Trapped In DORA The Explorer's World Megachapter part 1

by truearthurfan

Young Tom Johns was in for a shock when he found himself in Dora The Explorer's world and as a little girl. However, he/she doesn't have much time to question things before she's pulled into an adventure with Dora and Boots and it just keeps going from there. All the chapters of the first half of the story all together in one file. Teen for certain reasons

Trapped In DORA The Explorer's World

Real World Name: Tommy Johns

Adoptive/Cover Name: May Corasina Mendez

Real World Age: 19 ½

Cover Age: 5

Abilities: My Singing Has Magical Powers

Attitude: Outgoing and Determined

Friends: Dora, Boots, Diego, Elicia, Dora's Mami and Papi, Dora's baby brother and sister: Ciemo and Isabella, Dora's puppy: Perrito, Benny Bull, Tico Squirrel, Isa Iguana, the Big Red Chicken, etc.

Weapon: My Voice and the White Crystal

Prologue

Oh, hello. I'm Tommy Johns. I'm only 19-years-old. I've got two brothers and three sisters. We're a big family, I know. I'm the eldest of all six. My brother and sister, Jack and Jenny, are both in high school. Simon's in his last year. I graduated from high school myself two years ago. My second sister, Carol, will be starting high school in two more years. My other sister and brother, June and Domanic are still in Primary school. I've had some big twists and turns in my life. I got a brain tumour when I was 7 and ended up having a disability. But you wanna know what the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me is? One day, while I was at walking out of Shin Tokyo at Rundle Mall, I suddenly I found myself in the world of the DORA The Explorer TV show!

Chapter One

Courteously Of An Accident-Prone Fairy Godmother

'I finally have it,' I said, holding the Pokémon White game in my hands, grinning.

It was Thursday, March 31st 2011.

I was wearing my black pants with many pockets, a grey T-Shirt that said SPIDERMAN with Spiderman doing a different pose for each letter and a black jacket.

I'd arrived at Rundle Mall half an hour after work. The bus can be really slow. I'd gotten my pay for this fortnight and I knew what I'd wanted to spend it on.

The new Pokémon game on the Nintendo DS, which featured a whole new Pokémon region, Unova, and 150 new Pokémon to find, capture and train. I'd originally planned on buying the Pokémon Black game, until I learned that the legendary Pokémon I wanted to catch was in the Pokémon White game, so I bought White instead of Black. I was going to get the Pokédex in the game from the Professor in my hometown in the game, then I was going to go to Toys 'R' Us to get the free Victini download.

I was really looking forward to getting Victini. It was the first Fire/Psychic type Pokémon in the history of Pokémon.

It would also be the first time that I'd get the free Pokémon download. I'd missed all the other times, which there had been a lot of, so I was really looking forward to getting this download.

But first I'd need to go back upstairs. So I put the game in my left pocket and started to walk up the stairs.

I was half-way up when I felt my left foot suddenly slip.

There wasn't time to put my arms out to stop me from falling.

I braced myself for when my face slammed into the stairs and then tumbled down them.

I fell face-first... into a pile of leaves?

I opened my eyes, frowning.

Since when was there a large pile of leaves on the stairs down in this part of Rundle Mall?

I pushed myself up and realized I wasn't in Rundle Mall at all.

I was in a forest, with large trees and birds singing.

'Okay, this is weird,' I said, frowning.

I blinked.

When I'd spoken, I hadn't heard my voice. I'd heard a girl's voice.

I suddenly became aware that I felt different. I was smaller and I wasn't wearing the same clothes I'd been wearing a few seconds ago.

I was now wearing brown, light-brown shorts, with a light-grey, sleeveless shirt with a hood on the back.

What was more... I was a GIRL!

I didn't need to lift my pants to tell. I couldn't feel my penis anymore. It had been replaced with a vagina. I could feel it, literally.

I grabbed a bit of my hair and looked at it. It had changed too. It wasn't a dark, mousy-blonde anymore. It was an orangey-blonde. And, for some reason, there was a yellow bow tied into my hair on the top of my head.

'What the fuck is going on, here?' I said anxiously, looking at my hands. They seemed so small and smooth. 'Where the hell am I, anyway?'

I looked around me, frowning.

Now that I thought about it, everything around me, myself included, looked like a cartoon. A very well done cartoon. I felt I'd seen it before.

'Oh, hello, there,' a friendly sounding voice said from behind me.

I froze. I knew that voice. I'd heard it before.

I turned around slowly.

Dora from DORA The Explorer was standing there, in here usual pink T-shirt, yellowish-orange shorts, wearing her purple backpack.

'This can not be happening,' I said, putting my hands over my face and shaking my head.

'What can't be happening?' Dora asked, looking confused.

'Oh, I'm so sorry, dear,' a voice said from above us.

We both looked up.

A beautiful old woman with shining grey hair, wearing a long, beautiful blue dress, with beautiful, sparkling blue wings, hold a wand with a yellow star on the end floated down from the sky to us.

'Hola, Fairy Godmother,' Dora said, waving and smiling.

'Wait, you have a Fairy Godmother?' I said, looking at Dora and frowning.

Now, I wasn't a big fan of the DORA The Explorer show. Heck, I'd only ever watched it a few times, and that was mainly because there hadn't been anything else on and I was bored. Though I liked the way Dora was drawn. If they'd put her in less of a kiddie show, maybe I would have always watched it more. But, in those few episodes I'd seen of DORA The Explorer, I'd never heard anything about Dora having a Fairy Godmother before.

'Oh, she's not my fairy Godmother,' Dora said, shaking her head. 'She's everyone's fairy Godmother. Why are you here, Fairy Godmother?'

'Well,' Fairy Godmother said, looking embarrassed. 'It's kind of my fault that she's here.'

She pointed at me.

'Wait, your fault?' I said, glaring at her. 'You're the reason I'm here like... this!'

'Like what?' Dora asked, looking at me, confused.

'I'm a 19-year-old boy, Dora,' I said, pointing at myself with my left thumb.

'Huh?' Dora said, looking even more confused.

'Or, rather, I was a 19-year-old boy,' I said, glaring at the Fairy Godmother. 'Now, why have I changed from a 19-year-old boy into a, I'm guessing... around 7-year-old girl? And how'd I end up in this world? You've got some serious explaining to do, Fairy Godmother, so start talking!'

'Oh, well,' Fairy Godmother said, looking away. 'You fell through a rift in the Space Time Continuum.'

'I- what?' I said, staring at her.

A rift in the Space Time Continuum? That sounded like something right out of Doctor Who. Did stuff like that really exist?

'Well, I was trying to travel to your world, but I guess I got the spell wrong,' Fairy Godmother said, looking very embarrassed. 'Instead of sending myself to your world...'

'You accidently pulled me into this world,' I said, putting my right-hand on my head and shaking my head.

'I'm afraid so,' Fairy Godmother said, fidgeting with her wand.

'Wait,' I said, looking up, frowning. 'That explains how I got here, but not why I've changed from a 19-year-old boy to a 7-year-old girl.'

'That was me, too,' Fairy Godmother said, scratching behind her head, looking away. 'And you're 6. When you entered this world, your body started to disintegrate.'

'It started to- what?' I said, my jaw dropping.

'Disintegrate,' Fairy Godmother said, nodding sadly. 'The only way I could save you was by using a spell that turned you into the 6-year-old girl you are now.'

'Great,' I said, folding my arms. 'I'm just minding my own business, buying a copy of the new Pokémon White game, and an accident-prone Fairy Godmother pulls me into another world and turns me into a 6-year-old girl. Just great.'

I sighed, shaking my head.

'Well, just send me back and I'll forget this ever happened,' I said, folding my arms.

'I'm afraid I can't do that,' Fairy Godmother said, shaking her head nervously.

'You can't?' I said, putting my arms by my sides, clenching my fists and glaring at her. 'Why not? You brought me here, so you can send me back, right?'

'Well,' Fairy Godmother said, looking embarrassed again. 'I don't actually know what I did wrong to bring you here, so I don't know how to send you back. I'll need a while to figure it out.'

I slapped myself on the forehead.

'Aw, great,' I said, shaking my head. 'What am I supposed to do until you figure it out? I don't know anyone here, aside from you and Dora, and I hardly know either of you. I hardly know any Spanish! I know a few words at best. What am I supposed to do? Live like a jungle-boy- I mean jungle-girl until you figure it out?'

'Well,' Dora said, smiling at me. 'You could come and stay at my house for a while.'

'You'd really let me stay at your house?' I said, looking at her in surprise.

'Sure,' Dora said, smiling. 'I'm sure my mami and papi wouldn't mind.'

'As long as we don't mention that I'm a 19-year-old boy in a 6-year-old girl's body,' I said, sighing.

'Why?' Dora asked, looking confused.

'Trust me, Dora,' I said, shaking my head. 'If they knew that you'll be sharing your room with a 19-year-old boy in a 7-year-old girl's body, they wouldn't be happy.'

Having grown-up already, I knew what Dora's parents would think of a 19-year-old boy in a 6-year-old girl's body that they don't know anything about. Paedophile!

'Well, while you're living in our world, you'll need an alias so that you can even exist here,' Fairy Godmother said, looking at me and waving her wand.

A bright light appeared in front of me.

When it faded, there was a small Child Student ID card sitting in my right-hand.

I lifted it up and read what it said.

Name: May Corasina Kyoko

Age: 7

Class: 1D

'That's my class at school,' Dora said, looking at it over my shoulder.

'I kinda figured that,' I said, frowning at the card and looking up at Fairy Godmother. 'Why does this say that I'm in school?'

'Well, you'll need to keep a believable appearance while you're here,' she said, smiling at me.

'Fine,' I said, sighing, putting the card into my left dress pocket.

'Now, I'll just send you to Dora's house,' Fairy Godmother said, starting to wave her wand.

'Uh, are you sure that's safe?' I said anxiously. 'Your magic's been very accident-prone today and-'

'Dora!' Boots cried happily, dropped down next to me.

'Boots?!' I cried in shock.

Just then, there was a flash of white light and I felt like someone had grabbed the hood on my shirt and yanked it backwards.

For two seconds I felt like I was falling through emptiness. Suddenly I fell to the ground, landing on my new little bum.

'Oof!' I heard Dora and Boots's voice say next to me. So we'd all stayed together.

'Ow,' I said, standing up, rubbing my little bum. 'I think I hurt my butt. Are you two okay?'

'I think so,' Dora said, standing up, holding her head. 'Boots?'

'I'm okay,' the little, red gumboots wearing monkey said, pulling his tail straight. 'I think I just bent my tail. Who's she?'

He was looking at me.

'Well, my name use to be Tom,' I said, sighing. 'But now, thanks to Fairy Godmother, my name's May. Nice to meet you, Boots.'

I held out my right-hand. He shook it, still looking a little confused.

'So, we're are we?' I asked, looking around.

We seemed to be standing in a clearing, surrounded by trees.

'Have you two ever been here, before?' I asked, looking at Dora and Boots.

'No,' Dora said, shaking her head.

'This is the far side of the forest,' Boots said, looking around nervously. 'No one ever comes here.'

'Well, if you guys have never been here before, how are we supposed to get to Dora's house?' I said, folding my arms.

'We can ask Map,' Dora said, looking at Map, in her backpack's right pocket. 'Map?'

Map opened his eyes and hopped out, landing in Dora's hands and unrolling.

'Hmm,' Dora said, looking at the map.

'Can you even read that?' I asked, frowning.

In the TV show, Map had always just told Dora three locations to look for. I had a feeling things weren't going to work like that this time.

'Not really,' Dora said, frowning at the directions on the map. 'Can you?'

'Not too well,' I said truthfully. 'But I can give it a try.'

Dora handed Map to me and I looked over him.

'Okay,' I said, pointing at a small area of trees on the map. 'We were over there before.'

I looked around at where we were.

'Judging from the shadows of the trees, we're over here,' I said, pointing at a bunch of trees closer to the edge of the map.

'But that's a long way from where we were,' Boots said, hanging from a vine on the tree above me and looking over my shoulder. 'And Dora's house is even farther away from us now than before we came here.'

'Man, talk about annoying,' I said, shaking my head. 'This isn't starting off well.'

'Maybe we can find someone else to help us,' Dora suggested.

'I can't think of anything better to do?' I said, rolling Map up and shrugging.

But there wasn't anyone else around. This was the quietest part of the forest.

We walked for hours, pushing our way through bushes and overhanging vines.

'This is ridiculous,' I said several hours later, stopping.

We were in deep forest.

'Do we even know where we are?' I asked, folding my arms.

Dora took Map out of her right-side backpack pocket and handed him to me.

I took him and unrolled him.

'Map, please show us the way,' I said, looking at the blank paper.

Map's eyes appeared on the paper.

'No problem,' he said, his mouth appearing at the bottom of the paper, his eyes moving to the top and a layout of the forest appearing on the rest of him.

I scanned it, and shook my head.

'Well?' Dora asked anxiously.

'We're so lost, even Map doesn't know where we are,' I said, rolling him up and handing him back to Dora, who put him back in her backpack's right-side pocket.

'But don't worry, Dora,' I said, holding my curled fist in front of me. 'I'll get you home if it's the last thing I do.'

'It may as well be, if I'm stuck here,' I thought to myself, giving an inward sigh.

'Gracias, Tom- I mean, May,' Dora said, smiling.

We continued to walk. Dora and Boots started telling me about their lives. Some things I'd never even known about, back in the real world. For one, Dora was only 6.

It turned out that in two days it was going to be Dora's 7th birthday. That was a surprise to me.

As we walked, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being watched.

Just then, there was a sparkle in the distance.

'Hey,' Dora said, pointing. 'Maybe that's someone else's house.'

'Maybe they can give us directions,' Boots said, jumping up and down happily.

'Come on,' Dora said, holding onto the straps of her backpack. 'Let's go.'

I frowned.

Hadn't Dora and Boots said that no one came to this part of the forest? No one at all? If that was true, who was making that light?

Suddenly I got a shiver down my spine. I knew that shiver. I'd always gotten it when I was about to be caught at school doing something I shouldn't have. But getting it now didn't mean I was about to be busted for something I shouldn't be doing. I was going to be just busted.

'Oh, no,' I cried, hurrying after the two of them. 'Dora! Boots! Stop! It's a trap!'

'A what?' Boots called, looking back at me as I caught up with him.

The ground beneath us collapsed and we started to fall.

'I told you so!' I yelled as we faded into the darkness.

Chapter Two

The Legendary Crystal Kingdom

I slowly opened my eyes. I was looking at grass.

I sat up, looking around.

I was lying in a field of flowers. They were the most beautiful flowers I'd ever seen. They were all of different colours. And they all sparkled, like gemstones.

'Where the hell am I, now?' I asked, frowning.

I noticed Dora and Boots, sprawled on the grass next to me.

I shook my head, reached over them, grabbed their shoulders and shook them.

'Hey, guys wake up,' I said, shaking them.

They stirred, sitting up and rubbing their eyes.

'Where are we?' Boots asked sleepily.

'I'm not sure,' I said, standing up and looking around. 'Maybe we fell into another... world.'

'May?' Dora said, looking at me.

'Whoa,' I said, staring off into the distance in awe.

Dora and Boots followed my gaze.

'Whoa,' they said, staring where I was staring in awe.

We were staring at a huge purple castle that stretched high into the sky.

Light from the sun glistened and sparkled like diamonds.

'I've never seen anything so beautiful in my life,' Dora said, staring in wonder.

'Me neither,' I said, shaking my head.

It was true. In the 19 ½ years that I'd lived, I'd never, never seen anything so beautiful.

'Wait a minute,' I said, logic catching up with my brain. 'We fell down through the ground. How the heck can there be a sun in the sky. And why can't I see where we fell from.'

I was looking up at the sky. And when I say "the sky" I mean, "the sky". There wasn't any sign that we'd fallen through a hole in the Earth and ended up here.

'Maybe we've fallen into another world,' Dora suggested. 'You fell into our world from yours.'

'Yeah, I guess,' I said, looking down and scratching the back of my neck.

'May's from another world?' Boots asked, looking confused. 'How did she fall into ours?'

'An accident-prone Fairy Godmother,' I said, folding my arms.

'Oh, okay,' Boots said, nodding.

I was surprised how fast Boots had accepted my answer.

Fairy Godmother must have been more accident-prone than I'd originally thought.

'Well, how are we going to get back to your world, Dora?' I asked, putting my hands on my hips and looking around.

'Maybe we can ask someone in that little village,' Dora said, pointing.

I looked where she was pointing.

I blinked.

There was a small, old fashion village not far from the castle. How hadn't I seen that before?

'Well, why not?' I said, shrugging. 'We've nothing better to do.'

We walked for half an hour. As we got close to the village the sound of The Wiggles singing Have A Very Merry Christmas came from my left-hand skirt pocket.

'My phone?' I said, reaching into my pocket and pulling it out. 'How did it get here?'

My phone had changed. It wasn't a black and silver NOKIA phone anymore. It was a simple blue, flip top phone.

'Is that your phone from your world, May?' Dora asked, looking surprised.

'Yeah, I think so,' I said, flipping it open. 'But, like me, it must've changed when I entered your world.'

The caller ID said Dad.

'It's my dad,' I said, a little surprised. 'I wonder why he's calling my now.'

I pushed the "call" button and lifted the phone to my ear.

'Yeah, Dad,' I said, forgetting that my voice had changed.

'Who is this?' Dad's voice asked, sounding confused.

'You won't believe me, but it's Tom,' I said, putting my right-hand on my face.

'You're right,' Dad said, sounding annoyed. 'I don't believe it. Now put my son on, whoever you are.'

'We were planning on going on vacation to Japan next year, but had to post-pone it because of money, work at Phoenix and the Earthquake and Tsunami,' I said, feeling a little agitated.

I didn't want to have to explain exactly what had happened right now. It would take too long and I didn't know how much time there was in the first place.

'How did you know-?' Dad began, sounding confused.

'Dad, isn't me, you fucking fat idiot!' I yelled angrily.

Whoops. Calling my dad "fat" was taboo in my house.

'What did you just say?'

I frowned.

Dad sounded both angry and confused.

'Why do you sound confused?' I wondered out loud, forgetting that he could hear me.

'You just sounded like my oldest son,' Dad said, sounding unsure. 'Not your voice, but your tone.'

'That's because I am your son!' I yelled in annoyance. 'Why can't you just understand that?!'

'But, what happened to your voice?' Dad asked, sounding confused. 'You sound like a 7-year-old girl.'

'That's because a Fairy Godmother turned me into one so that my body wouldn't disintegrate when I fell into DORA The Explorer's world after she messed up her transportation spell,' I said without thinking.

'When the who did what, when, whom?' Dad asked, sounding even more confused.

I sighed.

'I'll explain later, Dad,' I said, shaking my head. 'Why did you call me?'

'Well, it's almost 8 o' clock and your not home, so Xavier called me, wondering if I'd heard anything,' Dad explained.

'Oh, man,' I said, putting my head in my hand again. 'We were travelling through that forest for a couple of hours and I'd completely forgot about time in our world.'

'Forest?' Dad asked, sounding confused again.

'I'll explain later,' I said, sighing. 'Just don't call the police or anything, okay? If you call them, saying that your eldest son have somehow turned into a 7-year-old girl and fallen into another world, they'll think you're crazy.'

'Yeah, I know,' Dad said and I heard him nodding his head. 'I guess telling the police you've somehow fallen into a kid's TV show would sound like I was on drugs, wouldn't it?'

'Kinda,' I said, chuckling. Or rather, giggling. It was an odd feeling... almost pleasant. 'Well, Dad, I'd better go. Dora, Boots and I need to find a way back to her home.'

'You, who and who?' Dad said, disbelief in his voice.

'No, you're not hearing things, Dad,' I said, shaking my head. 'Tell the others I'll be back as soon as I can.'

'You'd just better make sure you get back before your mother gets back from New Zealand,' Dad said, firmly.

Oh, crap! I'd forgotten about Mum. How would Dad explain that I'd fallen into a cartoon world? She was going to go ballistic.

I pushed "end call" and put the phone back in my pocket.

'What is you Dad going to do if you can't get back?' Dora asked, looking anxiously at me.

'I honestly don't know, Dora,' I said, scratching my neck with my right-hand, shaking my head. 'I just don't know.'

We headed off across the field of flowers. I kept getting distracted by how brightly they shone.

'If you are too distracted, why don't you wear sunglasses?' said a man's voice.

I stopped and looked around, frowning.

'What is it, May?' Dora asked, stopped and looking back at me.

'I could have sworn I just heard someone tell me to wear sunglasses,' I said, scratching my head in confusion. 'But you, Boots and I are the only ones around here. So, who was talking?'

'That would have been me,' the voice I'd heard before said.

The three of us looked down.

A gleaming red flower with small eyes and a mouth was looking up at us.

'Whoa,' I said, shaking my head. 'I forgot that in this world, anything's possible. Like talking flowers.'

'I'm not just any flower,' the flower said with a posh accent, folding the two leaves on its stem like arms. 'You have beautiful blue eyes, by the way, girl.'

'Huh?' I said, blinking.

Dora and Boots looked at me.

'Hey, he's right,' Dora said, smiling. 'Your blue eyes are quite beautiful.'

'My eyes are still blue?' I asked, looking at the two of them.

'Were they blue, back in your world?' Boots asked, cocking his head to his left.

'Well, yeah,' I said, scratching my face with one finger. 'I just thought that, when Fairy Godmother turned me from a boy into a girl, that my eyes had changed colour, like my hair.'

'Well, they're still blue,' Dora said, smiling. 'And they're very pretty.'

'Um, thanks,' I said, not sure how I should feel about that statement.

'So, are you three headed for the Crystal Palace?' the flower asked, looking up at us.

'Yes,' Dora said, nodding.

'Well, you won't get up there,' the flower said, shaking its head.

'Why not?' I asked, frowning.

'The King won't allow anyone to enter the palace without an invitation,' the flower said, looking up at me. 'Unless you have an invitation, you won't even get close to the castle. The village will be as close as you get.'

'Well, maybe someone in the village can help us,' Dora said, trying to stay positive.

'Not likely,' the flower said, shaking his head again. 'They've had to fend for themselves since the King became a greedy brute. He takes everything and anything he wants, regardless of how it effects the people in the village. They're lucky if they have a single piece of bread to eat for dinner at night.'

'How horrible,' Dora said, looking horrified. 'Why doesn't the King do something about it?'

'He cares only for himself,' the flower said, shaking his head again. 'He's even been taken from the forest people.'

'The forest people?' I asked, raising an eyebrow. Did that mean that we hadn't entered another world after all? Maybe we were still in Dora's world.

'That's how he got that crystal castle built,' the flower said, looking at the castle far off in the distance. 'He's been taken the mystical crystals from the Crystal Kingdom.'

'The Crystal Kingdom?' Dora said, looking stunned. 'You mean it really exists? I thought it was just a story book'

I frowned. The Crystal Kingdom? Hadn't that been the name of one of the latest DORA The Explorer movies, Dora Saves the Crystal Kingdom? I think that was the name of the movie. Man, had I chosen a bad time to fall into Dora's world. Why couldn't I have fallen into one of the few episodes I'd seen? At least then I'd know what to expect. I didn't know anything about this story in the DORA The Explorer franchise. And Fairy Godmother clearly hadn't figured out how to send me back to the real world yet, so I was stuck here. Which meant I'd have to follow Dora through this adventure.

This wasn't going to be easy.

'Can it be?' a small voice said from behind me.

We all looked around.

A little girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing a pink dress, with purple butterfly wings was flying next to me, looking closely at me.

'Hey, personal space,' I said, backing away.

'Could you be them?' she said, flying away from me and looking at Dora.

'Look, we'd like to hang around and chat, butterfly-girl,' I said firmly, grabbing Dora's hand and pulling her along. 'But we're trying to get to Dora's house and we've waisted enough time. It's going to get dark soon, and I don't want to be outside at night.'

'Hey, May, wait,' Dora said as I pulled her along.

My patience was wearing thin. I just wanted to get to Dora's house, have a bath or shower, go to bed, fall asleep, wake up tomorrow and have Fairy Godmother turn me back to normal and send me back to the real world.

A few minutes later we were walking through the village.

It was eerily quiet. You couldn't even here the wind blowing.

The houses all looked like they were slowly rotting away.

'I don't like this,' Boots said nervously, cowering behind Dora.

'Me neither,' I said, looking around, frowning. 'It's too quiet.'

'Make way for the Royal Procession!' a loud voice yelled.

We all looked around to where we'd walked into the village.

A large, golden carriage, being pulled by three horses was speeding up the path.

'Royal Procession?' I said, frowning.

'What are you doing?' a woman's voice said.

We all looked to our left.

Standing in the doorway of the house next to us, was a woman with long, unkempt blue hair, wearing a brown dress.

She was looking very frantic.

'Quickly,' she said, moving a little so that there was space to move through the door.

Dora, Boots and I looked at each other, unsure.

'Hurry,' the woman said anxiously. 'You don't want to be caught wandering the streets during a Royal Procession.'

We didn't know what was going on, but I had a feeling it'd be better to ask questions inside.

We hurried inside and the woman closed the door behind us.

The room wasn't very big and it was filthy. There were strands of hay all over the floor, along with what I hoped wasn't bird poop. The one window at the far end of the room was covered in grime. Clearly, cleaning wasn't a normal luxury in this village.

A few seconds later we heard the sound of the carriage go noisily passed.

When the sound had faded away, Dora and I turned to the woman

'Thanks for the help,' Dora said, smiling.

'But, who are you?' I asked, looking at her. 'And why didn't we want to be caught wandering the streets.'

She blinked at us.

'Don't you know?' she asked, looking at us in surprise. 'If you're caught wandering the streets during a Royal Procession, you'll be thrown into the King's dungeons.'

'What?' I cried, horrified. That sounded like something from the Tudor times, back in the real world.

'Yes,' the woman said, nodding.

'Madam Melanie,' an exhausted voice said from the window.

We all turned around.

Someone was climbing through the window. It was the girl Dora, Boots and I had met early. But now, she was bruised and battered. Her butterfly wings were bent and broken. It looked as if someone had beaten the snot out of her.

'Lily,' the woman, who was obviously Melanie, since there wasn't anyone else in the room, said, hurrying over to the girl, helping her in and then helping her to stand.

She helped her over to a broken chair and helping her to sit down.

Dora, Boots and I walked over to her.

'Um, Lily, was it?' I asked, looking at her.

The girl looked up and nodded.

'We met before,' I said, indicating to myself, then Dora and Boots. 'Back in the flower fields?'

'Yes,' she said, nodding. 'I remember. You all left for this village after I met you.'

'What happened to you?' Dora asked, looking worried.

Lily looked like she'd really taken a fierce beating. She looked like she might pass out at any moment.

'I was trying to protect the 3rd Magic Crystal,' she said, looking sad. 'But the King's men managed to take it away.'

'Magic Crystal?' I asked, frowning.

In every story I'd read, every time a cruel king was looking for Magical objects, it didn't end well.

'They are the purified life energies of this world,' Melanie said, dabbing some of the bruises on Lily's face with a cloth. 'They keep the world in balance. But ever since the King decided that they should be his, disaster has befallen our lands.'

'Which Crystals has he taken?' Dora asked anxiously.

'There are 4 Crystals, in all,' Lily said firmly. 'He has already taken the Water and Sky Crystals.

'And now he has the Trees Crystal, as well,' Melanie said, shaking her head sadly.

'Which one is left?' I asked, frowning. This wasn't good. If those 4 Magic Crystals kept the world in balance, the King's taking them could spell disaster. And if he already had the Water, Trees and Sky Crystals that meant there was only 1 Crystal left.

The Sun Crystal.

Normally I'd say that that was alright, because, back in the real world, it was physically impossible to get near the sun without being pulled into it and burning up, before even getting close.

But in this cartoon world, anything was possible.

'We've got to stop the King from taking the final Crystal,' I said firmly. 'Taking the Sun Crystal couldn't lead to anything good.'

'It won't,' Lily said, shaking her head a little.

We looked at her.

'If the Sun Crystal is taken away,' she said firmly, 'then the sun will never rise again.'

'Oh, no,' Dora said, looking horrified. 'If the sun doesn't rise, then morning will never come.'

'And without sunlight,' I said, glaring down at the floor, 'all life with die.'

There was silence in the room.

'We won't let that happen,' Dora said firmly.

'Where is the Sun Crystal?' I asked Lily, standing firmly.

If I was going to be stuck in this world for a while, I wasn't going to let some selfish, self-absorbed King ruin it.

'It is in the Firefly Kingdom,' Lily said, looking firmly at us. 'But those not pure of heart aren't aloud in.'

Oh, boy. I couldn't really say whether or not I had a pure heart. I mean, when my uncle Peter and my great grandmother on my dad's side died, I hadn't felt a thing. I didn't think I was pure of heart. How could someone pure of heart not feel anything when someone in their family dies.

Lily looked from Dora, to Boots, to me.

'I sense pure hearts within all three of you,' she said, smiling.

I blinked. I hadn't expected that.

'But one of you still needs to fully connect with theirs,' she continued, looking at me.

I flinched. She could sense my doubt about having a pure heart.

Dora and Boots were looking at me too.

'May?' Dora asked, looking at me with concern.

'You are hiding a great secret,' Lily said, getting off the chair, walking up to me and holding her hand in front of me. 'This secret weighs heavily on your soul, though you do not admit it, even to yourself.'

'Can we just focus on the problem at hand?' I said, knocking her hand away and walking over to the window, looking out at the sky. 'So, how do we get to the Firefly Kingdom? I'm assuming it's close to the sun.'

'Yes,' Lily said, nodding. 'But to get there, you will need to fly.'

'Um, one problem,' I said, folding my arms and leaning against the windowsill. 'Neither Dora, Boots nor I can fly. We don't have wings.'

'That is something I can fix,' Lily said, smiling.

Lights sparkled and swirled around her. As we watched, her wounds and broken wings healed themselves. Then the sparkling swirls flew towards and surrounded Dora, Boots and I.

As we watched, butterfly wings appeared on our backs.

When the lights faded, I saw that the three of us had plan white butterfly wings sprouting from our backs.

I could feel where the wings attached to the middle of my back. It felt weird. Then again, being in a 7-year-old girl's body still felt pretty weird too.

'I sure hope I'll be able to hide these when I get back to my world,' I said, giving my new wings a few flaps.

'Why?' Lily asked, looking at me.

'Where I come from, if you've got wings, you're seen as a freak or monster,' I said, shaking my head. 'So, shall we get going? We need to get to Dora's house before tomorrow.'

'Then let us be off,' Lily said, running to the window, hopping out and flying off into the sky.

'Let's go,' Dora said, jumping out the window and flying off after Lily.

Boots made that noise he always made when he was happy, jumped out the window and flew of after Dora.

'Well,' I said, looking back at my wings. 'Here goes nothing.'

I climbed out the window, jumped and focused on flapping my wings.

Almost instantly I was in the sky, flying with ease.

'This is so cool,' I said, grinning. How many people could say that they'd flown in the sky without using a machine?

I flapped my wings harder and caught up with the others.

'You're all naturals,' Lily said, looking back at us as we all flew through the sky.

'If someone had told me yesterday that I'd be flying in the skies, like a bird, I'd have told them they were crazy,' I said, looking all around me. This was just so cool.

Although people would say that I'm pretty crazy right now, considering I was in a cartoon world, I was a 7-year-old girl; I had white butterfly wings and was flying towards the sun to enter the Firefly Kingdom to find the Sun Crystal.

'Okay, we're about to reach the portal,' Lily said firmly, looking ahead of us. 'This can be a bit rough, so brace yourselves.'

Just then a huge purple hole appeared in the sky in front of us.

'Hold on!' Lily yelled as we flew into it.

We were travelling through a multi-coloured tunnel. I was having trouble staying airborne. There were strong air currents blowing against us. But the ones blowing against me were stronger than the ones pushing the others.

This must have been what Lily was talking about. Because I had doubts about whether my heart was pure, I was having the most trouble travelling through the gateway to the Firefly Kingdom.

After several minutes, a light appeared at the end of the tunnel.

'Over there,' Lily yelled, pointing. 'That's the exit we want. Make sure you don't get blow anywhere but into that light.'

'Why not?' I called, trying to keep my eyes open, knowing I wouldn't like the answer. 'What'll happen if we go anywhere else?'

'You'll fall into the void of emptiness,' Lily yelled back. 'There's nothing there but nothing.'

'I wish I hadn't asked,' I said, flapping my wings harder. 'That doesn't exactly help boast my confidence.'

'Get ready!' Lily yelled, as the light grew so bright that I had to squint my eyes. 'We're about to enter the Kingdom!'

The light grew even brighter, and the next thing I knew, we were flying over a brightly lit city, shining with pure white light.

'Wow,' I said, looking down at the glowing city. 'Just... wow.'

I could see the Firefly people flying around below us.

They looked like humans, with firefly wings. And while a few looked up and pointed at us, most of them just ignored us.

'This way,' Lily said, pointing to a giant castle, rising high into the sky. 'That's the Firefly King's castle. We'll need to talk to him if we want to put the Sun Crystal in a safer place.'

'Isn't it safe here?' Dora asked, looking confused. 'No one not pure of heart can get to this place. Didn't you say that?'

'That's what the people of my Kingdom thought,' Lily said, her face going dark. 'I told the King of the Butterfly Kingdom that we should've moved the Trees Crystal to a safer place, but he wouldn't listen. He thought, since our Kingdom was protected by the same spell as this Kingdom, we didn't need to worry. He was wrong.'

'Oh,' I said, feeling unsure what to say.

It was now clear why Lily wanted our help. She was doing this so that the people of the Firefly Kingdom wouldn't end up like the people of the Butterfly Kingdom.

We flew towards the castle. I'd need to watch what I said here. The most important person I'd ever met was the Governess of Australia and that was more than 9 years ago. And I wasn't a very formal person, so this wasn't going to be easy.

A few minutes later, the four of us were standing in the thrown room, looking up at the Firefly King and Queen.

The King was a tall man, with brown hair and blue eyes. The queen was tall as well, with orange hair, blue eyes and a kind face.

'You highness,' Lily said, kneeling to the King. 'I apologize for interrupting you daily schedule, but my friends and I bring you bad news.'

'Speak, child of the Butterfly people,' the King said, looking down at the four of us. 'Before the dimensional walls were seal, in the ancient times, our Kingdoms had been allies for many years and still are. There is no need for apologies. Why have you come, with these three who are not of your Kingdom, nor the others?'

He was referring to us.

'Dora, Boots,' I whispered, holding my hand over my mouth so the King didn't see.

'What is it, May?' Dora whispered back, looking at me.

'I think we should be kneeling too,' I whispered, nodding my head to Lily.

'Right,' the two of them said, nodding.

The three of us kneeled to the King.

He nodded.

I'd been right. Since we were outsiders, we needed to show respect while we were here. That wasn't going to be easy, since neither, Dora, Boots nor I had ever learned the way you were supposed to act around a member of a Royal family. I was just using the small things I'd learned, watching TV and I didn't know how long that was going to work.

'Great King of the Firefly people,' Lily said, looking up at the King. 'The Sky, Water and now, the Trees Crystal, have been stolen.'

'What?' the King said urgently, standing up. 'By whom?'

'The Greedy King,' Lily said with disgust. 'The one who has been taking the gemstones from the Magic Kingdoms to build his Crystal Castle.'

'Why is he now after the Magic Crystals?' the King asked, looking straight at Lily.

'Uh- well...' Lily said nervously.

'If you will permit me to, your highness,' I said, looking up at the King.

He turned to look at me.

'Though I myself do not know all that has happened,' I said firmly, trying to keep talking properly, hoping that I wouldn't slip up. 'I believe the Greedy King is taking the Magic Crystals, because, in his eyes, no one else deserves to have them.'

The King looked at me.

'I believe that, he believes he is the only one that deserves to even look at the Crystals,' I continued, part of me yelling at me to just shut up. 'He cares nothing about anyone but himself. He sees no reason why everyone should enjoy the Crystals, as apposed to him having them all to himself.'

There was a silence as the King looked at me.

'Oh, no,' I thought anxiously. 'Did I go too far? Should I not have spoken in the first place?'

Wait, why was I talking like someone from the 16th Century. Being around all these kingdom things was starting to effect the way I thought.

'You, child,' the King said, looking at me.

'Yes, your majesty?' I asked, looking up quickly, feeling nervous.

'You speak with words beyond your years,' he said, walking down, frowning at me.

'I- is that a bad thing? Your majesty?' I asked, stuttering a little.

'Your hair,' the King said, walking up to me and looking up and down my body.

'Wh-what about it, your highness?' I asked nervously.

'It is a scarlet-blonde,' the King said, as I looked up at him. 'And your eyes are blue, like the waters of the deep.'

I blinked. Where the heck did that come from?

The King looked from me to Dora.

'And you, child,' he said, looking at her.

'Yes, your highness?' Dora asked, looking up at him.

'Your hair and eyes are brown, like the Earth itself,' the King said, looking at her.

'What exactly are you talking about, your majesty?' I asked, looking at him.

This was starting to weird me out. And I'd been pretty weirded out enough today already.

'There is a prophecy,' the Queen said, standing up and walking down and standing in front of me. 'It tells of two girls.'

'One, whose hair and eyes are the colour of the Earth,' the King said, looking at Dora, who stared back at him.

'And another,' the Queen said, smiling at me. 'One, whose hair is scarlet like the early morning sun, with eyes as deep as the sea and speaks with words, years beyond her time.'

I blinked.

'They're coming would mark the day when the 4 Kingdoms, separated, so long ago, would become one, once more,' the King said, walking to his wife and looking at the two of us.

'Whoa, hold on, a minute!' I said, standing and holding my hands out in front of me, completely forgetting about acting properly in front of royalty. 'You think we're those girls?'

'Yes,' the King said, nodding, not seeming to be bothered about how I'd just spoken to him.

'Sorry to burst your bubble,' I said, closing my eyes and shaking my head. 'But I'm no prophecy girl. Hell, I'm not even a real girl. If it hadn't been for Fairy Godmother screwing up her transportation spell, I'd still be my old boy self, back in my world. So, sorry, but you've got the wrong girl.'

I walked off, leaving the room with a deep silence.

'Oh, May,' Dora thought sadly, looking at the door I'd just walked out of.

She found me several minutes later, standing on a balcony, looking out over the Firefly Kingdom.

The sun had set a few minutes ago, so the city shone with lights that would put Los Vegas to shame.

I sighed, looking out at the glowing city below.

'May?'

I looked behind me.

Dora and Boots were standing there, looking at me.

'Hey, guys,' I said, turning back to face the city. 'Nice view, huh?'

