The Silent Girl (Chapter 17)

 Written by An Makes and Mei Makes.

 *Disclaimer*: This is a work of fiction. Some events may be based on real life, but some events are made up. 

Clara soon caught up to me, she was a faster sprinter then I was. She quickly caught me and hauled me back. Why couldn’t there be any peace here? To bad Clara was faster than me. Wah, wah, wah. That’s too bad. I struggled to get loose, but Clara was better at wrestling and quickly pinned me on the ground. “Why are you running away?” She asked me, furiously. “Don’t you see that an important matter is going on, you can’t just abandon Mingmei and I! Even Ava came!” 

Suddenly, anger surged through my veins, and into my brain. I was angry at Clara for not understanding and accusing me, angry at Uncle Harry for turning me pink, and being such a jerk, and even Ye Ye for bringing us on this trip. I was confused why I was angry at Ava, but I just was. I felt like I was angry at everybody! That’s when it all piled up. 

“That’s it, I’m leaving!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, without even realizing. “I’m leaving for the better!” I kicked Clara as hard as I could, and she let out a terrifying scream of pain. Satisfied, I broke into a run that carried me up a tree, and to an abandoned tree-house. I was exhausted, and my tired legs found themselves wandering into the creaky old shack. I fell on the bed, into a deep, deep sleep, bringing me into the hands of danger… 

In my dream, which seemed very realistic, to realistic, was a huge creepy man, who was known to cut off the heads of people he didn’t like. This man was the King of The World. His nephew was the true king, but the uncle had killed him. All the guards were cursed and were like robots to the false king. Every day, everybody had to line up and hope that their heads would not fall off. The only way to not get killed if the king didn’t like you was to pay 1,000,000 dollars. Not everybody had a million dollars. Most people didn’t. I sure didn’t. I was in the back of the line, hoping my head wouldn’t fall off. My brother and three of my sisters had already died and I was the only lucky one, besides one of my sisters and my dad. My name was May and my sister was named June.

After what seemed like forever, (a year or so) June and I made it close enough to see the execution castle, which was still maybe a mile away, but it was gigantic. I heard someone scream and a shiver went through my soul. We were hugging each other for warmth, for we had

 reached the section where it was cold and harsh as the strongest winter. We were starving, and our frail bodies would hold only a little over a week. We waited and waited, and after a few days, we came upon the water and food stall. There is a water and food stall every 10 miles. I sighed in relief. There were some people who would help us and give us food for free! They risked their lives for us. “We’re almost there.” I hoarsely encouraged June, since we hadn’t drank in days. June faintly nodded and I helped her, because I was a little stronger.

We finally arrived, and they quietly prayed for everybody's lives. Then we got a little bit of baguette bread, some butter, an orange, a few juicy grapes, and three cups of luke-warm water. We rested at the benches for half an hour, but then we heard the hooves of the strongest horses with evil people on them. Probably the King and his evil protectors. The people at the counter quickly packed everything up, and we hurried to go back in line, our tummies still grumbling, and our mouths watering, as we sniffed out the lingering smell of the delicious food. (I was still dreaming, to give you a little heads-up.)

“Hi!” I heard a little voice say. “Who are you?” I asked hoarsely. “We are the tiny monkey Quadruplets.” they all said together. Then, two of them said, ”My name is Clara.” and the other two said”, And I am Isabella. All four of us are going to help you. We have orders from The One and Only Monkey the Great. We will each carry one of your legs.” “That’s right.”, Clara 1 and Clara 2 said. Then Isabella 1 and Isabella 2 said, “We are going to take you to The One and Only Monkey the Great.”

The monkey’s started carrying us in the same direction that we were supposed to go. Then they suddenly swerved left, and we disappeared into the lush greenery that carpeted the sides of the snowy trail. I marveled at the tropical canopy, full of beautiful, exotic creatures of all shapes and sizes. I saw June marvel too. We watched as a Toucan flapped its wings to land at the next tree, and show off it’s giant beak. I startled when a snake slithered down a nearby tree, and passed me without a sound. I gasped when a giant bird, a macaw as blue as the clearest sky appeared bathing in the sunlight, like a fairy, showing off its beauty. Then the blue macaw dived, and landed right on my head, with a piece of fruit that dropped gracefully into my hand. 

It turned out, the same thing had happened to June, except with a red macaw. We happily munched away, and the monkey’s smiled, obviously glad we were enjoying ourselves. Suddenly, we felt the urge to trust them. I knew they had something in mind for us but I also felt that we should not leave. After all, I had heard rumors that the King was going to start killing children. I wouldn’t be surprised that we wouldn’t survive if the monkeys hadn’t come.

Over the next few days, we stuffed our bellies full with all sorts of tropical, fruity delicacies. I was almost disappointed when Clara 1 and Clara 2 announced that we were arriving in approximately ten minutes, until, when we finally emerged from the forest, I saw something that made me gasp in awe. 

Across a dried-out wheat field, there was a small carpet of sand, that sat snugly next to an ocean shore. The water was a glistening aqua color, like the most shining diamond, that made people from all over the world bunch up in crowds, pushing each other just to catch a glance of the diamond. Across the glistening water, about a mile away, lay a small Island, and surrounding the Island was a wall of golden coral, that rose out of the water, and into the skies above. I squinted my eyes, and through the holes in the coral, I saw dozens to thousands of trees, all connected by shining emerald-green vines. The trees were mostly Palm trees, and the coconuts perched at the top on them were the most delicious sight. I caught a whiff of the coconut smell on the calm breeze. “What a beautiful sight.” I said, and then sighed. I forced myself to stay there and not run and climb up a tree. Should I climb up or not? I would get a better view, after all.

