A Trip to Remember: Part Four

     “Wake up, sleepyhead! We’re on Mystery Island – and it’s sunny outside! The rain went away. Come on! Let’s go down to the beach.” Shei shook the Gelert awake. “Come on!” she said again. “Get up!”

     “Okay,” Dellayn said drowsily, desperately trying to open her tired eyes. “I’m awake. What’s for breakfast?” Yawning, Delly managed to sit up and pull herself to her feet.

     “The banans I bought yesterday. I saved them. Are you hungry? I bought a bunch.” Shei tossed one to Dellayn and started to peel open another for herself.

     Dellayn lazily peeled hers, waiting until Shei took her first bite. These “fat bananas” still looked funny to her.

     “Mmm,” Shei mumbled as she took a huge bite. After she swallowed, she added, “These are perfect! Come on, Del, try it. You’ll like it, I promise.”

     Dellayn hesitantly took a bite. Shei was right – it did taste like a banana, maybe even slightly sweeter. “It was all right,” she said as she finished it. “I think I like normal bananas better, though.”

     Shei just rolled her eyes and peeled open another one. “Well, this is all I have left for breakfast, so if you’re still hungry, we’ll have to stop by Tropical Foods on our way to the beach.”

     After a light breakfast of banans and azzle sauce, Shei and Dellayn grabbed their towels, bags, and sandals, then headed to the beach.

     “Isn’t it beautiful?” Shei asked as they surveyed the sandy area.

     “Yeah,” Dellayn muttered, “if you like sand in your toes and huge crowds.”

     It was true. The crowd that had squished into the Trading Post the day before was now scattered about among the beach – basking in the sun, basking under the shade of an umbrella, swimming in the water, or playing volleyball.

     “Come on, let’s go find a spot to lay out our towels. Did you bring the sunscreen?” Shei asked, leading the way to a vacant spot in the sand. They didn’t have umbrellas, so they made sure to stick their sandals underneath their towels – that way the sun wouldn’t make them too hot.

     After smearing on waterproof sunscreen, the friends raced to the ocean. Shei’s first words when her toes touched the water were, “Brr! The water is freezing!” She shivered, but jumped in. The coolness of the ocean reminded her of the snow on Terror Mountain, but it felt refreshing as the sun rose higher and got warmer. They got used to the cold, and after that it took away some of the chilly bite.

     After riding the waves for a few hours, Shei and Dellayn retreated slowly to their towels, exhausted. Shei was the first to fall over on her sea shell print towel, making sure not to get any sand on her wet fur. Dellayn followed her example, plopping down on her song flower print towel.

     “Did you bring anything to drink?” Dellayn asked, her mouth tasting salty from the ocean. It wasn’t a pleasant taste, and it left her terribly thirsty.

     “Oh!” Shei gasped, remembering. “Yes, I did. I brought a few bottles of water. Thanks for reminding me! I was getting awfully thirsty.” She dug through her backpack until she found what she was looking for, and handed a bottle filled with fresh water to Dellayn. She also pulled out a small plastic bag of chocolate coated pretzels. “Want some?” she asked, offering the bag to her friend. “I found these in my bag this morning, near the bottom. Kela must have packed them. Good thing they didn’t get too crushed!”

     A few of the pretzels were smashed into smaller pieces, but that was fine – they ate them anyways. When the bag was emptied, Dellayn started complaining. “I’m hungry,” she moaned. “Can we go get some food?”

     “I’m hungry too,” Shei said, “but I want to stay at the beach a little longer. Don’t you? It’s so pretty today.” She looked over the long stretch of beach.

     Dellayn groaned. “How much longer is a little?” That’s when she spotted something moving in the sand, right next to her toes. Eyes wide, she stared at the spot and slowly began moving her paws onto the towel.

     “Not much longer,” Shei replied. “Just a few minutes. I want to get the scene stuck in my head, so I can describe it really well to Kela. You know what I mean? It’s like, taking a picture in my head, but instead being able to look at a photograph, you have to remember every detail.” The Lupe glanced over at her friend when there was no response. “What in Neopia are you doing?” she asked, giving her a quizzical look.

     “There’s... something under the sand!” Dellayn whispered. Her eyes were glued to the moving spot.

     Shei just rolled her eyes. “Calm down,” she said. “It’s probably just a crab. This is a beach, you know. Crabs live here.”

     Dellayn tried to relax, replacing her paws where they were before – next to “the spot.” It’s okay, she told herself. It’s just a crab. It won’t hurt you – right? Oh, calm down! You’ll be fine, Delly. Crabs don’t bite.

     She was right. They don’t. But at that moment, after Dellayn turned her gaze to the ocean, a small crab climbed out of the hole it was digging. Dellayn’s paws were right there – in the way.

     “OUCH!” the Gelert shrieked, jumping to her feet.

     “What?!” Shei yelled, jumping to her feet as well. She pushed her paw to her heart, which was now beating rapidly. “Scare me half to death, why don’t you!” she gasped. “What’s wrong?”