'May?' Dora said, walking up to me. 'Why did you get so angry earlier?'

'Because, Dora,' I said, sighing and looking at her. 'That prophecy was talking about two girls. We both know that I'm not a real girl. I'm not even from your world. If Fairy Godmother's spell hadn't gone wrong, I'd never have even known this world existed.'

'What do you mean?' Boots asked, frowning.

'I only came here by accident,' I said, looking at him. 'And hearing that prophecy...'

'Yes?' Dora asked, concerned.

'Well,' I said, closing my eyes and sighing again. 'It sounds like that prophecy's saying that it was fate that I accidently ended up in this world. And I don't like it when people talk about things like that.'

'Why?' Boots asked, looking at me.

'I don't like it when it seems like people can't choose for themselves,' I said, shaking my head. 'It's like saying you're obeying someone else's orders all your life.'

Dora and Boots didn't know what to say to that.

'May?'

We all turned around.

The Firefly King and Queen walked towards us, the queen holding something wrapped in a red cloth in her hands.

'Um, I'd like to apologise for the way I spoke to you, you majesty,' I said, bowing to him.

'No,' the King said, shaking his head. 'I would like to apologise, May.'

'Firefly King say what?' I said, copying Miley Stuart's catchphrase from the Hannah Montana TV show. I hadn't done that for a long time. At least 3 years.

'When I saw your eyes, I could see a great strain in your life,' the King said apologetically. 'I shouldn't have simply told you about the prophecy in such a way. I ask for your forgiveness.'

He kneeled down to me.

'Oh, no,' I said, holding my hands in front of me. 'It perfectly fine. There's no need to apologise, your highness.'

'Never the less,' the King said, standing up and nodding to his wife. 'Please, take this as a token of my apology.'

The Queen walked up to me and handed me the object wrapped in the red cloth.

I unwrapped it and stared down in shock.

Wrapped in the cloth had been a large crystal, at least twice the size of my current hands.

It was the Sun Crystal! I'd never seen it before in my life, not that that was a surprise, but I knew that it was the Sun Crystal.

It was easy to tell, because it glowed an orangey-red and yellow, as if a small sun was inside of it.

'But... why are you giving this to me?' I asked, looking from the crystal to the King and Queen.

'I feel, whether you are the girls from the prophecy or not, the Sun Crystal will be much safer with you than if it was left, here in the Kingdom,' the King said, smiling.

'Oh,' I said, not sure what to say. 'Um, thank you. I mean, gracias, your highness.'

I curtseyed to him. I couldn't think of anything else to do.

'You are most welcome,' the King said, smiling. 'Now, the four of you should return to the Crystal Kingdom and find a safe place to hide the Sun Crystal.'

'We will, your majesty,' Dora, Boots and I said together, bowing to the King and Queen.

'Well, let's go,' Lily said, appearing next to the edge of the balcony. 'We've got to make sure we find a good place to hide the crystal.'

Dora, Boots and I flapped our wings and flew off after Lily.

The purple portal out of the Kingdom appeared and we flew into it.

Travelling through the multi-colour tunnel was a lot easier this time. There were any strong winds trying to blow us away.

When we got out of the tunnel, we all landed next to a large bolder in a field of flowers.

'So, what do we do with the Sun Crystal now?' I asked, looking from the crystal to the others.

'How about handing it over, in the name of the King?' a man's voice said.

We all looked around quickly.
We were surrounded by men wearing blue solder uniforms with a crown crest on their right shoulders.

'The Greedy King's men,' Lily said, looking around frantically.

They outnumbered us 25 to 4.

'Hand over the Sun Crystal and no one gets hurt,' the man standing in front of me said, holding out his left hand, holding a machete in the other.

'Yeah, right,' I said, glaring at him, hugging the crystal tightly. 'Like I'd believe a bit of that bull shit!'

The man glared at me.

'Take them all!' he yelled at the other men. 'They will rot in the King's dungeons for their defiance!'

'Yeah!' all the other men shouted, holding their machetes in the air.

They surrounded each of us.

As four of them surrounded me, I felt fear creep into me.

I was only in the body of a 7-year-old girl. I didn't stand a chance, fighting off four full-grown men with machetes. Although, a man who draws a blade on a little girl couldn't be much of a man.

'No,' I said as they reach out for me.

'NO!' I shouted at the top of my lungs. Although, it sounded more like I'd sung it.

As the word left my mouth, a large wave of multi-coloured energy burst from within me, sending all 4 of the men flying into the air and crashing to the ground.

'What?' I said, blinking in surprise, not sure what had just happened.

'Hand it over!'

I looked to my left and jumped backwards as Swiper the Fox tried to grab the Sun Crystal from my arms.

'Swiper?' I said in surprise, staring at him. 'What are you doing?'

'The King hired me to take that crystal from you,' Swiper said, trying to grab the crystal again.

I jumped backwards, dodging him.

'Why?' I said, glaring at him.

'Simple,' Swiper said, trying to grab the crystal again, missing as I dodged him. 'I get to do what I like, swiping other people's things, and I get paid for it.'

'Man,' I thought, glaring at Swiper as I avoided him again. 'Who'd have thought Swiper was such a sell-out?'

I dodged him again, narrowly avoiding him this time.

'I'd better not look like a real dork, doing this,' I thought, glaring at Swiper. 'This is going to be so embarrassing, so it better work.'

'Swiper, no swiping,' I said, dodging him again.

Swiper kept coming.

'Swiper, no swiping,' I said again, narrowly dodging him.

He kept coming.

'Swiper, no SWIPING!' I shouted, glaring at him.

Swiper stopped and clicked his fingers, frowning.

'Oh, man,' he said, turning around.

'Wow,' I said, relaxing. 'I can't believe that actually worked.'

Swiper grinned, turned around, lunged at me and swiped the Sun Crystal from my arms.

'Huh?' I said, taken by surprise.

'You didn't really think that would work, did you?' Swiper said, grinning. 'Captain, here!'

He tossed the crystal to one of the men.

He caught the crystal in his right-hand.

'Good job, Swiper,' he said, nodding. 'Our work is done, men. Back to the Crystal Castle!'

'Yeah!' the other men all shouted, holding their machetes in the air and running of towards the north.

'Swiper!' I yelled angrily, glaring at him as the sound of horses faded away.

'What?' Swiper said, looking at me. 'I was just doing what I do.'

'And, in doing so, doomed this whole world!' I yelled angrily.

'Uh, say what?' Swiper asked, blinking.

'I so don't have time for this,' I said, putting my right-hand on my face. 'Dora, Boots, Lily, come on. We've got to get the... crystal... back?'

I looked around.

Dora, Boots and Lily were nowhere to be seen.

'Where the hell are they?' I asked, frowning.

It wasn't like Dora and Boots to run off without telling anyone. I might not be a fan of the show, but I knew that Dora and Boots wouldn't just run off without telling someone. It wasn't in their characters.

'Help!'

I looked around quickly.

That sounded like Dora's backpack.

'Backpack?' I called, cupping my hands to my mouth. 'Where are you?'

'Over here!'

I turned to the trees. Backpack was hanging from a branch, looking battered.

I ran over, jumped up and pulled him down.

'Backpack, what were you doing up there?' I asked, frowning. 'And where are Dora, Boots and Lily?'

Backpack sniffed.

'The King's men took them,' she said, tears leaking from his eyes.

'They did what?' I gasped, turning around and glaring at Swiper.

He flinched. He could tell he wouldn't like me angry.

'Did you get enough money?' I said angrily, marching over to him, strapping Backpack over my shoulders.

'Huh?' Swiper said, looking a little nervous. My being angry can have that effect on people who don't know me.

'I hope it was worth selling out Dora and Boots!' I said, grabbing him by the scruff of fur on his chest.

'What?' Swiper said, looking confused and scared. That wasn't a good combination. But seeing that look on his face gave me some satisfaction.

'While you we trying to swipe the Sun Crystal from me, Dora and Boots were taken away by the King's men,' I said, fire burning in my eyes.

'They were what?' Swiper said, looking shocked.

'I can't believe you'd sell out two of the people who were always nice to you!' I said angrily, dropping him and glaring down at him. 'Even after you'd swiped and stole so many of their things, they still treated you with kindness and what do you do to repay them? By selling them out to a selfish king.'

I started to walk off.

'Wait,' Swiper said, looking at me. 'Where are you going?'

'To save Dora, Boots and Lily,' I said, glaring at him. 'Unlike you, I'm not going to turn my back on them the first chance I get.'

'Wait,' Swiper said, getting up and running after me, stopping in front of me. 'I know the way there. I can help you.'

'And why would I want your help?' I growled at him. 'I'd never trust a lying traitor like you if my life depended on it!'

'I swear, I didn't mean for Dora and Boots to be captured,' Swiper said, shaking his head. 'I'd never do something like that to them. They're my friends.'

'Friends?' I asked, raising my left eyebrow.

Swiper flinched. I looked even scarier when I was angry and raised an eyebrow.

'Well, maybe friends is too strong a word,' he said, looking nervously at me. 'But I want to help.'

'Fine,' I said, walking towards the north, glaring at Swiper as he walked by my left side. 'But if you even put a toe out of line, you'll wish you'd never met me!'

Swiper cowered. He could tell that I meant it and I did. I'd never been so angry in my whole life. If there was ever a time that I'd beat the crap out of someone, it was now.

'How do you plan on saving them, exactly?' Swiper asked as we reached the top of the hill.

I stopped.

He flinched, worried he'd just said something that had mad me even angrier.

'Hmm,' I said, thinking. 'I hadn't thought of that.'

I'd been so angry with Swiper my brain hadn't been thinking very much. That tended to happen whenever I got angry.

'You have the power already.'

Swiper and I looked up.

Fairy Godmother floated down from the sky, landing in front of us.

'You're sending me back, now?' I asked, staring in disbelief.

'Well-' Fairy Godmother began.

'Sorry, but no deal,' I said, holding up my left-hand to stop her. 'Now that I know this world exists, I'd never forgive myself if I went back to my world, leaving Dora, Boots and Lily trapped in the King's dungeons, so forget about it.'

'Well, actually,' Fairy Godmother said, looking a little awkward. 'I came to tell you I probably won't be able to send you back to your world and turn you back to normal for a couple of weeks.'

'A couple of weeks?!' I said, staring at her in shock.

'Maybe months?' she whispered, not meeting my eyes. 'Perhaps years?'

I was about to say something, but I stopped, shook my head and sighed.

'I'll worry about that later,' I said firmly, walking passed her. 'Right now, I've got to go save Dora, Boots and Lily from the King's dungeons.'

'But you just said you don't know how you're going to do that,' Swiper called, hurrying after me.

I stopped.

'Oh, yeah,' I said, looking back at Fairy Godmother. 'Um, Fairy Godmother?'

'Yes, dear?' she said, smiling at me.

'Help,' I said weakly.

'Of course, dear,' she said, still smiling. 'But you don't really need my help.'

'I don't wa?' I asked, my face going blank. I hated it when people spoken in riddles.

'You remember when I turned you into a girl?' she asked, floating over to me.

'Well, yeah,' I said, folding my arms, frowning. 'It's kinda hard to forget.'

'Well, when you changed from a boy into a girl, I accidently gave you a special gift,' Fairy Godmother said, smiling.

'Great,' I said sarcastically, holding my hands to the sky. 'What? Did you make it so that I can't grow?'

'Sing,' she said, smiling.

'What?' I said, blinking.

'Sing,' she said simply, still smiling.

'I don't see what you're getting at...' I said, shrugging. 'But...'

I took a deep breath.

'Try something small, first,' she said, smiling. 'Just sing something simple.'

I shook my head. What the hell was she getting at? Back in the real world, I couldn't sing for shit. My family had made a point of telling me that every time I tried.

'Do ray me so, for la te do,' I sang.

I blinked. Had that been me singing? It had sounded so pure and innocent.

I looked at Fairy Godmother, surprise all over my face.

Then current events caught up with me.

'So you gave me a good singing voice,' I said, putting my hands on my hips and frowning. 'So?'

'Sing something specific,' she said kindly. 'Like, how the clouds shine in the sunlight, or something like that.'

'Okay,' I said slowly, still not sure what she was getting at.

I thought for a moment.

'If only I had an ice cream cone,' I sang. It was the only thing that I could think of.

As I sang, brightly glowing multi-coloured energy came from my mouth and surrounded my left hand.

When the glow faded away, a chocolate ice cream cone with sprinkles and a chocolate wafer was in my hand.

'What the-?' I gasped, staring in shock.

'How did you do that?' Swiper asked, staring at the cone in shock himself.

'I have no idea,' I said, shaking my head and looking back at Fairy Godmother.

She nodded.

'That is your gift,' she said, smiling at me. 'Songs come to life when you sing.'

'That's sounds more like that 13th Note stuff from Freefonix,' I thought, shaking my head and giving the cone to Swiper.

He'd been staring at it, drooling. So, instead of having the embarrassment of having had something swiped from me by Swiper twice today, I just gave it to him.

'Now, go save your friends,' Fairy Godmother said, smiling at me. 'I know you will do well.'

'Gracias, Fairy Godmother,' I said, turning to Swiper, who'd just swallowed the ice cream cone whole. 'Come on, Swiper. Lead the way.'

Even though I said that, I ran ahead.

'Hey, wait up,' Swiper said, holding his head. 'I've got a major brain freeze.'

Chapter Three

The Legendary Crystal Princesses

In the dungeon of the Crystal Castle, Dora, Boots and Lily sat against the dark stone wall.

It had been a day since they'd been taken away and thrown into the King's dungeon.

You couldn't really tell though. The sun hadn't risen in the morning.

'D-do you think May will be able to find us?' Boots asked, lying on the dusty floor on his stomach.

When they'd been captured, he and Lily had hurt their throats, so that couldn't quite speak properly.

Dora gave a sigh and gave a slightly forced smiled. She been hit when they'd been captured and there was a big purple bruise on her left check.

'I'm sure of it,' she said, smiling. 'May wouldn't leave us here.'

The dungeon door opened.

They all looked up.

A tall man, wearing a purple robe with a blue cape walked in, holding something behind his back, smiling. He was wearing a large golden crown, encrusted with diamonds and rubies.

'The Geeby Ging, I pre'ump?' Lily said, her words not coming out quite right.

'Correct,' the King said, grinning. 'I am the King. And look what I've got.'

He showed them what was behind his back. It was a large glass case. Inside of it were the four glowing Magic Crystals. The Water Crystal was deep blue and looked as if water was moving inside it.

The Sky Crystal was light-blue and looked as if clouds were blowing around inside of it.

The Trees Crystal was light-green and brown, and looked like there was a small forest inside of it.

The Fire Crystal was at the bottom on the case.

'The Ma-g-ic Rytals!' Boots gasped, glaring at the Greedy King.

'Why are you doing this?' Dora asked, glaring at the King. 'Why won't you just share the crystals with the rest of the world?'

'Why?' the King said, grinning. 'I'll tell you why, little girl.'

The King laughed heartedly and walked away, holding the case, a glint in his eyes.

'I'm the King,' he said, grinning. 'I never share. I take what I what.'

'But without the Sun Crystal the sun won't rise ever again,' Dora said, glaring at him.

'I don't care,' the King sang, grinning. 'Even if the sun won't shine, I want the Magic Crystals to be mine. All mine!'

'The crystals are for everyone,' Dora sang, staring firmly at the King. 'For sky and water, trees and sun.'

At that moment, Swiper and I were staring down a cliff at the palace. We'd been travelling all through the night. I hadn't been able to sleep and Swiper hadn't wanted to complain. He was scared of what I might do if he did.

As we'd travelled across the Kingdom, we'd seen the disastrous effects, the King's taking of the Magic Crystals were having on the Kingdom. The rivers had dried up. There was no wind. And all the trees and plants were dying.

'There,' Swiper said, pointing to a window on the 3rd floor. 'That's the dungeon. That's where the King will be keeping Dora and Boots.'

'A bit different from the dungeons in story books,' I said, frowning. 'Normally, they're at the bottom of the castle.'

'I guess the King didn't want to have to go down there when he went to tease his prisoners,' Swiper said, frowning. 'So, are we okay?'

I looked down at him.

'You're not still angry about what happened in the fields, are you?' he asked, fidgeting with his fingers nervously.

'No,' I said, shaking my head. 'I forgive you, Swiper.'

He sighed.

I quickly leaned down to his face, glaring.

He flinched.

'But if you ever do anything like that again, you'll wish I'd finished you off, back in those flower fields,' I said menacingly. 'Got it?'

'Got it, got it,' he said, nodding frantically and running off.

I turned to the castle.

'The Greedy King just won't play fair,' I sang, opening my wings and flying at high speed to the window Swiper had pointed at.

Why was I singing? I just felt I should be for some reason.

'To get the crystals back,' Dora sang, staring firmly at the King. 'Sing-'

'Share, share, share,' I sang, flying at the window.

Three pieces of multi-coloured music note shaped energy flew from my mouth, slamming into the wall, making it crumple.

'They're mine!' the King shouted, holding on tightly to the glass case and jumping back as the wall crumbled.

I flew in and faced Dora, Boots and Lily.

'Share, share, share,' I sang, three pieces of multi-coloured music note shaped energy flying from my mouth, hitting the cuffs the King had had placed on their arms.

They crumbled away.

We faced the King, glaring.

'No,' he yelled, holding onto the case like it was his own child. 'Mine!'

'We need your help to sing Share with us,' Dora said, looking up at me and pointing at the case in the King's hands. 'So we can get the crystals back from the King.'

I nodded and faced the King, grinning.

'Everybody sing!' I said, grinning. '1, 2, 3!'

'Share, share, share,' I sang.

Light surrounded us and multi-coloured energy shaped like music notes flew from my mouth, knocking the glass case high into the air.

'Mine, mine, mine, mine!' the King cried, frantically trying to grab the case back.

'Share, share, share,' Dora and I sang together, more music note shaped energy flying from mine and Dora's mouth, surrounding the case.

It started spinning around in the air, the Magic Crystals glowing wildly.

'Sing it louder,' Dora said, seeing the crystals glowing.

'Share, share, SHARE!' we sang, our voices the loudest and strongest I'd ever heard.

A wave of multi-coloured, musical-shaped energy flew from our mouth and swirled around the crystals.

They shone so brightly that it looked like the sun had risen, even though it still hadn't.

The Crystals exploded and a wave of multi-coloured energy surrounded Dora and me.

'Dora!' Boots cried fearfully.

'May!' Lily cried, in just as much fear.

The light faded away.

Boots and Lily stared in awe.

Dora and I had changed.

Our butterfly wings had become huge, with beautiful multi-coloured patterns all over them.

Our clothes had changed too. Dora was now wearing a beautiful, sleeveless purple Fiesta dress with yellow laced hems.

I was now wearing a pure light-blue, sleeveless dress, with white laced hems. And both of us were now wearing golden slippers.

Both dresses shined with pieces of white crystal.

'Dora,' Boots said, as the two of us floated down to the ground, landing lightly, like doves. 'May. What happened?'

Dora and I looked at each other, our eyes wide.

'The Prophecy,' Lily murmured, stunned.

'Huh?' Boots said, turning around to look at her.

'The Prophecy said two girls would reunite the four Kingdoms,' Lily said, looking at the both of us. 'The Crystal Princesses.'

As she spoke, a golden tiara appeared above both mine and Dora's head, landing on our heads, softly.

'You two really are the girls from the Prophecy,' Lily said, quickly kneeling. 'You feelings of friendship freed the Magic Crystals, allowing them to return to their rightful place. As the energies of this world.'

'No!'

We all turned to see the Greedy King glaring at Dora and me.

'I was meant to have the crystals!' he yelled, his eyes wide, glaring at us. 'They were mine! MINE!'

The look on his face was one I recognized.

It was a look I'd seen a lot of times when I was watching Anime and the villain had failed.

It was a crazed, nothing to live for look.

'If I can't have the crystals,' he said, looking at Dora and me, grinning like a maniac. 'Then neither can YOU!'

He lunged at us.

'Stop!' Dora and I shouted firmly.

Our hands glowed with multi-coloured energy.

The King suddenly started glowing with the same energy and froze in midair.

'Whoa,' I said, looking at my hand and then at Dora.

She was looking at me too, with the same look of shock and amazement as me.

Several hours later, we were standing on the balcony of the top room of the Crystal Castle.

Well, the Prophecy had been true. Dora and I had brought down the magical walls separating the four Crystal Kingdoms and now, the Kings and Queens of each Kingdom occupied the Crystal Castle.

With the power of the Crystals being returned to the world, everything returned to normal. The rivers flowed again. The winds blew strongly again. And the trees and plants were healthy once more.

The King was placed in his own dungeon, to think about what he'd done for the rest of his life.

We'd had to clean up the castle a bit too. It had been a real mess, because the King had imprisoned all of the cleaners for only doing an average cleaning job. So, it had been a real mess.

As we'd cleaned up, Dora and I had sang a song called Clean Up. I really loved singing now. I'd watched, after singing "take out the trash" as a pile of trash had flown into a nearby garbage bin and the bin had hopped out the door, stopping next to the road.

Dora and I stood, watching the sky, the sun shining down on us.

Dora sighed.

'You wish you were home right now, don't you, Dora?' I asked, looking at her.

She and I had been flying around the castle a while ago. Our wings were incredibly strong. We'd been able to fly so fast, I had seen a fly's wings beat in slow motion.

'Si,' Dora said, nodding sadly. 'But I won't be able to.'

'Why not?' Boots asked, jumping onto the railing of the balcony, looking at Dora with a confused look on his face.

'May and I are the Crystal Princess,' Dora said, sighing sadly. 'We'll have to stay here and run the Kingdom.'

'Oh,' I said, looking down, sadness on my face too. 'Yeah.'

Dora was right.

Now that she and I were the Crystal Princesses, we'd have to stay and run the kingdom. Dora would never get back home and I'd never be able to return to the real world.

'I'll never see my Mami and Papi again,' Dora said, putting her head in her arms and crying.

I wanted to cry to, but I did my best not to. I didn't want to make Dora feel any worse. After all, it was her birthday today and she'd just learned she couldn't go home again. That was the worst kind of birthday present I could think of.

'That is not true,' a kind woman's voice said from behind us.

We turned around.

The Kings and Queens of the Firefly Kingdom, the Butterfly Kingdom, the Water Kingdom and the Sky Kingdom were standing there, smiling.

'What's not true?' I asked, quickly wiping my eyes. A few tears had leaked out and started trickling down my cheeks.

'The Crystal Princesses are special,' the Water Kingdom Queen said, smiling.

She looked like a human, but with gills. She was wearing a helmet full of water over her head. Her hair and eyes were deep-blue. She was wearing a dark-green seaweed-like dress.

'What do you mean?' Dora sniffed, wiping her eyes on her right arm.

'The Crystal Princesses are free to come and go from the Kingdom whenever they please,' the Sky King said, smiling. 'That is the beauty of being duel princesses.' He had short, brown hair, blue eyes and great big angel-like wings. He was an avian. Even I knew that. Thank you, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Season 5.

The Sky King was wearing a pure-white robe.

'We're aloud to leave?' I asked, not sure whether to believe it or not. It sounded too good to be true.

'You are,' the Firefly Queen said, smiling.

'We will even have Roué carry you there,' the Butterfly King said smiling. He was a large, strong-looking man with broad shoulders, black hair and green eyes. He was wearing a purple robe.

'Roué?' I asked, frowning. 'Who's Roué?'

He lifted his right-hand and hummed.

A purple butterfly as big as a house flew up to the balcony.

'Whoa!' Dora, Boots and I cried, staring at it in shock.

'This must be Roué,' I thought, staring in amazement. I'd never seen a butterfly this HUGE before. Never.

'Wait,' I said, realizing something, frowning and turning around to the Kings and Queens again. 'What about our wings? We can't exactly go back to Dora's world with butterfly wings, can we?'

The Butterfly King nodded.

Dora and I glowed with white light. The light disintegrated off of our bodies.

We were normal again. We looked the same as we had before the Magic Crystals had turned us into the Crystal Princesses. Our wings were gone too.

'Now, we will bid you all farewell,' the Firefly King said, smiling.

'Please, come back any time you wish,' the Firefly Queen said as we climbed onto Roué's back. 'You will always be welcome, Crystal Princesses.'

'We will,' I said, smiling as Roué flapped his wings and started to fly off.

'Goodbye!' we all called out, waving to them as we flew high into the sky.

'Goodbye, my new friends,' Lily said, appearing next to us. 'See you again, someday.'

'Bye, Lily,' the three of us called, waving to her as she flew back down towards the ground.

We all looked to the sky.

A pink gap appeared in the sky.

Roué flew straight into it. We were surrounded by pink clouds for three seconds. Then, we were flying through the trees of the rainforest.

Dora and Boots started to sing a song called We're Going Home. I joined in every now and then.

We flew by noisy rivers calling out. Through the quiet forest and passed the rainbow waterfalls.

I was amazed when I saw the rainbow waterfalls.

I'd never seen multi-coloured water before.

We flew through the air and I could have sworn I saw the Super Babies fly passed us in a red blur.

We flew over a barn house. I looked down and saw the Big Red Chicken.

The episode where Dora and Boots had met the Big Red Chicken was 1 of the few that I'd seen.

We flew over a bridge and a hairy, yellow thing came out and shook its fists and started yelling at us.

I closed my eyes and giggled. I had no idea why. It was funny for some reason.

An hour later, I could see Dora's house off in the distance.

'There it is!' I said happily, pointing.

'Hurry, Roué,' Dora said happily. 'I want to tell Mami and Papi about how May and I saved the Crystal Kingdom.'

He looked back at Dora, nodded and smiled.

He faced forward and we surged ahead, faster than ever.

'We're go-ing home!' we sang all together as Dora's house came closer and closer.

We landed outside Dora's house two minutes later.

'Thanks for flying us here, Roué,' I said smiling, patting his head after we'd gotten off. 'Gracias.'

He smiled back at me and bowed. Then he flapped his wings and flew off into the air.

We watched him until he'd vanished from view.

'Come on,' Dora said, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards her house. 'I want to introduce you to my parents.'

She pushed the door open and we walked in.

The walls were painted light-blue and the ceiling was white.

I could see four doors that looked like the led into bedrooms.

The lounge room was cosy with a couch and white, fluffy cushions.

But the house was completely silent.

'Where is everyone?' Dora asked, letting go of my hand and looking around confused.

We all quickly looked around the house.

It was empty.

'There's no one here,' Boots said when the three of us met in the lounge room.

'This is kinda creepy,' I said, hugging myself as a shiver went down my spine.

'I don't understand,' Dora said, looking worried. 'Mami and Papi are always home at this time.'

I saw movement outside the window near the backdoor.

'Shh!' I whispered, putting my fingers to my lips and pointing to the backdoor.

Dora and Boots nodded.

Something was going on and we were going to find out what.

We crept to the backdoor.

'Okay,' I said, grasping the doorknob. 'When I say three, we run out and catch whoever's out there.'

'Right,' Dora and Boots said, nodding.

I took a deep breath.

'Una,' I said, counting in Spanish, slowly turning the knob. 'Dos.'

'Tres!' we all shouted, opening the door and running out.

Streamers and party blowers went off.

'Happy birthday, Dora!' loud voices shouted happily.

'Huh?' the three of us said together, blinking in confusion.

All of Dora's family were standing there.

The backyard had been decorated with streamers and balloons and there was a huge sign above a table covered in party food that said "Happy Birthday, Dora!"

'Of course,' I thought, shaking my head. 'It's Dora's birthday and this is her surprise birthday party.'

I shook my head. I could be such an idiot sometimes.

'Happy birthday, sweetheart,' Dora's dad said, coming over and kneeling down, his arms outstretched.

He was waiting for a huge.

'Papi!' Dora cried happily, running forward and hugging her father.

'And who is this?' Dora's mum said, walking over and noticing me.

'Oh, I'm, Be- I mean, May,' I said, my tongue slipping for a second there. Almost blew my cover already.

'I met her yesterday,' Dora said, letting go of her father, walking over to me and smiling.

'Oh, well it is nice to meet you, May,' Dora's mum said, smiling at me.

'It's nice to meet you, too,' I said, smiling back.

'By why didn't you come back last night?' Dora's dad asked, looking at his daughter. 'We were worried something had happened to you.'

'Sorry, Mami. Sorry, Papi,' Dora said, looking down. 'But we fell into the Crystal Kingdom and couldn't get out until we saved it from the Greedy King.'

'What?' Dora's mum said, looking confused.

'It's true,' I said, coming to Dora's defence. 'I don't really understand it myself, but it's a real place, in another world.'

'Is that why you didn't come home, last night?' Dora's dad asked, looking from me to Dora.

'Yes,' we said together, nodding.

'We only stopped worrying when Swiper arrived and told us that you'd be home shortly,' Dora's mum said, shaking her head.

'Swiper did that?' I asked, looking at Dora.

She looked just as surprised as I felt.

'Wow,' I said, shaking my head. 'I guess he's not so bad after all.'

'Hey, Dora!'

Dora and I turned around.

Diego came swinging in on a vine, Baby Jaguar holding onto his back.

'Hola, Diego,' I said, waving, without thinking.

Dora hadn't even talked about Diego since she'd met me. She and Boots had been suspicious enough when I'd sung about him while we'd been singing the We're Going Home song on the way here.

'Who are you?' Diego asked, looking at me with confusion.

'Crap,' I thought, frantically trying to think of something to say.

How was I going to explain to Diego that I already knew him, without letting slip the fact that he was part of a fictitious children's education TV show that was a spinoff of another fictitious children's education TV show?

'Her name's May,' Dora said, putting her hand on my shoulder. 'I met her yesterday.'

'Oh, well, hola, May,' Diego said, holding out his hand. 'It's nice to meet you. Any friend of Dora's is a friend of mine.'

'Um, gracias,' I said, shaking his hand. 'I think.'

'So, May,' Dora's mum asked as Diego handed Dora the birthday present he'd gotten for her. 'Where are your parents?'

I flinched. What was I going to do now? I could just tell her that my parents were in another world. I didn't have to mention that that world was the real world. But would they believe me like Dora had?

I sighed.

There was only one way to find out.

I turned around and looked up at Dora's mum.

'They're back in my world,' I said sadly, shaking my head.

'What do you mean?' Dora's mum asked, looking confused.

'I'm from another world,' I said, putting my right-hand on my chest to indicate to myself.

'You mean you're from another planet?' she asked, looking confused.

'No, no,' I said, shaking my head. 'I was accidently brought here, from another dimension when Fairy Godmother messed up one of her transportation spell.'

'Oh, dear,' she said, shaking her head. 'That Fairy Godmother causes more problems than she solves. But what will you do? You can't be on your own.'

'Well,' I said, looking up with puppy-dog eyes. Dora had taught me how to do it while we'd be flying on Roué. 'Dora said it would be okay if I stayed here for a while. Is that alright?'

'Oh,' Dora's mum said, looking a little taken aback. 'Well...'

I looked up at her with my puppy-dog eyes.

There was no way she could say "no" when looking at them. Dora had given me a mirror while we'd been flying so I could see what I looked like using puppy-dog eyes. When I did it, I just wanted to reach into the mirror and hug myself. I'd been that irresistibly cute.

'Oh, alright,' Dora's mum said, giving in. 'You'll have to share a room with Dora though. We don't have a very big house.'

'Dora said that would be fine,' I said, closing my eyes and smiling. 'Gracias.'

'Excuse me.'

I turned around.

Benny the Bull was standing there, looking at me.

'Dora says you're her newest friend,' he said, looking at me, holding out his hoof. 'Nice to meet you. I'm Benny Bull.'

I smiled and shook his hoof.

'It's nice to meet you too, Benny,' I said, closing my eyes. I seemed to be doing that a lot when I smiled. Maybe it was girl instinct or something. After all, I was in the body of a girl.

'So, when's your birthday, May?' Dora's mum asked me, smiling.

'Um... what's the date toiday?' I asked, shrugging.

I didn't know what the date was. This world was different from mine. For all I knew, here, it could still be 1994. It could even still be the 80s for all I knew.

'It is the 2nd of June 2007,' Dora's mum said, smiling.

Oh, boy. 5 years into the past. That meant Kevin Rudd was prim minister. Wait, was he? This was a different world so maybe Ruddy hadn't become prim minister. Anyway, only 5 years in the past? That wasn't too bad.

Wait, did she say the 2nd of June? That was my birthday. Did that mean Dora and I had been born on the same day?

'Well, my birthday's June 2nd,' I said, scratching behind my neck.

'Oh,' she said, looking surprised. 'Then we should celebrate your birthday too.'

'No, no, it's perfectly fine,' I said, holding my hands out and shaking my head.

I didn't want to intrude on Dora's birthday. That wasn't what friends did.

'Nonsense,' she said, waving my refusal away. 'Everyone,' she called out. 'We will also be celebrating Dora's newest friend, May's birthday today too, since it is today as well.'

Before I could say anything, Dora and I were standing next to each other, wearing party hats, looking at a large 5 layer chocolate cake, covered in pink icing, with 7 candles on it.

'Feliz Cumpleaños , Dora and May,' everyone cheered.

I knew that feliz cumpleaños meant "happy birthday" in Spanish. Dora had told me that while we'd been walking.

You know. Before we fell into the Crystal Kingdom.

'Sorry, Dora,' I said, looking at her. 'I didn't mean to take your birthday from you. You mum asked when my birthday was and when I told her it was June 2nd, she insisted that they celebrate my birthday as well as yours.'

'That's okay,' Dora said, smiling. 'I'm glad we get to celebrate your birthday too. It makes me feel like we're even better friends.'

I smiled. I was glad Dora was such a kind person and that I'd gotten the chance to meet her. When I got back to the real world, I was going to buy every DORA The Explorer DVD I could find.

Who knows? Maybe Dora would be able to talk to me through them.

'What time were you born?' I asked quietly.

Since I'd been born around 10:30am, if Dora had been born, even a minute before that, it'd mean that she was older than me in this world.

'9:14am,' Dora whispered, smiling.

Whoa! She was older than me! By over an hour. I'd have to get used to the idea of being the younger 1. That was going to be hard to adjust to. I'd been the eldest of my parent's offspring in my family since, well, forever.

'Make a wish,' Dora's dad said, holding a camera, ready to take a picture.

Dora and I smiled at each other and nodded.

'Una, dos, tres,' we counted together, blowing out the candles.

Everyone cheered.

I laughed more that day that I had in a long time.

Somehow, being turned into a 7-year-old girl had awakened the inner me. The part of me that had forgotten what having fun was really all about.

Oh, man, that sounded so corny.

That night, after dinner, Dora and I had a bath together.

'I feel like such a pervert,' I said as Dora helped me wash my back.

'What's a pervert?' Dora asked, looking confused.

That's right. Dora wasn't old enough to know the word "pervert" yet.

I mentally slapped myself upside the head.

'It's someone who peaks on people when they're naked,' I said, wishing I hadn't said anything in the first place.

'Oh,' Dora said, pausing for a moment, then continued to help wash my back. 'But you're not peaking at me naked.'

'I know, I know,' I said, sighing. 'It's just the 19-year-old part of me thinking that, but I can't help it. I'm a 19-year-old boy, but here I am, in the body of a 7-year-old girl, having a bath with another 7-year-old girl, who isn't one of my little sisters. Not that my sisters would want to have a bath with the old me anyway.'

'Why not?' Dora asked, pouring some water on my back to rinse the suds off, having finished washing it.

'We're all too old now,' I said, turning around and facing her. 'Not only wouldn't any of us fit in the bathtub together, but it would be really awkward.'

I suddenly realized I was looking at Dora's bare kid chest and looked away, blushing deeply.

Dora smiled when she realized I was blushing. I'd never blushed in the real world so I didn't know what I looked like when I blush.

Dora thought I looked rather cute when I blushed, since I was a 7-year-old girl right now.

'Being a 19-year-old boy in 7-year-old girl's body is so confusing,' I said, closing my eyes and sighing.

After our bath, Mrs. Mendez, that's Dora's mother, helped us out of the bath and dried us off. I insisted on drying myself off. I'd been doing it for so long now; someone else doing it for me would just feel too weird. And this coming from a 19-year-old boy trapped in the body of a 7-year-old cartoon girl.

I'd learned that Mendez was Dora's last name during the party. I'd been a little surprised, but didn't mind. I thought it suited her. Dora Mendez. It has a nice ring to it, don't you think?

Anyway, once we were dry, we put on our pyjamas. It was summer here, so they were wearing summer pyjamas. I'd had to borrow some of Dora's because I didn't have any of my own.

Well, what do you expect? I didn't exactly pack an overnight bag before Fairy Godmother accidently zapped me into this world and turned me into a 7-year-old girl, did I?

The pyjamas Dora was wearing were a light-purple T-shirt with a pink teddy bear picture and shorts.

Mine were the same, except that they were an orangey-yellow colour with orange flower patterns, with not teddy bear picture.

I half-wondered if this world was screwing with me a little, since my hair was a similar colour to my new pyjamas.

Dora's parents had brought a spare bed into Dora's room early after the party and gotten it ready for me.

Mr. Mendez was really good at building.

We got into bed and Mrs. Mendez kissed both of us goodnight on the cheek.

'Buenas noches, you two,' she said, standing by the door, turning out the light. 'Sleep well.'

'Buenas noches, Mami,' Dora said smiling, her eyes slightly closed.

'Buenas noches, Mrs. Mendez,' I said smiling, my eyes the same as Dora's. Somehow, having that bath had done the opposite of what happens to me; back in the real world, when I take I shower.

When I was really sleepy, I'd go have my shower and when I was done, I'd feel fully awake.

But not this time. I was really sleepy. Maybe it was the age thing. Since I was in the body of a 7-year-old, maybe having a bath made me sleepy.

'Call me "Mami",' Mrs. Mendez said, smiling.

If I hadn't been so sleepy I'd have probably disagreed. Saying that, since I still had a mother, back in my world, I wouldn't feel right calling someone else a word that basically meant "mum".

'Okay... Mami,' I said yawning, closing my eyes and almost immediately falling asleep. That hadn't happened to me in years.

Mrs. Mendez quietly closed the door.

Dora and I slept, dreaming.

Chapter Four

Doggy Dilemma

Dora and I were sitting outside, in the backyard, watching the full moon. It was behind a cloud, but I knew it would come out again soon.

'I'm so glad Mami and Papi let you stay,' Dora said, looking at me and smiling.

'I am too,' I said smiling. 'I'd hate to think of what would've happened if I hadn't met you as soon as I came- ah!'

'May?' Dora asked, looking worried.

I was bent forward, holding my stomach. It felt like something was trying to burst out of it. Had I eaten something that didn't agree with me?

