever was inside. I opened the huge door, the only one in sight. There were five rather large menacing looking men standing around a table. They all turned as one as the door opened, seeing no one, they went closer to get a better look, the door had been locked, again, magic. While they puzzled this, I saw that the object of their gaze on the table was the picture of the large sundial, with symbols and directions. I grabbed it, and raced past them out the door. All they saw was the picture flying past them. I ran, hard and fast.

Teleporting to the sundial was easy, I had the exact location on the photograph. I looked around, the dial pointed directly to the Jamaican High Commission in London with the flag on top of the building. Invisibility was a handy tool. To sum up the story, there was the picture of the man with the horse, one of England's wealthiest men on the wall. Sir Anthony Fellwell. I knew where to go.

The great palatial home of this man was formidable. Well guarded and equipped with motion detectors and state of the art surveillance systems. Whatever they were protecting was highly guarded and almost impossible to access.

I waited impatiently for someone to open the gate, then darted in, unseen. I picked up a small stone as I neared the door to the house. As soon as anyone exited or entered they utilized a keypad. I did not need the code, I simply entered when a guard opened the door. Invisibility was very useful. The inside keypad controlled......the guard punched in numbers, laser beams flashed all around the room. I groaned silently.

It took me a while to navigate between the annoying beams to get to the long corridor. There were no guards here. Not needed I guess, those menacing lasers would fry you alive. I walked past many doors. All locked. At the end of the corridor was a huge sign 'DO NOT ENTER THIS AREA. AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY'. I heard whirring and buzzing. There was another keypad. I entered the code and a wall slid open. No one saw me.

Inside, on a lower level was what looked like a huge otherworldly spaceship. Is that why they wanted the APPPVD?. They had no clue the danger they would unleash if they figured out the secret of this device. In the wrong hands it had catastrophic consequences, the power of an atomic bomb, destroying everything and everyone in the city and beyond. Luckily my drunken cousin had not told them how to use it since we were all still alive. They would have done so by now.

I gingerly walked down the stairs, threw the tiny stone against the far wall where it landed with a loud ping on the aluminum, distracting them. I walked swiftly to my APPPVD, it was closed but not locked in a space with small glass doors. I was now wearing my 'Cloak of Invisibility', I quickly opened the doors, grabbed my device and secreted it under the cloak. I made it to the stairs before someone realized that it was missing.

Pandemonium broke out.

"What is going on", someone yelled.

"The device is missing".

"What, who removed it".

"I didn't".

"We don't have it".

"Find it. Or you are all fired, or worse." Obviously the person in charge or Sir Anthony himself.

I ran up the stairs, dialed the code and took off down the corridor. I barely had time to manipulate myself through the lasers when a slew of guards came tearing down the corridor behind me. I waited. They looked around, determined that there was no one there, then opened the door to the outside.

Yes!. I bolted past them. I had to wait for the gate to the outside to be opened. I heard dogs. That was not good. Invisible or not, I would not fool the dogs. They came running towards me, two huge monstrous looking hounds, they both stopped, puzzled, then bared their teeth and advanced. My only escape was to use the APPPVD.

I took it from under the cloak, activated the cloaking shield and stood still. The guards had seen the device, but not me. It had magically appeared out of thin air. I returned it to invisibility. They came near and reached out to touch the air. I simply moved. The dogs barked, them whined as their nosed pressed against the shield. They all stood there, men and dogs not knowing what to do.

They huddled to confer with one another. One went to open the gate to see if anyone was out there. I saw my chance, out came the APPPVD again, I removed the cloaking, it slowed me down. I ran. The dogs tried to dash after me, but the guards held on tightly to them, they could not release them unto the street.

I turned a corner and used my device to teleport myself back home.

Crisis averted. We cloaked our farm in the guise of a large expanse of forest, and moved to another secret location. I cannot disclose where this all took place or where we went next. It is a secret. They watched it for a whole year, before giving up and starting their search elsewhere.

You can walk through the forest, but all you will see are regular trees. You can even pick a pear or two. We have pear trees all over the world.

Catch us if you can.