It was so hard to resist. I stuck to the ground for a second and then decided to run. The coconuts were just too tempting. As I got to the top of the tree in the middle, I heard the most beautiful voice say, “What are you doing here, May?” I just stood there, spellbound. I looked around and saw a woman dressed in a plain silvery-white gown and had feathery white wings. She spoke again, “Aren’t you supposed to be with Clara 1, Clara 2, Isabella 1, and Isabella 2?”

“I guess, but I was so tempted to climb up and eat some coconuts.”, I managed to squeak. (Reminder: This is still Isabella’s Dream.) 

“Well then, sit down and I will fetch you some coconuts.” she answered. I nodded and sat down as I was instructed. I felt like I was in a fairy tale of some kind. The woman, who I called Coconut because she was fetching coconuts for me, gathered the biggest coconuts. I relaxed, and rushed to tell June, but she was already running toward me. I knew this wasn’t an embrace; we weren’t long lost sisters seeing each other for the first time, but I threw out my arms anyway, and she did too. We stumbled toward each other, falling into each other’s arms. By the time we had run to the shoreline, Coconut had already come. She pounded the Coconuts against a rock, and they split easily into halves. June and I each took a coconut half, and she7 explained that these were white because the white coconuts had refreshing juice, and she was saving the brown coconuts after we finished the juice, and the brown coconuts had coconut meat. 

While we were eating the coconuts, June and I watched as Clara 1, Clara 2, Isabella 1, and Isabella 2 dashed through the wheat field. They arrived panting, and hurriedly said, “Coconut, Uncle Liam’s guards are coming!” Coconut nodded, and she made a hurried hand motion at us, and she started running into the forest of short coconut trees, and she told us to look out for a tall coconut tree, which was very hard, because most of the trees were shorter than us. I quickly rushed after them with June at my heels. I didn’t want to get killed because the king would surely kill me. When we finally arrived, they had already found a tree with a hole and we walked in just as Uncle Liam’s guards, as I now called him, because everyone else did, approached the forest and started looking for us. Most likely they had noticed that June and I were missing.

As I stepped into the hole in the tree, I noticed a man standing inside. I shivered. Was this man going to hurt us? June and I held hands and slowly walked toward the man. I wasn’t sure what to say, so I walked extra slow. That would give me more time to think. When we got pretty close, I said in my bravest voice, “Don't kill us, but if you have to, kill me and let June live…” and then my voice faltered, dying away. 

Then to my surprise and horror, my always afraid sister shouted, “Don’t kill my sister! She is all I have left!” Then she went into hysterics saying, “Everyone else has already died! Everyone has died! Nobody left! Nobody left! We are the only ones left! Don’t kill us! Don’t kill us! If you kill us, we will haunt you like a ghost for the rest of the days of your life!” 

I started doing a menacing act, and making hissing and roaring sounds, trying to make myself as big as possible. I puffed out my chest, and stepped in front of June, so if the man striked us it would take some time for him to destroy me, and that would give June enough time to run away, and if the man did try to kill me, I would fight. I didn’t take karate lessons, but the rainforest had weakened my hunger thirst, and made me full, so at least I wasn’t weak. The thought that maybe I was strong strengthened me, and I started waving my hands up and down, only to realize June had stepped in front of me, and a single blade through her back could make her lost to me forever! That thought scared me, and I whimpered. I looked at the man, hoping that he wouldn’t kill us, and I was relieved to see that he had no weapon. Maybe me and June together could overpower him!?

I didn’t know what to do. Should we run? But outside there were guards. Should we fight? But I didn’t want to cause unnecessary violence, although if this man had murdered in  millions I would have given him just one punch, even if unnecessary, sometimes I wanted revenge. Well, too bad for me and my punch, because he had started talking, and I did want to know what he was saying. “Hello… are you two girls June and May?” He asked us. We didn’t know what to say, but when we were super young, Great-granddaddy had told us, “If one truth is submitted, another will come.” I didn’t exactly know what it meant, but I had a feeling it had something to do with telling the truth. I opened my mouth, and managed to squeak, “Y-y-yes, I-i am M-May, and s-s-she is J-J-June!” All of my courage had fled from me.

“I am the nephew of Uncle Liam,” He said. As soon as I heard him say that, I fled with June on my heels. The villagers always said that the king of the world's nephew was a liar, a cheater, and worst of all, a murderer. I shivered, and ran down the owl hole passageway, but I got caught by the end of my blue gown that Isabella 1 had given me. “Help me!!! Please help me, Coconut!!!” I shrieked, hoping that Coconut would hear me. I saw Coconut, as she ran toward me, panting. Coconut soothed me and gave me one of those delicious coconuts. She helped me unhook my sky blue silk ruffle that had been caught on a twig. She asked if I had anything under the gown, and I told her the only thing under was but a damp paper bag. She sighed, and then, seeming to remember I was running, she asked me the danger. June caught up to me, and opened her mouth to speak, saying, “The nephew of the king of the world is coming this way!” 

Coconut immediately relaxed, which left me more confused than ever. “This is urgent!” I cried. Coconut made soothing gestures, and she picked me and June up, whirling us around. I tried to squirm out of her strong but gentle grip, but I knew it was no use. My legs and arms flailing, I shouted, “You don’t understand!” Suddenly I heard footsteps, which made Coconut Startled, which made me startled, which made June scream. She pulled us into the shadows, and out emerged Uncle Liams Army…

(Reminder: There is nothing to actually fear, since Isabella is still dreaming.)

To be continued... 

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