The full moon came out from behind the cloud.

'AH!' I cried, falling forward.

'May!' Dora cried in alarm.

This pain was excruciating. What was going on?

'Wait,' I thought, looking up at the moon. 'The pain intensified right after the full moon had come out.'

No way. It couldn't be-

'ARH!' I cried, my body curving.

'May, what happening to you?' Dora cried, tears in her eyes.

Brown hair grew all over my body. I grew larger, ripping through my clothes. My ears became pointed and my face grew out into a snout.

Dora stared in horror, her hands over her mouth.

I'd turned into a werewolf.

I looked at her, my eyes filled with hunger.

I wasn't in control of my body anymore. It was like I was watching a horror movie from the monsters' perspective.

'May, it's me, Dora,' Dora whimpered as the werewolf drew closer, its fangs beared.

It lunged forward. Dora's scream rang out through the night air.

'DORA!' I cried, sitting up in bed, drenched in a cold sweat, my eyes wide with fear.

'May, what's wrong?' Dora asked, waking up and sitting up in bed.

'What's wrong?' Dora's dad asked urgently as he and Mrs Mendez hurried in through the door.

I was breathing heavily, my eyes still wide with fear.

'It- it was just a bad dream,' I managed to gasp.

My body was shaking all over. Though I didn't know whether it was from fear or cold. I was drenched in a cold sweat, after all.

I hadn't had a real nightmare in years.

That was the 1st 1 since I don't know when.

But talk about throwing me to the wolves.

That was the worst nightmare I'd ever had.

'It's alright,' Mrs Mendez said, hugging me. 'Everything's alright now.'

I didn't know why, but I suddenly started crying and buried myself in Mrs Mendez arms.

That dream had been terrifying. And, with the body of a 7-year-old, I think my bravery had dropped a fare bit and my fear was a lot stronger now.

When I was done crying, Mrs Mendez asked if I wanted to sleep with them for the night.

I shook my head, trying to look like a brave little girl.

The truth was, I'd feel weird, sleeping in a bed with two adults I barely knew. No mater how nice they were.

So, instead, Dora said she'd sleep with me, in my bed tonight.

Immediately the first thought that popped into my head was, "It's nothing sexual. It's just two friends, sleeping in the same bed together. Nothing else."

I agreed, mainly because I was still a little nervous. That dream had scared the shits out of me. And being in a 7-year-old girl's body didn't help that, either.

So Dora got into my bed, Mr. and Mrs Mendez went back to their room and we went to sleep.

When morning came, I was the first to wake up.

Dora and I were sprawled out on the bed.

I sat up and looked at her.

She looked so cute when she was asleep.

'No, Tom, no!' I said firmly, slapping myself on the face. 'You can't think like that. You're 19-years-old and she's only 7, no matter what you physical appearance.'

I slowly got out of bed, being careful not to wake Dora up, walked over to the window and looked out at the morning sky.

The sun was half risen so I was guessing it was around 7 O' clock.

'Well, it's my first real day in DORA The Explorer's world,' I said, slapping my checks with both hands. 'I'd better make sure I make a good impression.'

I walked over to the closet and opened it, looking inside.

Dora certainly had a wide collection of clothes for a 7-year-old.

There were at least 12 dresses.

I took a sleeveless light-pink one with a white ribbon to tie around the waist out, held it against myself and looked in the closet mirror.

'Not bad,' I said, looking at the way the dress looked against my 7-year-old girl body.'

I winked at myself.

I looked rather cute.

I put the dress back and took out another.

It was actually a pink and light-pink stripped, sleeveless shirt and a small pink skirt.

I held them against me and looked in the mirror.

'Not as cute as the other one,' I said, looking at myself. 'But still, very cute.'

I'd originally intended to wear what I'd worn yesterday, but it seemed that Mrs Mendez had put them in the wash. Luckily, she'd taken my phone out of my shorts pocket and put it on the dresser table in this room. It was by the window.

I choose to wear the light-pink dress with the white ribbon to tie around the waist.

As I put it on, I was a little worried about how easily I'd been able to agree with wearing a dress. Less than 3 days in this body and I was already starting to feel and act more like a girl.

I shook my head, tied the white ribbon around my waist and looked at myself in the mirror.

I looked absolutely adorable. But something was missing. What was it? What was it?

I looked around the room. On Dora's dresser table I could see a couple of hair clips.

I walked over and looked carefully at each one. I knew one of these clips would finish the look, but I didn't know which.

Luckily, there was a small mirror on the dresser table so I could test each one.

I held a small heart-shaped clip to my head, near my right ear. No.

I put that back in the small box they were in and took out a five-point yellow star clip. Nope. That wouldn't work either.

Then I noticed a small blue flower clip with a yellow centre.

I picked it up and held it on my hair. Perfect.

I clipped it on and looked at myself, smiling.

Considering it was the first time I'd really tried something like this, for more than the one obvious reason of being a boy, I looked quite nice.

Now I just needed my shoes.

I looked around but my sneakers weren't anywhere.

When I'd arrived in this world, they were the 1 piece of my original clothing that had stayed. Granted, they had shrunk to fit my small feet and magically repaired themselves, but none the less, they'd stayed.

But they weren't in the room. Maybe Mrs. Mendez had taken them out too. They had been rather scuffed after all.

So what was I going to wear on my feet? I couldn't go walking around barefoot.

I looked around the room and spotted a pair of pink, strap-on sandals with a blue flower by the toe area.

I walked back to Dora's closet mirror and looked at myself.

I was pretty impressed with myself. I looked stunningly adorable.

I put my fore fingers to my cheeks and gave a small smile.

Oh! I just wanted to hug myself. I was so cute.

'Whoa, hang on a second there!' I thought, shaking my head and frowning. 'You are Tom Johns. An average-looking, 19-year-old man with a job. Not a cute 7-year-old girl.'

Dora stirred, turning my attention away from myself.

I turned to look at her and smiled.

'I wonder what she'll think, when she sees me,' I thought, sitting on the stool by the dresser table.

Dora sat up, rubbing her eyes, yawning.

'Good morning, sleepy head,' I said.

Dora looked in my direction and saw me.

'Wow, May,' she said, getting out of the bed and staring at me. 'You look great.'

'Thanks,' I said, putting my right-hand behind my head, giving a small smile. 'Oh, I mean, gracias. Is it alright that I borrowed one of you dresses without asking? It's just, your mum took my other clothes for a wash and I didn't have anything else to wear. Since, you know, I didn't expect to come to this world when I did.'

'Be nada,' Dora said, smiling. 'I don't usually wear that dress anyway. You can keep it.'

'Thanks, I guess,' I said smiling.

This conversation was making me feel weird.

When Dora was dressed in her usual clothing attire, she and I went downstairs, had our breakfast and left for school. It was nearby, so we could walk there.

I was still self-conscious about the idea of going to school, considering, back in the real world, I'd graduated from school all together.

When Dora and I walked out the front door, we found a green backpack sitting by the door.

'Where did that come from?' Dora asked as I bent down and picked it up.

'There's a note,' I said, taking the small piece of paper that was slipped in the front flap.

It read:

"Dear Tom- whoops, I mean May. Oh, no. Don't write that, you stupid Magic Pencil. Oh, never mind. Anyway, please accept this special backpack as an apology for the extra time you will have to wait before I can send you back to your own world.

Signed

F.G."

'That backpack must be from Fairy Godmother,' Dora said, having read the note over my shoulder.

'Yeah, I guess,' I said, opening the backpack. 'At least we don't need to squish our stuff in Backpack.'

Dora took the hint, slipped Backpack off her back, opened her, took the snack her mum had pack for me and my other things out and gave them to me.

I put them into the green backpack, closed it and slipped it over my shoulders, onto my back.

'We'd better hurry, or we'll be late,' I said, looking at Dora.

Hey, I might not like the idea of going to school again; I didn't want to be late either.

We hurried off down the road, heading for the school.

We got there a few minutes before it started. The other kids were playing on the playground.

'They look like they're having fun,' I said smiling.

'Let's join them,' Dora said, smiling.

'Yeah,' I said smiling. 'Why not? It's been a while since I've had fun on a playground.'

That was mainly because I had become too big, being 19 after all.

There was a whimper from down by our feet.

We both looked down.

A small, red puppy with pointy ears was looking up at us, smiling.

'A puppy,' Dora said excitedly, kneeling down.

The puppy immediately jumped up and licked her right-cheek.

Dora laughed.

'Hey, that tickles,' she said, laughing.

'Here, boy,' I said, kneeling down.

The puppy stopped licking Dora, ran over to me and licked me on my left-cheek.

'Ha, ha. Hey,' I said, closing my left eye. 'That tickles.'

I suddenly stopped laughing, my eyes sad.

'May?' Dora said, noticing the sad look on my face. 'What's wrong?'

'This puppy just remained me of my own dog, back in my world,' I said, patting the puppy's head, the sad look still on my face.

Dora understood.

Homesickness was a powerful thing. And, considering my home was in another world all together, homesickness was worse for me than it would be for most people.

The bell went.

'Come on,' I said, putting the puppy down and standing up. 'We'd better get going.'

I started to walk off towards the front doors.

'Bye, little puppy,' Dora said, waving to the puppy as she hurried after me.

Neither of us had noticed that the side of our cheeks where the puppy had licked us were sparkling with golden sparks.

The puppy smiled and ran off down the road, heading in the direction of the rainforest.

'Everyone, we have a new friend joining us today,' Miss Marley, the school teacher.

She had long brown hair, tied back in a pony tail and blue eyes. She was wearing a blue T-shirt and long brown skirt.

I was standing in front of all the other kids.

They were all sitting on cushions on the floor, looking at me.

I felt really nervous, standing in front of them all.

If I'd been my old size I doubt I'd have been so nervous, standing in front of a bunch of school kids. But I wasn't my old size. I was their size.

'Would you like to introduce yourself, dear?' Miss Marley said, looking at me, smiling.

'Um, okay,' I said, nodding.

I looked at all of the other kids.

I gulped.

Then I saw Dora smiling at me from the back.

I took a deep breath.

'M-my name's May Kyoko,' I said, putting my hands together in front of me. 'It's nice to meet you.'

'Hola, May,' Miss Marley said smiling. 'Would you like to take a seat?'

'Um, thank you, Miss,' I said, nodding. 'Gracias.'

I walked around the room and sat down next to Dora.

She smiled at me and I smiled back.

A little later, Miss Marley asked Dora and me to stand in front of the class and sing the alphabet.

I was a little nervous about singing in front of all these kids, but I pushed those fears down.

I couldn't think about them now. If I did, I wouldn't be able to sing properly.

Dora smiled at me and I smiled back.

'A, B, C, D, E, F, G,' we sang together, smiling. 'H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P. Q, R, S. T, U V. W, X, Y and Z. Now I know my A, B, Cs, next time won't you sing with me-?'

I sang "me".

But when Dora sang "me", she didn't sing "me". She yipped. Like a dog.

She blinked, confused.

She wasn't the only one.

We all stared at her, very confused.

I was the most confused out of everyone.

Why had Dora just yipped, like a dog?

'Dora?' I said, looking at her.

'Yes?' Dora asked, looking at me, still looking a little confused.

'What did you just- Yip?'

I blinked

I hadn't said "yip". I'd yipped.

Dora and I had both yipped like dogs, without meaning to.

'Miss?' I said, looking at her.

'Yes, May?' Miss Marley asked, looking at me, a little worried.

'Could we go and see the nurse?' I asked, taking Dora right-hand in my left. 'I think we're sick.'

She nodded.

When the nurse examined us, she found that our noses were wet. She thought we were catching a cold so she called Dora's mum.

She arrived a few minutes later and took the two of us back to the house.

'I don't understand,' Dora said, shaking her head as we sat in our child protection seats. 'If we have colds, why were we yipping in class?'

'I don't know,' I said, folding my arms, frowning. 'Why did we yip like dogs during class?'

It was a mystery. And, like I knew Dora would, I wanted to solve it.

A few minutes later we were lying in our beds, a thermometer in our mouths.

Dora's mum took the thermometers out and examined them.

'Please, Mrs Meli- I mean, Mami,' I said, sitting up. 'We don't feel sick.'

'That's right,' Dora said, sitting up too. 'If we had colds, we'd be sneezing and have fevers.'

'Well, you don't have fevers,' Dora's mum said, looking at both the thermometers and frowning. 'But your noses are both wet, which is a sign of a cold.'

'But Mami-' we both began.

'No,' she said, holding up a finger to stop us.

It worked. Dora and I closed our mouths and looked down. Somehow, mothers had that power. If they held up a finger, immediately children went quiet.

But I was a 19-year-old in a 7-year-old's body. I shouldn't be affected by it. But somehow, I was.

Dora's mum sighed.

'I know you don't like the idea of having to stay in bed on such a nice day,' she said, making the both of us lie down again. 'But I'm just looking out for both of you. If you go outside and get a fever, you could get really sick.'

She walked out the room, closing the door behind us.

'If we're not sick,' Dora said, looking up at the ceiling. 'I wonder what's happening to us.'

'I know,' I said, nodding. 'It's like we're sick, but we don't feel like we are. It's weird.'

'But being in bed is making me feel sleepy,' Dora said, yawning.

'I know what you mean,' I said, yawning too.

We were asleep in a mater of seconds.

'ARH!' I cried, my body curving.

'May, what happening to you?' Dora cried, tears in her eyes.

We were standing in the backyard at night again. The full moon shone down on us.

Brown hair grew all over my body. I grew larger, ripping through my clothes. My ears became pointed and my face grew out into a snout.

Dora stared in horror, her hands over her mouth.

I'd turned into a werewolf again.

I looked at Dora, my eyes filled with hunger.

This time, it was like I was watching a horror movie from above.

'May, it's me, Dora,' Dora whimpered as the werewolf drew closer, its fangs beared.

It lunged forward. Dora's scream rang out through the air.

My eyes burst open and I sat up in bed, holding the covers with my left hand.

I was drenched in sweat again and breathing heavily.

'What a horrible nightmare,' I said, putting my right-hand over my right eye. 'Why'd I have it again?'

Suddenly a smell reached my nose.

I sniffed.

It smelt like bacon. No.

I sniffed again.

Not just bacon. Bacon and eggs, with a glass of orange juice and a squeeze of lemon.

I blinked.

Whoa. How could I smell something with such detail?

Thanks to going temporarily blind after my second brain operation, back in the real world, my sense of smell was stronger than that of most humans. But it had never been this strong before. That bacon smelt like it was sizzling in the kitchen, but it wasn't.

Dora's mum was outside, hanging up some laundry and her dad was at work. What he did for work, I still didn't know.

But, getting back to the bacon, I sniffed the air again.

The bacon was sizzling on a stove around 35kilometres away. The stove had been cleaned a few minutes before the bacon had started to be sizzled.

Wait, how could I tell that just by sniffing the air?

I shook my head, lifting my right-hand up to scratch it.

My hand touched something pointy.

I frowned.

I felt more of the point. As I moved my hand farther down, it felt more like an ear. A dog ear.

I threw the covers off and ran to Dora's closet, opened it and looked in the mirror.

Sitting on the top of my head were two pointy, orangey-brown dog ears.

'What the hell?' I shouted, pulling at the ears.

Ow. That hurt. These were real.

Now that I looked closely, I couldn't see my ordinary human ears anymore. The part of my head where they'd been was just blank skin.

'May?' Dora said, sitting up in her bed, rubbing her right eye with her right-hand.

I looked at her and jumped.

She had dog ears too. They were like mine, but brown.

'Dora, you're ears!' I said, pointing.

'Huh?' Dora said, putting her right-hand to where I was pointing and feeling the pointy dog ear.

'AH!' she cried, jumping out of bed, running over and looking at herself in the mirror. She stared at the ears on the top of her head. Her human ears had gone too.

'What's happening to us?' she asked worriedly, looking at me.

'I don't know,' I said frantically, still holding my own dog ears.

'I'd say you got hit with a Doggy Spell.'

Dora and I looked around the room, confused.

Who'd just said that?

'Over here,' the voice said again.

We still couldn't see who was talking.

'By the door,' the voice said, sounding a little impatient.

Dora and I looked at the door.

The green backpack Fairy Godmother had given me was looking at us.

It now had eyes and a mouth.

'You can talk?' I said, pointing at it with shock.

'Of course I can talk,' he said, frowning. 'I am a magic backpack, after all.'

'Oh,' I said, looking at Dora.

'That does make sense,' she said, shrugging.

'Anyway,' my backpack said, getting our attention. 'First of all, nice to meet you. Call me Magic Pack.'

'Um, hola, Magic Pack,' we said unsure.

This was a little weird. Wait, Dora and I had dog ears! How could I think my magic backpack, given to me by Fairy Godmother, talking could be any weirder than having dog ears?!

'Now, as I was saying,' Pack said, looking at the two of us. 'It looks like you've been hit with a Doggy Spell.'

'What's a Doggy Spell?' I asked, frowning.

'Si,' Dora said, frowning too. 'I've never heard of such a thing.'

'You haven't?' I asked her, surprised.

I thought Dora had explored and learned about almost everything.

'Never,' Dora said, shaking her head, making her dog ears twitch a little.

She whimpered, holding them.

'A Doggy Spell is a type of magic that can be used only by dogs from the Magical World,' Magic Pack, looking at the two of us. 'It's a 5 day spell.

'5 day spell?' I said, frowning. 'What does that mean?'

'That means it will take 5 days for the spell to be completed,' Magic Pack, closing his eyes, acting like a not-it-all.

I really hated it when people did that.

'Over the 5 days you'll start to turn into dogs,' Pack continued, oblivious to the look of fear on Dora's face the more he spoke. 'First you have occasional fits of yipping-'

'Had that,' I said, counting one of the fingers on my left-hand.

'Then your noses gets wet, like a dog's nose,' Pack went on.

'Had that too,' I said, counting another finger.

'You lose your human ears and grow dog ones,' Pack continued.

'And that,' I said, counting a third finger.

'Then you'll grow fur all over your bodies,' Magic Pack, not noticing.

'Haven't had that yet,' I said, sighing a little.

'After that, you'll turn into complete puppies, with only the hair on top of your heads to show that you used to be human,' Pack finished.

'So once we turn into puppies the spell's complete?' Dora asked, her voice quivering a little.

'No, no,' Magic Pack, shaking his, well, everything. 'The spell will become complete and irreversible on the 5th day at the exact time the spell was placed on you the first day.'

'Irreversible?' Dora cried, horrified.

'You mean, if we haven't reversed the spell by that time on the 5th day-' I said, looking horrified myself.

'You will remain dogs forever,' Magic Pack, nodding.

'Oh, no,' Dora said, looking at me, tears in her eyes. 'I don't want to turn into a dog forever.'

'You won't, Dora,' I said firmly. 'I won't let that happen. Pack, how do we reverse the spell?'

'They use the spell on humans who are mean to dogs,' Magic Pack, looking at me. 'The only way to reverse the spell is to make up for the crime committed against the dogs.'

'But... we love dogs,' Dora said, looking at Pack.

'Yeah,' I said frowning. 'We've never done anything bad to a dog in our lives.'

'Are you sure?' Magic Pack, looking at me. 'You didn't do anything to a dog, back in your world?'

'Well, I guess I did yell at a grouchy German Shepherd,' I said, thinking.

'What?' Dora said, looking at me in shock.

'But that dog was insane,' I said firmly. 'I nicknamed him Argo because he'd go crazy every time someone simply walked passed. I even think the people who owned him put him down because he was too aggressive.'

'They did?' Dora asked, looking sad.

'Well, then I don't see why a Doggy Spell was placed on the two of you,' Magic Pack, looking confused. 'Did you meet a dog yesterday?'

'Yeah,' Dora said, looking at me and then back to Pack. 'We met a cute little puppy before we went to school.'

'Did it lick you?' Pack asked, looking worried.

'Well, yeah,' I said, frowning. 'It licked both of us. We thought it was just being friendly.'

'Oh, no,' Magic Pack, shaking himself as if he was shaking his head, if he'd had one. 'That must have been a puppy from the Magic World that came to you by mistake.'

'So, how do we reverse the spell if we haven't done anything wrong to the dogs?' I asked, holding my right-fist in front of me.

I wasn't going to let Dora have to spend the rest of her life us a dog.

'Most humans don't break the spell,' Magic Pack sadly. 'They end up spending the rest of their natural lives as dogs.'

'So, they live for a maximum of 15 years?' I asked, frowning.

'Oh, no,' Magic Pack, shaking himself again. 'They live as long as they would have if they were still human.'

'You mean, we could be stuck as dogs for over 80 years?' I cried, horrified.

Pack nodded.

'I'm afraid so,' he said sadly.

Dora's face fell.

'Well, then we'll be 2 of the few to break the spell,' I said firmly, putting my left-hand on Dora's right shoulder.

She smiled.

'How do we break the spell?' I asked Magic Pack firmly.

A large piece of paper flew out of his flap and flew into my open right-hand.

'Follow that map, stay true to yourselves and you'll break the spell,' Magic Pack firmly.

'Right,' Dora and I said, nodding.

We got dressed, went downstairs and told Dora's mum about the spell and what we had to do to break it.

I was wearing the pink dress Dora had given me yesterday and she was wearing her usual clothes.

Pack had told us that we couldn't take Backpack or Map. We couldn't have help from anyone who was human unless we desperately needed their help. We couldn't even ask Boots, Benny the Bull, Isa the Iguana or Tico the Squirrel for help either.

We'd have to do this on our own.

I was a little worried about Dora when he said that.

As far as I knew, Dora had never been on an adventure without Backpack and Map. How would she handle it?

Dora's mum didn't like the idea of the two of us going out on our own either. I didn't see why. Dora went on adventures all the time and it had never bothered her before. But she still agreed. She didn't really have a choice.

If Dora and I didn't go on this adventure alone, just the two of us, the spell would never break and we'd be stuck as dogs, forever.

We walked out the door and headed down the road, towards the forest.

'I really think I should have chosen something else to wear,' I said, looking down at the pink dress. 'This dress isn't the best to wear when travelling through a forest.'

'But we've got to go, now,' Dora said, looking at me. 'It's already been half a day since that puppy from the Magic World licked us. We've got less than 4 ½ days until we become dogs forever.'

'You're right,' I said firmly. 'Making sure we stay human is worth ruining a dress. Even if it is a really nice one.'

Chapter Five

The Quest To Stay Human Begins

Dora and I walked down the road, not saying anything.

We didn't really know what to say.

We had just over 4 days to find a way to reverse the spell on us, or we'd be dogs for the rest of our lives.

Not much to say when you've got something as big as that on your mind to worry about.

We reached the forest. The map Magic Pack had given us said that we needed to go into the centre of the forest. There, we'd find the first clue to breaking the spell.

'Ready?' I asked Dora, rolling up the map and putting it in my right pocket.

Dora looked nervous but she nodded.

I took a deep breath, grabbed her right-hand in my left and we walked into the forest.

We travelled through it for several hours, pushing tree branches, bushes and ferns away.

Our clothes were getting torn on thorns and branches.

'Aw, man,' I said angrily as another branch made another tare in the bottom of my dress. 'At this rate, I'll be wearing a pink rag by nightfall.'

'We're going to have to sleep out here tonight?' Dora asked, looking around us nervously.

She had twigs and leaves in her hair.

I didn't quite understand why she was so nervous. Her show had always shown her as one of the bravest 7-year-olds you could find. Why was she so... not brave now?

Maybe it was the fear of having to live the rest of her life as a dog.

I kind of knew how she felt. After all, I was still worried that I'd have to live the rest of my life as a girl in this world, never to see my real family again...

'Well, I don't think we're going to get much farther today,' I said several hours later. 'Let's stop and set up camp for the night.'

'Here?' Dora asked, looking around us.

We were in a small clearing.

Late afternoon sunlight was coming in through the trees.

'Shouldn't we keep going?' she asked, looking at me.

'No,' I said, shaking my head. 'If there's one thing survival shows have taught me, it's that, when you find a good place to set up camp and it's rather late, you should stop and make a shelter. It'll need to be able to keep us dry in case it rains and we'll need a fire so that we can stay warm.'

Thank you, Survive This.

So, we got to work. We worked together so things would go faster.

We built a small shack out of branches and leaves.

That took us about 20 minutes. By the time we were done, the sky was a dark crimson. Night would be coming soon.

'Next, the fire,' I said, brushing myself off, leaves and twigs falling off my torn dress and landing on the forest floor. 'Dora, you gather the wood, dead leaves and some moss. Those will burn well and keep the fire going for a longer time.'

'What are you going to do?' Dora asked as I got up.

'I'll go find some rocks to put in a circle around the fire,' I said, smiling. 'That way, it'll stay within the rocks and not spread.'

'Okay,' Dora said nodding, getting up and gathering wood and leaves.

20 minutes later we'd gathered enough firewood and I'd placed the 9 rocks I'd found in a circle around the first pieces of wood in a circle. I then rubbed two other rocks against each other quickly, trying to make some sparks.

3 minutes later, we'd got a good, strong fire going.

We just sat, looking at the fire for a while.

It was dark now. The fire was the only source of light around. The trees blocked out the moon and stars, so no light was coming in through the trees.

I gave Dora one of the couple of muesli bars I'd taken from the pantry before we'd left.

I wasn't that good at catching food in the wild, so these muesli bars would have to do.

We ate in silence, sitting in the small shack.

After we were done, we just sat for a while, looking at the fire.

'Do you really think we'll be able to reverse the spell?' Dora asked quietly.

She had her arms wrapped around her legs, resting her head on her knees.

There was a distant look in her eyes.

'I'm sure we will,' I said smiling, leaning over and hugging her.

I was a little surprised that I was the one trying to reassure her, when she was technically the physically older one here.

Dora was a little bigger than me, as well as a little over an hour older than me. While I was in this body she was, anyway.

You'd think Dora would be the one trying to comfort me, but nope. It was the other way around.

'Get some sleep, Dora,' I said, kissing her forehead. 'We'll need to get an early start tomorrow, so you'd need your rest.'

Don't ask why I kissed her forehead.

I've no idea why I did it myself.

Dora yawned.

'What about you?' she said, rubbing her right eye sleepily. 'Don't you need your sleep too?'

'Oh, I'll stay up a little longer,' I said, smiling. 'You just get some rest.'

Dora yawned again.

'Okay,' she said, closing her eyes, lying down and going to sleep.

I smiled, watching her, then turned to look at the fire.

In truth, I was terrified right now.

Even if I'd only be able to return to the real world, but stayed a girl, at least there was ways my family and I could have gotten around that.

But if I turned into a dog, there'd be no point in my returning to the real world at all.

Dogs didn't exactly have a big role in real world society.

Plus, I wouldn't exactly be able to go home, could I?

Our dog, Jack, hates other dogs. He'd tear me apart the first chance he got.

Then there was the emotional problem it would cause my family, let alone the language barrier that we'd have to get around.

After all, in the real world, dogs can't speak human English. Then again, there were dogs even in this world that couldn't speak human English or Spanish either.

I sighed, tossed some more wood, dead leaves and moss on the fire, laid down next to Dora and went to sleep.

When morning came, I was the first to wake up.

I sat up and yawned, stretching.

I could see that the fire had burned out. The faintest puff of thin smoke was drifting into the air.

I yawned and rubbed my eyes.

I stopped, frowning.

Why did it feel like I was wearing gloves... all over my body?

I looked down at my hands.

They were doggy paws covered in orangey-brown fur.

'Dora!' I cried, turning to look at her and gasped.

Her body was covered in brown fur. Her nose was pink, like a dog's. A bushy dog's tail was stinking out of the top of her shorts.

I looked behind me. I had a tail too! It was popping out of my dress, pulling the back up a little.

'Hmm?' Dora said, opening her eyes and sitting up.

Her eyes came into focus and she saw me.

'May!' she cried, pointing at me with her left paw, which used to be her left-hand. 'You're covered in fur!'

'So are you!' I said firmly.

She looked down at her paws, horrified.

'This is terrible,' she said, looking up at me. 'We're not even at the centre of the forest yet.'

She looked up at me.

'How much time do you think we have left?' she asked, fear in her eyes.

'Well, it's been about 2 days since we were licked, so we've got about 3 more days before the spell's complete,' I said, counting the days off on my fingers. Or... paw-stubs. This was really confusing.

'Well we'd better get moving,' I said, getting up and stretching one last time. 'We'll want to be wherever it is we need to be before nightfall.'

Dora nodded, got up and we walked deeper into the forest.

We walked for about two hours, eating another one of the few muesli bars I'd brought.

They made us a bit thirsty, but there wasn't much else we could do.

After a while, we came across a small stream.

Since those muesli bars had made us so thirsty, we lapped up the water happily.

When I say we "lapped up" the water, I'm not kidding.

The dogginess within us must have been really taking root inside us, because we were unintentionally acting more like dogs.

After we'd drunken enough water, we continued on, through the forest.

'How much farther do we have to go?' Dora asked 2 hours after we'd left the stream.

'I honestly don't know,' I said, taking out the map and looking at it. 'According to the map, where we want to go should be somewhere around here.'

'Help.'

We both looked around the forest.

Had a small voice just called out for help?

'Help!'

There it was again.

'Where's that voice coming from?' Dora asked, looking around.

'Hmm,' I said, concentrating.

If we were turning into dogs, that meant our hearing was becoming as attuned as a dog's.

I listened closely.

'Help me, someone!' the voice cried out again, followed by a small yip.

My ears twitched as they told me which direction it had come from.

'Over there!' I said, pointing off to the left. 'It's coming from over that way!'

We ran off in that direction.

As we came out into a clearing we saw a small net, suspended in a tree to the nearby left.

Struggling inside of it was a wild puppy dog.

'Dora, come on,' I said, running to the net.

Dora ran after me.

I hurried over to the tree and started trying to untie the rope that was holding the net up.

Dora reached me and helped to untie it.

We slowly lowered the rope, letting the net lightly touch the ground.

We let go and the net unfurled.

Dora ran over to the wild puppy and kneeled down.

'Are you alright?' she asked kindly.

'Y-yes,' the puppy said nodding. 'Th-thank you.'

He had a voice that sounded like he had a bit of a blocked nose.

'We're glad you're alright,' I said, walking over, smiling.

Just then a howl sounded around us, which was immediately followed by 20 more howls.

I whirled around as wild dogs jumped out of the trees, surrounding us.

Dora held onto my left arm, looking around us in fear.

I glared at all the dogs prowling around us, watching them carefully.

One dog stepped forward, facing me.

It had a scar on its left eye, which he kept closed.

'You would trap one of our pack?' he growled at me. 'The penalty for that... is death!'

'No,' Dora whispered, holding my arm even tighter.

'Lay one hand on her and I'll turn you into a fluffy fur coat,' I growled, glaring at the dog.

'You will pay for you insolence,' he growled back, taking a step forward.

'Wait.'

The whole pack stopped, turning their heads to look behind them.

Dora and I looked too.

Another dog was walking through the trees towards us.

He was bigger than any of the others and had the look and air of a leader.

There was three slash scars around his right eye.

'But, Onua,' the dog that had been growling at me said firmly. 'They captured one of our pack's young and were taking it to him.'

'Is that so, T'Challa?' Onua said, looking from the dog to us. 'Do you have proof of this?'

'Well, no,' T'Challa said, looking a little flustered. 'But-'

'They weren't capturing me,' the puppy we'd helped said, hurrying over to Onua. 'They helped me get out of that net when I called for help.'

'Is that so?' Onua said smiling at the puppy, then looking at us.

We were standing there, watching him. Dora was still holding onto me.

It was making it rather difficult to move, because she was a little bigger than I was.

'You two,' Onua said, walking towards us. 'You have been placed under the Doggy Spell, haven't you?'

'Yes, M-Mr. Onua, sir,' Dora said shakily, looking at him nervously.

'That is even more of a reason to get rid of them,' T'Challa said, walking up and baring his teeth at us. 'Only humans who are cruel to dogs are placed under such a spell.'

'Wait,' Onua said, frowning. 'I sense no ill will against dogs within these two.'

'But Onua,' T'Challa said angrily. 'The only reason such a spell is used it to teach evil humans a lesson. They must hate dogs or else they wouldn't be the way they are now.'

'It was an accident,' I said firmly.

'An accident, ay?' T'Challa said, leering at me. 'Do you really expect us to believe that a dog from the Magical World accidently placed the spell on you, without meaning to?'

He laughed heartedly.

'But it's true,' Dora said, looking at T'Challa.

'I've had enough of this!' T'Challa said firmly, charging at us.

'It was a mistake!' a small voice shouted.

T'Challa stopped, turning around.

A small brown puppy with pointy ears stepped forward.

'Seroki,' Onua said, shaking his head, sighing.

'You're a puppy from the Magical World?' I said, staring in shock. He looked like any ordinary puppy dog.

'I'm sorry for placing the spell on you,' Seroki said, bowing his little head sadly.

'Oh, that's okay,' Dora said, letting go of me, closing her eyes and smiling. 'It was just an accident.'

'Yeah,' I said, folding my arms. 'A mistake that's turning us into dogs.'

'You have no ill will to dogs,' Onua said, walking up to us. 'We will assist you in your quest to return to your human selves again.'

'Thank you, Onua,' we both said, bowing to him.

'But Onua-' T'Challa began.

'They hold no ill will to our kind, T'Challa,' Onua said firmly. 'Due to the spell, they are now one of us and are welcome. Siyuko?'

'Yes, Lord Onua?' a female dog said, stepping forward.

'Will you care for these two children while we help them return to their human selves?' Onua said, looking at her.

'Yes, mighty Onua,' she said, bowing her head. 'It would be my pleasure.'

'Very good,' Onua said, nodding then turning to the pack.

Now that I looked, there must have been over 40 wild dogs in this pack.

'We will travel towards the East,' Onua called out to the pack. 'Remember to stay together and within the trees. Move out!'

The other dogs all howled in response and we all started walking towards the East.

Several hours later we stopped in a large clearing amongst the trees.

We'd been walking for so long I'd lost track of what time it was. But I could tell it was close to evening. All day Dora and had walked next to Siyuko.

We didn't trust T'Challa not to attack us if we were on our own.

Siyuko told us that T'Challa was a great warrior. He'd received that scar on his left eye when he was defending the pack from an angry bear. The scar was the mark of a warrior. Which demanded respect.

After the pack stopped, Onua stood in front of everyone.

'We will rest here, for the night,' he called out to all of us. 'Tomorrow, we will make our way through the swamp areas. Get your rest. We'll be making an early start in the morning.'

'Come, children,' Siyuko said, nodding her head to the right.

Dora and I followed her to a small patch of soft grass underneath a large tree.

She laid down so Dora and I sat down too.

'Are you two hungry?' she asked, looking at the two of us.

'Only a little,' I said, looking away.

I didn't want to be too much of a bother. Besides, wild dogs ate meat, right? Well, I was in no mind to eat raw meat yet, thank you.

Dora seemed to think the same thing.

'Do not worry,' Siyuko said, giving a small chuckle. 'I won't make you eat raw meat.'

'You won't?' we asked, a little surprised.

'No,' she said, shaking her head. 'There is a small mango tree over there.'

She indicated to a small tree nearby.

'Gracias,' we said, nodding, getting up, walking over to the tree, picking a mango each and eating it.

I'd never really eaten a mango before. I'd only ever had mango flavour yogurt. But when I bit into that mango, if was so soft and juicy, I almost forgot that I was turning into a dog.

After we'd eaten, walked back over to Siyuko and sat down next to her.

T'Challa came over, glaring at us.

'Siyuko,' he said, looking firmly at her. 'Why have you agreed to care for these... mongrels?'

'Hey,' I said angrily.

He couldn't talk to us like that. I didn't give a damn if that scar on his eye meant he was a great warrior. He didn't have the right to talk about us like that.

'I feel it is my duty,' Siyuko said calmly. 'They are children and I will care for them.'

'But- don't you realise what they are?' T'Challa said, looking at her in shock.

'Do you, T'Challa?' she said firmly, getting up, glaring at him. 'They are lost children, and as a mother myself, I will not leave two innocent children on their own.'

T'Challa growled at her.

'They will not replace Siyuki, Siyuko,' he said firmly.

'I know that, T'Challa,' Siyuko growled, baring her teeth. 'But I will not let you turn them away because of your broken ego. Now go!'

T'Challa growled, glared at Dora and me once more, then turned and skulked off.

'Well, that made me feel real welcome,' I said sarcastically as Siyuko laid down again.

'Siyuko?' Dora said, looking at her.

'Yes, child?' Siyuko said smiling kindly.

'Why does T'Challa hate us so much?' Dora asked anxiously. 'Did we do something to offend him?'

'No, child,' Siyuko said, shaking her head. 'T'Challa has always hated humans for as long as I've known him.'

'That Siyuki he was taking about,' I said, looking at Siyuko.

'Yes, dear?' Siyuko said, looking at me.

I noticed the faintest hint of sadness in her eyes.

'Was Siyuki your pup with him?' I asked cautiously.

Siyuko smiled sadly.

'Yes,' she said, nodding. 'She was taken by the Dogcatcher.'

'The Dogcatcher?' I asked, frowning. 'Why would a Dogcatcher take a wild puppy?'

'Not just one puppy, child,' Onua said, stopping next to me, making my jump. How had he gotten behind me without my realizing it? 'He has taken 200 of the puppies from our pack.'

'What?' Dora cried, looking horrified.

'200?' I gasped, staring in shock.

'Yes,' Onua said, nodding. 'And sadly, Siyuko's daughter, Siyuki was one of them.'

'Oh, Siyuko,' I said, turning to look at her. 'I'm so sorry.'

'It is fine,' she said, smiling at me. 'You could not have known. How can one know something, without asking a question first?'

'Sleep well, children,' Onua said, nodding to us and walking off.

'Um, goodnight to you too, Onua,' I said, quickly standing up and bowing.

I normally wouldn't have done something like that, but Onua gave off an air that I'd never felt before. It was both intimidating and invigorating at the same time. The air of a true leader.

'That's enough for tonight, children,' Siyuko said as I sat back down. 'Now, lie down and sleep.'

We felt rather sleepy so we laid down next to her and went to sleep, laying our heads against her soft fur.

As everyone in the pack went to sleep, T'Challa stood at the edge of the clearing, glaring at us.

'There is no way I'll let your foolish old ways put the pack in danger, Onua,' he said firmly

He walked out of the clearing onto an open plan.

He sniffed the air.

Bear and nachos. That was the scent he was looking for.

He took one more look back, then ran across the open plains.

If he was going to ensure the pack's safety, he'd practically make a deal with the devil.

Half an hour later, he was sitting by the road, sniffing the air cautiously.

He was here, T'Challa could smell him.

