Day 39: The 99th Page Blogfest

So here's my 99th page for the 99th Page Blogfest. This is from a first draft, so I'm sure mistakes abound. Criticisms and comment are welcome! 

Penny is finally getting answers about her parents and other things from old Emerson.

     “Then that's the age they will appear. I think the Shores allow a person to age up until a certain point. They were created by the Gods and the Gods are a very narcissistic bunch. Most of them only want beauty in their lands. To them the young are beautiful, the old are not,” Emerson looked intently at Penny, obviously trying to gauge whether or not she understood it all.

     “You said its not uncommon for oneironauts to show up in different time periods. So, you can come back to Earth from the Shores?” Penny asked.

     “Yes, but when you return, Earth will recognize you and age you to the point you were when you left. Some oneironauts will spend five or ten years here then spend decades in the City of Dreams then return to Earth for another five or so years. Some decide to live out their one Earth lifetime in one go,” Emerson said as he thumbed through yet another album.

     “But, my parents don't show any aging. Why?” Penny was getting a funny feeling in her stomach.

     Emerson didn't answer immediately, but laid out the next album for Penny to see. It was different than the others. The pages were yellowed, everything was hand written, and it was leather bound. It smelled of years of dust. She looked at the picture. There were her parents once again in black and white. They stared out without smiling. Her mother sat on a chair and wore a very modest dress, the skirt went down to the floor and looked heavy and voluminous. Her hair was pulled up in a bun at the base of her neck and had a severe center part. Next to her, stood Penny's father. He wore a dark suit that wasn't tailored very well. His always present mustache was longer than usual, coming to points that stuck out from his face.

     Penny looked at what was written below the image: “Mr. Barnaby Masters and Mrs. Celia Masters, Founders of the Institute, 1896”.

     “What does all this mean?” Penny said as she stared at the page. Her stomach was doing flip flops now and her cheeks felt flushed.