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1785 Words
[Sophia]
It's so damn cold. Winter is coming for sure.
I fix my bag around my shoulder as we approach the tree house. It's crisp and cold as we walked and I wish I had a better jacket, but I guess when we went shopping I forgot to prepare for the winter.
I threw my satchel off me and I set it aside on the chair inside the tree house and reach in to grab my phone and scrolled around by myself while everyone else sat and chatted, hoping for Teri to show up soon. I was still sleepy and didn't feel like joining the conversation.
As I finally began to wake up, Teri finally popped up and greeted everyone in her cheerful way.
"Hi everyone! I got up extra early this morning so I could spend more time with you!" Teri said, smiling.
"Great to see you again," said the Twins.
"Hi Sophia!" Teri waved at me. I looked up briefly to wave back at her, then refocused.
"She doesn't talk much does she?"
"Nope, she's not much of a talker. She's usually really quiet." Apollo explained.
It's not that I don't like hanging out with you, I just don't like opening my mouth so much.
I breathed out a cold breath of air and nuzzled myself deeper into my purple hoodie. Eventually, Apollo asked me to come over and sit with them. I sighed quietly and obliged. I sat down somewhat farther away from them and continued playing around on my phone. Not really caring what the group was talking about. Their voices seemed to be a blur of sounds. The Twins both leaned over at me, trying to see what I was doing. I noticed this without looking up or moving my eyes and I shrank back. Hoping they wouldn't ask.
"So does everything look like this? So many trees and hard, brown ground?" Teri asked.
"No, there's way more than this. There's a lot to see," Apollo tried to explain.
"There's more than this?" the Twins said, losing their focus on me.
"Yeah, it's not just this place. There's a lot of big places like this," Apollo said.
"And big places have lots of things?"
"What?"
"You mean there's more creatures?" Teri asked.
"Yep." I chimed in.
"Well, uh, yes. There's a lot of things. But most of them are really nice, so you don't have to worry about them." Apollo explained. Teri and the Twins breathed a sigh of relief. I glanced up, slightly disagreeing with that statement.
"Wow, I didn't know our worlds were so different," Teri said. Arms square on the edge of the puddle.
"What do you mean?" Apollo asked.
"I mean, your home compared to mine. I never knew what anything was like up here on the surface. We're on the same land, but the way we live is entirely different from anything I've ever known." Teri explained, as she looked up at the trees. The sunlight filtering down upon the earth. The warmth upon her shoulders and the sound of silence that wasn't as deafening as her ocean home.
I nodded slowly, agreeing with what she said. I used to always wonder what it would be like to live in the ocean.
"How come you never went up by yourself?" the Twins asked. Teri fell silent for a moment and I looked up from my phone.
"Well when I was young, I was always warned that going to the surface was extremely dangerous. Even my own Mother told me that it was f*******n to go up, especially by myself. I always thought there'd be some terrible monster waiting for me if I ever went up." Teri explained.
"But you're here now." said Fleetfoot.
"Yeah, what made you come up here?" Flyboy asked.
Teri looked down, trying to pick the right words to say whilst trying not to reveal too much. Eventually she sighed and her cheerful expression faded.
"It wasn't too long ago that... well, I was wondering what it would be like to be up here and, because of my curiosity, I thought that maybe it wouldn't be so bad. So I snuck out and that's when I found Apollo, and now here I am." Teri smiled.
"You just couldn't resist, could you?" said Flyboy.
"Nope!"
"Curiosity is a hard thing to contain." said Fleetfoot.
"That's right, you told me this when you saved me. Oh, but quick question." Apollo said.
"Huh?"
"How did I get knocked out? When you came to save me. Did I hit something? I can't remember."
"Oh, when I saw you being attacked, I grabbed a stick from the ground and used it as a spear. I accidentally hit you in the head when I swung it. I almost thought you wouldn't make it," Teri said. She scratched the back of her head sheepishly. Or was she scratching her fins?
"That was very brave of you," Flyboy said.
"You really took charge," said Fleetfoot.
"I really didn't think I was capable of doing something like that," Teri said.
"I'm just glad you were there to save me," Apollo said.
I stared at everyone, contemplating their words, but not saying anything.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. If I was never there, a precious life would've been lost and I would've left the kingdom prone to any attacks." Teri's smile suddenly faded and she covered her mouth. Her face flushed the moment she realized what she had said. The secret was out. Even I looked up at the mention.