'And what would you be doing out here on your own?' a heavy voice said from behind him.

'Looking for you,' T'Challa said, turning around.

Standing there was a large man with black hair and a beard, a cigar in his mouth, wearing blue overalls over a yellow shirt.

'I didn't think an animal would ever willingly come looking for me?' the man said grinning, blowing out a large cloud of smoke. 'What do you want?'

'If you will promise me the protection of the Acnala wolf clan, I will deliver you, two of the rarest animals in the world,' T'Challa said, grinning. 'You will need to sell them rather soon, when they are at their best, but animals do not come any rarer than these two.'

'Hmm,' the man said, thinking it over for a few seconds. 'Very well.'

He held out his hand.

'Deliver me these two rarest of the rare animals and I will ensure the protection of the Acnala clan,' he said grinning.

T'Challa put his paw in the man's hand and they shook on it.

I laid on the grass, my hands behind my head, looking up at the stars.

I'd woken up by accident and couldn't get back to sleep.

That meant I had to just lie here, with only my thoughts to listen to and boy did that have a lot to tell me.

As I'd laid there, I'd realized I hadn't called my family in the real world since the day I'd fallen into this world.

Not that I could call them. My phone didn't have any credit left. I could only receive calls now.

But why hadn't anyone tried to contact me yesterday. It had been the third day that I'd been in this world and no one had contacted me. Why?

And what about Dora? If I hadn't come to this world, Dora wouldn't be in the trouble she was in now. She'd be sleeping, at her home, in her own soft bed.

Wait, it wasn't my fault that I'd fallen into this world. It was Fairy Godmother's fault. She was the one who cast that spell that backfired and brought me here. I had nothing to feel guilty about.

'Are you sure about that?'

I sat up quickly, looking around.

I could have sworn I'd just heard someone talking.

But there was no one around aside from the other wild dogs.

I shook my head.

'I must be hearing things,' I said, scratching behind my head.

'Everyone, wake up!'

I stood up quickly, looking to the front of the clearing.

Everyone else woke up and looked there too.

T'Challa ran into the clearing, his fur ragged, as if he'd been fighting someone.

'T'Challa,' Onua said, walking in front of him. 'What is wrong?'

'I was patrolling around the area before going to sleep,' T'Challa said, trying to catch his breath.

'What did you see?' Onua asked, his face grim.

'The Dogcatcher,' T'Challa said, disgust in his voice.

'The Dogcatcher?' one female dog gasped.

'He's returned?' a male dog asked, sounding shocked.

'Why would he return now?' another male asked, sounding confused.

'He has learned of the children,' T'Challa said, looking at Dora and me.

We stared in horror. What did he want with us?

'How could this happen?' Siyuko asked, looking curious. 'How would he have heard about them already? And why would he be interested?'

'I don't know everything,' T'Challa said, walking up to us. 'But from what I have heard the animals saying, he believes that the children could be sold off, as rare animals that look like humans.'

Dora and I gasped, putting our hands over our mouths.

How horrible a person was this Dogcatcher?

'Then we cannot stay here any longer,' Onua announced to the pack. 'We will leave now.'

'But he will be looking for us, Onua,' T'Challa said urgently. 'Travelling with the pack is just as dangerous now than if the children went off on their own.'

'Then what do you suggest, T'Challa?' Onua said, looking at him.

'If you will allow me to,' T'Challa said, bowing to Onua. 'I will take them with me in another direction and the three of us will meet up with the pack later.'

'What?' Siyuko said, looking at T'Challa.

'I thought you'd decided we were mongrels,' I said, folding my arms. 'You'd willingly help a pair of mongrels?'

'I realize that I was out of line when I said that,' T'Challa said, bowing his head to me. 'I let my pride control me. I realize now, that you both are as precious as my own daughter. Will you please forgive me?'

Dora and I looked at each other.

I nodded to her.

'Si,' Dora said smiling. 'All is forgiven.'

But I wasn't so sure.

T'Challa didn't seem to me the type of guy to put his pride away so soon. Was he up to something?

I blinked and gave an inward shake of my head.

That was just my brain trying to over think things. It had done it so often in the real world that I should have been used to it by now.

Just then, the loud sound of a 4 wheel drive engine erupted into the night.

Two bright headlights flashed through the trees.

'It's the Dogcatcher!' Siyuko cried, staring at the lights in shock.

'Dora, May, go with T'Challa, now!' Onua cried, howling loudly. 'We will keep him distracted. Hurry and get away!'

'Come, children,' T'Challa said, running off towards the left.

Dora and I hurried after him.

He was too fast for us while we ran on our two feet, so we tried running on our front paws as well.

It was surprisingly easy and man were we fast.

We got 10 metres from the trees when T'Challa stopped suddenly.

He'd done it so fast that Dora and I skidded passed him.

Suddenly the ground beneath us rose into the air.

'Ah!' we cried, bobbing up and down in a hunter's net, dangling from a nearby tree.

'Hey, what going on?' I cried, trying to get my footing. But this net wasn't very big. Dora and I were pushed up against each other.

'T'Challa,' Dora cried, looking down at T'Challa, who was looking up at us. 'Please, help us down.'

T'Challa bent his head down and chuckled.

'Now, why would I do that?' he said, looking up at us, grinning. 'If I leave you up there, I won't have to worry about you anymore.'

'What?' Dora asked, a little unsure.

'You slimy, flea-bitten dog,' I said angrily, glaring at him. 'You betrayed us. Didn't you?'

'Betray you?' a heavy voice said from behind the tree. 'He was never your friend to begin with.'

Dora and I looked to our left.

A large man with black hair and a beard, a cigar in his mouth, wearing blue overalls over a yellow shirt, holding a lantern walked out from behind the trees.

'El Gastrota!' Dora said angrily, glaring at him. 'Disguising yourself as a dogcatcher to steal animals? How low can you go?'

'I take it you're not friends,' I said, glaring at the man too.

'Unlikely,' El Gastrota said, leering at us. 'That little girl and her do-gooder animal rescuing cousins half ruined so many of my pouching plans I cannot count them.'

'Can't be that good of a poacher if little kids can foil you plans every time,' I said, grinning.

El Gastrora gave an evil grin.

'Oh, a smart one, huh?' he said, taking his cigar out of his mouth. 'Do you know what I do to smart-talking animals?'

Before I could even answer, he lunged forward, shoving the cigar onto my right arm.

'ARH!' I cried, feeling the skin where the cigar had touched me burning.

'May!' Dora gasped, horrified.

'Well, will you keep you side of the deal?' T'Challa asked El Gastrota, looking at him as El Gastrota lowered the net, and tossed it into a cage on the back of a Ute parked a little away from the tree.

'Deal?' I said, looking from T'Challa to the fowl man in overalls. 'What kind of deal?'

'I will uphold my end of the bargain,' El Gastrota said, locking the cage and looking at T'Challa. 'I will not poach anymore members of the Acnala wolf clan.'

'You sold us out to protect the pack?' Dora cried, staring at T'Challa in shock.

'You can't trust people like him!' I yelled, glaring at El Gastrota. 'He'll never keep his word.'

'I am doing this for my family,' T'Challa said firmly, glaring at us. 'You would have caused pain and suffering in our tribe if Onua helped you. I am merely ensuring that we will not have to suffer for you.'

'And you won't,' El Gastrota said, walking to the door of his Ute. 'The members of your pack will not have to fear being taken by me ever again.'

'And my daughter?' T'Challa said, looking at El Gastrota. 'Will you give her back to me?'

El Gastrota grinned, an evil glint in his eyes.

'I agreed that I wouldn't hunt anymore of those still in your tribe,' he said, closing the door and starting the engine. 'I never said anything about giving any of the ones I've already taken back.'

'What?' T'Challa said as the Ute started to drive away. 'No!'

He started running after the Ute.

'T'Challa, how could you?' Dora cried, holding the bars of the cage.

'Children!' a horrified voice called out.

Siyuko flashed passed T'Challa, hurrying after us.

'Siyuko!' Dora and I cried, stretching our arms through the bars of the cage. 'Help us!'

'I will, just hold on!' she cried, running faster, getting next to the driver's side.

'Oh, we've got a live one,' El Gastrota said, looking out the window and grinning.

'Let them go, you monster!' Siyuko shouted angrily.

'Sorry,' El Gastrota said, holding his hand to his ear. 'I don't speak animal.'

The Ute sped up and was lost from sight.

T'Challa stopped, panting heavily.

'T'Challa,' Siyuko said angrily, turning around and walking up to him. 'Explain to me what just happened.'

'I made a big mistake, Siyuko,' T'Challa said, hanging his head in shame. 'A stupid mistake.'

Chapter Six

Captured

'What did you mean when you said you don't speak animal?' I shouted as the Ute jumped up and down on the road several minutes later. 'You understood T'Challa just fine.'

'T'Challa has a chip inside of him that let's him speak human,' El Gastrota said, not turning his head around. 'I placed it in him when I captured him several years ago.'

'What?' Dora cried in shock.

'That must be why T'Challa doesn't trust humans,' I thought stunned. 'A human was cruel to him several years ago and he's never trusted them since.'

'Now be quiet!' El Gastrota yelled, making us flinch. 'I only want you talking when I sell you two.'

'Sell us?' Dora cried, fear all over her face.

'Yes,' El Gastrota said grinning. 'On the black market.'

The black market. Never thought I'd end up there.

A few hours later the Ute stopped outside what looked like the barn of a farm. But this barn was 3 times as large as any barn I'd seen back in the real world.

El Gastrota pushed a button on a remote in his right-hand and the doors opened.

He drove the Ute inside, the doors closing behind it.

'Ah!' Dora and I cried as we were thrown into a large cage attached to the wall several minutes later.

El Gastro chuckled, grinning at us.

'You'll never get away with this!' Dora yelled, standing up and glaring at him.

'That's right,' I said, glaring too. 'You'll be sorry. Once Siyuko tells the pack about this you'll be- Yip, yip!'

I covered my mouth.

I'd just yipped angrily like a dog.

Dora turned from me back to El Gastrota and started yipping angrily at him.

She stopped, covering her mouth too.

'It seems the spell has already stopped you from speaking the human language,' El Gastrota said, grinning at us. 'Oh, well. I may not be able to sell you as talking animals, but at least I can sell you as animals that look and act like humans.'

He walked off, cackling.

He went through a door at the end of the room and closed it behind him, locking it.

I turned to Dora.

'Dora, what are we going to do?' I asked anxiously.

I'd never been in a situation like this in the real world before. I was terrified.

Dora looked around us.

The room we were in was large. Like I said before, it was more than 3 times as large as any barn I'd seen, back in the real world.

There were panelled windows that lined the roof.

I could see the sky through them.

The walls were painted yellow and stretched miles down. Along the walls were nothing but cages.

They looked like the ones you see in dog pounds.

We could hear hundreds and hundreds of frantic yips and cries of puppies.

'Siyuko's daughter must be here too,' Dora said, walking around the cage.

'Siyuko?'

We looked to the right-side of our cage.

A small puppy was looking at us from the cage next to us.

'Did you say "Siyuko"?' she asked, his eyes big and round.

'Yes,' I said, looking at her. 'Are you Siyuki?'

'Yes,' the puppy said, nodding. 'Siyuko is my mother.'

'She told us about you,' Dora said smiling.

'Is she alright?' Siyuko asked anxiously.

'She's fine,' I said, smiling. 'She even took care of us before we were captured.'

Siyuki smiled.

'That's my mama,' she said, closing her eyes. 'She was always so caring.'

'Don't worry, Siyuki,' Dora said firmly. 'We'll get you out of here and your Mami. You can count on that.'

'Really?' Siyuki said, smiling.

'Si,' Dora said, nodding. 'Now, how do we get out of this cage?'

'We could just open the door,' I said flatly, pushing it open.

'What?' Dora and Siyuki said, staring at me.

'I guess he forgot that humans can open cages when they're not closed properly,' I said, shrugging.

Dora and I walked out of the cage and I held the locked to Siyuki's cage in my left-paw.

'It's an old rusty one,' I thought, turning it over in my paw. 'Probably very weak from the years of overuse. It should break if I hit it hard enough.'

I looked around. There was a hammer on the floor by the cage.

I picked it up and held it above the lock.

'Okay,' I said, getting ready to hit the lock. 'Uno, dos, TRES!'

As I counted "three" in Spanish the hammer came down on the lock.

It shattered under the force of the hammer.

As the pieces of the lock fell to the floor, I opened the cage.

Siyuki ran out and jumped into my arms, snuggling against me.

'Now, let's get out of here,' I said firmly, looking at Dora. 'Once we've broken the spell, we'll call Diego and tell him all about this.'

Dora nodded, a firm look on her face.

Siyuki jumped out of my arms and we ran to the other end of the door.

'We'll come back for the rest of you later, I promise!' I called as we passed each cage.

We reached the door and stopped.

There was a doggy-door and the bottom of the door.

'We'll crawl through here,' Dora said, bending down.

I bent down with her and Siyuki did the same.

As we crawled through the doggy-door a thought occurred to me.

Why would a poacher disguised as a dogcatcher have a doggy-door on his doors?

I got the answer to my question almost as soon as we got to the other side of the door.

We were still in the giant barn. But this was a storage area.

There was ice and snow in some parts of the room and it was cold.

'It's a bit chilly in here, isn't it?' I said, hugging myself.

Just then a loud barking came from the other end of the room.

We looked and saw a large German Shepherd charging at us, its teeth bared.

'Ah!' we all cried, watching as the angry dog stopped in front of us, snarling.

'Well, well,' El Gastrota said, walking up behind the dog, grinning. 'Seems some puppies don't know their place.'

Dora and I held onto each other. Both in fear and to stay warm. It was really cold in here.

A minute later, El Gastrota was locking a brand new padlock on our cage. He'd put Siyuki in a cage further down, near the end of the room.

'Now, no more messing around,' he said, grinning at us menacingly. 'Got it?'

Dora and I glared at him.

'I will take that as a "yes",' El Gastrota said grinning.

He walked off, laughing heartedly.

'What do we do now, Dora?' I asked, looking at her. 'We can't escape and no one else knows that we're here. What will we do?'

'What can we do?' Dora asked, looking sadly at me. 'We would need help to escape, as well as free all the other dogs here. Who could help us?'

I thought about that. We needed to contact someone. But I didn't have my phone and Dora didn't have anything to contact anyone either. We'd need someone with a device that could pick up the sound of someone calling for help from a long distance away.

Wait a minute.

'Diego!' I said, clicking my fingers. Whoa! I'd never been able to do that before.

'What about Diego?' Dora asked, looking at me.

'He has a device that picks up the calls for help from animals far away,' I said excitedly.

'But we're not animals,' Dora said, shaking her head.

'I think we're animal enough,' I said, holding one paw-stump up like a finger. 'Remember, El Gastrota said that he couldn't understand us anymore?'

Dora blinked, looking at me.

'That means that our voices will register as animals on Diego's device,' I said excitedly.

'So, we should just call out "help"?' Dora asked, looking at me.

'Well, I guess,' I said, suddenly not as eager as I had been before.

We closed our eyes and lifted our heads.

'Diego!' we shouted, cupping our paws to our mouths. 'Help!'

In the forests of the Amazon, Diego was placing a little chickadee with brown feathers and a white chest back into its nest with its mummy and daddy.

He was hanging on an orange jump-cable that reached the top of a large tree.

Rescue Pack had turned into a jump-cable to so that Diego could get up the large tree.

'There you go, little chickadee,' he said, smiling. 'You're safe at home.'

'Gracias, Diego,' the little chickadee said smiling.

'Be nada,' Diego said smiling.

There was a beeping noise from Diego's video-watch.

Diego lifted the arm with it and pressed the "answer" button.

His sister, Elicia's face appeared on the screen.

'What's up, Elicia?' he asked, looking at the watch.

'We're getting a really weird signal from the forests near where cousin Dora lives,' Elicia said, the camera screen moving out, showing Elicia at the main computer in their Animal Rescue Centre Tree House.

'What's weird about it?' Diego asked, looking confused.

'It's hard to explain,' Elicia said, shaking her head. 'Come back to the Rescue Centre and I'll show it to you.'

'Got it, Elicia,' Diego said, nodding, turning of the watch. 'Later, chickadees.'

He zipped down the cable, landing on the ground.

'Rescue Pack,' he called up to the cable.

It turned into an orange blob and slid down the tree and onto Diego's back, turning into Rescue Pack.

Diego ran off through the forest, heading back towards the Animal Rescue Centre.

'So, what's this weird signal we're receiving?' Diego asked, ten minutes later, standing next to his sister.

'Listen,' Elicia said, pushing a button.

The computer showed a Sound Wave screen with a flat line across the middle of screen.

'Diego, help! Ayuda nosotros!' two voices cried, making the line jump up and down as it registered the sound. 'Yip, yip.'

'Those cries sounded familiar,' Diego said frowning. 'But I can't tell why.'

'Maybe their connected to El Gastrota,' Elicia said, her face twisting with disgust as she said the name. 'The fact that he escaped from prison several months ago doesn't make me feel at ease.'

'Well, how are we going to know whether these cries for help are connected to him?' Diego asked, folding his arms.

'Let's ask Click,' Elicia said, turning around in her chair to look at the silver pixel camera on a tripod by the window.

'Click, can you please show us who's calling for our help?' Diego asked, looking at the silver camera.

Click opened her eyes.

'Let me see,' she said, opening her leans. 'Scanning the areas near the forests where Dora lives.'

Images flashed across the screen as Click scanned the areas near forests close to where Dora lives, trying to match the sound of the cries to something nearby.

The screen showed a barn. It zoomed in, looking inside the barn.

Cages lined the walls and the image of who was calling out for help came into focus.

It was Dora and me. We were almost completely dogs now. Not only were our faces completely covered in fur, by our mouths had become dog mouths.

'What on Earth?' Elicia cried, staring in shock.

'That's Dora and that girl, May, who's living with her,' Diego said, also staring in shock. 'But why do they look like dogs?'

'They must have been put under a Doggy Spell,' Elicia said, giving our bodies a scan on the main computer. 'But according to these results of their scans, they're into their 3rd day of the spell.'

'That means they've only 2 days until they're stuck as dogs forever,' Diego cried, looking to Click. 'Click, zoom out. We need to know exactly where they are.'

Click nodded and the picture in her lens zoomed out.

It now showed exactly where we were.

'They're being held in a cage in a barn,' Elicia said frowning. 'And there are also around 200 wild puppies in there as well. Rescue Pack will need to turn into a jet-pack so you can fly there. But even then, it'll take you a day to reach where they are. You'll only have 1 day to help them break the spell.'

'Then it's time for a rescue,' Diego said, running out the door and leaping into the air.

Rescue Pack turned into a jet-pack and he soared off into the air.

'El rásgate!' Diego shouted excitedly as he flew over the trees.

Chapter Seven

The Rescue

Diego slowly opened 1 of the small windows that lined the roof of the barn.

He slowly lowered a rope down a rope. It reached to the floor.

Diego slid down the rope, landing lightly on the floor.

'Dora,' he whispered, cupping his hands to his mouth. 'May.'

'Diego!' Dora's voice called from down the other end of the room.

'Over here!' my voice called from down the other end of the room too.

Diego turned and saw 2 right-paws waving through the wire of one of the cages.

He ran down the room to the cage and gasped.

'Dora? May?' he said, staring at us. 'Is that really you?'

We'd completely turned into little wild dog puppies. The only thing that showed we'd once been Dora and May was the hair on the top of our heads. It still looked like it had when we were human.

'Si,' Dora said, nodding sadly. 'It's us.'

'You've got to get us out of here, Diego,' I said anxiously, putting my front paws on the wire of our cage. 'We've got to save all of the wild puppies and break the spell before 9:35am tomorrow morning.'

'Right,' Diego said, nodding. 'Rescue Pack?'

'Yes, Diego?' Recue Pack said, looking at Diego from his back.

'Can you turn into a pair of wire-cutters so I can cut through the wires of the cage?' Diego asked smiling.

'No problem!' Rescue Pack said grinning, morphing into a pair of orange wire-cutters.

Diego started cutting the wires on our cage.

2 minutes later, he'd cut a hole big enough for us to get out of.

'Diego!' Dora and I cried happily, jumping out the hole, knocking Diego over.

We both stood on his chest, panting, our tails waging like crazy.

'Now, we've got to save all of the other wild puppies,' Diego said as Dora and I hopped off of him, staying by his feet.

'I'll go watch and tell you guys when El Gastrota's coming,' I said, hurrying across the room, sticking my head a little out of the doggy-door and keeping an eye out for that horrible man.

'El Gastrota?' Diego gasped in horror, looking down at Puppy Dora. 'He's the one that captured you?'

'Si,' Dora said, nodding. 'But we've got to free the other puppies. Then we can stop El Gastrota. This time for good.'

So Diego used the wire-cutters to cut through the wiring of all the cages.

Once all 200 hundred of the wild puppies were out of their cages, it was time to leave.

'Okay, is everyone ready?' Diego asked, looking around at all the puppies.

All the puppies yipped and barked happily.

'We'd better go, now,' I said, sitting next to Dora. 'Who knows when El Gastrota will be back?'
Diego opened the door and we all hurried out.

We ran through the cold storage room, some of the puppies sneezing once or twice from the cold.

Diego opened the door at the end of the cold storage room and outside.

'Okay, that was too easy,' I said, standing ready, sniffing the air.

Even Diego shouldn't have been able to get us all out of there so easily.

No alarms had gone off.

If El Gastrota was serious about illegally selling so many wild puppies, wouldn't he have every security precaution available?

'Well, well,' an all too familiar voice said from above us. 'Look whose come for the party.'

We all looked up.

El Gastrota and his German Shepherd were standing on the roof, grinning down at all of us.

'El Gastrota!' Diego said, glaring up at him.

'Hello, Diego,' El Gastrota said, still grinning. 'I see you're, once again, attempting to foil my plans.'

'And I will,' Diego said, glaring up at El Gastrota, his hands curled into fists. 'Just like I always do.'

'Oh, really?' El Gastrota grinned, leaping down from the roof, his German Shepherd following him.

They landed in front of us.

'And how do you plan on stopping me?' El Gastrota said, holding his left-hand up mockingly. 'None of these puppies have the nerve to stand up to my Rexito here, so how can you stop me?'

Rexito was the German Shepherd.

'Maybe alone we didn't,' I said, walking in front of Diego, glaring at El Gastrota. 'But you seem to have forgotten one important rule about battle.'

'And what is that, little puppy?' he said, grinning. 'Thanks to that chip I placed in you, you speak perfect human English, but what else could you do?'

I smirked.

'There's strength in numbers,' I said, looking back at all the other puppies. 'We may be smaller than that German Shepherd, but we out number him, 202 to 1.'

'Hey, she's right,' one of the boy puppies said excitedly.

'Yeah!' all the other cheered.

Rexito looked a little nervous as the 202 of us marched towards him, determined looks on our faces.

'Hey, wait a minute,' El Gastrota said, realizing that we weren't scared of him.

'Charge!' I shouted, running forward.

'Yeah!' Dora and all the other puppies shouted, running after me.

'No, wait!' El Gastrota cried out in alarm as we all jumped at him.

'That should hold you until the police arrive,' Diego said, locking a high-tech padlock on the only cage that no puppies had been in a minute later.

'You can't do this to me!' El Gastrota shouted, grabbing the wire of the cage.

He looked awful.

His hair was all ruffled, with a couple of chunks missing. He had tares all around his clothing. There were scratches all across his face.

His dog wasn't in any better shape.

His fur was ragged and there were scratches all over his body.

Siyuki barked angrily at El Gastrota and he jumped back from the edge of the cage in fright.

'Adiós, El loser,' I said, flicking my tail and walking out with everyone else.

'So, what do we do now?' Dora asked as we walked out of the barn.

'Well, if there was only you and me, Diego could have Rescue Pack turn into a jet-pack and fly us away,' I said, stopping and thinking. 'But with 200 more puppies, I don't think even Rescue Pack could turn into something that could hold all of them.'

'That's true,' Rescue Pack said, sighing sadly.

'Then I guess we'll have to walk them all back to the pack,' Dora said firmly.

'But Dora,' Diego said, looking down at her in surprise. 'If we don't break the spell on you and May by tomorrow morning, you'll be dogs forever.'

'If I choose to leave all of these puppies to fend for themselves, I'd be no better than El Gastrota,' Dora said firmly.

'She's right,' I said, nodding. 'When Dora and Boots were captured by the Greedy King's men, I told Fairy Godmother that, even if she could send me back to my world, I'd never be able to live with myself if I left the two of them like that. It's no different now, with these puppies.'

'Okay,' Diego said, nodding. 'Then let's go. We've got a long walked ahead of us.'

We headed off across the fields of grass.

We stopped when night came so that all the puppies could sleep.

Diego had Rescue Pack turn into a large tent so that no one would see 200 wild puppies sleeping in the middle of the field. They'd just think Rescue Pack was a small circus tent.

When morning came, we headed off again.

Dora and I were following T'Challa's sent on the air.

He'd run across this field, no doubt to make that deal with El Gastrota that backfired on him.

At 9:30am we were close to where Dora and I had slept with the pack two nights ago.

'Onua?' I called out, looking around the clearing.

'Siyuko?' Dora called, looking around the clearing too.

'Is that you, children?'

Siyuko walked out from within the trees.

'Mama,' Siyuki cried, running forward and rubbing her head against Siyuko's front legs.

'Siyuki,' Siyuko said happily, rubbing her head against her daughter's.

'Siyuki?'

Siyuki looked to the trees.

T'Challa walked out of them, seeming not to believe his eyes.

'Papa!' Siyuki cried happily, running to T'Challa and putting her head against his.

'Oh, Siyuki,' he said, closing his eyes as they rubbed heads against each other. 'I thought I'd lost you forever.'

'Those puppies that use to be humans saved me,' Siyuki said, smiling up at him.

'Puppies that use to be humans?' T'Challa said, looking up.

He saw Diego walking towards him, Dora and I walking by his feet.

'Hello, T'Challa,' I said, looking at him.

'Please, forgive me, children,' he said, bowing to us, hanging his head in real shame. 'I shouldn't have done what I did to you. You saved my daughter, so I owe you my life.'

'It's fine,' Dora said, giving a small smile. 'We would have helped either way.'

'But by choosing to save my daughter, along with all the other pups of our pack, you've no chance of finding the way to break the spell on you,' Siyuko said, looking at the both of us. 'You'd willingly give up you chance at being human again for that?'

'That's alright,' I said, smiling sadly. 'At least we saved all of the other puppies. Even if it does mean we'll never be human again.'

'But you will be.'

Dora, Diego and I looked to our left.

Onua was walking towards us, smiling.

'What do you mean?' Diego asked, looking confused.

'You gave up returning to your human selves in order to make sure that all of our young were returned, safe and sound, to our pack,' Onua said, smiling. 'There for, you have done a great deed to the dogs, that has put us in your debt.'

He, along with the rest of the pack, bowed their heads to us.

'You mean...?' I said, looking from Onua to Dora. 'We can be human again?'

'Yes,' Onua said, looking up and smiling at us.

Suddenly bright yellow light swirled all around Dora and me.

Diego and the pack watched as we both glowed completely white, grew bigger and took human shape.

When the light faded away, Dora and I were the same as we had been before we'd been licked by that puppy from the Magical World.

My dress had been completely repaired as well.

It was like I'd never worn it while we'd been travelling through the forest.

'Thank you, great Onua,' I said, curtseying to him.

Dora did the same and Diego bowed.

'It was my honour, children,' he said, nodding. 'Now, return to your home and be with you own pack, my children.'

We nodded.

Diego looked behind him at Rescue Pack.

'Rescue Pack,' he said grinning. 'Please turn into a helicopter.'

'You got it, Diego,' Rescue Pack said, expanding and morphing into an orange helicopter.

'Come on, Dora, May,' Diego said, turning to us. 'Let's get you back home.'

'El rásgate,' I said, punching my right fist in the air.

They both looked at me.

'Sorry,' I said, grinning sheepishly. 'I couldn't help myself.'

The 3 of us laughed happily, ran into Helicopter Rescue Park and flew off, back towards Dora's house.

'Things should be fine from now on,' I thought smiling, watching as the trees whizzed by below us.

'Are you so sure about that?'

I looked behind me and nearly jumped out of my skin.

Another me was standing behind me, looking at me with sad eyes.

She looked a little younger than me.

About 4-years-old, I thought.

'What in the world?' I thought, blinking. 'I'm over there, but I'm over here. How is that possible?'

'Why?' the other me said, looking right at me.

'Huh?' I thought, confused.

'Why have you forgotten?' the other me said, tears welling in her eyes.

'Wh- what?' I thought, slightly nervous now. 'Forgotten? Forgotten what?

'You've forgotten who you are,' the other me said, seeming to know what I'd been thinking. 'Your very life is unknown.'

'My life is unknown?' I thought, frowning. 'What the hell does she mean by that?'

'Please,' she said, fading away. 'You have to remember...'

I sat in silence for the rest of the trip back, her words echoing through my mind.

'You have to remember...'

'May?'

I jumped in fright.

Dora looked at me, a little confused.

It was Monday.

We were at school.

We'd been drawing pictures for the last couple of minutes.

I'd been lost in my thoughts and hadn't drawn a thing.

'What?' I asked, closing my eyes and forcing myself to smile.

'Are you alright?' Dora asked, looking a little worried. 'You've been kind of distant since we got back a few days ago.'

'I'm fine,' I said, still smiling. 'You don't need to worry about me, Dora. I couldn't be better.'

'Okay,' Dora said uncertainly, returning to the picture she'd been drawing of Boots.

It was rather good.

If the adventurer thing didn't work out for her, Dora could grow up and be a great artist.

Obviously I'd just lied about being fine.

I couldn't be farther from it.

The memory of that girl had hung in my mind ever since that time 2 days ago.

She'd haunted my dreams for the last 2 nights.

I'd found myself standing in a corridor, all on my own.

It was dark, with only faint light from a full moon coming in through from the window on a nearby wall.

It felt as if I was underwater and the hallway was decorated with shells and coral.

It was familiar, yet I couldn't tell why.

It was beautiful, yet it filled me with fear.

Then, she'd appear in front of me, wearing the clothes I'd been wearing when I first met Dora.

'Please... you have to remember,' she said, her eyes pleading with me.

I'd then wake up, drenching in a cold sweat, my head throbbing.

She'd looked just like me.

But how?

Who was she?

Why had she been there?

Why was she now haunting my dreams?

What had that hallway been?

What was it so familiar, yet I didn't recognize it?

Why had it been beautiful, yet filled me with fear?

And what did she mean when she'd said, "Please. You have to remember"?

I knew that I would know the answer to all of these questions and more, very soon indeed.

Chapter Eight

Having Fun At The Beach

'I don't think so,' I said, holding the pink one-piece swimsuit with yellow flowers and a frill in front of me, looking at my reflection in the mirror.

Today, Dora, Boots and I were going to the beach.

We'd meet Boots there.

We were trying to find something I'd like to wear at the beach.

In truth, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to go or not.

Back in the real world, I hadn't been to the beach, I mean been to the beach and enjoyed myself, in over 8 years.

I'd just lost my joy of being at the beach.

This was for multiple reasons.

The main reason was that I'd always hated it when the sand stuck to my body. In particular, my hands.

I couldn't rubbed my eyes while at the beach because, if I did, I'd get sand in my eyes.

I also hated how I'd always end up drinking a little saltwater when I went swimming in the sea.

The reason I told myself I didn't like the beach was because, back when I was 4, I'd almost drowned because I'd gone out too deep.

But I always found holes in the logic of that reason.

I'd enjoyed myself at the beach a lot of times after that experience, so it wasn't nearly drowning that had made me stop enjoying myself at the beach.

I guess the real reason why I didn't like going to the beach was a mystery to me.

'So, what about this one?' Dora said, holding up a pink kid's bikini.

I took it from her and held it against me, looking into the mirror.

'Hmm,' I said, thinking. 'I like it.'

'Good,' Dora said smiling. 'Then I'll wear this one.'

She held up a purple kid's bikini with a small green frill on the underwear.

I smiled.

Despite being only 7, Dora seemed pretty mature and fashion conscious for her age.

'Let's go,' Dora said as we put our bikinis into Backpack and Magic Pack, slung them over our shoulders and hurried out.

Suddenly I saw something standing in the trees.

I blinked and it was gone.

I frowned.

Was I starting to see things?

I closed my eyes and shook my head.

'Probably just the lack of sleep,' I thought, opening my eyes and looking up at the sky through the window.

The last 5 nights I'd been having those dreams.

I kept waking up because of them, thus, I kept losing sleep.

But I was used to losing sleep.

Back in the real world, it would normally take me between at least 1-2 hours, then waking up at around 4am in the morning.

And, considering that I'd usually go to bed after 10:30pm, falling asleep around an hour later, that didn't leave much time for sleep, did it?

But I'd always coped pretty well.

Half an hour later we were at the beach.

We went down to the beach and unpacked everything.

The umbrellas, the mats, the picnic basket, etc.

Dora and I changed into our kid bikinis in the girls' toilets.

We walked out and went down to meet Dora's parents on the beach.

'Well,' I thought, lifting my bare right foot. 'Here goes. My first bare-footed step on a beach in over 8 years.'

I put my foot down; bracing myself for the unpleasant feeling I always go when I touched sand back in the real world.

It didn't come.

The sand didn't feel the same as it did back in the real world.

It felt... nice.

I smiled.

Here was another of the good things about being in a cartoon world.

I smiled at Dora.

'Race ya,' I said grinning, running down towards the water.

'Hey, no fair,' Dora called, laughing, hurrying after me. 'You got a head start.'

We ran down into the water and started splashing each other.

The water didn't even taste salty.

It was pleasant.

'Cannon ball!' Boots cried, dropping into the water, sending a wave of water splashing over Dora and me.

We all laughed, having the time of our lives.

I hadn't had this much fun in years.

If I was going to be trapped in another world, at least it was this one, where I could have lots of fun.

'Whoa! Hold the phone there, boy,' I thought, shaking my head. 'Never think like that. Never! You're going to get home and everything will return to normal.'

'Normal,' I said quietly. 'But, compared to this, that life wasn't really fun. I'd lost my real fun.'

It was true.

Once you're an adult, a lot of fun leaves the world.

At least here, fun was still around.

'Heads up, May!' Dora called.

'Huh?' I said, not paying attention, and getting a face-full of water.

Dora and Boots laughed.

I laughed too.

I'd needed that, more than they'd ever realize.

We played in the water for a couple more minutes.

After that, we got out of the water and went back over to our stuff for lunch.

We came out of the water, dripping with water. No surprise there, huh?

We hurried over and dried ourselves off.

Once the 3 of us were dry we had lunch.

Now, back in the real world, when my family and I had gone on picnics, I'd been very picky about what I'd eat in comparison to the rest of my family.

I wouldn't eat salad. I wouldn't touch coleslaw. I wouldn't even try lettuce.

When I'd been 7 myself, I'd tried eating a leaf.

The way it had had felt in my mouth had almost made my throw up.

Since then, I'd done my best to avoid trying any leafy kind of food.

But in this world, it didn't have that bad a feeling.

For some unknown reason, a lot of the foods I wouldn't like, back in the real world, I liked in this world.

I didn't really understand it, but I wasn't really complaining either.

It meant I could eat almost anything.

That meant, I was never rude about food.

But I still couldn't eat brussel sprouts.

What sane person could willingly eat them?

Dora and Boots certainly couldn't.

They'd tried them the 2nd day I'd been living with Dora.

They'd almost spewed when they put them in their mouths.

Anyway, lunch was a couple of salads, some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and a carton of apple juice each.

I happily ate lunch, sipping the juice through a small straw.

This was nice.

If it wasn't for my family back in the real world, I'd stay here with Dora's family forever.

'Stop thinking like that,' I thought, angry with myself. 'That's not the way it is. You're a 19-year-old boy from the real world, with a family and you're going to get back there. Stope thinking like this is permanent.'

After lunch, Dora, Boots and I went exploring the beach.

As we walked along the trees, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being watched.

'Hey, what's that?' Boots said, pointing to the water.

There was something greenish floating a little out in it.

'Let's go, check it out,' I said, running towards the water.

Had my common sense kicked in, I would have remembered that you're not supposed to go back into the water for at least an hour after eating.

But that wasn't what I had to worry about.

As Dora and I reached the water, the greenish thing rose into the air.

It was followed by a long green neck.

It was a giant sea snake.

I'd never seen such a huge snack.

It was at least ten feet tall.

It looked down at us with two yellow eyes, licking its lips.

'We are so dead,' I said, staring up at the sea snake.

'No we're not,' Dora said smiling.

I stared at her in bewilderment.

How could she think that we weren't going to die, right here?

That snake was huge and I had no idea how to stop an ordinary sea snake. Let alone a ten foot sea snake.

'Sea snakes are scared of pirate,' Dora said, looking at me.

'And how is that supposed to help us?' I asked, looking at her.

Okay, so sea snakes were scared of pirate. Good to know. But how was that going to help us? I couldn't see any pirates nearby.

'All we have to do is say "arg", like a pirate,' Dora said, looking from me back tot he giant sea snake.

'Say "arg"?' I thought, not sure whether I believed her or not. 'Okay. But if this doesn't work I'm going to feel really stupid during the last moments of my life.'

Dora and I both faced the sea snake.

'Arg!' we both shouted at it.

It blinked, staring at us.

'Whoa,' I thought, seeing its reaction. 'Maybe Dora was right. Still, this is kinda embarrassing.'

'Say it again,' Dora said, looking at me. 'Louder.'

'Arg!' we both shouted again, facing the sea snake.

It flinched, looking a little fearful.

'Faster!' Dora said smiling. 'And all together.'

'Arg! Arg! Arg! Arg! Arg!' all 3 of us shouted quickly.

The sea snake swam away as fast as it could.

'What a wuss,' I said, folding my arms, grinning. 'We don't even look like pirates and it was still scared of us.'

'I told you,' Dora said smiling. 'Now, we'd better get out of the water.'

'Yeah,' I said, my common sense starting to flow through my brain at last. 'Before we get major cramps.'

We hurried out of the water and went back to where we'd set everything up.

'Let's make sand castles,' Boots suggested, taking the 3 buckets out of the toys bag, handing one to Dora and another to me.

Now, I'd never been one for making sand castles.

Mainly because, seeing all those magnificent sand castles on TV always made me feel like I wasn't any good at it.

But, I was now in a TV show world.

If I couldn't make a good sand castle here, I couldn't make one anywhere.

So, we took our buckets and spades and starting making sand castles.

It turned out to be a lot of fun.

It just showed how long it had been since I'd been able to enjoy something like this.