     “Something – that crab or something – pinched me! It pinched my toes! Then it left.” Dellayn was scanning the sand, lifting up her wounded paw. “It hurt!” she wailed. “Can we please go now?”

     “Fine,” Shei grumbled, picking up her things. “We’ll go. Is your paw okay?”

     “It’ll be fine,” Del mumbled, grabbing her beach bag and towel. “Let’s just go.”

     They stopped by Tombola on their way back to the hotel. Their ticket was number 56, and they didn’t win anything special – just a booby prize: an unlabelled tin can.

     “What do you think is in it?” Dellayn asked, testing the weight of the can in her paw.

     “Who knows?” Shei replied. “It’s probably old beans from like three years ago or something. I wouldn’t suggest opening it.”

     Tropical Foods was right next to Tombola, so they stopped in to pick up lunch. There wasn’t much in stock at that time, so they both settled for starfish sandwiches and cocoa Juppies, along with a jug of lemonade, which they took back to the hotel.

     After lunch, Shei and Dellayn started their letters to their owners, since they hadn’t been able to the previous day.

     Dear Kela,

     Mystery Island is beautiful! Get this, though – yesterday it rained ALL day. We arrived by ferry about mid-morning, and it was already pouring down rain by then. We stopped by the Tiki Tack Shop and Tropical Foods and got some neat stuff, though, which was nice. then we found the hotel and sat around for a while.

     After that, we visited the Trading Post. It was SO fun! We stayed there for hours, and I found so many cool things. They even had stuff I’ve never seen or heard of before! Have YOU ever heard of a prismatic sea fern before? Or an everlasting apple! It sounds neat and looks really cool, but it’s crazy expensive. I wonder why?

     We played Tombola today – our prize was this weird tin can that had no label. I told Dellayn not to open it, but she did anyway. I don’t know WHAT the stuff inside was, but boy, did it SMELL! Dellayn learned a very important lesson – “when in doubt, Shei is always right.” Don’t you think it’s true?

     Dellayn also got pinched in the toes by a crab today at the beach. It was really funny, but I didn’t laugh because I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. She was pretty freaked out, and she made me leave the beach immediately after.

     I love starfish sandwiches!

     Shei

     The Lupe signed her name, drawing a little heart over the “i”. She was beginning to miss her owner, sisters, and petpet. But there was still three more days left of her vacation! They left the next morning for Meridell, and she was excited about that.

     Dellayn made sure not to mention the tin can incident – her owner would tease her mercilessly if she ever found out – not to mention her sister!

     Hi, Pix!

     You’ll never believe what happened to me today. It was the WORST! I got pinched by a crab! Can you believe that?! It hurt like crazy. I could tell Shei was laughing at me on the inside (best friends can see right through each other), but I know she kept it in so she wouldn’t hurt my feelings. It’s a bittersweet thought.

     Yesterday I had a GREAT day at the Trading Post. I found so many new books! I even got a few for Chez. There’s even an encyclopedia or two you might be interested in. Do you know if Chez likes the smell of lavender?

     Have you ever heard of a “banan”? It’s this weird, fat banana fruity-thing. Shei says it tastes exactly the same as a normal banana, but it really doesn’t. Oh, I forgot – you don’t like bananas, do you? Oh well.

     I also found another snowglobe at the Trading Post! It’s very cute. It’s a little blue Kacheek. I know you’ll like it! I’ve decided to start a collection – that is, if I manage to find any other globes. I’m going to try and talk Shei into going back to the Trading Post right now. Wish me luck!

     Sincerely,

     Dellayn

     * * *

     “Look! Isn’t that cute?” Dellayn asked, pointing at a winter card. “What an adorable scene. It totally makes me think of Happy Valley.”

     “Mmmhmm,” Shei mumbled, only half-listening. “Hey, look – there’s another snowglobe.”

     Instantly, Dellayn was by Shei’s side. “Where? Ohh!” It was a Journey to the Lost Isle Snowglobe, and of course, Dellayn had to have it. She immediately began counting out her neopoints.

     While Dellayn was busy doing that, Shei found one of the longest book titles she’d ever seen: Everything You Need to Know About Your JubJub. It made her wonder what her little sister, Alyett, would think of it. Aly loved to read, but she couldn’t stand weird titles.

     A little while later, Shei found the perfect book for her friend: A Collector’s Guide to Snowglobes. She bought it secretly, while Dellayn was busy admiring some faerie erasers.

     “Jelly!” Dellayn exclaimed a few minutes after that, staring at someone’s trade of six different jellies. “Those look so good.” She stared at them for a few seconds and then kept walking.

     Shei found a book called The Plushie Coffee Table Book, which she bought for Kela. Kela adored everything plushie. Dellayn bought an air faerie hair clip for her sister, still feeling a little bad for not inviting her to the trip.

     Dear Kela,

     Our last day on Mystery Island was fun. We even got to watch the sunset on the beach last night! It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.

     I have to go now – the ferry is almost here. We’re on our way to Meridell! I’ll try and write you again tonight or tomorrow, but I just wanted to send a little note your way.

     Miss you! Tell the girls I miss them too.

     Shei

To be continued...