"What?"
"Kingdom?"
Apollo blinked in surprise. All the praise must've made her forget the secret between them.
"Uh nothing, nothing!" Teri sputtered. I looked up, confused at what she had just said.
"What?" I repeated.
Teri shrank back into the tiny puddle, only her head and shoulders visible as she covered her mouth with her hands.
"You didn't hear anything!" Teri shouted, refusing to make eye contact.
"You said something about a kingdom?" the Twins said, eager to know more.
Teri looked up at Apollo pleadingly, as if to say, what should I say? How will they understand?
Apollo looked at her and then at everyone else.
Soon, Teri took a deep breath and nudged herself forward.
"Okay... the truth is, I didn't exactly sneak away to go up to the surface."
Everyone but Apollo peered in closer.
"It really started a long time ago. I had gotten up and was roaming around and for some reason I couldn't find my Mother anywhere. I asked everyone who had seen her and they all said they didn't know where she had gone."
Ava nodded, remembering the short explanation from the other day.
"As time went by, she never came back and everyone was worried about her. So I stepped up and promised that... as princess, I would watch over the land as she did until her safe return."
"Princess?!" we all said, alarmed. Except for Apollo. Teri nodded.
"Yes, I am the princess of my kingdom and my Mother is the queen. That day that I went up, I thought that maybe she was up on the surface. And instead I found Ava. At first I thought it was her, but when I went closer I realized it wasn't." Teri explained.
"Why did you think I was her?" Apollo asked.
"Because your hair is really long and my Mother has really long hair. But yours isn't quite as long."
Apollo sighed. Someday he'll have the longest hair, but he says it grows super slowly. I think it's super long already, but then again that's coming from someone who has short hair. And I always complain that my hair grows too fast. I wish it was just a little shorter. Maybe ear length instead of shoulder length.
"So, you just left your home to go out to the surface?" the Twins voiced. Teri nodded shyly.
"My curiosity just took hold of me and I couldn't shake it. I'm sorry, you're right. I shouldn't have just took off like that," Teri admitted.
"No, Teri it's alright," Apollo reassured her. "We all get carried away like that from time to time. The important thing is that you didn't leave them forever. You came back and everything was fine."
Teri looked down at her reflection in the water, then looked up at Apollo.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Thanks." Teri smiled. I looked off to the side.
"At least you didn't leave them forever..."
"But you still haven't figured out how your mom went missing?" I added, finally saying a full sentence for once.
"Unfortunately no, I was so carried away by meeting you guys that for a moment I was completely sidetracked." Teri floated, the water reaching her neck. "I've found no clues."
"Maybe we can help you," the Twins chimed in.
"Yeah, Teri. Whatever happened to your mother, I'm sure she couldn't have gone far. I'm sure we can help you," Apollo said. I felt eyes turn to me.
"Well... I've been here a long time. There has to be something that can give us clues." I said, pretty much repeating what everybody else said. I thought I saw tears in Teri's eyes as she smiled hopefully.
"Thank you, I really appreciate your help.
"So, where should we start?" I asked.
"Actually, I might have something. But I'll need time to prepare."
"What is it?" asked Apollo.
"You can follow me to my home and we can look around for clues. I bet she must've left something behind. My Mother never leaves without saying where or why she'd be gone," Teri said.
"But none of us can breathe underwater," I said.
"That's okay, I know how to solve that. But like I said, I need time to prepare. I'll alert my guards of your arrival and tell them that there is nothing to fear." Teri explained.
"Great, while you're getting ready we should prepare too." Ava said.
"Yeah, just in case something decides to show up. I'll make sure they won't harm anyone." I said, sticking my tongue out awkwardly.
"We'll leave nothing untouched. Nothing broken, of course," the Twins added.
"Perfect, I'll start getting things ready right away. I'll see you then!" and with that, Teri plopped her head back underwater and she was gone.
The rest of us got up and left to prepare. Making a plan of what we should bring and stuff like that. And of course making sure that any gear we bring is waterproof. I made sure to ask if the Twins could swim and they said they could. The rest of the day was full of excitement for the upcoming day to arrive.
A new adventure awaited us.
- Writer