Chapter Nine

A Meeting Of Interest

'Hey, Dora,' I called, waving to her from near the trees.

Dora and Boots looked up from our sand castles.

I sounded confused.

They had no idea how I'd managed to move over to the trees without them realizing that I wasn't next to them anymore.

'What is it, May?' Dora asked, standing up.

'Come and check this out,' I said, indicating for them to come over.

They looked at each, shrugged and hurried over to me.

'What is it?' Dora asked, stopping in front of me.

I pointed to the tree I was standing in front of.

They looked to where I was pointing.

Carved into the bark of the tree was the shape of a heart with words inside of it.

The words in the heart said: Kaname + May Forever.

They looked at me, confusion all over there faces.

I shrugged.

'I don't get it either,' I said, shaking my head. 'That "May" was definitely written in my handwriting, but I don't remember ever writing that.'

'And who's Kanam?' Dora asked, frowning at the name above mine.

'It's pronounce Kana-may,' I said, shaking my head. 'It's a Japanese name. Or rather, it's spelt the Japanese way with letters from the English alphabet.'

'You know that from your world?' Boots asked, looking at me.

'Yeah,' I said, nodding. 'I've got a Manga novel, back in my world, where one of the main character's names is Kaname.'

'What a Manga?' Boots asked, raising an eyebrow.

'It's the word the Japanese use for graphic novels,' I said, frowning at the carving in the tree again. 'I have a few of them, back at home in the real- my world.'

I'd almost said "real world". I'd have to be more careful when talking about my past.

I put my right-hand on the tree and moved it down, feeling the indents the carvings made.

'Ow!' I said, pulling my hand back and holding it.

There was a splinter stuck in my ring-finger.

I grabbed the tip of the splinter with my other hand and yanked it out, tossing it aside.

A small bit of blood trickled out from the tiny hole in my finger, dripping down it, a few drops falling to the ground.

'Well, isn't this nice?' a deep voice said behind us. '3 friends, just waiting for me.'

The 3 of us whirled around.

A man was standing in the trees, not to far from us, the top half of his face in shadow.

'Friends?' I said, glaring at him. 'I think I'd remember being friends with someone as old as you.'

'Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?' the man said, his lips curling into a smile.

'What?' I said, my eyes narrowing.

Did he know that I was a 19 or 20-year-old boy trapped in a 7-year-old girl's body.

'What do you want?' Dora asked the man, her face firm.

I knew, at once that Dora shouldn't have asked that question.

The man lifted his head.

His eyes glowed blood-red.

'That delicious smelling blood, of course,' he said, looking at me.

'He's a vampire!'

I gasped the words before I could stop myself.

Dora and Boots stared at me in horror.

'A what?' they said, looking at me, fear in their eyes.

'That's right,' the man said, his grin becoming larger. 'And now, I'll sample your blood!'

He lunged at us.

'No!' we all shouted, closing our eyes tightly.

There was a loud squelching sound.

I opened my eyes a little to see what had happened.

Someone was standing next to the vampire.

Their left-arm was sticking out the other end of the vampire's head.

I blinked.

This was familiar.

Was it possible...?

'A disgrace to all vampires,' the other person said, pulling their arm out of the vampire's head in one, swift movement.

I blinked.

There was no way. It wasn't possible.

This was the wrong cartoon.

The other person turned towards my direction, bringing his arm to his mouth, licking it lightly as the body of the vampire turned to dust and was blown away by the wind.

I gasped.

He had black hair and marron eyes.

It was Kaname! Kaname Kuran!

But how? This world was DORA The Explorer's world, not the Vampire Knight world.

He was wearing a white long-sleeve shirt and black jeans.

He bent down, holding out his blood-stained hand to me.

'Are you alright?' he asked me kindly.

I wasn't able to say anything.

I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Kaname Kuran, Vampire Knight's Kaname Kuran was here, in DORA The Explorer's world.

That shouldn't be possible.

Dora and Boots opened their eyes and saw Kaname.

'Who- who are you?' Dora asked, looking at him.

'Someone close to May,' he said, not looking at her, still focused on me.

I reached out, took his hand and he help me stand up.

'Are you alright?' he asked me as I looked up at him.

'I'm fine,' I said quietly, looking away.

This was too weird, even for me now.

Being pulled into DORA The Explorer's world and being turned into a girl with a magical singing voice was 1 thing. But learning that Kaname Kuron was in this world too? I'm sorry, but when did I get off the bus at Crazy Town?

I looked back up at him, not sure if I was seeing things or not.

This wasn't the Kaname I knew.

He was younger.

He looked about 10 or 11-years-old.

But he had the same, kind smile.

'Yes?' Kaname asked, when I'd stared up at him for 20 seconds without saying anything.

'Kaname... Kuran?' I asked, looking up at him.

Kaname looked a little surprised.

'Not quite,' he said, smiling, putting his right-hand on my head. 'My first name is Kaname, but my last name is Koron.'

'Koron?' I asked, not quite thinking straight yet.

He smiled, taring off a small piece of his shirt and wrapping it around my finger like a bandage.

'Try not to hurt yourself again, okay?' he said, tightening the bandage. 'I might not be able to help you next time.'

He stood up and walked off into the trees, disappearing.

'May?' Dora said, looking at me. 'Who was that?'

I looked down at the bandage around my finger and back up to the trees.

'I'm not sure,' I said truthfully as the wind blew through my hair.

Thoughts were whirling through my mind.

That had definitely been Kaname.

Maybe not the exact same Kaname I knew from the Vampire Knight Anime, back in the real world, but it was definitely him.

Those words he'd used, the way he'd saved us from that vampire, his kind, soft, caring smile.

They were all the same as Kaname Kuran.

The way he'd looked at me. It was the same way Kaname Kuran looked at Yuki Cross.

But why?

I was just a 19 or 20-year-old boy from the real world. What would Kaname want with me?
For that matter, what was Kaname even doing in this world?

This wasn't his world. It was Dora's. Why was he here?

Several hours later, we packed everything up, and headed back towards Dora's house.

We'd be dropping Boots off, by his house before going back to Dora's.

As we walked off, Kaname watched from within the trees.

'Please,' he said as the car went over the hill. 'May, for your mother's sake, be safe.'

During the walk, I kept thinking about what had happened today.

How was Kaname here?

Why had he looked at me with such tender eyes?

Yet, along with the tenderness, I saw sadness too.

Why?

If I'd only seen more of Vampire Knight, back in the real world, maybe I'd know. But I hadn't. I think I'd seen up to episode 6 and that was as far as I'd got.

You know. Because I fell into Dora's world before I could watch anymore.

If I hadn't, I might have learned why Kaname Kuran was so kind to Yuki Cross and, inturn, figure out why Kaname Koron was so kind to me.

It must have been a similar reason, but I didn't know what.

We dropped Boots off at his house and headed back towards Dora's house.

I was still lost in my thoughts.

'Kaname Koron,' I thought, looking at my bandaged finger. 'You're a vampire, but you were so kind to me. A mere human. Why?'

When got back to the house we unpacked, went inside and changed into our clothes.

I chose to wear the clothes I'd been wearing when I'd arrived in this world.

Dinner that night was couscous with honey soy chicken.

I didn't really feel that hungry.

I had too much on my mind.

Why was Kaname even here, in Spain?

There was no real reason why he should be here.

Why had he saved me?

Why would I matter to him?

Suddenly an image flashed in front of my eyes.

It was of a woman with blonde hair, like mine, wearing a sleeveless white shirt with white frills at the shoulders and green frills at the part of her waist where, instead of legs, a bluish-green tail started, leaning towards me.

It lasted only a second but I saw it.

I gasped, not sure what had just happened.

'May?'

I looked up.

Dora and her parents were looking at me.

'Are you alright?' Dora asked, looking at me.

'Y-yeah,' I said, looking away. 'I think I'm just a little tired. Can I go to bed? I'm not feeling very hungry.'

A few minutes later I was wearing my orangey pyjamas, standing by the window, the summer breeze blowing softly through my hair.

'What's going on?' I whispered, looking down at my finger.

I'd taken the bandage off when I'd had my bath.

My finger had stopped bleeding.

I was a little worried.

That vampire hadn't been come near us until I'd pricked my finger and some blood had trickled out.

Did that mean my blood smelt really delicious to vampires?

Wait; was it my blood, as in, Tom's blood, or this girl body's blood? Oh, that was gross.

I sighed, walked to my bed, got in, and laid there for a while, just looking at the ceiling.

What was going on?
Why was Kaname in this world?
I didn't care whether his last name was Kuran or Koron. He was still Kaname and he shouldn't be in this world. It wasn't right.

Then again, you could say the same about me.

After all, I wasn't from this world either.

I was from the real world.

I sighed, turned to my side and went to sleep.

Things were becoming too confusing for me.

Chapter Ten

Dora & May In Space

I yawned, holding my hand over my mouth.

I was at the Spanish Space Station.

I was with Dora and the rest of our school class.

I had no idea why we were here. At least half of the kids wouldn't understand what they were being told about space travel.

This was for, like, 8-year-olds and older.

As the tour guide told the other kids about how the combustion of the rockets can break the force of Earth's gravity to launch into space, which I thought was a waste of time, since the other kids wouldn't remember half of what she was saying, I walked away from the group and down the corridor to the left.

'Surely there's something I can enjoy around here,' I said, looking around as I walked, feeling bored.

I was wearing the same type of clothes I'd been wearing when I arrived in this world.

Dora's mum had bought me more of the same clothing so that I could wear them more often.

'What are you doing?'

I looked behind me.

Dora was standing there, her arms folded, frowning at me.

'I don't see the point of this fieldtrip,' I said, shaking my head. 'The chances that half the other kids will remember even half of this by the time they get home.'

'That may be, May,' Dora said, shaking her head. 'But remember that, right now, fieldtrips are just for fun. They're not like the ones you've become use to, back in your world.'

She was right.

In my last 6 years of school, I'd hardly ever been on a fieldtrip that was just for fun. There was always some kind of learning point to it.

'Yeah, I guess,' I said sighing. 'Sorry, Dora. Adults can have pretty boring minds, can't we?'

Dora was a little surprised.

That was the first time since she'd met me that I'd referred to myself as an adult.

'Come on,' I said smiling. 'Let's go back and join the group.'

Dora smiled.

At that moment, from out of nowhere, a wind blew against us, sending us flying down the hallway, through some open steal doors.

We banged our heads against the wall and were knocked out cold.

As we laid unconscious on the floor, the room shook as it went up.

We weren't in a room.

We were in an elevator heading for the latest rocket marked for launch.

It was supposed to be maned by a monkey.

Not one likes Boots though.

A non-talking monkey.

Back with our school group, everyone was looking for us.

They couldn't figure out where we'd gone.

'Are you ready, Cheery?' a woman with short-cut red hair wearing a white coat said into a microphone, looking at a brown monkey wearing a spacesuit on the TV screen.

The monkey nodded.

Back in the elevator, I opened my eyes, looking around wearily.

'Where are we?' I asked, sitting up, holding my head.

Man, it was pounding. I must have really hit it hard.

'I don't know,' Dora said, sitting up, holding her head too. 'But I think we should get out of here.'

'Yeah,' I said, nodding.

I walked to the double doors and pushed the "doors open" button.

The doors opened and we walked out.

Suddenly, I felt off-balance.

Both Dora and I fell down, landing on our butts.

'Okay,' I said, rubbing my butt. 'It's not going to be easy to walk around in here.'

'Look,' Dora said, pointing to the end of the room. 'It's a door.'

She was right.

There was a door at the end of the room.

We stood up, wobbling a little as we tried to get our balance.

We hurried, wobbly over to the door and opened it.

It looked like a food storage area.

But most of the foods were just fruits, mainly bananas.

'Oh, no,' I said, my eyes going wide.

'What is it, May?' Dora asked, looking at me.

'I don't know how,' I said, looking at her, 'but we're on a space shuttle. And I think it's the 1 their launching today.'

The room started shaking and we almost lost our balance again.

'It's launching!' I cried, turning to the door at the other end of the room. 'We've got to tell the mission control that we're onboard.'

We hurried to the door and looked in through the circle window on it.

We saw a brown monkey wearing a space suit going crazy in the cockpit.

'Okay,' I said, leaning against the closed door. 'We're stuck on a space shuttle with no space suits and the monkey that's supposed to by piloting it has gone crazy. This is bad.'

'That's an understatement,' Dora said, looking at me. 'Do you think your singing could calm it down?'

'I don't know,' I said, thinking. 'It could. But then again, it might just make things worse.'

'Well we've got to do something,' Dora said firmly. 'I don't think there's enough air on this ship to last 3 people for too long.'

'Technically, 2 people and a monkey,' I corrected her. 'But I see your point.'

I took a deep breath and started singing the song sung by the Little Mermaid from Hands Christian Anderson's The Storyteller.

It was simply me singing no real words. Just singing.

My voice travelled across the shuttle.

Back on Earth, the audio picked up my singing and everyone at mission control could hear it.

'What is that?' the main commander said, frowning in confusion.

'It sounds like... singing, sir,' a man wearing a white lab coat, sitting by 1 of the computers said, looking like he wasn't believing it himself.

'But, who on or off Earth could be singing in space?' the commander said, still looking confused.

At that moment, Miss Marley, our school teacher came in and heard my singing.

'I know that voice,' she said, looking stunned. 'That's May.'

'Who is this May?' the commander said, turning to her, frowning.

'She's 1 of my students,' she said, the other kids coming up behind her, the tour guide behind them.

'But, how could her singing be in space?' the commander asked, frowning. 'She'd have to be on the shuttle for us to hear her like this.'

'That's because I am on the shuttle,' my voice said, the singing stopping.

They all turned to the TV monitor.

I was sitting in front of the camera, smiling sheepishly.

'May!' Miss Marley cried, staring in shock. 'What are you doing on the space shuttle? And where's Dora?'

'She's right here, with me,' I said sheepishly and Dora floated up behind me, also smiling sheepishly.

'What are you both doing on that space shuttle when you're supposed to be here, with the rest of the class?' Miss Marley said, glaring at us.

'Well, we're not really sure how we got here ourselves,' I said frowning. 'But shouldn't we be more worried about how Dora and I are going to get back to Earth.'

'Cherry should be able to pilot the shuttle back to Earth,' the woman who'd spoken to the monkey before said firmly.

'Um, yeah,' I said, looking away sheepishly. 'He can't do that, now.'

'Why not?' she asked frowning.

'He was going crazy,' I said, scratching my chin. 'So, in order to calm him down, I sang to him and he kinda... fell asleep.'

'Oh, great,' the commander said, whacking his forehead with his right-hand. 'So now two 7-year-old girls are going to have to pilot the shuttle back safely.'

'Didn't you program an automatic return function into this thing when you decided to send the monkey into space?' I said, looking at them from the monitor.

I remembered that, on a movie called Space Chimps that I'd seen, back in the real world, the shuttle that the humans had sent the chimps into space in had such a program because they didn't believe that the chimps were smart enough to do it themselves.

'Oh, yeah,' the man in the lab coat said, slamming his fist into his palm. 'The auto-retrieval system. It will bring the shuttle back to Earth in 12 hours.'

'Whoa, hang on,' I said frowning. 'Did you just say that we'll have to stay up here for 12 hours?'

'Well, 11 hours, 51 minutes and 34 seconds,' the man said, typing into his computer.

'Great,' I said sarcastically, leaning back in the chair. 'What are we supposed to do until then? Just sit around and twiddle our thumbs?'

'Well...' the man said, looking away.

'I'll help them.'

Everyone turned around.

Kaname walked in, looking like a prince charming.

He was dressed in the same clothes he'd been wearing when he'd saved Dora and me from another vampire, back at the beach last month.

'Who are you?' the commander said, glaring at him. 'You're not permitted in here.'

'Kaname?' I said, staring at him in surprise. 'What are you doing here?'

'I've come to help you, May,' he said, looking t the monitor and smiling. 'You know, that computer screen doesn't show off how truly beautiful you are.'

'Um, thanks,' I said unsure. 'I think.'

'Now, close your eyes and clear your mind,' he said, closing his own eyes.

'Okay,' I said, shrugging.

What did I have to lose?

Okay, bad question to ask. I was in space shuttle for crying out loud. One mistake and Dora and I were dead meat.

I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind.

Suddenly I was outside my body, looking at myself.

'Okay,' I said frowning. 'This is weird.'

Suddenly the me I was looking at opened her eyes.

'Hold on to something, Dora,' she said, a determined look on her face.

I realized that my eyes had changed.

They looked like Kaname's eyes now.

Was Kaname inside my body, controlling what it was doing?

Okay, after this was all over he and I would have to talk about personal boundaries.

The Kaname-controlled me angled the shuttled towards the Earth.

'I don't know how you're doing this, kid,' the commander said, looking at my body from the video-screen on the control panel. 'But you keep at it.'

'Angle your trajectory by 5 degrees left,' the man in the lab coat said, appearing on the screen. 'That way, the shuttle won't burn up on re-entry.'

My head nodded.

I hadn't made it nod.

I was still looking from outside my body somehow.

I wasn't sure what was happening, but I was guessing it had something to do with Kaname's Pure Blood Vampire powers.

I knew, thanks to Vampire Knight, that Pure Blood vampires had powers no other vampire can be born with.

But what kind of power was this?

Being able to control someone else's body? That was just creepy.

20 minutes later, the shuttle was landing.

As the wheels made contract with the ground I found myself back in my body again.

I looked at my hands, blinking.

That had been the weirdest experience I'd had so far. And I'd had a lot of weird experiences over the last couple of days, but this 1 toped them all.

When the doors opened Dora and I sped out of the shuttle and into the arms of Miss Marley.

That had been 1 of the most terrifying things I'd ever done.

If that was what it was like to space travel, I was going to stay on Earth forever.

The tour was cancelled and we went back to school.

Well, the other kids went back to school.

Dora and I went back home to recover.

Before we'd left the space station Kaname had held my tightly.

'I thought I'd lost you,' he said, holding me close.

'Why...?' I said, having trouble finding the words, even though they were clear in my mind. 'Why do you care... so much for me?'

'You needn't know that right now,' he said, letting go and looking into my eyes.

With that, he walked away and vanished.

I thought about that all the way back to Dora's place.

Dora's parents weren't happy that Dora and I had been on the space shuttle, but were relieved that we'd managed to get back to Earth safely.

That night, I told Dora what had happened when I'd done what Kaname had asked me.

'But why?' I said, my hands tightening together. 'Why would he care for me? I'm not even supposed to be in this world. Why would he care so much for someone from another world?'

'I'm not sure,' Dora said, shaking her head. 'But we'll find it out together.'

I nodded.

Dora was right.

Whatever the reason for Kaname caring for me, we'd find out together.

I went to sleep that night, Kaname on my mind.

Why did he care for me?

I was standing in that hallway again.

I looked around, frowning.

'You don't have to worry anymore.'

I looked around.

Who'd said that?

It had been a woman's voice.

It had sounded so kind, but so sad.

Suddenly a pair of green eyes glared out at me from the darkness.

'Give me,' a woman's voice said, the teeth moving as the words came, 'your soul'

The eyes lunged towards me.

'NO!' I screamed, sitting up bed, my eyes wide with fear.

'May?' Dora cried anxiously, sitting up and turning to look at me.

I was sitting in my bed, my right-hand over my right eye.

She could still see my left eye.

It was wide with terror and I was shaking all over.

That had been the most terrifying dream I'd ever had.

I hadn't had a dream that terrifying in my whole life.

What did it mean?
Why did I keep seeing that hallway?

What was in there that filled me with such a terrifying feeling?

Chapter Eleven

A Terrifying Truth

'Come on, Boots,' I called, sliding down the red slide on the playground.

I hadn't had so much fun on a slid since... I was about 6-8.

'May,' Dora called from the monkey bars.

'Yeah, Dora?' I called, laughing as Boots slipped down the slide upside down.

It had now been a month since I'd arrived in Dora's world.

I'd met Kaname a couple more times.

He'd always spoken kindly to me and looked at me with such tender eyes.

I still wasn't sure why he was so caring towards me, but Dora and I had been trying to figure it out.

'I've been thinking about something,' Dora said, swinging off the monkey bars and running over to me.

'What have you been thinking about?' I asked, raising an eyebrow.

'Kaname,' Dora said, looking at me.

I felt my other eyebrow rise.

Dora was thinking about Kaname now? While we were at school? Should I be worried?

'If he is a Pure Blood vampire, why would he care for someone from another world?' Dora said, looking at me.

'I've been trying to figure that out since we first met him,' I said, folding my arms and shaking my head. 'If I knew the answer to that question I'd been much happier.'

'Maybe you wouldn't,' Dora said, shaking her head.

'What do you mean?' I asked frowning.

Dora wasn't making much sense.

Why wouldn't I like finding out why Kaname was always so nice to me?

I was from another world. It couldn't be guilt or anything like that. I hadn't even existed in this world until Fairy Godmother's spell stuffed up and pulled my here by accident.

'I'm not so sure that you're from another world,' Dora said, looking like she'd rather not have said it.

'What?' I said, frowning.

'I don't think you're who you think you are,' Dora said, shaking her head.

What?
How could I not be who I thought I was?

I was Tommy Johns

A 19 or 20-year-old boy from the real world.

I had 2 brothers, 3 sisters and was the eldest in my family.

I'd had a brain injury when I was 7 and graduated from high school in December 2010.

How could I not be who I thought I was?

'Of course I'm from another world,' I said firmly, pointing my thumb at myself. 'I'm Tommy Johns. Graduate of Duncan Secondary Public School, Australia. I was born in 1991 and raised all my life in Australia.'

'I don't think you were,' Dora said, shaking her head.

'Dora, how can I not be?' I said, throwing my arms in the air in frustration. 'What, do you think I was really born in this world and some how lost my memories, which were then replaced by the memories of someone from another world? I am me.'

'But-' Dora began.

'I am... me,' I said, leaning against her face, glaring. 'End of story.'

I walked off, my fists at my sides.

'But, May...' Dora said quietly, watching as I walked back inside, still fuming. 'I'm just trying to help you.'

I walked into the classroom, walked to the toilet, pushed the door open, walked into a cubicle, slammed the door, locked it and sat down on the toilet.

I put my head in my knees and started to cry.

I didn't want to admit it, but a small part of me agreed with Dora.

Now that I was thinking about it, it made sense.

If I was Tom Johns, why hadn't my parents tried to contact me again?

It had been over a month since my Dad had called me that 1 time.

Why hadn't Mum tried to call me?

Didn't they care about me anymore?
Didn't they want to bring me back to the real world?

What kind of parents would give up on their first born son?

After school was over, something happened to cheer me up.

Elsa, one of the girls from class with blue eyes and red hair, tied back in a ponytail invited Dora and me over to her house for a sleepover the next night.

3 other girls would be there and she wanted to know if we'd join her.

We both agreed.

Dora and I decided to forget about the conversation we'd had on the playground.

After all, we had plenty of time to figure out the real reason why Kaname Koron treated me with kindness when I was a human from another world.

The next night, Dora and I went over to Elsa's house for the sleepover.

It was an all-girls party so Boots couldn't come with us, not that he wanted to.

He knew, since it was an all-girls party, that a boy wouldn't be very happy there.

She'd asked her mother to hire some DVDs for the party.

Unfortunately for me, they were DVDs were all about ponies and unicorns.

Guys don't like that stuff.

At least, neither I nor any other boy I'd met like them anyway.

Dinner was a whole table of party food.

Party pies, mini sausage rolls, cheese and bacon ball chips, fairy bread and orange soda.

After dinner, we all brushed our teeth and went into Elsa's room.

Her mother had brought out some Jackresses and blankets.

After Elsa's mum said goodnight to us, we all stayed up late, telling each other stories, laughing at each others jokes.

I made the mistake of talking about Kaname.

As soon as I mentioned that he was always really kind to me, the other girls wanted to know how I felt about him.

'Well, I'm not really sure,' I said truthfully, searching my brain for the right words. 'I guess... I like him. He's nice. He's good-looking, I can't deny that.'

'And he saved your life?' Chika, a girl with blonde hair tied into 2 pigtails with brown eyes said, looking at me.

'Well, yes, he did,' I said, still not sure what to say.

How had I gotten myself into this situation in the first place?

Oh, yeah. Elsa had asked if I'd met any cute guys, and before I knew what I was saying I started talking about Kaname.

Man, was I an idiot!

'So, do you know if he has any brothers?' Elsa asked, looking at me with keen eyes.

'Um, I'm not really sure,' I said, so wanting to change the subject.

Just then there was a knock on the door.

'Yes?' Elsa said, turning to the door.

It opened and her mother was standing there.

'May?' she said, looking at me.

'Yes?' I said, looking at her, wondering what she wanted me for.

'There's someone at the door who wants to speak with you about something,' Elsa's mum said, indicating that I should follow her.

'Okay,' I said frowning.

Who the heck would want to talk to me in this world?

There weren't that many people that I knew.

I followed Elsa's mother to the door and gasped.

Kaname was standing there, smiling at me.

Standing behind him were two people.

They looked like Hanabusa and Sei-Rin from Vampire Knight, but younger.

They looked around 8 or 9-years-old.

Hanabusa had blonde hair, light-blue eyes and was wearing the same clothing as Kaname.

Sei-Rin had dark-gray hair, dark-blue eyes and was wearing a gray T-shirt with buttons and a black skirt.

'Um, hi, Kaname,' I said, pretending that I knew what was going on so that Elsa's mum didn't get suspicious. 'I wasn't expecting to see you here? Who are your friends?'

'Hello there, May,' Kaname said, smiling. 'It's good to see you. These are my friends, Kaido and Shay-Lin. I don't mean to interrupt the party, but I was wondering if I could talk to you for a little.'

'Um, okay,' I said, not really sure what was going on, but pretending I did.

Who knows, maybe Kaname was going to explain why he was so kind to me.

'I will bring her back shortly,' Kaname said to Elsa's mum, smiling.

'Alright,' she said, a little uncertainly, closing the door behind me.

'Alright, Kaname,' I said, folding my arms and looking firmly at him. 'What's going on?'

'How dare you speak to Lord Kaname like that, you filthy human-' Kaido began.

He even sounded and acted like Hanabusa.

Kaname held up his right-arm, glaring and Kaido stopped.

'May,' he said smiling at me. 'It hurts me to see you believing in a lie.'

'Huh?' I said, frowning.

What did he mean by that?
Did he know that I was a 19 or 20-year-old boy from the real world?

'Wh-what do you mean?' I asked, trying to keep a straight face.

'You are not Tom Johns trapped in a 7-year-old's body,' Kaname said, looking right at me.

I blinked.

Had I just heard him right?

Was he saying that my memories were wrong?

'Could you repeat that, Kaname?' I said, keeping my voice even. 'I'm not sure I heard you correctly. For a second there, I thought you said that I'm not Tom Johns. The person whose memories are firmly planted in my mind.'

'You heard correctly,' Kaname said, still looking at me.

'But- but that can't be right,' I said firmly. 'I remember everything so clearly. My 5th birthday at Hungry Jake's. My 18th Birthday at Cafe Primo. Graduating from high school. Getting a job at Phoenix.'

'You may remember those memories, May,' Kaname said, looking at me. 'But they are not your memories.'

'Then how come I have them?' I said angrily, glaring at him. 'If my memories of Tom's world aren't mine, how come I have them? Why don't I have my own?'

'When Fairy Godmother's transportation spell failed, it accidently transferred the memories of that boy into your mind,' Kaname said, looking at me.

'No,' I said, putting my hands on my head. 'That can't be. There's no way. I am Tom Johns. I know I am.'

'I am sorry, May,' Kaname said, shaking his head. 'But no. You are not Tom Johns.'

Suddenly I remembered something that contradicted what Kaname was saying.

'If that's true,' I said, pointing at him with my left ring-finger. 'Then what about the call I got from my dad when I was travelling with Dora and Boots after I first arrived here, huh? Explain that, Kaname.'

'Why you-' Kaido began, but Kaname held out his arm again and he stopped.

'That call was not made by Tom Johns' father,' Kaname said, shaking his head.

'What?' I said, stunned that he'd actually had an answer.

'That was merely Fairy Godmother pretending to be his father to make you feel better,' Kaname said, looking at me.

'No,' I said, shaking my head, my eyes full of fear. 'That can't be.'

'I'm afraid it is,' Kaname said, nodding.

'But that means,' I said, holding my head. 'I don't know who I am. I have no memories of my past. I don't even know if May is my real name.'

I was terrified.

This couldn't be.

I wasn't who I'd thought I was all this time.

It was what had kept me going.

The belief that I was Tom Johns, trapped the body of a little girl in a fictitious world and that I would eventually escape from it.

But, if I wasn't Tom, who was I?

Where did I come from?
Who were my family?

The image of that woman flashed in front of me again.

I gasped.

Was that... a memory?

'Now,' Kaname said, bending down and putting his hand on my shoulder. 'I think you should go back inside. But I will tell you that your name is May.'

'Why?' I asked, looking anxiously at him. 'Why are you telling me all these things? Why have you been so kind to me all this time?'

Kaname closed his eyes and sighed.

'I cannot tell you that now,' he said, putting his hand on my head. 'Now, go back and enjoy the party.'

He watched me until I was inside.

That night I slept uneasily.

I kept seeing Tom standing in front of me.

He was standing on a boat.
Suddenly a clawed-hand made of water rose from the waves, grabbed him and pulled into the water, screaming.

As I looked down into the churning water I saw those green eyes leering out at me.

'You will be mine!' the woman's voice I'd heard before said.

A giant, clawed-hand made of water lunged out of the waves, grabbed me around my neck and pulled me in.

My eyes burst open and I sat up quickly, breathing heavily.

'Why did you have to tell me that, Kaname?' I whispered, putting my head in my hands. 'Why couldn't you just leave me believing I was Tom in a girl's body?'

I cried myself back to sleep, to more uneasy dreams.

After we came back from the sleepover, Dora's parents had a surprise for us.

They'd adopted me.

I went ballistic!

I only learned that I wasn't Tom last night.

I still had a family somewhere and they'd gone ahead and adopted me? Without even asking me 1st?

I stomped out of the house and sat in the backyard for a long while, fuming.

They gave me a bit of time to calm down after that.

After a while, I realized that it was probably for the better that they'd adopted me.

After all, for all I knew, my family were dead.

At least now, if I didn't have any other family left, I could still have a family, regardless of who I really was.

Chapter Twelve

An Aquatic Adventure

'May, hurry up!' Dora's voice called from outside. 'I'm all ready to go.'

'I'm coming, I'm coming,' I called back, looking over my shoulder. 'Hold your horses.'

I was in Dora's room.

It was 3 days after the sleepover.

I was wearing my brown, light-brown shorts, with my light-grey, sleeveless shirt with a hood on the back.

I was going through 1 of the draws in mine and Dora's room.

I'd just noticed something sparkle inside it and was curious to know what it was.

I riffled through a few odds and ends and found something that surprised me.

There was a small blue box in the draw.

Thanks to Tom's memories, I was always anxious when I knew there was something I didn't know about.

I picked up the box and opened it.

Inside it was a necklace made of light-blue beads, with the shape of a mermaid at the bottom of it.

I picked up the bead necklace and looked carefully at it.

There was something about it that told me it wasn't an ordinary necklace.

Why hadn't Dora told me about it?

I'd told her what I remembered of my real family.

I knew I wasn't Tom, but I hadn't really remembered my real family.

My few memories were in tiny fragments and didn't quite connect.

All I knew was that Fairy Godmother's transportation spell going wrong had saved me.

Dora was my sister now, so why hadn't she told me about this bead necklace?
It looked important so why hadn't she ever told me about it?

Suddenly a white light flashed in front of me.

I shielded my eyes against the light.

When it faded I opened my eyes and gasped.

A small white crystal with a blue strap so that it could be worn around the neck was on Dora's bed.

There was a small note next to it.

I picked them both up and read the note.

'Dora,' I read out loud. 'For all of your help in the past, please accept these crystals as our token of thanks. They will assist you in the near future. Signed, Snow Princess, Ally and the Wishing Wizzle.'

'Ally, the Snow Princess and the Wishing Wizzle?' I said, frowning. 'But they're from Dora's story book. How'd they send this crystal into this world? And what do they mean by "these crystals"? There's only 1 crystal.'

'May, will you hurry up?' Dora called from outside. 'Vámonos!'

'Okay, okay,' I called back, putting note in my right-pocket, the necklace and crystal around my neck, grabbing Magic Pack and hurrying outside.

We were going to the beach today and, unlike last time; I was looking forward to it.

Back when I'd thought I was Tom; his memories of the beach had made me anxious.

But when I'd touched the sand it didn't feel the same as Tom's memories.

It had felt nice.

Plus, it didn't stick to my fingers if I grabbed handfuls of it and let the sand sift through my fingers.

Dora and I were going on our own though.

I was surprised how much freedom Dora's parents gave her- I mean- Wait, I mean, I was surprised how much freedom our parents gave us.

I was still trying to get used to the idea that Dora's family was now my family, too.

I ran outside and Dora and I left, stopping by Boot's house to pick him up, then headed off towards the beach.

It was a nice day, so it was perfect weather for going to the beach.

When we got to the beach, Dora and I went into the changing rooms and put on our kid's bikinis.

Dora's was purple with the green frill; mine was pink with no frills at all.

I kept the necklace and the crystal on, wondering if Dora would notice.

'I'll race you to the water,' Dora called from the other cubicle, running out.

'Hey,' I called, laughing a little. 'No fair. You've got a head start.'

We'd left Map, Backpack and Magic Pack on the beach since they couldn't come into the water with us.

I ran out the changing room, trying to catch up with Dora.

She reached the water before me.

I shook my head and hurried to the water after her.

We splashed for several minutes.

Laughing and splashing each other, with Boots using his tail to get both of us with showers of water.

Just then, Dora noticed the necklace and crystal around my neck.

'May,' she said, stopping suddenly. 'Why are you wearing those?'

'Huh?' I said, looking down at the necklace and the crystal. 'Oh, sorry. Is it okay if I wear these for a while?'

'That's not just a necklace, May,' Dora said, shaking her head.

'Huh?' I said, a little confused.

'That was given to Dora by Mariana, the Mermaid Princess,' Boots said, looking at me.

'Oh,' I said, holding the necklace in my hands. 'I thought there might by something special about it. Should I go and put them in Backpack.'

'Yes,' they both said, nodding.

'Okay,' I said, understanding.

This was something they knew and I didn't.

If they were going to tell me, they would.

'Wait,' Dora said, remembering the crystal. 'Where did you get that white crystal?'

'It appeared in our room while I was still packing for the beach,' I said, stopping and looking back at her. 'There was a note from the Snow Princess and Ally, saying that it there were 2 crystals and they were a gift to you, since you'd need them in the near future. I'm not sure why they wrote that. Or why they wrote that there were 2 crystals when there was only 1.'

Dora and Boots quickly looked at each other.

Just as I turned to head back towards the beach a giant pillar of water rose into the air.

I whirled around and we all stared up at it.

On top of the water was a woman, dressed in a dark-green dress.

She had long, red hair and green eyes.

Despite the different coloured clothes, I knew instantly from the look in the woman's eyes, that she was a witch.

'A Sea Witch,' I cried, staring up at her.

The Sea Witch looked down at us.

She saw Dora and her eyes narrowed.

'There you are,' she said, pointing a wand made of purple coral at Dora.

A beam of blue magic flew from the wand, surrounding Dora.

'Dora!' Boots and I cried, staring in horror as Dora was completely surrounded by the blue magic.

It formed a sphere around her, pulling her towards the Sea Witch.

There was a flash of light and Dora had turned into a mermaid.

She was wearing a sleeveless pink shirt with pink frills at the shoulders and pink frills at the part of her waist where her tail started. Her tail was a greenish-blue colour.

'Dora!' Boots and I cried, watching as the orb carrying Dora stopped next to the Sea Witch.

'With you out of the way, Dora, no one can spoil my plans,' the Sea Witch said cackling.

Water covered her and Dora and the pillar went back into the ocean.

'Dora!' Boots and I cried, swimming over to where the pillar had been.

I looked around, trying to see where it had gone.

'May, the Sea Witch took Dora,' Boots said, looking at me. 'What'll we do? What'll we do?'

'I honestly don't know, Boots,' I said, hating myself for even saying it.

'Boots.'

Boots and I looked to our right.

A mermaid with orange hair with a red starfish on the left-hand side and blue eyes, wearing a sleeveless purple shirt with purple frills at the shoulders and a green frill at the part of her waist where her tail started was swimming towards us. Her tail was a greenish-blue colour.

'Mariana,' Boots said happily.

'That's Mariana?' I said, a little surprised. 'She looks really nice.'

Mariana stopped in front of us.

'Who are you?' she said, looking at me, then noticed I was wearing Dora's necklace. 'Why are you wearing Dora's necklace?'

'She's May,' Boots said smiling. 'She's Dora's little sister.'

'Oh,' Marina said, looking at me and smiling. 'Then it's nice to meet you, May. I'm Mariana. The Mermaid Princess.'

'It's nice to meet you too, Marina,' I said, nodding.

Mariana frowned.

'What?' I asked, looking at her. 'What's wrong?'

'I'm not sure,' Mariana said, shaking her head. 'I just feel like I've seen you somewhere before.'

Huh?

How could she have met me before?

I wasn't with Dora when she'd saved the Mermaid Kingdom from that mean octopus.

So how would she know me?

'Hey, Mariana,' Boots said frowning. 'Where's your crown?'

Marina's face fell.

'The Sea Witch took it away,' she said sadly, shaking her head.

'On, boy,' I said, feeling a little worried.

I had a feeling there was something magical about Mariana's crown.

If the Sea Witch had it, we could be in big trouble.

'But she can't use it,' Mariana said assuredly. 'The crown will only work for someone who is kind, brave and helps friends.'

'That's Dora,' I thought, closing my eyes and smiling.

'We need to save Dora from the Sea Witch,' Boots said, looking worried.

'But how, Boots?' I said, looking at him. 'Neither of us can breathe underwater. We're not mermaids like Mariana.'

'But you can be,' Mariana said, smiling.

'Huh?' I said, raising an eyebrow.

I could become a mermaid. This was news to me?

'Yes,' Mariana said, nodding. 'Hold the mermaid shape at the end of the necklace and wish to become a mermaid.'

'Are you sure?' I asked, holding the mermaid shape at the end of the necklace in my right-hand. 'What if something goes wrong?'

'It won't,' Mariana said, shaking her head.

'But what about Boots?' I said, looking at him. 'Even if I become a mermaid, how will he follow us? He can't breathe underwater.'

'May,' a distant voice said.

'Huh?' I said, looking around.

'May, look,' Boots said, pointing at the crystal.

I looked down at it.

It was glowing the colours of the rainbow.

The face of a girl who looked a lot like Dora wearing a light-blue dress and tiara appeared in the crystal.

'Snow Princess,' Boots said excitedly.

'Hola, Boots,' she said, smiling. 'Hola, May. It's nice to meet you.'

'Um, nice to meet you too,' I said, a little confused.

So this was the Snow Princess. Boots and Dora hadn't been lying. She and Dora were almost identical.

Wait, how did she know about me?

I hadn't been with Dora and Boots when they'd saved the Magic Snowy Forest either.

How come people I'd never met knew me? It was driving me crazy.

'May, listen closely,' Snow Princess said smiling. 'The Magic Crystal will allow you to turn Boots into a mermonkey so that he can join you. Buenas suelte...'

She faded away and the crystal was blank again.

'A mermonkey?' I asked, frowning. That sounded a little weird.

'Let's do it, May,' Boots said firmly. 'We've got to save Dora from the Sea Witch.'

'Right,' I said, nodding, holding the necklace in my right-hand and holding Boots' right-hand in the other.

'Focus,' I thought, both the necklace and the Magic Crystal glowing brightly. 'I wish to become a mermaid. I wish to become a mermaid.'

'I wish to be a mermonkey,' Boots thought, his eyes closed too. 'I wish to be a mermonkey.'

White, swirling light flew out from both the crystal and the necklace, surrounding Boots and me.

I watched as my pink kid's bikini disappeared, to be replaced by a sleeveless white shirt with white frills at the shoulders.

My legs came together, turning into a greenish-blue mermaid tail, with a white frill at the point where my waist connected to my tail.

Boots' legs came together, turning into a bluish-grey fish tail.

When the light faded, I'd become a mermaid and Boots had become a mermonkey.

My hair had grown longer too.

It now reached to my waist.

'What do we do now?' Boots asked, looking from me to Mariana.

'Well, we don't know where to go,' Mariana said, thinking. 'That means...'

'I know someone who will know where to go,' I said, smiling.

'Huh?' they both said, looking at me in surprise.

I smiled, turning to the beach, cupping my hand to my mouth.

'Map!' I called out loudly.

Nothing happened.

'He mustn't have heard me,' I thought, taking a deep breath. 'I'll have to call louder.'

'Map!' I shouted, cupping my hands over me mouth.

Automatically, Map flew out of Backpack's right-side pocket and zoomed through the air, landing in my hands.

'Yes?' he said, looking up at me.

'We need to know where the Sea Witch took Dora,' I said firmly. 'Can you help us?'

'You got it,' Map said, opening up.

Pictures appeared on him.

'This seems more like the way he looks in the TV show, back in Tom's world,' I thought, looking over Map.

'Okay,' I said after a few seconds. 'The Witch seems to have taken Dora to an underwater cave, below Treasure Island. To get there we'll need to go passed the Mermaid Kingdom, through the Giant Chasm, passed the Angry Sharks and then we'll be at the Underwater Cave below Treasure Island.'

The pictures faded and Map rolled himself up again.

'Thanks for the help, Map,' I said smiling.

'No problem,' Map said, smiling. 'I can't go with you, because maps and water don't go well together. Bring Dora back safely.'

'Count on it,' I said, grinning, giving him a thumbs up.

He nodded, floated out of my hands and zoomed back to the beach, landing in Backpack's right-side pocket.

'Okay, let's see if I remember the way correctly,' I said, thinking. 'Mermaid Kingdom, Giant Chasm, Angry Sharks, Underwater Cave.'

'Okay, let's go,' Boots said, smiling.

I nodded and we dived into the water.

We swam deeper and deeper.

I was amazed at how fast we were going. And we weren't even trying that hard.

Mariana showed us the way to the Mermaid Kingdom.

What we saw made my eyes widen in shock.

Twelve giant water tempests were swirling around the Kingdom, making it impossible for anyone to leave the Kingdom or even go outside.

'This is the Witch's doing,' I said, glaring at the tempests.

'My poor Kingdom,' Mariana said, looking totally distraught. 'If we don't stop the Sea Witch soon, the whole Kingdom will be ripped apart.'

'We won't let that happen, Mariana,' I said firmly. 'We'll save Dora, then we'll save the Mermaid Kingdom.'

'Si,' she said, nodding.

'Then let's go,' Boots said, looking anxiously at the swirling tempests. 'I don't want to be sucked into 1 of those things.'

'Right,' I said, nodding. 'Let's move.'

They nodded and we swam passed the Kingdom.

In her cave, the Sea Witch watched us from her crystal ball, which was floating in the water.

'It seems your friends are coming to try and save you,' the Sea Witch said, looking at Dora.

She was floating in the ball of water she'd been trapped in earlier.

'You won't win, Sea Witch,' she said angrily. 'My friends will stop you, no matter what.'

'We'll see about that,' the Sea Witch said, giving an evil smile.

She waved her coral wand over the crystal ball.

'I call on the oceans of the deep,' she chanted, the ball glowing with purple magic. 'Send to them a tempest, and give them a sweep.'

As the Boots, Mariana and I swam passed the Mermaid Kingdom, I sensed a sudden change in the water currents.

I stopped, frowning.

How had I sensed that?

'May, why did you stop?' Boots asked, looking at me.

'I'm not sure,' I said, still frowning. 'I think something happening to the water currents.'

'And you're right,' Mariana cried, pointing ahead of us. 'Look!'

A large water tempest, twice a big as the ones surrounding the Mermaid Kingdom was coming towards us.

'There's no way we can out swim it,' I said, glaring at the tempest as it got ever closer.

'What can we do, May?' Boots asked, looking at me.

I frowned, thinking.

I'd need science to figure this out.

I tried to remember when Tom had studied tornadoes during Science in high school.

Tempests worked like tornadoes, right? That meant, the eye of the tempest was the safest place, because the currents would be at their weakest there.

Maybe, if we swam hard enough, we could...

'Follow my lead,' I said, swimming as hard and fast as I could.

'May?' Boots and Mariana cried, staring at me like I'd gone crazy.

'Just do what I do!' I called back, feeling as the pull of the tempest started to grab hold of me. 'Trust me!'

They looked at each other, still unsure and hurried after me.

We swam into the tempest.

We were rocked and spun around at high speeds than I'd felt in my life. And I remembered the time Tom went on the Superman Escape at Movie World, back in his world.

I forced my eyes open and saw the eye of the tempest.

'Over there!' I shouted as loud as I could, pointing. 'Swim there!'

Boots and Mariana nodded, forcing themselves through the winds.

We burst through the forceful waters, into a calm spot, where we could see the water swirling around us.

'Now,' I said, trying to catch my breath. 'All we need to do now... is swim to the top of the tempest... and we'll have made it out.'

The other two nodded.

We swam up several feet, swimming out through the eye and watched as the tempest continued heading in the other direction.

'Phew,' I said, wiping my forehead. 'That was tough.'

'You did it, May,' Mariana said smiling. 'That was a great idea, using the eye the escape.'

'Looks like learning about how the weather works is a good school subject after all,' I said, smiling.

Back in her cave, the Sea Witch howled angrily.

'I can't believe they escaped my tempest!' she said angrily, glaring at us in the crystal ball as we laughed happily.

'I told you,' Dora said, smirking. 'My friends are better than you think.'

'... They just got lucky!' the Sea Witch said angrily. 'Well, they won't be so lucky next time.'

She looked at me in her crystal ball and frowned.

'Where have a seen her before?' she thought, watching the crystal ball.

Chapter Thirteen

The Chasm Of Memories

'We made it passed the Mermaid Kingdom,' Boots said, looking back at the Kingdom surrounded by the many tempests.

A cricket, a frog and a snail floated passed us, each in a bubble, playing drums, a portable piano and a trumpet.

I'd been living with Dora long enough to know that they were the Fiesta Trio.

'That's like the TV show in Tom's world,' I thought, frowning. 'How do those 3 always manage to appear when a location's been passed?'

'Where do we go next, May?'

'The Giant Chasm,' I said firmly. 'But I'm not sure where it is.'

'I know the way,' Mariana said, pointing behind me. 'If we keep going in that direction, we should be there soon.'

'Then let's go,' I said, swimming off in the direction she'd been pointing, with them close behind me. 'We need to save Dora from the Sea Witch.'

We swam for half an hour.

Nothing happened as we swam through the ocean.

I thought that was very suspicious.

If the Sea Witch didn't want us to interfere with her plans, why wasn't she still trying to stop us?

After that tempest, she hadn't thrown anything into our path to stop us.

Had she given up?

Not likely.

Was she trying to trick us into lowering our guard?

Very likely.

We swam over a ridge and the Giant Chasm was below us.

It stretched far away.

It looked more like an underwater canyon.

I couldn't even see where it ended.

I looked down at the open canyon below us.

Something was familiar about it.

Suddenly my head started pounding.

I put my hands on either side of it and an image flashed in front of my eyes.

A little mermaid, who looked a lot like me was sitting at the bottom of the Chasm, crying.

She looked like she was only 3.

The image faded.

'May?' Boots asked, floating next to me. 'Are you alright?'

'Yeah, Boots,' I said, the pain subsiding, letting go of my head and looking at him. 'I'm fine. Now, come on. We've got to get through the canyon to go save Dora.'

I swam down, Mariana following right behind.

Boots paused for a second, looking a little worried, then swam down after us.

It took us 4 minutes to reach the bottom of the Chasm. That's how deep it was.

When we reached the bottom, it was very dark.

It was still midday, but down here, there wasn't much light.

'Vámonos, guys,' I said, indicating for them to follow. 'We'd better keep moving.'

Boots and Mariana nodded, following me.

We swam through the Chasm, the 2 rocky walls towering over us on our left and right.

I was wondering what was going to happen down here?

I mean, there's no way that a creepy place like this wasn't home to something.

The only question was what was it and was it friend... or foe?

In her cave the Sea Witch glared at us in her crystal ball.

'They're still coming,' she said, folding her arms and tapping her chin with her left ring-finger. 'This might be tougher than I thought.'

'I told you, you won't win, Sea Witch,' Dora said from within her sphere prison.

'Oh, but I will, girl,' the Sea Witch said, turning around and glaring at Dora. 'Without you, there's no one who can stop me from taking over the Mermaid Kingdom.'

She turned back to her crystal ball.

'I've been waiting for the last 3 years for this day,' she said, rubbing her hands together. 'And now that you are out of the way, it will be my day... Okay, I'm not speaking in rhymes anymore. It's too difficult. I hate that I have to do it just for some of my spells. Anyway, after I removed the Mermaid Kingdom's King and Queen, I thought I'd be able to take over the Kingdom with no problem.'

'But that didn't happen,' Dora said smiling. 'Did it?'

The Sea Witch growled.

'No,' she said, glaring at the crystal ball. 'For some reason, the crown disappeared before I could take it. Then, that Mariana girl found it and became the Princess. But now that I have the crown, it's only a matter of time before I become the new Queen of the Mermaid Kingdom.'

'Not if my friends stop you 1st,' Dora said firmly.

'Please,' the Sea Witch cackled. 'The only people who can defeat my magic are those of the royal bloodline. I doubt that blonde-haired friend of yours is part of that bloodline.'

'Maybe she could be,' Dora thought, frowning. 'We don't know who May's family are, so it's possible.'

'Now, what spell should I use?' the Sea Witch said, oblivious to how quite Dora had just become. 'I know.'

She waved her coral wand over the crystal ball and it started to glow with green magic.

'Beast of the deep, beast of the dread,' she chanted, waving her wand over the crystal ball. 'Awaken now, and prevent those 3 from moving ahead.'

Back in the Giant Chasm, Boots, Mariana and I continued to swim.

'We've been swimming for ages,' Boots said, as we passed a small pile of rocks, no doubt the remains of a rockslide from in the past. 'How much longer until we reach the end of this, May?'

'Believe me, Boots,' I said, wiping my forehead with my right arm. 'If I knew, I'd tell you.'

'No!'

I stopped abruptly, causing Boots and Mariana to crash into me.

We laid on the ocean floor, piled on top of each other.

Boots was on top, then came Mariana and I was on the bottom of the pile.

'May,' Boots said, looking down at me. 'Why did you just stop?'

'I'll tell you, Boots,' I said with a strained voice. 'But 1st, could you and Mariana get off of me? I known our weight is cut down to a 10th of what it is above water, but could you please get off of me?'

'Oh,' Boots said, getting off of Mariana and floating next to us. 'Sorry.'

Mariana got off of me and I pushed myself up, dusting the sand from the ocean floor off of me.

'So, why did you suddenly stop, May?' Mariana asked, looking at me.

'I'm not really sure,' I said, thinking. 'I thought I heard someone called out "No!" in fear.'

'No?' Boots asked, frowning. 'Why would someone shout out "no"?'

'I'm not sure, Boots,' I said, frowning.

That was kind of a lie.

I had a pretty good idea why someone would shout out "No!" in fear if they were down here.

'No!' the voice cried out again.

I turned around in a circle.

Still, no one was there.

But I'd definitely heard someone that time.

It had sounded like a little girl.

Maybe it was that same girl I'd had that vision of when we'd entered the Giant Chasm. But who was she?
'May. May,' Snow Princess's voice said.

I looked down at the crystal.

Snow Princess appeared in the crystal.

'What is it, Snow Princess?' I asked, looking at her. 'We need to get out of this Chasm and soon.'

'This Chasm isn't a place for pleasantries-' Snow Princess said, shaking her head.

'Yeah, I can guess why,' I thought, rolling my eyes.

'-but it is the home of your memories.' Snow Princess finished. 'Good luck...'

She faded away and the crystal was blank once more.

'The home of my memories?' I said, frowning. 'What did she mean by that? Plus, why did she speak in a rhyme?'

I hated it when people did that. It sounded so corny.

Suddenly a scene flashed in front of my eyes.

It was like I was looking down from above.

I saw a little mermaid with shorter blonde hair than me, with green eyes, wearing a green mermaid shirt with light-green frills, with a star in the centre of it.

She looked familiar.

Of course. Tom's memories of watching Dora Saves The Mermaids.

This girl was that girl

Tom had always been able to notice her.

Wait, how did Tom have a memory of this girl being in Dora Saves The Mermaids, when he'd never even watched Dora Saves The Mermaids?

He'd seen a few DORA The Explorer episodes here and there, but he'd never watched Dora Saves The Mermaids.

How did I have his memory of watching it, if he'd never watched it?

I shook these unimportant thoughts from my head and focused back on the girl.

She was at the bottom of Giant Chasm, looking around anxiously.

She was 7-years-old.

At that moment a large creature made of rocks burst from the ground in front of her.

2 red lights gleamed out like eyes from within the part of the rock that looked like a head.

'No!' the girl cried, holding her arms over her face as the rock creature leaned towards her, its left-hand outstretched.

'No!' the girl cried, glowing with light. 'No!'

A ray of white light burst from her body, slamming into the rock creature.

I shielded my eyes from the light.

Suddenly the vision ended and I was floating in the water at the bottom of the Giant Chasm with Boots and Mariana again.

'May, what just happened?' Boots asked, looking at me. 'You went all weird and wouldn't talk to us.'

'I'm not sure,' I said, putting my right-hand on my head. 'I just had some kind of vision, but I don't know what it means.'

At that moment a large creature made of rocks, just like the 1 from my vision burst from the ground in front of us, 2 red lights gleaming out like eyes from within the part of the rock that looked like a head.

'No way!' I cried, staring up at it in shock. 'That's just like the creature from my vision!'

'What?' Boots and Mariana cried, staring at me.

The creature leaned forward, it's left-hand outstretched.

'Watch out,' Mariana shouted, pushing me away.

The hand grabbed her, holding her tight.

'Mariana!' I shouted, turning around to see the creature lifting Mariana to its head.

A big hole appeared where its mouth should have been.

It was going to eat her.

'No!' I yelled angrily, the Magic Crystal glowing with a bright white light. 'I won't let you eat her!'

I swam forwards at a high speed, my whole body glowing with white light.

I slammed my fist into the rock monster's head.

It went flying off, up, up, up above us.

I smashed my fist into the hand holding Mariana.

It crumpled.

Mariana swam out, looking at me in surprise.

'How did you do that?' she asked, looking at me.

'I'm not really sure,' I said, shaking my head. 'I just wanted to save you, and it happened.'

'May,' Boots said, swimming in front of me and pointing. 'You're glowing.'

'I'm what?' I said, looking at my hands and then what I could of my body.

Boots was right.

I was glowing with a white light that surrounded my whole body.

'What's going on?' I thought, frowning.

There was a giant roaring sound.

We all quickly turned back to the rock creature.

Rocks were flying from the walls of the Chasm, piling onto the rock creature's body, forming a new head and left-hand.

'That's not good,' Boots said, looking worriedly at the creature.

'That's the understatement of the century,' I said, looking up at it too.

There was no way I was going to be able to bash that thing to pieces. Even if I had Tom's 19-year-old body, I still wouldn't stand a chance.

Although, Tom wasn't exactly Mr. Muscleman, so that wasn't saying much.

If that creature could make itself a new head, brute force wasn't worth cow dung against it.

It roared loudly, charging at us.

'That's it, my pet,' the Sea Witch said, an evil grin on her face as she watched everything from her Crystal ball. 'Eliminate them all.'

I glared at the rock creature.

If we didn't find a way to stop or get passed it, we'd never save Dora.

As her new sister, I couldn't let that happen.

Suddenly, I felt a large hand close in around my body.

I gasped in shock and fright.

The rock creature had grabbed me in its new left-hand and was squeezing me tightly.

If I didn't get out of it's grip soon, I'd be crushed in a matter of seconds.

'May!' Boots and Mariana shouted, staring up in horror.

'It can't end like this,' I thought, gritting my teeth against the pain.

The image of Dora trapped in that water sphere flashed in front of my eyes.

'No!' I thought, trying to break free of the creature's grip. 'I can't let it end here. I won't let it!'

'NO!' I shouted, glowing brightly with white light.

Boots and Mariana covered their eyes, shielding them from the brightness.

'What is this?' the Sea Witch cried, shielding her eyes from the light shining out of her crystal ball.

The white light expanded from me, forcing the rock creature's hand away.

It blinked, looking at me in confusion and horror.

'You won't stop me!' I yelled at it, my long hair billowing around in the water as the light coming from me grew even stronger. 'I won't stop until I've saved Dora. And not you, not the Sea Witch, not anyone will stop me. No one!'

A ball of white light appeared in my hands.

I aimed at the creature, threw my right-arm forward and a beam of pure white light burst from my hands, slamming into the rock creature.

Shafts of white light burst from every part of its body and it exploded in a storm of white light.

When the dust from the explosion settled, Boots and Mariana couldn't see the rock creature anymore.

I was lying on the ocean floor, unconscious.

'May!' they cried, swimming down to me and lifting me, one of each of my arms over their shoulders.

'We should find a small cave to rest in until she wakes up,' Mariana said, looking at Boots.

He nodded.

The two of them swam through the Chasm, looking for a cave.

Back in her cave, the Sea Witch was staring at her Crystal ball in shock.

'The last time I saw that, was when the daughter of the King and Queen...' she thought out loud, trailing off.

Dora was sitting there, looking shocked.

'How did May do that?' she wondered, still not sure she'd seen what she thought she'd seen in the Sea Witch's crystal ball. 'Who are you, May?'

Chapter Fourteen

May's Past

I was standing in that hallway again.

Only it was day time and sunlight was coming in through the windows.

I heard laughter and turned to look down the hall and nearly jumped out of my skin.

Mariana was swimming toward me.

But she was younger.

She looked like she was 4-years-old.

'Come on, May,' she called, swimming passed me down the hall.

I was about to follow her when I noticed someone else swimming down the hall.

I waited to see who it was and nearly jumped out of my skin again.

It was me!

She was younger but it was definitely me!

Same long blonde hair, same white mermaid shirt with lighter white frills.

She looked like she was 3-years-old.

'Slow down,' she whined; swimming faster, going right passed me. 'No fair. Slow down. You're bigger than me.'

Her voice was very familiar.

'Hurry up, little sister,' Mariana said, stopping, folding her arms and smiling.

'Say what?!' I cried, staring at her in shock.

Did she just say "little sister"?

The younger me caught up with Mariana and smiled.

At that moment I remembered my birthday.

It was the June 5th. Just 3 days after Dora's birthday.

Suddenly the world span quickly, spiralling around me.

I shut me eyes.

Seeing everything spinning around like that so quickly made me feel sick.

When the world stopped spinning I opened my eyes, looking around.

I was floating in the throne room of the Mermaid Kingdom's palace.

Mariana and the other me were floating next to me.

They looked like the Mariana I knew and me.

That meant this was closer to the present.

Mariana was around 8 and the other me was around 7.

The King and Queen of the Mermaid Kingdom were floating in front of the thrones.

The merman had short brown hair and eyes, a green tail and scale-like green hands.

The mermaid looked like an older version of me.

'Could they be...?' I whispered, staring at them.

'But, I don't want to become a forget who I am,' the other me said, looking like she was going to cry.

'You have to, May, my dear,' the mermaid said, holding her.

I gasped.

She was my mother!

'But, Father-' Mariana began, looking at the merman.

The merman held up his hand.

'I'm sorry, Mariana,' he said, looking like he meant it. 'But your mother and I have decided that it would be safest if you and May forgot about each other and that May lives with the other mermaids in the kingdom.'

I gasped again.

When he'd said "your mother" he'd indicated to the mermaid hugging the other me.

If she was Mariana's mother as well, that meant Mariana and I were sisters.

That meant she was my family.

I'd been born a mermaid.

Wait. Had he just said that I was going to forget who I was?

I focussed on the King, waiting to see what happened next.

'Just know,' Mother said, swimming up to the 2 of them and holding them close, 'no mater what happens, we are glad that we were your parents.'

'Were?' I thought, blinking. 'What does she mean by that?'

Mother put a hand on both Mariana and the other me's forehead.

They closed their eyes and floated down to the floor of the throne room.

Mother picked up the other me and Father picked up Mariana.

'Now, we must change May's appearance so that they don't both immediately remember each other,' Mother said, looking at father.

He nodded.

Mother hummed softly.

The other me started glowing brightly with white light.

When the light faded, her hair was shorter and her mermaid shirt had become green with light-green frills and a star in the middle.

The world started spinning again.

I closed my eyes so that I wouldn't feel sick.

When it stopped I opened my eyes and looked around.

The Mermaid Kingdom was covered in garbage.

'This must be when Dora Saves The Mermaids,' I thought, looking around, frowning.

Dora was swimming down to the Mermaid Kingdom as a mermaid, the magic crown on her head.

It glowed brightly and the garbage started to disappear.

I saw the other me lying on the ocean floor as the garbage on top of her disappeared.

The worried started spinning again.

I closed my eyes once more so that I wouldn't feel sick.

When the spinning stopped and opened my eyes and looked around.

I was still outside in the Mermaid Kingdom, but it was another day.

Sharks were swimming all around, charging at all the merpeople.

A cackle rang out from above me.

I looked up and gasped.

It was the Sea Witch.

She was standing atop the castle's highest spier.

She leered down at the merpeople.

'With the King and Queen gone, I, Rosita the Sea Witch, now proclaim myself your new ruler!' she shouted, holding the Magic Crown over her head.

Suddenly there was a flash of white light.

When it faded, the crown was gone.

'What?' she shouted, looking around angrily. 'Where is my crown?!'

I smirked, looking to my left and noticed a rock move.

I frowned, swam over to it and lifted it.

There was a small hole, leading to an underground tunnel.

I gave a quick look around, saw that no one was watching me and swam down the hole, putting the rock back on top of it.

I swam down the tunnel, stopping when I heard voices.

1 of the voices sounded like me. But there were 2 other voices.

The voices of the King and Queen.

I looked cautiously around the corner and froze.

The tunnel I'd just swam down stopped at an intersection of hundreds of other tunnels, all leading off in other directions.

I looked cautiously around the corner and froze.

The tunnel I'd just swam down stopped at an intersection of hundreds of other tunnels, all leading off in other directions.

The King, Queen and the other me were floating in the centre of the intersection.

'But, I don't want to become a human,' the other me said, looking like she was going to cry.

'You have to, May, my dear,' the mermaid said, holding her.

'But, your highness-' she began, looking at the King.

He held up his hand.

'I'm sorry, May,' he said, looking like he meant it. 'But we have both decided that it would be safest if you become a human.'

Wait. Had he just said that I was going to be turned into a human?

I looked around the corner again, waiting to see what happened next.

Mother put a hand on the other me's forehead.

She closed her eyes and floated down to the floor of the tunnel.

Mother picked her up and turned to the King.

'Take her to a safe place,' he said, looking at Mother. 'And take my energy for May's transformation.'

An orb of blue light came out of his chest, floated towards Mother, who caught it and held it to her own chest.

It sank in and she gave a sad smile.

'I'll see you soon, my love,' she said, smiling at him and swimming off, down the tunnel right behind her.

I swam after Mother.

I had to know what was going to happen next.

I'd figured out that I must be in my own memories.

Either that or I was in the past, but I was pretty sure I was in my memories.

How could I still be here if I was asleep though?

I was guessing it was something I'd heard scientists talking about once. Or rather, that Tom had heard them talking about.

The theory was, your memory still records whatever happens around you, even if you're not conscious at the time.

It goes into you subconscious memory.

I was guessing that was what was happening now.

I followed Mother down the tunnel for several minutes.

Finally, the tunnel opened out.

We were outside again.

We were really close to a beach.

Mother swam towards it, stopping a little away.

She popped above the water, looking down at the other me in her arms.

I popped out of the water too, watching her.

'Please,' she said, hugging the other me tightly. 'Stay safe, my child.'

I hugged myself, feeling like I wanted to cry.

I could suddenly remember the feeling of her hug.

It had been so warm and comforting.

She let the other me go.

She started to float towards the beach.

Mother held her arms to her chest.

The blue orb of light Father had given her came out of it, followed by a yellow 1.

The 2 came together, turning white.

I frowned.

That wasn't right.

Blue and yellow make green, not white.

The white orb flew towards the other me as she continued to float towards the beach.

It went inside her chest.

She shone with white light.

Mother turned into water and disappeared into the ocean.

I wanted to feel sad that she had just died, but I didn't have time. I needed to know what happened to me after that orb of light had gone into me.

I swam forwards as fast as I could.

I stopped a little before the water ended and the beach began, staring.

Lying in the sand, water washing over her new human legs as the waves came back and forth, stake naked, was me!

She was still unconscious, but she was definitely me now. The me I'd known before.

The human May.

Wait, how did I get from being a naked girl on the beach, to the girl I'd been in that bush with Tom's memories?

Just then there was a flash of blue light.

When it faded, Fairy Godmother was floating in the air above the unconscious me.

'Oh, dear,' she said when she saw the unconscious me. 'You poor child. You're not wearing any clothes. Well, I'll fix that.'

She waved her wand in her left-hand.

Sparkles of blue light swirled around the unconscious me.

She shone with blue light.

Suddenly, she vanished.

'Oh, this wand,' Fairy Godmother said, slapping it against her open right-hand, looking annoyed.

'Well, that explains why I'd landed in that bush, wearing those clothes,' I said, shaking my head. 'Plus, if she's as accident-prone as I think she is, it also explains why I woke up with Tom's memories instead of the memories of the me who'd been wearing that green shirt with the star.'

'May? May!'

I looked around.

That sounded like Boots and Mariana's voices.

'May, wake up!' Boots' voice called, sounding worried.

The world around me started swirling, turning into darkness.

I opened my eyes.

Boots and Mariana were looking down at me, relief on their faces.

'You're alright,' Mariana said, smiling.

I sat up, looking around.

We were in a small cave.

I could see light coming in from a small opening in the cave wall above me.

'May, what happened?' Boots asked, looking at me. 'After you defeated that rock creature, you went unconscious and wouldn't wake up.'

'I saw my past,' I said, not looking at him.

'You mean, you remember who you are?' Boots said, looking excited. 'Who are you? Who are you?'

I turned to Mariana, looking right at her.

'I can't believe I forgot about my own sister,' I said, smiling at her.

'What?' Boots gasped, staring at me in shock.

Mariana looked just as shocked as Boots did.

'Mother and Father erased our memories,' I said, looking at her. 'But I just got mine back. You're my older sister, Mariana. And our parents were the King and Queen.'

Mariana still looked like she was trying to understand that I'd just said she was my sister.

I reached forward and hugged her, as I remembered I used to when I was younger.

Mariana gasped, her memories flooding back.

She hugged me back, holding me tightly.

We stayed like that for a long while.

Eventually, we let go of each other, smiling.

'My sister,' Mariana said, smiling at me. 'I'm so glad you're back. I'd always felt like someone was missing from my life, and now I know why.'

I smiled.

'Now, we've got to go save Dora,' I said firmly.

She nodded, smiling.

The 3 of us swam out of the cave and through the Giant Chasm, determined looks on our faces.

Back in her cave, the Sea Witch was bitting her nails anxiously.

'How could I not have seen it?' she said, pacing back and forth in front of her Crystal ball. 'That girl is the second Mermaid Princess. I can't believe I didn't recognize her.'

Dora was sitting in the sphere, deep in thought.

'May is Mariana's sister,' she said, sighing inward. 'I should be happy, but I guess, since she's a Mermaid, May will stay in the Mermaid Kingdom. She won't be living with me anymore.'

Little did she know, even as Mariana, Boots and I swam out of the Chasm, ready to go and save her, I'd already made up my mind about where I wanted to live.

Chapter Fifteen

Saving Dora

The end of the Giant Chasm was visible now.

It took only a minute for us to swim out of the Chasm.

'We made it out of the Giant Chasm,' Boots said happily, punching the water above his head.

The Fiesta Trio swam down in front of us, wearing scuba gear, playing there instruments in a triumphant song.

Then they swam off, heading for the surface.

'How do they always appear like that?' I thought, frowning as I looked up where they'd just been.

'So, May,' Boots said, looking at me. 'Where do we go next?'

'We made it passed the Mermaid Kingdom,' I said, counting off my fingers. 'We got through the Giant Chasm. Next, we need to go passed the Angry Sharks.'

'Where are the Angry Sharks?' Boots asked, looking from Mariana and me.

'If I remember correctly, we need to go in that direction,' I said, pointing to the right.

'So, what are we waiting for?' Boots asked, swimming ahead happily.

'Boots, wait!' I called out anxiously. 'You need to be careful around the Angry Sharks.'

'Why?' Boos called back, still swimming at a really fast speed.

'Doesn't their name say enough?' Mariana called, swimming right next to me. 'The Angry Sharks!'

Boots suddenly stopped swimming, staying completely still.

Mariana and I caught up with him and saw why he'd stopped.

Just in front of us were 30 large white sharks.

They were all just floating in the water, their eyes closed, snoring loudly.

They were spread out wide across the open ocean plains.

They were asleep.

Tom's memories made that seem confusing, but my memories told me otherwise.

In Tom's world, sharks were always moving, even when they slept.

In this world, I'd lived as a mermaid long enough to know that these sharks didn't need to always move.

Hence, they were floating in the water as they slept.

'Okay,' I said quietly. 'We need to move very slowly and quietly, or we'll wake the sharks.'

'What happens if we wake them up?' Boots whispered as we slowly swam over the sharks.

'If they wake up, they'll go into a Feeding Frenzy and attack us,' Mariana whispered, jumping a little as she felt the breath of a shark blow against her as it breathed out, snoring.

In her cave the Sea Witch grinned.

'A Feeding Frenzy, hmm?' she said, tapping her chin with her left-ring-finger. 'I'll show you a Feeding Frenzy.'

She waved her wand over her crystal ball.

It glowed purple.

As we continued to swim passed the sleeping sharks, unbeknownst to us, an image of the Sea Witch's face appeared in all of the sharks' minds.

'Awaken, sharks,' she chanted, an evil smile on her face. 'Ignite your hunger sparks. I give you a meal, if you agree to my deal.'

'What... deal?' a shark right next to me murmured, his eyes fluttering.

'The witch is in their dreams,' I said, looking around quickly. 'She's going to wake the sharks up!'

'Let's get out of here,' Boots said, looking at me.

I nodded and we all started swimming like crazy.

'Now, sharks, my friends,' the Sea Witch continued, smiling at the fear she sensed in us as we swam so fast. 'Be a means to my ends. Eat those two mermaids and that monkey. I assure you, they won't taste at all funky.'

'Eat the mermaids and the monkey,' the sharks all chanted in a sleeping state, waking up and looking around.

1 of them spotted us as we swam up higher.

It charged towards us.

The other sharks saw it and followed suit.

I looked back, saw the sharks and froze.

There were so many.

We'd never be able to out swim them. Not in a million years.

Mariana and Boots noticed that I wasn't with them, turned around and froze, themselves.

There was no way we'd be able to get away.

We were trapped.

'Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha-ha,' the Sea Witch cackled, grinning with mad delight. 'There is no possible way that they can escape now.'

'No,' Dora said, holding her hands over her mouth. 'May.'

The sharks were swimming straight at me.

The Magic Crystal started glowing with a bright white light.

Suddenly a memory flashed in front of my eyes.

Mother and I were standing in the fields of the Angry Sharks.

I was about 6-years-old.

'Remember, May,' she said, smiling at me. 'If ever a shark is after you, a song from your heart will sooth them at the start.'

'Mother,' I said, putting my hands to my chest. 'Thank you.'

I started to sing.

I didn't sing any words.

It was simply the sound of the emotions in my heart.

The tenderness, the bravery, the love...

The sarks stopped charging.

They floated in the water, listening to the sound of my voice.

Boots and Mariana stared in amazement.

I slowly floated down to the sea floor.

The sharks followed me, mesmerized by my voice as I sang the song within my heart.

The sharks all swam slowly down to me, stopping where each of them had been sleeping before.

They closed their eyes and went back to sleep.

I stopped singing, holding my hands over my heart and the crystal stopped glowing.

I looked up at Mariana and Boots and nodded for them to follow me.

They did so, without question.

A minute later, we were far enough away from the sharks.

'We made it passed the Angry Sharks,' Boots said, smiling.

The Fiesta Trio went passed us, riding on the backs of seahorses, playing their instruments quietly to congratulate us for completing another part of the adventure.

'Again?' I thought, frowning as I watched them disappear in the distance. 'How do they always appear like that? Do they have a homing beacon on us or something?'

'May, how did you know that singing would calm the sharks down and put them back to sleep?' Mariana asked, looking at me.

I looked away from the direction the Fiesta Trio had gone and looked at Mariana.

'Mother told me,' I said, looking down, smiling.

Mariana understood.

She nodded and smiled.

'So, where do we go now, May?' Boots asked, looking at me.

I counted off on my fingers.

'We made it passed the Mermaid Kingdom,' I said smiling. 'We swam through the Giant Chasm. We made it passed the Angry Sharks... Next is the cave.'

'The Underwater Cave,' Boots said, smiling. 'That's where we'll find Dora-'

'And save her from the Sea Witch,' I said, smiling.

We swam off ahead of us, knowing that was the way to go.

In her cave, the Sea Witch threw several of her jars holding her magic ingredients to the ground angrily, not caring as they smashed on the cave floor.

'How does she keep doing it?!' she yelled angrily, glaring at her crystal ball, which showed me, Mariana and Boots as we swam closer towards the cave. 'How does that girl keep winning? Why won't she just give up?'

'I told you they wouldn't give up,' Dora said, smiling. 'You won't stop my friends that easily.'

'Oh, but I will,' the Sea Witch said menacingly. 'Once your friends enter my cave, they will have sealed their doom!'

Dora was worried now.

The Sea Witch had a crazed look in her eyes.

Dora had seen that looked before.

In the Greedy King's eyes when she and I had stopped him from keeping the Magic Crystals of the real Crystal Kingdom all to himself.

'There it is!' Mariana cried, pointing ahead of us.

The Sea Witch's Underwater Cave was right ahead of us.

I was suspicious.

After we'd gotten passed the sharks, the Sea Witch hadn't sent anything to stop us.

She must have either given up, or she was waiting for us.

I was willing to put my money of the latter of those 2 options.

We swam into the cave, nothing happing.

'Nothing's happening,' Boots said, looking around, confused.

'I know, Boots,' I said, looking around, frowning. 'I don't like it. The Sea Witch is letting us in too easily.'

'Do you think it's a trap?' Mariana asked, looking at me.

'Definitely,' I said, nodding. 'But we need to save Dora so we'll keep going.'

They nodded and we swam down the 1 tunnel the cave was offering us.

A few minutes later it opened out into a large room, lit by a glowing white moss.

The walls were lined the jars and bottles of many different shapes, sizes and colours.

And on the farthest wall at the end of the room, suspended in a blue sphere was-

'Dora!' we all cried, swimming towards her.

'No, stop!' Dora cried, waving her hands frantically. 'Barda! It's a trap!'

I stopped as soon as she said that, but Boots and Mariana weren't able to in time.

A swirl of light-blue light surrounded them, sealing them in a light-blue energy sphere.

'No!' we both cried. 'Boots! Mariana!'

'Well, that didn't go how I'd planned,' a snide voice said from behind me.

I quickly swam forward, swirling around.

The Sea Witch was standing there, smiling an evil grin at me.

'Little May,' she said, looking at me, a glint in her eyes. 'You've caused me a lot of trouble.'

'What do you expect?' I said glaring at her, holding up my right-hand curled into a fist. 'You attack the Mermaid Kingdom, forcing my parents to give up their lives so that I could be safe from your evil magic, and you didn't think I'd cause you any trouble?'

'Yes,' the Sea Witch said, walking towards me. 'Such a shame, the loss of the King and Queen. But don't worry. You'll be joining them soon.'

She whipped her wand out, blasting a wave of purple magic at me.

'Barda!' I shouted, holding my hands out in front of me, saying "stop" in Spanish.

The Magic Crystal glowed brightly.

A field of white energy surrounded me, blocking the Sea Witch's spell.

'What?' the Sea Witch gasped, staring in shock.

As we all watched, the Magic Crystal doubled. Now, I was wearing 2 crystals. 1 was white and the other was pink.

'Dora!' I cried, whirling around, taking the pink crystal off of my neck and throwing it to her.

It passed through the sphere surrounding her.

She caught it in her hands.

'Put it on!' I cried, looking back at her, then turning to face the Sea Witch again.

Dora put the pink crystal around her neck.

'No!' the Sea Witch cried, her eyes wide with fear.

The pink crystal glowed with a bright pink light.

The sphere turned pink and dissolved into the water.

'No!' the Sea Witch cried, staring wildly at the both of us as Dora swam up next to me. 'No! It's not possible!'

'Oh, it's possible alright,' I said, glaring at her. 'Now, you're about to feel the power of the Magic Crystals!'

My body started glowing with white light.

Dora's body started glowing with pink light.

'No!' the Sea Witch cried, watching as the lights merged, swirling around our bodies. 'No! I won't lose to some mere children!'

She ran to the other side of the cave and picked something up from within a large case, holding it above her head.

It was the crown!

'The crown!' Dora and I cried.

'La Corona,' Mariana cried, looking out from hers and Boots' sphere prison.

'With the power of the Magic Crown, I can't lose!' the Sea Witch cried, putting the crown on her head.

'No!' we all shouted.

Suddenly the Sea Witch started glowing with a red light.

'ARH!' she cried out in pain, holding her head. 'What's happening?'

'It's the Magic Crown!' I shouted, pointing at it on top of her head. 'It can only be worn by someone who is kind, brave and always helps friends. That's not you, Sea Witch!'

'RAH!' the Sea Witch shouted, pulling the crown off of her head and throwing it at me.

I caught it instantly.

'May,' Mariana called from the sphere. 'Put on the crown.'

'Right,' I said, nodding, putting it on.

Instantly the crown started glowing with a golden light.

The Sea Witch was furious.

'It doesn't matter!' she shouted, her eyes wild with anger. 'I'll defeat you all anyway! I'm not like my witch sisters! I can't be beat!'

She forcefully pointed her wand at us.

A huge blast of purple energy exploded from it, surging right towards us.

'Dora,' I said, holding out my right-hand.

She nodded, taking it.

We both glowed with golden light.

'We will not give up!' we said firmly, each holding out our other hand.

Golden light burst from them, smashing into the Sea Witch's purple energy.

For several seconds, the blasts were at even strength.

Suddenly, our energy became stronger and forced the Witch's energy back.

'No!' she shouted, her eyes wide with terror. 'No! NO! I can't lose!'

'Too bad,' I cried, staring firmly at her. 'You've lost!'

The golden energy reached her wand.

It exploded in a burst of purple coral and light.

'No!' she cried, staring at her hands. 'You've broken my spell!'

She started spinning around in circles, faster and faster.

'My powers are gone!' she cried, disappearing in a swirl of bubbles.

The sphere surrounding Boots and Mariana disappeared.

They swam over to us, smiles on their faces.

'Dora,' Mariana said, smiling as they stopped in front of us. 'May, you did it.'

'We all did it, Mariana,' I said smiling. 'The Sea Witch won't be bothering anyone else ever again.'

'Because we all worked together,' Boots said, smiling.

I smiled at Dora.

She smiled back, then her face fell.

'Well,' she said, not looking at me. 'I guess we'll be going. Come on, Boots.'

She started to swim towards the tunnel out of the cave.

'I'm coming too.'

Dora looked behind her in surprise when I put my hand on her shoulder.

'Aren't you going to stay in the Mermaid Kingdom?' she asked, looking a little confused. 'Mariana is you real sister, after all.'

I realized that Dora must have already found out what I'd remembered, back in the Giant Chasm.

'Mariana may be my sister by birth,' I said, smiling. 'But she's not the sister I'm meant to live with.'

'What?' Dora whispered, looking at me.

'The King and Queen gave their lives so that May could live the life of a human,' Mariana said, swimming over and smiling at Dora. 'May doesn't want their sacrifice to be in vain.'

'That,' I said, smiling at Dora. 'And I want to live with you, Dora.'

Dora looked shocked. Then she smiled, looking like she was crying, but being in underwater I couldn't tell.

I smiled and turned around to Mariana.

'Mariana,' I said, lifting the crown off of my head. 'I believe this is yours.'

I handed it to her.

She took it, putting it back on her head.

'I might have been born a mermaid, but this isn't my life anymore,' I said, smiling. 'My life is on the land, with Dora.'

'I understand,' Mariana said, nodding, smiling.

She held out her hand. In it was a golden diamond-shaped pendant with an emerald in the centre. The pendant itself was suspended by a thin golden thread.

'Take this,' Mariana said, holding it out to me.

I took it and put it around my neck.

'You can visit the Kingdom anytime you want,' she said, smiling at me.

I smiled back.

We hugged each other.

'Take care, little sister,' she said, holding me close.

'You too, big sis,' I said, holding her close too.

We let go of each other, swam out of the cave, went passed the sharks and through the Giant Chasm until we reached the Mermaid Kingdom.

'I wish you well on you journeys, Dora and May,' Mariana said, as we all floated at the edge of the Mermaid Kingdom's gates.

'Gracias, Mariana,' Dora, Boots and I said together, nodding. 'Adios!'

We swam up, waving to Mariana.

We reached the surface of the water, shaking the water from our hair.

'Come on,' I said, swimming back towards the beach. 'I'll race you!'

'You got a head start again,' Dora called, laughing, her and Boots swimming after me.

When we reached the beach, I held the necklace and the pendant in my hands.

'I wish we were normal again,' I thought, focusing with all my might.

Our tails disappeared; mine and Dora's shirts disappeared, replaced with our bikinis.

We'd returned to ourselves once more.

'This is yours, Dora,' I said, taking her necklace off and handing it to her.

She smiled, putting it around her neck.

'Wow, it's really late,' Boots said, looking at the sky.

The sky was an orangey-red and the sun was setting.

'Yeah, you're right, Boots,' I said, looking at the sky. 'We'd all better get home before our parents start worrying about us.'

We got out of the water, changed back into our clothes, packed up out stuff, got Map, Backpack and Magic Pack and headed for home.

'So, why did the Magic Crystal become 2 crystals?' Boots asked as we neared his house.

'I don't know, Boots,' Dora said, looking down at the pink crystal around her neck.

'I think I do,' I said, holding the white crystal in my left-hand.

'What?' they asked, looking at me.

'It was the Crystal's way of telling us that Dora and I are meant to be sisters,' I said, smiling. 'Everything's always better together, when we work as 1.'

'Si,' Dora said, smiling.

'Yeah, yeah, yeah,' Boots said, somersaulting.

We said adios to Boots and headed home.

That night Dora and I slept peacefully, knowing that we'd always be there for each other.

Always there... for our friends.

And it was a good thing too, because, though we needn't worry about who I was anymore, there were still many adventures for us. Some would come sooner than others. And they weren't all going to be easy.

Chapter Sixteen

Missing Mami and Papi

The morning after we'd been to the beach, Dora and I slept in late.

We'd been really tired when we got home.

Defeating an evil Sea Witch can do that to a kid.

As we slept, I tossed and turned in my bed.

I kept seeing Tom in front of me.

He looked angry.

His arms were folded and he was frowning.

'Wake up,' he shouted, looking right at me.

My eyes opened quickly.

I didn't move.

I just laid there, trying to figure out what had just happened.

Had Tom just spoken to me in my dream?

'I'm more than just a dream.'

My body went ridged.

That had been Tom's voice.

But there was no way.

It wasn't possible.

I slowly turned my head to my right.

Tom was standing next to my bed, his arms folded, looking at me, a frown on his face.

He was wearing the black pants with many pockets, grey T-Shirt that said SPIDERMAN with Spiderman doing a different pose for each letter and black jacket that I remembered him wearing before I woke up in that bush, all those weeks ago.

I tried to scream out in shock and fright, but nothing came out.

I just kept staring, wide-eyed at Tom, not sure I believed what I was seeing.

'You can blame Fairy Godmother for my being here,' Tom said, looking right at me.

'But- you're not here,' I managed to squeak. 'I was never you... so you can't be here.'

'I'm not,' Tom said, looking away angrily. 'Not completely, anyway.'

'Huh?' I said, immediately calming down.

Something about the way he'd spoken had perked my interest, easing my tension.

In truth, it was more the interest his memories had given me that had been perked.

'Let's talk outside,' I said, pointing to the window. 'I don't want to wake Dora, Mami, Papi or the twins.'

'What did you just call Dora's parents?' Tom asked, looking at me with raised eyebrows.

'Mami and Papi,' I said, looking coldly at him. 'I'm not you, so I have the right to call them that, don't I?'

I hopped out the window, not wanting to risk walking passed Mami and Papi's room and waking them up.

Tom followed me out the window.

I stopped a little before the slide Papi had put in the backyard before I'd even met Dora.

'So, how come you're appearing now?' I asked, turning around and looking at Tom. 'I know that I was only given your memories, so you're not a clone from my body or anything like that.'

'I'm appearing now because of yours and Dora's crystals,' Tom said, pointing at me.

'Huh?' I said, taken aback.

'When Kaname told you that you weren't me and that memory flashed in your mind, I was locked into the deepest parts of your mind,' Tom said firmly, folding his arms. 'But when you and Dora activated those crystals, it brought me out into this form. Not a ghost, but not physical either.'

'So, what do you want me to do about it?' I said, glaring at him.

I really didn't like him.

Thanks to his memories I knew that Tom could be really rude sometimes, but this guy was being a total jerk.

The Tom I knew would never act like this. Especially to a 7-year-old girl.

'I'm acting like this because, while you get to live a fun life here, I'm stuck in some kind of limbo state, unable to return to the real world,' Tom said, glaring at me.

'Your world,' I said, my glare deepening. 'If you tell Dora that the TV show in your world is what this world spawned from, you'll wish you'd never gotten out of my mind.'

Tom looked a little surprised at the way I was talking.

'So,' he said, looking at me. 'Even though you're not me, a part of me seems to have affected your attitude.'

'Whatever,' I said, turning around so I wasn't looking at him.

'Only you, Dora and Boots can see and hear me,' Tom said, looking up at the sky. 'You and anyone else with a connection to magic crystals.'

I turned around at that, frowning with confusion.

'Anyway,' Tom said, still not looking at me. 'I'm the least of your problems right now.'

'What are you talking about?' I said, my frown deepening.

'You'll learn soon enough,' Tom said, turning around, looking at me. 'You and Dora 've got a lot to live up to, with those crystals.'

'And how would you know that?' I asked, narrowing my eyes.

'Let's just say, not being a piece of this world, I know certain things,' Tom said, smirking.

'Whatever,' I said, walking passed him.

'There're also some things about the DORA The Explorer cartoons that you should know about,' Tom said, putting his right-hand on my head.

I gasped as images flashed in front of my eyes.

I saw the DORA The Explorer specials from Tom's world.

Dora Saves The Mermaids, Dora Saves The Snow Princess, Dora The Explorer's Christmas Carol Adventure, Dora Saves The Crystal Kingdom and Dora's Big Birthday Adventure all flashed in front of my eyes.

I gasped, slumping to the ground, breathing like I'd just run a 10 mile marathon without stopping for breath.

'Dora-' I gasped, still trying to get my breath back. 'Dora had her 8th birthday in Dora's Big Birthday Adventure. That didn't happen in this world.'

'Despite it being created by the TV show,' Tom said, looking at the sky. 'I can tell you that some things are definitely different. Parts of Dora's Big Birthday Adventure still happened in this world, but not the same way. The party was just a celebration for Dora having saved the Snow Princess and the Crystal Kingdom. It was just Dora's Big Adventure in this world.'

'Well... I'm going back to bed,' I said, struggling to stand up and starting walking back towards the bedroom window.

'Just remember,' Tom said, putting his arms behind his head. 'Things are different in this world from what I just showed you.'

'How could you show me that, anyway?' I asked, narrowing my eyes at him as he walked next to me. 'You hardly ever watched the show if you could avoid it.'

'Somehow, I've still got some kind of connection to the other me back in my world,' Tom said, looking up at the sky. 'And for some reason, after he listened to a few Dora songs from a CD he borrowed from the library, the other me devolved a new fascination for DORA The Explorer and did his best to get all the DORA The Explorer specials that he could find. He's got all the ones I just showed you.'

'I'm going back to bed,' I said, climbing in through the window, getting back into bed and going to sleep.

Tom watched me and sighed.

'If only you knew what was coming,' he said, shaking his head. 'You'll wish you'd stayed with Mariana, in the Mermaid Kingdom.'

'May! May!'

I felt someone shaking my vigorously.

I opened my eyes.

It was Dora.

She looked terrified.

'What's wrong?' I said, sitting up immediately. 'What's happened?'

'I can't find Mami or Papi,' Dora said, the fear practically swarming out of her eyes.

'What?' I cried, jumping out of bed and looking at her.

'I told you you'd have problems.'

I glanced over Dora's shoulder.

Tom was walking into the room, his hands in his pocket, looking bored.

'What did you do with Mami and Papi?' I growled, glaring at him.

'I didn't do anything,' Tom said, shrugging his shoulders lazily. 'La Brooha did.'

That name rang a bell.

'How'd did La Brooha get out of the Magic story book?' Dora asked, looking horrified.

'Dunno,' Tom said, shrugging again. 'But what I do know, is that La Brooha took Dora's parents and locked them away in the Magic story book, to get revenge.'

'Revenge?' I said, looking from Tom to Dora.

I knew what he meant.

Dora had been the reason La Brooha had failed to destroy the Wishing Crystal in the Wizzle World story in the Magic story book.

She'd have wanted revenge on Dora for a while after that.

Taking Dora's parents and locking them away in the Magic story book would be a strong revenge aright.

Suddenly I realized something.

Dora wasn't asking any questions as to why Tom was here and how he knew so much.

'What have you told her?' I said angrily, pointing my finger at Tom.

'Nothing you need to worry about,' Tom said, looking away, bored again. 'I only told her pretty much what I told you. Aside from a few things about my world you'd rather I not tell her.'

I felt relief and confusion flow through me all at once.

He hadn't told Dora about how this world was created by a fiction children's education show.

So he'd told her how he'd been able to appear like this.

As long as he never mentioned the TV show, I was fine with it.

'So, where's La Brooha now?' I asked, looking at Tom with a firm face.

'She's trying to find the rest of Dora's friends, to put them into he Magic story book too,' Tom said, shaking his head. 'I just know it's somehow going to backfire on her. All the witches in this world are relatively accident-prone.'

'Wait,' I said, a thought occurring to me. 'What about the twins?'

Dora's eyes widen in fright.

She'd obviously forgotten about the twins in her hast to wake me up when she'd found that Mami and Papi were missing.

We all hurried out the room, running to the twins bedroom, which was right next to Mami and Papi's room.

Again, I wondered how Dora had been in such a hurry when she'd found out that Mami and Papi were missing that she'd forgotten about the twins.

I mean, they were right next to the room when she'd found out.

We hurried into the room.

The twins were sleep soundly in there cribs.

Dora and I gave a sigh of relief.

They were fine.

Tom looked relieved too.

'Why are you relieved?' I asked, frowning at him. 'They're not your baby brother and sister.'

'Yeah,' Tom said, looking away. 'But if they'd been missing too, I'd have had to go with you to find them, as well as Dora's parents and listen to you both worrying in-between each.'

'You're really rude,' I said, glaring at Tom. 'Did you know that?'

'Yep,' Tom said, not even looking at me. 'Not that I care.'

'Well, you should,' I said, looking coldly at him.

'And why is that, little girl?' Tom said in mocking baby voice.

'If mine and Dora's crystals brought you out of my mind,' I said, looking at him, 'then I have a strong feeling that we could use them to send you back to your world.'

Tom went still at that.

'If you want us to even consider it,' I said, folding my arms, 'if I were you, I'd started acting nicer and help us get Mami and Papi back.'

Tom growled, smacking his forehead.

'The things I do for other people...' he mumbled angrily.

'Well?' I said, holding out my right-hand, smirking as I saw the conflicting feelings going through his mind.

'Oh... fine,' Tom said, shaking my hand. 'I'll help you get Dora's parents back.'

'They're my parents, too,' I said, glaring at him.

'Fine, fine,' Tom said, taking his hand away from me, looking really angry. 'Let's just get this over and done with, will we?'

'First, we're going to have to find someone to look after the twins while we're in the Magic story book,' I said, thinking. 'Someone we can trust.'

Just then, a scratching sound came from outside.

'I know that sound,' Tom said, frowning. 'Isn't that Swiper the Fox?'

'We could ask Swiper,' Dora said, clicking her fingers.

'Are you sure about that?' Tom asked, looking at the ceiling. 'He is Swiper, after all. Are you sure you can trust him not to swipe anything while he's here?'

'He helped me save Dora and Boots from the Greedy King, remember?' I said, looking at him.

'Yeah,' Tom said, rolling his eyes. 'After he helped the Greedy King's men capture them.'

'That wasn't his fault and you know it,' I said, frowning at Tom.

'Fine, fine,' Tom said, holding his hands up in defeat. 'But if he swipes anything while he's here, don't say I didn't warn you.'

Dora hurried over to the window.

'Swiper,' she called out, cupping her hands around her mouth.

Swiper popped his head out of the bushes near the window.

'Yeah, Dora?' he asked, looking at her.

'Can I ask you a favour, por favor?' she said, smiling.

'Sure,' Swiper said, smiling back. 'What can I do for you?'

'Dora and I need to go into the Magic story book to get our Mami and Papi back,' I said, walking up behind Dora. 'So, we were wondering if you'd look after the twins while we're away.'

'Would you, Swiper?' Dora asked, smiling at him. 'We really need to hurry and get Mami and Papi back.'

'Sure,' Swiper said, nodding. 'But I think you'll need help from someone else.'

'Who?' I asked, frowning.

Swiper turned around, cupping his hands around his mouth.

'Diego!' he called out loudly.

At that moment I saw a small speck, off in the distant sky.

I squinted my eyes, trying to see who it was.

The speck grew bigger, very quickly.

It was Diego. He was flying in on an orange glider with the Rescue logo on it.

'Diego!' Dora cried happily, waving to him from the window.

'Hola, Dora,' Diego called, waving as he landed, smiling. 'I'm here to help you.'

'Good job, Swiper,' I said, smiling.

Whoa. There's something I never thought I'd say.

'No problem,' Swiper said, smiling. 'Just be careful in there. Anything can happen in a story book.'

He came in through the window and hurried into the twin's room.

'Are you sure you can trust him?' Tom asked, frowning as Swiper's tail disappeared through the bedroom door.

'Yes,' I said, smiling. 'If Dora trusts him, I do too.'

'I have a bad feeling about this,' Tom said, shaking his head.

'Okay, let's go,' I said, looking at Dora and Diego. 'We need to save Mami and Papi.'

Dora and Diego nodded.

We hurried into mine and Dora's room.

Dora took the Magic story book off of her book shelf, put it on the floor and opened it.

'Which story do you think La Brooha hid them in?' Diego asked, looking over Dora's shoulder.

'It wouldn't be 1 of the stories that Dora's already visited,' I said, frowning as we turned the pages, looking for the right story. 'It would be 1 of the stories Dora hasn't visited yet, so that none of the friends she's made can help her.'

'So then, it's not the Dragon Land story,' Dora said, turning the page with the picture of a dragon on it. 'Or the Butterfly Cave story.'

'Or the Flying Castle story,' Tom said, standing by the window, not even turning around to look at us.

'It wouldn't be the Snow Princess's story or the Crystal Kingdom story either,' I said, frowning.

'And she definitely wouldn't have put them in Wizzle World,' Tom said, still not turning around. 'If she'd sent them there, they could have just asked the Wishing Wizzle to send them back already.'

'So which stories haven't you visited?' I asked Dora, as we turned another page.

'There's this 1,' Dora said, pointing the page we'd just turned to.

The page had the picture of the African plains. There was a lion, a warthog and a hunter standing on the plains.

'I've never been into this story,' Dora said, looking up.

'But are Mami and Papi in that story?' I asked, frowning at the page.

'Well, do you see them?' Tom asked half-heartedly from the window, still not looking around.

'If you're not going to say anything helpful, could you please be quiet?' I asked him angrily.

His snarky remarks were really starting to get on my nerves.

'There's an easier way to do this, you know,' Tom said, still not turning around.

'What?' I asked sarcastically, glaring at him. 'Tell the police, like in your world?'

'No,' Tom said in a half-hearted sing-song voice. 'Who do you always ask for help when you don't know which way to go?'

'Map?' I said, blinking in surprise at that helpful, if not annoyingly snarky remark.

'Yes,' Tom said, finally turning around and looking at me. 'The Map.'

'Good idea, Tom,' Dora said, smiling, turning to Backpack, who was sitting by her closet. 'Map.'

Map popped out of Backpack's right-hand side pocket.

He hopped over to us and opened up.

'Can you tell us which story La Brooha put Mami and Papi into?' I asked, looking at him.

'Of course,' Map said, smiling.

3 pictures appeared on his paper.

The 1st picture was of a lion, a warthog and a hunter standing on the African plains.

The 2nd picture was of a brown kangaroo, a koala and a small boy with short-cut black hair and blue eyes, wearing brown shorts and a white T-shirt standing in the Australian Outback.

The 3rd picture was of a Space station shaped like Tara Venture from Power Rangers Lost Galaxy in outer space.

'Why are there 3 story pictures?' I asked, frowning. 'Even if La Brooha put them into separate stories, that would only mean 2 stories, wouldn't it?'

'Mami and Papi weren't the only ones La Brooha trapped in the Magic story book,' Map said, his eyes and mouth moving along the paper like he was shaking his head. 'Boots is in there too.'

'Boots?' Dora, Diego and I cried, looking shocked.

I turned, glaring at Tom.

'Why didn't you tell us La Brooha had trapped Boots into the Magic story book too?' I asked, glaring at him.

'Hey, I didn't know,' Tom said, shrugging. 'I only knew that she'd trapped your parents because she did it in this house.'

'Well, where do we go 1st, Map?' I asked, turning to him.

'Boots is trapped in the Africa story,' Map said, the pictures lighting up as he spoke. 'Mami is trapped in the Australia story. And Papi is trapped in the Outer Space story.'

'Okay,' I said, counting them off on my fingers. 'So that's Africa, Austalia, Outer Space.'

'We should go to the Africa story first,' Diego said, looking at us. 'Africa can be a pretty dangerous place for a monkey like Boots.'

'Right,' Dora and I said, nodding.

'So, do you do what Dora did with the Crystal Kingdom?' Tom asked lazily. 'You know, la primera estoria, or whatever it was.'

'Well, let's go,' I said, smiling at Dora and Diego. 'We've got to save Mami, Papi and Boots.'

'We have to jump into the story,' Dora said, smiling at me.

'Jump!' Dora, Diego and I cried out, jumping.

'Jump,' Tom said half-heartedly, jumping as well.

Swirling purple light came from the Magic story book, pulling us in.

Chapter Seventeen

An African Adventure

When the light from the Magic story book stopped swirling around us we were standing on the African plains.

Dora and I were wearing safari clothing similar to Diego's clothes.

Brown shorts, a T-shirt (mine was white and Dora's was pink), a light-brown kaki vest and brown sneakers with white socks.

Our Magic Crystals were hanging around our necks.

Tom's clothes had changed too.

He was wearing brown shorts, a black T-shirt, a light-brown kaki vest and his black sneakers and socks.

'We're in the Africa story,' Dora said, looking around, smiling.

'Now we just need to find Boots,' I said, looking around too, frowning. 'I wonder where we should start looking.'

'Um, I think we've got bigger problems, right now,' Tom said, pointing lazily behind us.

We turned around to see what he was pointing at.

There was a large cloud of dust coming towards us in the distance.

'What is that?' I said, frowning.

'I'll use my Spotting-Scope to find out,' Diego said, pulling a blue telescope from his left-chest pocket, opening it and lifting it to his left-eye.

'You mean a simple telescope?' Tom asked sarcastically.

'It's more advanced than a simple telescope,' Dora said, looking up at Tom. 'It can zoom in on whatever you're looking at and give a better description.'

'Whatever,' Tom said, looking away, bored now.

Diego had his Spotting-Scope zoom in on the dust cloud.

'Oh, boy,' he said, sounding worried.

'What is it, Diego?' Dora asked, concerned by how he'd said that.

'What do you see?' I asked, just as concerned.

'It's a stampede of wildebeests,' Diego said, moving his Spotting-Scope away from his eye and looking at us with a worried face. 'They're charging right this way.'

'Then let's go up a tree,' Tom said lazily, putting his hands behind his head and looking up at the sky.

'If you're not going to help us, be quiet,' I snapped at him, glaring. 'Or as you would say it, if you're not gonna help, shut up!'

'What's wrong with climbing up a tree?' Tom said angrily, putting his hands by his side and glaring at me. 'It'd get us off the ground and out of the way of that stampede, wouldn't it?'

'But that is the only tree close enough and that Dora, Diego and I can climb,' I said, pointing to a nearby tree. 'It'll be knocked down by that stampede easily.'

'Oh,' Tom said, looking a little embarrassed that I'd seen the flaw in his plan that he hadn't.

'Rescue Pack,' Diego said, looking over his shoulder.

'What do you need, Diego?' Rescue Pack asked, smiling.

'Can you turn into a large hot air balloon so that we can fly over the stampeding wildebeest?' Diego asked.

'Si,' Rescue Pack said, smiling. 'No problema.'

Rescue Pack shape-shifted into a large orange hot air balloon with a large basket for the 4 of us.

'Come on,' Diego said, indicating for us to hurry.

He had the right to.

The dust cloud was really close now. It reached us in less than a minute.

'Rápido,' Dora said, hurrying to the balloon.

Tom and I were right behind her.

We all got into the basket.

Diego pulled the string hanging down.

The gas-fire started to burn and the balloon took off.

We got above the height of the tree Tom had pointed out to us early just as the wildebeests stormed along the African plains below us.

We made it by just a few seconds.

'Phew,' I said, wiping sweat from my forehead. 'That was way too close.'

'For once,' Tom said, slumped against the edge of the basket. 'I agree with you, kid.'

'Help!' a small voice cried.

We all looked down.

Boots was running along the ground, only a mile ahead of the wildebeest stampede and that gap was closing, fast.

'Boots!' we all cried.

Boots looked up as he ran.

'Dora!' he called out happily. 'May! Diego!'

'We need a rope or something like a rope to lasso Boots and get him up here, away from the wildebeests,' I said, turning to Dora. 'Do you think you have some rope in your Backpack, Dora?'

'I'll check,' Dora said, looking behind her. 'Backpack?'

'Si, Dora?' Backpack said, looking at her.

'Do you have a rope, or something we can use to lasso Boots, so that we can bring him up here?' Dora asked, still looking at her.

'No,' Backpack said, shaking from side to side sadly. 'I don't.'

'Maybe Magic Pack will,' I said, looking over my shoulder and the green backpack on my back. 'Magic Pack?'

The green backpack sparked with green light and two eyes and a mouth appeared.

'Hola, May,' he said, smiling at me. 'What can I do for you?'

'Do you have anything like a rope we could use?' I asked, looking at him over my shoulder.

'Sure thing,' Magic Pack said smiling, opening, a long purple rope with star patterns coiling out of him and around my arm like a snake. 'It's a magic rope.'

'Okay,' I said, pulling some of the rope away from my arm to wrap it into a lasso loop.

Almost as soon as the thought came to mind, the rope coiled into a lasso loop on its own.

'Huh?' I said, looking back at Magic Pack.

'I did say it was a magic rope,' he said, giving a shrugging movement.

'Oh,' I said, blinking. 'Right.'

'May!' Dora cried anxiously.

I turned to her, noticed she was looking down and followed her gaze.

The wildebeest stampede was almost up to Boots.

'Don't worry.' I said, swirling the lasso above my head. 'Boots, grab the rope!'

Boots looked up as I swung the lasso down.

He grabbed it.

Instantly, the lasso went over him, tightening around his waist.

Before any of us could react, the rope started winding up quickly, lifting Boots off the ground just in time.

The rope lifted Boots up into the basket and we cheered.

'Dora,' Boots said, hugging her.

'Boots,' she said, hugging him back, smiling.

The magic rope unravelled from around Boots' waist, sliding back into Magic Pack, who closed himself up when the last of the rope had slithered back into him.

'Yummy,' he said, closing his eyes and smiling.

'Well, now that we've saved the monkey, let's go find your parents and get this over with,' Tom said, looking up at the air.

'I don't think we're done here, yet,' I said, frowning at him.

'Why?' Tom asked, looking at me. 'We've saved Boots, so we should be done here, right?'

'You know, for someone whose always so observant to details, you miss the most obvious things,' I said, shaking my head.

'What do you mean?' Tom asked, frowning. 'What have I missed?'

'The picture for the Africa story had a lion, a warthog and a hunter in it,' I said, folding my arms. 'What animals have we seen so far?'

'Wildebeests,' Tom said, his face falling. 'You mean, we've got to help out someone in this story before we can leave.'

'That's the idea,' I said, nodding, my arms still folded.

Just then, Diego's watch started beeping.

'What's the beeping for?' Tom asked, frowning.

'My watch is picking up an animal calling for help,' Diego said, pressing a yellow button.

'Can you tell what kind of animal it is?' I asked, looking at him.

'Not without Click,' Diego said, shaking his head. 'And she's back at the Rescue Centre in the Amazon.'

'So, what, we're just going to go find this animal to help it, regardless of whether it might want to eat us or not?' Tom asked, looking at Diego.

'Yep,' Diego said, smiling. 'It's what an Animal Rescuer does.'

'I knew I shouda stayed in bed,' Tom said, shaking his head.

'What bed?' I asked, frowning. 'You came out of my mind. You don't have a bed in Dora's world.'

'It was a figure of speech you-' Tom began, stopped and took a deep breath. 'You have my memories; surely you could figure it out?'

'Maybe,' I said, turning to Diego. 'But I didn't because I've got better things to think about.'

'Why you little-!' Tom said angrily, reaching for me.

His hands went right through me.

'Forget, did we?' I asked, looking over my shoulder at him, smiling cheekily.

'Who are you?' Boots asked, noticing Tom for the first time.

'He's the boy whose memories Fairy Godmother gave me,' I explained to Boots, pointing to Tom over my shoulder with my right-thumb. 'When I found out I wasn't him, he was locked in my mind. But after Dora and I activated our Magic Crystals, he came out. Not physically human, not a ghost. He's not the real Tom. Just a copy that the memories belonging to him created when they were exposed to the magical energies of the crystals.'

'Um, you lost me after "He's the boy whose memories Fairy Godmother gave me",' Boots said, holding his head.

'Never mind,' I said, shaking my head, laughing.

'Vámonos,' Dora said, pointing in the direction Diego's watch was saying the animal's call was coming from. 'We've got to go and save an animal.'

'Whatever,' Tom said, leaning against the basket's edge again, looking bored.

The Rescue balloon flew us off towards where Diego's watch said the animal's call was coming from.

Two minutes later we were flying over a clearing.

There were two cages in the clearing.

In one of them was a warthog.

It was lying down, sleeping.

The other cage was holding a male lion, with a huge mane.

It was roaring, clawing at the bars of the cage holding it.

'That's the animal that called for help,' Diego said, pointing at the lion.

'Um, it looks kinda angry to me,' Tom said, frowning at the lion below us.

'It's not angry,' Diego said, shaking his head. 'It's scared.'

'Right,' Tom said unenthusiastically. 'I forgot that you can talk to animals. But Boots is an animal too and I can understand him fine. Why is that?'

'There are animals that everyone can understand and there are those that most people can't,' Diego said, looking at Tom. 'May was right. You are rude.'

'Okay,' I said frowning, thinking. 'Those have got to be the lion and the warthog we saw in the picture, but where's the hunter?'

'There he is,' Dora said, pointing.

A large Ford Falcon Ute from the 1990s had just rolled up in the clearing.

I recognized it from Tom's memories of watching the ads for them so often in his childhood.

TV memories seemed to be his strongest ones.

A man dressed like a hunter got out of the driver's side of the Ute and walked to the cages.

'Stop!' Diego shouted.

'Huh?' the hunter said, looking up.

The balloon came down, landing in front of the hunter.

'You can't take these animals from there home,' Dora said as we all got out of the balloon.

'But I have to,' the hunter said, looking at us. 'They are dangerous. That lion hasn't stopped roaring for over an hour.'

'It's not angry,' I said, shaking my head. 'It's just scared.'

'Scared?' the hunter said, sounding confused. 'No, no, no. It's dangerous.'

'It's not dangerous,' I said firmly, glaring at him. 'I'll prove it.'

I walked over to the cage, reaching for the pin that locked it.

'No, wait!' the hunter cried, looking terrified.

I lifted the pin and opened the cage.

The lion leapt out, pinning me to the ground.

But before anyone could react, it licked my face affectionately.

Then it got off me and ran away.

'See?' I said, standing, looking at the hunter. 'The lion wasn't dangerous. It was just scared of you.'

'Wow,' the hunter said, looking embarrassed. 'I didn't mean to scare it.'

'Oh, give me a break,' Tom muttered, folding his arms. 'Real hunters don't act like this-'

'Tom!' I hissed at him.

He shut up.

The hunter walked over to the cage holding the warthog, unlocked it and opened it.

The warthog walked out and ran away.

'Okay, okay,' Tom said, putting his hands to his side, walking over to me, grabbing my shoulder and pulling me back towards the others. 'We've helped the animals, now let's get to the next story so we can save your parents and I can get the hell out of here.'

'Don't sware!' I hissed at him. 'You're in a kid's world now, so watch your mouth.'

'Yes, Mum,' Tom said sarcastically. 'By the way, my 20th birthday wasn't very good.'

'Huh?' I said frowning. Where was this coming from?

'Mum and Dad got me that movie, 9,' Tom said, letting go of my shoulder and looking at me. 'But the other two movies they got me were Pokémon Lucario and the Mystery of Mew as well as Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea. I already had those.'

'Didn't you buy those in a triple movie pack, like, back in 2009?' I asked, completely forgetting about everything else now.

Knowing some of Tom's memories meant I was somehow interested in his life, back in his world, even though I didn't like him very much right now.

'Yes,' Tom said, looking annoyed. 'What's more, I'm 98% sure that either Mum or Dad were with me when I bought it. I even remember talking about it for ages, saying how glad I was that I'd gotten those 3 Pokémon movies all at once. Why couldn't they have bought something else? There are heaps of movies and TV series DVDs they could have chosen from instead. Why did they have to forget that and buy me 2 DVDs that I've already had for over 2 years?'

'Go figure,' I said, shrugging. 'Now, if you don't mind, we've still got some more work to do, in case you've forgotten.'

'I haven't,' Tom said, frowning. 'I wish I could, but I haven't.'

I hurried back to Dora, Boots and Diego.

'Let's get going,' I said firmly. 'We've got to save Mami and Papi.'

'Yeah!' Dora, Boots and Diego cried, punching their fist in the air.

'We have to ask the Magic story book to take us to the Australia story,' I said, looking at Dora.

'And I'm guessing we're going to have to ask it in Spanish, right?' Tom said, rolling his eyes.

'Correcto,' Dora said, smiling.

'Great,' Tom said sarcastically. 'As if I haven't been embarrassed enough.'

'La Australia estoria!' Dora, Boots, Diego and I all shouted together.

'La Australia estoria,' Tom said lazily.

The crystals around mine and Dora's necks glowed brightly.

A swirl of purple light surrounded us and lifted us up, into the air.

Chapter Seventeen

Outback Jack

The light stopped swirling around us and we all looked around.

We were in the familiar Ausi outback.

Now, I say "familiar" because Tom had watched that show, Outback 8 a couple of times.

As the name implies, 8 people go out into the Australian outback.

Plus, Tom had another couple of shows and movies involving the outback, back in his world.

If his memories survived me right, Blinky Bill Seasons 1 and 2, Binky Bill's Around the World Adventures and Dot and the Kangaroo.

We were all wearing our ordinary clothes again.

'So, what do we do here, huh?' Tom said, folding his arms, looking around, acting grumpy.

'Well, I'm not really sure,' I said, looking around, frowning.

'G'day, mates,' a voice said from behind us.

We all turned around.

The boy we'd seen in the picture for the Australia story was standing behind us.

He was about 7.

He was wearing the same clothes as in the picture.

'Insult me with the stereotype, why don't you,' Tom said angrily, throwing his arms up into the air.

'Sorry?' the boy asked, looking at Tom in confusion.

'Don't mind him,' I said, giving Tom a nasty look. 'He's just a jerk.'

'Hey,' Tom said angrily, glaring at me.

Dora turned to the boy.

'Have you seen a woman with brown hair?' she asked, looking at him.

'No, I'm afraid not, shella,' he said, shaking his head and shrugging. 'Sorry. I'm Jack, by the way.'

'Oh, would you quit it with the stereotypical Ausi speak?' Tom said angrily, glaring at the boy.

'Oh, shut up, yourself,' I said, jumping up, and whacking Tom on the forehead.

'Ow,' Tom said, holding his head and glaring at me. 'How come you can hit me, yet I can't touch you?'

'Luck of the draw, buster,' I said, glaring at him. 'Now, if you don't have anything nice or helpful to say, don't say anything at all. Got it?'

'Fine,' Tom said, folding his arms and looking away.

'Hey, Jacky,' a voice said from behind us.

We all turned around.

The brown kangaroo from the picture was bouncing towards us.

'Hey, Skippy,' Jack called, waving to the kangaroo.

Tom gave me a look that said, "Come on. Skippy? The kangaroo's name is Skippy?"

'Hey, be thankful that his name's Skippy and not Jack.'

'Oh, ha, ha,' Tom whispered, giving a sarcastic smile. 'Kangaroo Jack.'

'Who're yer new friends?' Skippy asked, stopping in front of us.

'I'm May,' I said smiling. 'The grumpy guy's name is Tom.'

'My name is Dora,' Dora said, smiling.

'I'm Diego,' Diego said, smiling too.

'And I'm Boots,' Boots said, jumping up and down.

'Nice ta meet ya,' Skippy said, smiling. 'So, what brings ya'll down under?'

'Huh?' Dora and Boots asked, looking confused.

'He means, "Why have you come to Australia"?' Tom said, rolling his eyes.

'Oh,' Dor and Boots said, understanding.

'A mean witch called La Booha trapped Boots, and mine and Dora's Mami and Papi in the Magic story book,' I said, looking at Skippy.

'We found Boots in the Africa story,' Diego said, nodding his head.

'Now we're here in the Australia story so that we can find our Mami,' Dora said, nodding too.

'La Brooha, huh?' Skippy said, thinking. 'Well, I've only seen 1 witch today. She had a golden wand with a small purple gemstone on it.'

'That's La Brooha,' Dora said firmly. 'Where did you see her?'

'Well, I'll tell you where I've seen her,' Tom cried, pointing behind us. 'Over there!'

We all turned around and gasped.

La Brooha was in the sky, flying on her broom, heading right at us.

'You'll not stop my revenge, you brat!' she shouted, aiming her wand at Dora.

'No!' Dora and I shouted, glaring at her.

Our crystals glowed brightly.

Their glow expanded from the crystals, surrounding us.

A blast of purple magic flew from La Brooha's wand, coming right for us.

The purple magic hit the glow coming from the crystals and dispersed.

'Whoa!' Dora and I said, looking down at our crystals.

The glow intensified and a blast of pink and white magic flew from the glow, slamming into La Brooha.

'Whoa!' she cried, her broom dropping down, heading for the ground. 'I'll get you for this!'

She waved her wand and a swirling purple portal appeared in front of her.

She flew into it and the portal closed.

The glow of the crystals faded, returning to normal.

'Now we've got to find Mami,' I said, looking at Dora.

She nodded.

'He-e-e-elp!' a voice cried out.

We all looked around.

'That sounded like Mami,' Dora said, looking at me.

'It came from over there,' Skippy said, pointing.

'Come on,' I shouted, running in the direction Skippy had been pointing.

We all ran, except Skippy. He hopped.

Two minute later we were staring at a large paddock.

Inside it, there we heaps of cows and a few bulls.

1 of the bulls, a big brown 1 with large horns was jumping around angrily.

Someone was riding on top of it.

'Mami!' Dora and I cried.

We were right.

It was Mami. She was riding the bull, but it didn't look like she'd be riding it for long.

That bull was going to throw her off any second. And God forbid what would happen after that.

'Hold on, Mrs Mendez,' Tom shouted, jumping over the fence in front of us and running down the paddock.

'Tom- wait!' I shouted, staring in shock.

Tom ran at the bull.

'Hey, big horns!' he shouted, waving his arms wildly. 'Look over here.'

'That'll get his attention,' I said, watching.

The bull stopped jumping around and glared at Tom.

'When I give the signal, jump off of the bull and run for it,' Tom shouted at Mami.

'Si,' she said, nodding.

Tom and the bull paced around, looking at each other.

Dora, Boots, Diego, Skippy, Jack and I all watched anxiously.

'Now!' Tom shouted, running towards the bull.

The bull roared, rising onto its hind legs, waving its front legs angrily.

Mami jumped off of the bull's back and started running towards the fence.

'Come on, Mami!' Dora shouted, waving her arms wildly.

The bull charged at Tom as he stood firmly, glaring at it.

'I sure hope I'm right about this,' Tom muttered, the bull only a few feet away from him.

He braced himself.

The bull lowered its head, its horn pointed right at Tom.

It reached him- and passed right through him.

A look of shock and confusion came over the bull's face as it tried to stop and turn around.

But it had picked up too much momentum when it was charging at Tom and it couldn't stop.

It ran, head-first into a nearby tree, lodging its horns into the trunk.

'Phew,' Tom said, wiping his forehead. 'Am I glad that worked.'

'Tom,' I called.

Tom looked back to the fence.

Dora and I were hugging Mami.

I was waving for him to come back.

Tom smiled and ran back up the slope, heading for us.

'Oh, my daughters,' Mami said, holding Dora and me closely. 'I thought I'd never see you again.'

'Don't worry, Mrs. Mendez,' Tom said, climbing over the fence, smiling. 'Those 2 would never have given up on finding you.'

'Who are you?' Mami asked, looking at Tom, frowning.

'This is Tom, Mami,' I said, smiling at him. 'He's the boy whose memories Fairy Godmother accidently gave me.'

'Oh, I see,' Mami said, smiling at Tom and then frowning. 'But why did the bull go right through you?'

'He's not completely physical,' I said, still smiling. 'He's here because, when Dora and I got our crystals, they brought him out of my head and into this world. But he's not completely real, so he can't be touched.'

'Well, aside from when I whacked him on the head earlier,' I thought sneakily.

'Plus, he can't go anywhere unless Dora or May are with him,' Boots said smiling. 'He can't even go away when they're sleeping-'

I suddenly really wanted Boots to stop talking.

Hearing that, I knew exactly what Mami would be thinking, considering Tom's age.

I wasn't wrong.

Mami suddenly had an unpleasant look on her face as she looked at Tom.

'I don't want to be here, you know,' Tom said, almost on cue. 'If I could go back to my own world, or at least away from these 2 girls, I would. I'm 20-years-old. My interests have gone far beyond 7-year-old girls.'

Dora looked a little confused when he said that.

Not me though. I knew exactly what Tom had meant by "interests", having his memories.

Tom had basically just told Mami that he felt no sexually interest towards either Dora nor myself.

If he had, I would be shouting "paedophile" at him every minute.

Mami frowned, not sure she could trust Tom's words.

'Look can we just go and get your husband so that I can get out of this stupid book,' Tom said, starting to get impatient. Something I knew he could become very easily.

'Mami, I promise, he'll behave himself,' I said, raising my eyebrows so she'd understand.

She nodded and turned to Dora.

'How are we going to find the story where Papi is?' she asked, looking at Dora.

'We have to ask the Magic story book to take us to the Outer Space story in Spanish.'

'Wow,' Tom said sarcastically. 'That sounds easy.'

'Is he always so rude?' Mami asked, looking at me.

I nodded.

'La Espacio Exterior estoria,' Dora, Boots, Diego, Mami and me said together.

Wow. That's a mouthful.

'La Espacio Exterior estoria,' Tom said half-heartedly.

Mine and Dora's crystals glowed brightly and a swirl of purple light surrounded us.

Chapter Eighteen

There's No Space Like Outer Space

The lights stoped swirling around us and we looked around.

We were standing inside a space stations control room.

We were all wearing white space suits.

'Well, now that we're here, where's your Papi?' Tom said, looking at me and Dora.

'How are we supposed to know?' I said, looking back at him. 'Map told us which story he was in, not where he was in it.'

'Run!' a voice shouted outside the room. 'They've escape!'

'Okay,' Tom said, looking at little worried. 'When someone shouts "Run, they've escaped" on a space station, it's never a good thing.'

We ran out the door and suddenly wished we hadn't.

An alien from the movie Alien was standing in the hallway, facing us.

'Okay,' Tom whispered, standing in front of all of us, holding his hands out to keep us back. 'Nobody make any sudden movements. Believe me when I say you don't want to startle that thing.'

We all nodded.

Thanks to Tom's memories, I knew how dangerous that Alien was.

It was a vicious fighter, had a bad temper and a taste for meat.

Couple that with a secondary mouth and acid blood, this was 1 creature you never wanted to meet in a dark alley.

Well, you wouldn't want to meet it, period.

Suddenly the crystals started glowing brightly.

The Alien charged forward.

We all screamed.

A beam of light flew from both mine and Dora's crystals.

The beam collided with the Alien.

It froze in midair, just above Tom's head.

It glowed with pink and white light and vanished, reappearing outside the space station.

We all breathed a sigh of relief.

'Okay, I'll admit,' Tom said, laughing a little. 'That was scary.'

'You're telling me,' I said, still breathing heavily.

'Come on,' Dora said, pointing down the corridor. 'We need to find Papi.'

We all nodded and hurried down the corridor.

We ran down corridors, through doors and down more corridors.

'Okay, just how big is this place?' Tom shouted in frustration, stopping ten minutes later.

'I know, right?' I said, holding my knees, panting. 'It feels like we've been running around for ages.'

'May?' Papi's voice called from the room next to us. 'May, is that you?'

We ran through the door, into an experiment lab.

There were cages along the walls, a surgery table in the middle of the room and a large tube at the very end of it.

Inside the tube was...

'Papi!' Dora and I cried happily, running towards the tube.

'Oh, I'm so glad to see that you are alright,' Papi said, smiling at the 2 of us.

'Don't worry,' Tom said, running over to the computers and frowning at them. 'I'll get you out of there in a minute.'

'And how are you going to do that?' I asked, raising an eyebrow at Tom. 'Just because you watched heaps of TV shows where people easily cracked computer codes, it doesn't mean that you'll be able to.'

'Ah,' Tom said, looking at me and smiling. 'But you're forgetting the main rule about giant space computers, May.'

'And what's that?' I asked, folding my arms.

Tom grabbed a giant mallet from the Experiment table and lifted it above his head.

'When in doubt,' he said, grinning, 'break stuff!'

He slammed the mallet down on the controls.

They sparked violently and the tube opened.

'Papi!' Dora and I cried, grabbing Papi and hugging him.

'I'd get out of that tube if I were you,' Tom said, looking at us.

'Why?' I asked, turning my head to look at him from Papi's arms.

'Because,' Tom said, pointing at the smashed controls. 'Since I smashed the control, the back-up systems for the tube will activate any second now.'

'Oh,' I said, thinking. 'Right.'

I hated it when he was right.

Dora, Papi and I stopped hugging and hurried out of the tube.

As soon as we were out of it, titanium shields slid over the tube, sealing it off.

'Good thing we got out when we did,' I said, breathing a sigh of relief.

Mami and Papi hugged each other and kissed.

'Ew,' Tom said, walking over to me and Dora, shaking his head. 'Do they have to do that now?'

'Hey, they thought they'd never see each other again,' I said, frowning at Tom. 'Cut them some slack, would ya?'

'Fine,' Tom said, shaking his head. 'Look, now that we've found everyone that La Brooha trapped in the Magic story book, can we leave? I'm tired of being in these weird stories and besides, this space suits riding up my as-'

I coughed loudly.

'I mean, butt,' Tom said, understanding what I'd coughed for.

'Let's get moving,' Papi said, looking around at all of us. 'This can be a pretty dangerous place.'

'If we want to get out of the Magic story book, we'll need to go back to the control room so that we can jump out,' I said firmly.

'Then what are we waiting for?' Tom said, grinning. 'Let's get the heck out of here.'

'And on the way, you can explain who you are and why you're here, young man,' Papi said to Tom as we walked out of the room.

At that moment I heard a noise from the left.

I turned and saw something falling from above. It looked like a Chrismtas bauble. It smashed against me head, causing me drop down, uttering an angry, 'oomf'.

'May, are you alright?' Dora asked, hurrying over.

I gave a sharp intake of breath, rubbing my head, smarts like crazy.

'You're going to be fine, May,' Tom said, putting his hand on my shoulder. 'You're like me. You're tough. You don't surrender easily.'

'Thanks, I think,' I said, grimacing as Papi tightened the bandage.

'That should do it,' Papi said a minute later, putting a small piece of tap on the bandage so that it would stay wrapped up.

'Now, let's get out of here,' Tom said, grinning. 'Before anything else tries to kill us.'

Suddenly the crystals started glowing brightly.

A swirl of purple light surrounded all of us.

'What's happening?' I cried, holding my good wrist to my eyes, shielding them from the strong, swirling lights.

'I honestly don't know!' Tom shouted, shielding his own eyes from the light.

When the light faded, we were all in Wizzle World.

'We're in Wizzle World?' Tom asked, looking confused. 'Why'd the crystals bring us here?'

'So that I can finish what I started!' a voice cried from above us.

We all looked up.

La Brooha was flying on her broom, leering down at us.

'You've gotta be kidding me,' Tom said, shaking his head. 'That witch just doesn't know when to quit.'

The crystals glowed brightly with strong pink and white light.

'What's happening?' Dora and I cried together, being enveloped by the light.

We floated into the air and the light shone brighter than ever.

When the light faded Dora was wearing the dress and tiara she'd worn when she'd pretended to be the Snow Princess to trick the mean Witch in the Snowy Forest.

I was wearing a dress and tiara exactly the same as Dora's, except that mine were yellow instead of light-blue.

'What?' La Brooha cried, staring in shock.

'Are these our new Crystal Princess forms?' I asked, looking at Dora.

'I don't know,' she said, shaking her head.

'You won't stop me!' La Brooha cried, aiming her wand at us.

A large blast of purple magic flew from it, heading right for us.

'Barda!' Dora and I shouted, holding our hands out in front of us.

The crystals glowed even brighter and a wall of swirling pink and white light appeared in front of us.

The purple blast slammed into the wall of light and dispersed.

'This is the end, La Brooha!' I shouted, glaring at her. 'You tried to hurt Dora.'

'You kidnapped our friends and family,' Dora said firmly.

'It ends... HERE!' we shouted together.

The wall of swirling light soared towards L Brooha.

It slammed into her.

She glowed with bright pink and white light.

It faded and she glared at us.

'That did nothing,' she grinned, pointing her wand at us again.

Nothing happened.

'No,' La Brooha cried, staring at her wand as it shattered in her hands. 'My wand is broken. My power is gone.'

She flew away, never to be seen again.

Dora and I floated back down to the ground, our princess dresses disappearing.

'That was amazing!' Tom said, smiling at both of us. 'I know I complain and act snarky a lot, but that was just... wow!'

'Let's go home,' I said, smiling.

The crystals glowed brightly.

Purple light swirled around us. When it faded, we were all standing in mine and Dora's room.

'We did it!' Dora and I shouted, slapping each other a high-five.

'Lo hicimos!' Tom laughed, shaking his head.

My head snared with pain.

I gasped, surprised by the sudden pain.

'May, what's wrong?' Dora asked, looking at me.

'It's just my head,' I said, smiling. 'Nothing to worry about.'

'You shouldn't take that bang you took to your head too lightly, May,' he said, later that night, as Dora and I were getting into bed.

'I'll be fine,' I said, looking at Tom from my bed, smiling. 'It's nice of you to worry about me Tom, but trust me, I'll be fine. Goodnight Dora. Goodnight Tom.'

I laid back on my pillow and fell asleep.

Tom watched me, a worried looked on his face.

'I wish I could believe that it'll be fine, May,' he said, shaking his head. 'I really do.'

He walked over to the window and looked out and the night sky.

'I just wish you'd be more careful,' he said, sighing. 'You and Dora might be my only way back to the real world. If anything happens to you, I don't want to think about what could happen to me.'

Little did Tom realize that something big was going to come from that bang on my head.

Something that would confuse and confound the very ideas a relativity itself.

Chapter Nineteen

An Elfen Baby

I opened my eyes and sat up it bed, rubbing my eyes.

Why did I feel so groggy?

I got out of bed and went downstairs for breakfast.

Dora, Mami, Papi and the twins were already at the table, having breakfast, while Papi read the newspaper.

Like me, they were all wearing their pyjamas.

Today, it was scrambled eggs and toast.

The twins had their bottles of baby formula and mashed peas.

Dora looked up when I came to the table.

'May, are you feeling alright?' she asked as I sat down.

'I'm not sure,' I said groggily, shaking my head. 'I just feel really groggy for some reason. It's as if I was doing something last night while I was asleep.'

'You're half right,' Tom said, leaning against the wall, his arms folded.

'What do you mean?' I asked, looking at him, frowning.

'You must have had some weird dream last night,' Tom said, shrugging. 'You were tossing and turning as if there were bugs crawling all over you.'

'That's odd,' I thought, frowning. 'I don't remember having a dream last night.'

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

'Now, who could that be?' Papi asked, looking up from his newspaper.

'That's odd,' Tom said, frowning. 'It sounds official.'

Papi put down his newspaper, got up and walked over to the door.

He opened it.

'Yes?' we heard him say. 'Can I help you with something?'

'Yes. I believe that you can.'

'May?' Papi said, walking back into the kitchen, followed by some guy in a suit.

I frowned at him. Something seemed familiar.

'May Mendez?' he asked.

'Yes?' I nodde slowly.

"You are the one chosen to birth the elfin infant," he said flatly.

'WHAT?' Dora, Mami and Papi cried, looking from me to the man.

'You were recently struck by a Christmas bauble, were you not?' the man asked, completely ignoring my family.

I noded.

He nodded back. 'Then you shall be balled when the birth happens. Note please that Elfin babies are not born like human ones, so do not worry about that.'

In a flash of sparkles he was gone.

It was Monday.

I was sitting in the backyard, leaning against the fence, looking out at the fields of grass and trees.

'Hello, May,' a voice said from behind me.

I jumped, whirling around.

It was Kaname.

I hadn't seen him in ages.

I'd thought he was just something from Tom's memories that had manifested in an illusion-like form while I'd thought I was Tom.

He was wearing a grey T-shirt and brown shorts.

'It's been a while, Kaname,' I said, after taking some deep breaths to calm down.

Kaname looked at me and frowned.

'You are with child,' he said, looking at me.

I sighed.

Seemed I couldn't even hide it from a vampire from a fictional show.

'Yes,' I said, nodding. 'I know it's not meant to be possible, but I am pregnant. The baby will be born around the end of the month.'

I turned around and looked back out at the fields.

Kaname didn't say anything for a few minutes.

'I know it must be weird,' I said, closing my eyes. 'Seeing me pregnant when I'm only 7, I mean, but-'

'I will take the baby,' Kaname said firmly.

'What?' I cried, whirling around and staring at him.

'When the baby is born, I will take it away,' Kaname said, looking straight at me.

'Hold on, 1 minute there, vampire-boy,' an angry voice said.

Kaname turned around and Tom grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, lifting him up.

'What gives you the right to just take someone's baby away from them?' Tom asked, narrowing his eyes as Kaname's feet dangled a few metres above the ground. 'I don't recall you being the reason why she's pregnant, so why do you think you can just take May's baby away as soon as it's born?'

I watched them both, wondering what was going to happen next.

To tell the truth, I was worried.

Tom might be 20-years-old, but Kaname was a Pure-Blood vampire.

Regardless of their age difference, if Kaname used even the smallest amount of his vampire powers, Tom was a goner.

Kaname glared down at Tom.

'I need to protect May,' he said, glaring at Tom.

'"Protect" her?' Tom said, raising an eyebrow. 'Protect her from what, the baby?'

'From her past!' Kaname said angrily, his eyes glowing red.

This wasn't good.

'Tom, drop him, quickly!' I cried in fright.

'Huh?' Tom said, turning to look at me.

A blood vein in his arm burst open, blood splattering the ground.

'Ah!' Tom gasped, dropping Kaname and grabbing his arm, putting his hand over the place where the blood was coming from, trying to stop it.

I ran over to Tom and held my Magic crystal to the open wound.

The crystal and the wound glowed with white light.

The blood stopped and the wound healed itself.

I turned around, glaring at Kaname.

'There was no need for that!' I said angrily, glaring at him. 'Why did you do that to Tom? And what do you mean, "Protecting me from my past"? I was a mermaid in my past and I know it. What's there to protect me from?'

'You weren't- never mind,' Kaname said, looking away.

I blinked, my anger disappearing.

He wasn't angry anymore.

He was trying to say something and then stopped himself.

Why?

'What did you mean when you said you were protecting me from my past?' I said, taking a step forward.

'Never you mind,' Kaname said, taking a step back, looking worried.

Why was he worried?
Was there something in my past that I didn't know about?

Something he knew about?

'Kaname, what's going on?' I said firmly, taking another step forward.

'I can't tell you!' Kaname shouted, shaking his head.

Then he turned around, leaped over the fence and ran off.

He was out of sight before I even got to the fence.

I turned to look at Tom.

'What was that all about?' I asked, frowning.

'I'm not sure,' Tom said, walking up next to me and looking out at the fields. 'But it seems there's more to your past than just being a mermaid.'

'And we're going to find out what,' I said firmly, nodding.

Later that day, Dora, Tom and I met up with Boots, Benny, Tico and Isa by the river.

I'd decided to tell them that I was pregnant.

'So, why did you ask us to come to the river, May?' Boots asked, looking at me.

I gulped.

'I'm going to have a baby,' I said, feeling sweat appearing on my forehead.

'Wow,' everyone said, sounding happy.

'Dora, you're going to have another brother or sister?' Isa asked, smiling at Dora.

'Um... no,' Dora said, scratching behind her neck, looking away. 'Not exactly. Mami isn't the having the baby.'

'Then who?' Benny asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

'I am,' I said, gulping again.

'Huh?' they said, looking confused.

'I'm going to be having a baby next month,' I said, looking down at my feet.

'Next month?' they cried, looking shocked.

'But, how can you be pregnant?' Esa asked, staring at me like I was crazy.

'Si, que esta a solo siete anos de edad,' Tico said, his eyes wide.

'I know I'm only 7-years-old, Tico,' I said, shaking my head. 'But it doesn't change the fact that I'm pregnant with some elf baby. Heck, I don't even know how it works. There isn't exactly a manual for this kinda thing.'

'So... he was saying she's only 7-years-old?' Tom asked, looking a Dora. 'I'm not so good with Spanish.'

Dora nodded.

'Even if you were pregnant, May,' Benny said, giving a small smiling, thinking I was playing, 'you'd still have to wait 9 months before the baby is born. Not 1.'

'Not if it's an elf baby,' Tom said, turning to look at him.

'Huh?' Boots said, blinking.

'Remember the man who told us this said May would have the baby by the end of the month,' Dora said, looking at him.

'Oh,' Boots said, looking confused.

The others all looked at each other, not sure what to say.

'Wait a minute,' Benny said, frowning at Tom. 'Who are you?'

'This is Tom,' Dora said, he's the boy whose memories May had when I first met her. He'll be with us until he can get back to his own world.'

'Oh,' Benny said, looking a little confused.

'But we've got other things to worry about,' Tom said firmly, looking at all of them.

'Like what?' Isa asked, frowning.

Tom and I explained our encounter with Kaname earlier this morning.

'Kaname wants to take the baby away as soon as May has it?' Boots said, looking shocked. 'I thought he was a good guy.'

'I guess you thought wrong, Boots,' Benny said, shaking his head.

'I'm not so sure,' Tom said, thinking, his fingers on his chin.

'Que quieres decir, Tom?' Tico asked, looking at Tom.

'Does that Squirrel come with subtitles?' Tom asked, looking at Dora.

'He said, "what do you mean, Tom?",' Dora said, frowning at Tom for what he'd said.

'Oh,' Tom said, nodding. 'What I mean, Tico, is that Kaname was hinting that there's something in May's past that we don't know about and that he thinks that he needs to protect her from it?'

'But what could it be?' Isa asked, shrugging.

'I'm not sure, Isa,' Tom said, shaking his head. 'But I think I know a way we can find out.'

'How?' Boots asked, looking confused. 'If it happened in May's past and she can't remember, how can we find out?'

'We'll have to go back in time, to the night May was born,' Tom said, turning to me. 'May remembers everything from her life as a mermaid from the moment her mind started remembering. However, something might have happened when she was a baby that could explain Kaname's actions.'

'But, how do we go back in time?' Isa asked, looking confused.

'Now that's easy,' Tom said, grinning. 'Dora and Swiper did it last Christmas Eve.'

'The Time Travel capes,' Dora said, clicking her fingers as she remembered. 'The Grumpy Old Troll gave Swiper and me Time Travel capes so that we could go into the past when we were babies and to the future when we're big kids.'

'Right,' Tom said, nodding. 'And if they could go back in time for that, I'm sure we can do the same for the night May was born.'

'Okay, let's go,' I said excitedly.

'Vámonos!' Dora said, punching her fist in the air.

We all hurried along the river.

Since the Grumpy Old Troll lived under a bridge, it made sense that, if we followed the river, we'd find the Troll Bridge.

2 minutes later we'd made it to the Troll Bridge.

'We've made it to the Troll Bridge,' I said, looking around. 'But where's the Grumpy Old Troll?'

Low guitar music started to play and the Grumpy Old Troll swung up from under the bridge, landing on top of it.

'I'm the Grumpy Old Troll-' he began to sing.

'Sorry to interrupt you song, Mr. Troll,' Tom said, not sounding sorry what so ever. 'But we're not going over your bridge.'

'You're not?' the Grumpy Old Troll asked, looking slightly annoyed that Tom had interrupted him.

'Sorry about Tom's rudeness, Mr. Troll,' I said apologetically. 'But we need to go back to the night I was born.'

'You mean you need to travel through time?' the Grumpy Old Troll asked, looking at me.

'Si,' Dora and I said, nodding.

'Alright,' the Grumpy Old Troll said, smiling. 'But before I send you through time I must see you answer my riddles. First 1, then 2 and 3.'

'I hate it when people speak in rhymes,' Tom muttered, scowling.

'Riddle number 1,' the Grumpy Old Troll said, getting Tom's attention. 'Alive without breath and as cold as death. Never thirsty, yet ever drinking. All in mail, but never clanking. What am I?

Dora, Boots, Benny, Isa, and Tico looked completely stumped.

I frowned.

This riddle sounded familiar.

Tom was looking at me, a puzzled expression on his face too.

He knew that this riddle sounded familiar as well.

I frowned, wondering where he'd heard it before from his memories in my head.

Then I remembered.

Tom had heard this riddle on an audio tape of The Hobbit.

The cave creature, Golem, had asked Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit this same riddle.

The answer was...

'Fish,' I said, smiling. 'The answer is fish.'

'Fish,' the Grumpy Old Troll said, nodding. 'Right. You got the first riddle. Let's see if you can guess the next.'

'Good work, May,' Dora said, smiling at me. 'I'd have never guessed that.'

'Thank Tom,' I said, pointing my thumb at him. 'If he hadn't heard that riddle before, back in his world, I'd never have guessed it either.'

'Riddle number 2,' the Grumpy Old Troll said, getting our attention again. 'A box without hinges, a key or a lid. Yet golden treasure inside is hid.'

The others all looked confused again.

I looked at Tom, a frown on my face.

This riddle also sounded familiar.

Tom had heard this riddle too.

It was the first riddle Bilbo Baggins had asked Golem.

'An egg,' Tom said, folding his arms and grinning. 'The answer is an egg.'

'Ooh,' the Grumpy Old Troll said, smiling. 'You're good. Answer the next riddling rhyme and I'll do what you asked me. I'll send you through time.'

'Could the next riddle be less easy then?' I thought, shaking my head. 'If all the riddles we get asked are ones Tom has heard on that The Hobbit audio tape, this'll have been way too easy. Talk about no challenge.'

'Riddle number 3,' the Grumpy Old Troll said, getting my attention once more. 'This thing all things it devours. Birds and beasts. Trees and flowers. It gnaws on iron. It bites steal. It grinds hard stones to nil. It slays kings. It ruins town. And it beats the high mountains down.'

I shook my head.

This was the last riddle that Golem had asked Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit.

The answer, when you think about it, was really easy, while at the same time, really hard.

'Time,' I said, doing my best not to sound bored. 'The answer is time.'

'Time,' the Grumpy Old Troll said happily, clicking his fingers. 'Correct. Now, as promised, I'll do what you asked. I'll help you go back through time. Travelling to the past can be fun and I've got Time Travel capes for everyone.'

He pulled 7 purple capes from behind his back.

He gave each of us a Travel cape.

We all put them on, making sure that they were on properly.

'I remember how they work,' Tom said before the Grumpy Old Troll could say anything. 'They're each a mystical, magical, Time Travel cape. To get them to work all we have to do is shake, shake, shake.'

'Well... yeah,' the Grumpy Old Troll said, surprised that Tom knew how they worked.

'Wait!' a voice from down the path cried.

We all turned around.

Kaname was running towards us, a frantic look on his face.

'It's Kaname!' I cried, hugging Tom before I realized what I was doing.

'He's going to try and stop us from going back to the past,' Tom said, glaring at Kaname. 'Everybody- Um, May, please let go of me.'

'Oh,' I said, letting go of him and smiling sheepishly. 'Sorry.'

'Okay,' Tom said, grabbing the sides of his cape and holding them out. 'Everybody put you hands to yours sides, grab your cape and shake, shake, shake, as fast as you can.'

We all grabbed the sides of our capes and started shaking them.

'Stop!'Kaname cried, only 30 feet away from us now. 'You don't know what you're doing.'

'Remember,' I shouted as rainbow lights started to swirl around us. 'Think, "The night May was born".'

'Right,' the others all said, nodding.

The swirls completely surrounded us.

When the swirling lights faded away, we were all gone.

'You fool,' Kaname said angrily, turning to the Grumpy Old Troll, glaring. 'This could ruin everything.'

'Oh, be quiet, elf,' the Grumpy Old Troll said, looking annoyed now. 'They solved the riddles, so they were allowed to travel wherever they wanted to in time.'

Kananme bit his bottom lip.

'But now May will learn the truth about who she was,' he thought anxiously. 'And who I am?'

Chapter Twenty

May and The Elf From Whom She Became

The swirling rainbow light stopped.

I looked around at where we were.

There was snow all around us and a huge house decorated for Christmas.

We were standing outside Santa's Workshop at the North Pole.

'What are we doing here?' I asked, looking around, confused. 'What does Santa's Workshop have to do with my past?'

'May?' Magic Pack said from my back.

'Yes, Magic Pack?' I said, looking at him from over my shoulder.

'You'll need this,' Magic Pack said, opening his flap.

A small yellow bottle flew out and landed in my left-hand.

I looked down at it.

'What is it?' I asked, opening the bottle.

Inside the bottle was a fine silver powder.

'It's Invisibility Powder,' Magic Pack said, smiling.

'Why do we need Invisibility Powder?' Dora asked, looking confused.

'You'll find out once you've put it on and gone inside,' Magic Pack said, closing his flaps and eyes and becoming still again.

'Well, that was helpful,' Tom said sarcastically. 'Not.'

I turned to the others.

'Ready to learn who I am?' I asked, looking around at all of them as our Travel capes bellowed around us in the wind.

'Yeah,' they all said, nodding.

'Then toss that Invisibility Powder into the air so it gets all of us,' Tom said, smiling.

'Okay,' I said, smiling, tossing the bottle into the air, the powder spilling out.

The icy winds caught the Invisibility Powder and blew it over all of us.

We all sparkled with silver light for a second and disappeared.

'Is everyone still here?' I asked, looking around at the empty space in front of me.

'Yeah,' I heard everyone said together.

'Everyone's present and accounted for,' Tom's voice said next to me.

'Then let's learn the truth about Kaname and me,' I said firmly. 'We might even learn why we found that heart on that tree with mine and Kaname's names carved into it by the beach.'

I pushed the door open.

Although, to the others, it just looked like the door had opened on its own.

I stood by the door, waiting for everyone to walk passed.

'Everyone in,' I whispered a minute later.

'Yes,' everyone's voices whispered.

'Si,' Tico's voice whispered.

I closed the door and we all hurried into the Workshop.

Hundreds and hundred of Christmas elves were hurrying left and right, making toys, toys and more toys.

They were all wearing elfin clothing.

The boy elves were all wearing a red T-shirt and brown pants.

The girl elves were all wearing a red dress.

All of them were wearing a red Christmas elf hat with bell on the top, along with red and green striped stocking and red clip-on shoes.

I felt Boot's hand pull my left arm, lift it up and point it to a corner of the room.

Santa was standing by the window, looking sad.

'Why is Santa so sad?' I thought, frowning.

'Santa?' a small girl elf with brown hair tied into 2 small side pigtails and brown eyes said, walking up to Santa. 'What's wrong? Why are you so sad?'

'Oh, May,' Santa said, shaking his head. 'I have failed my job.'

'What?' I whispered, stunned.

Santa said he'd failed his job? And he'd called that elf "May".

I took a deep breath and calmed down.

It could just be a coincidence that she had the same name as me. But on the other hand...

'Why have you failed?' the elf girl named May asked, looking up at Santa.

'The Mermaid King and Queen haven't been able to have a baby since their first-born, Mariana,' Santa said, sighing sadly. 'So they wanted to have a baby for Christmas, last year. I failed to give them what they wished for.'

'But Christmas last year was over 5 months ago,' May elf said, looking at Santa.

'And I fear that this year, the King and Queen will have no Christmas spirit,' Santa said sadly. 'To make a life, another must be given up.'

'I feel really bad for them,' a boy elf, a little bigger than May elf with black hair and blue eyes said, walking up next to May elf and shaking his head. 'No one should lose their Christmas spirit. But how can we give them a baby. No one would give up their life for the new baby, would they?'

May elf frowned at the boy elf.

'That's a horrible thing to say, Kaname,' she said angrily.

'Kaname!' Boots cried in shock.

Everyone looked around, trying to tell where that voice had come from.

'Boots, be quiet!' I hissed, not sure where he was.

After a few seconds everyone decided to ignore the sound of Boots' shout and returned to what they were doing.

I'll admit, I was shocked to hear that the boy elf's name was Kaname.

An idea appeared in my head.

I shook my head.

No. It couldn't be. There was no way.

'I'll do it, Santa,' May elf said, looking firmly at him. 'I'll become their new baby.'

'What?' Kaname cried, staring at May elf in shock.

'This is a big decision, May,' Santa said, looking at her. 'Are you sure this is what you want?'

'Yes, Santa,' she said, smiling and nodding. 'I want to make the Mermaid King and Queen happy.'

'No,' Kaname said angrily, standing in front of May elf, glaring at her. 'I won't let you. We're supposed to get married, have kids and teach them to be great elves too. That's why I carved that heart and our names into that tree by the beach. It's what we've always wanted.'

'No, Kaname,' May elf said firmly, pushing him away. 'It is what you've always wanted. Not me.'

'But-' Kaname said, trying to find the words. 'But-'

'Kaname,' she said firmly. 'It is an elf's job to bring Christmas cheer to all who will hear. I want to do this.'

'But I don't want you to,' Kaname said, grabbing her shoulders.

'It is my choice,' she said, shaking him off. 'I want to make the Mermaid King and Queen happy again.'

'But-' Kaname began.

Santa held up his hand and Kaname stopped.

'It is May's decision, Kaname and no ones else's,' Santa said firmly. 'To tell her she couldn't would be an act against her free will.'

'But-' Kaname began.

Santa frowned at him.

Kaname winced and went quiet.

I was surprised.

I didn't think Santa could get angry. Guess I was wrong.

'Are you ready, May?' Santa asked the little elf, smiling.

'Yes, Santa,' she said, smiling. 'I'm ready.'

Golden, red and green lights flew from Santa's black-gloved hands and swirled around the little elf.

She laughed as the lights lifted her up into the air.

All the other elves stopped what they were doing and watched.

May's hair came out of their pigtails, turning blonde and her eyes turned blue.

Her skin lightened a little.

Her legs merged together, turning into a mermaid's tail.

She shrank to the size of a baby, closing her eyes, landing in Santa's arms.

'It will be a late Christmas present, but 1 they will cherish just the same,' Santa said, smiling down at the sleeping baby mermaid in his arms. 'Thank you, May. You have given the greatest present anyone can give.'

I was still stunned by what I'd seen.

Before I'd been a mermaid, I'd been a Christmas elf?

Suddenly I sniffed in a tiny bit of the Invisibility Powder and felt a sneeze coming.

Oh no. If I sneezed, the powder on my face would fly off and my face would become visible.

I tried to hold it in, but in vain.

I sneezed loudly.

The force of my sneeze blew the Invisibility Powder on my face off, making it visible.

But that wasn't all.

It turned out that Boots and Isa had been standing right in front of me.

When I sneezed, I blew off the Invisibility Powder covering them from their waist up, making the top half of their bodies visible.

All the elves turned, staring at my face and the top-halves of Isa and Boots' bodies.

'Who are you?' a small elf boy with blonde hair and blue eyes said, staring at us.

'It's... complicated,' I said nervously, trying to think.

The travel capes!

'Everybody, shake your capes!' I shouted, grabbed the sides of my own cape and shaking it.

Boots and Isa did the same.

'Wait,' Kaname said, looking from my floating face to the baby in Santa's arms. 'That face.'

The rainbow lights swirled around Isa, Boots and me in a large circle, telling me where the others were.

'Wait a minute!' Kaname cried, running forward.

The lights faded and we were gone.

When the lights faded around us we were standing not too far from mine and Dora's house.

After we'd travelled through time again, all the Invisibility Powder had come off and we were all completely visible again.

'Wow, May,' Benny said, looking at me. 'You used to be a Christmas elf.'

'And you gave that up to make the Mermaid King and Queen happy,' Esa said, smiling.

'Yeah,' I said, thinking. 'But why didn't Kaname want me to know that.'

'Now, this is just theory,' Tom said, frowning. 'But could Kaname have used my memories of Kaname Kuran from my world to try making you feel like a really handsome vampire was actually in love with you?'

'What?' Dora and I said, looking at him.

'Well, think about it,' Tom said, shrugging. 'In all vampire stories, the handsome vampire, regardless of whether he's good or evil, is always nice to the ladies, making them fall in love with him. I think Kaname took my knowledge of that and tried to use it.'

'Well, it failed,' I said, taking off the Travel cape and folding it over my arm. 'I don't love him.'

'Not even when you were an elf,' Isa said, folding her arms and nodding.

'It does explain why he wants to take the baby once it's born though,' Tom said, thinking. 'If May used to be an elf, there's a good chance that her baby will be part elf, or even all elf when it's born. And where's the best place for an elf?'

'Santa's Workshop,' we all said, understanding.

'I just wish he'd said that in the first place,' I said, folding my arms and frowning. 'Thanks to Tom's memories, I'd have understood.'

'Well, I guess we'll just have to wait until the babies born for you to talk to Kaname about this,' Tom said, smiling.

'Right,' I said, nodding.

Kaname and I were going to have some serious words with each other the next time I saw him.

Chapter Twenty-One

Birth and Bridging

The days went by.

During the first 3 days there were already signs that I really was pregnant.

I had started craving chocolate sauce on my food.

Monday morning of the 4th week, we knew the time for the baby's birth would be soon.

In truth, I was a little bit worried.

What if something went wrong?

What if the baby died during birth?

What if I died during the birth?

How was the birth even going to work, my stomach hadn't bloated out at any pointed, so I had no idea what was going on.

Right now, I really didn't like having Tom's memories.

He'd watched a lot of shows where, when a woman lost her baby during childbirth, she was sent into a sea of sadness the likes of which I knew I'd never felt.

What if that happened to me?

I don't think I could take it.

That afternoon I sat out on the front porch, looking up at the sky.

'Mind if I sit with you?'

I looked behind me.

It was Tom.

He was standing in the doorway.

He had a kind look on his face, so he was in a good mood.

I nodded and turned to look back up at the sky.

Tom sat down next to me and did the same.

We sat in silence, just looking up at the clouds, not saying anything.

After a couple of minutes, Tom broke the silence.

'You shouldn't be so worried,' he said, closing his eyes.

'Huh?' I said, turning to look at him.

'I've spoken with Torchwood the last couple of weeks,' Tom said, opening his eyes and looking at me. 'They've told me which doctors and nurses at the nearest hospital are associated with them. They'll make sure that nothing goes wrong during the birth. And they won't do anything to the baby that you don't want them to.'

'How do you know that won't simply take the baby away once it's born?' I asked, narrowing my eyes.

Tom smiled.

'You know how my anger can make me a pretty scary guy, right?' he said, looking at me.

'Yes,' I said slowly. Where was he going with this?

'Well, it only took Jack asking me that same question to set me off,' Tom continued, grinning. 'Plus, I didn't put on my restraints.'

I knew what Tom meant by that.

Back in his world, Tom's anger has always been a problem since his 2nd brain operation. When he gets angry, it's 5 times more than that of an ordinary full-grown man, which Tom kinda is himself now. But Tom has a type of mental restraint. It doesn't stop him from getting angry enough that he could really hurt someone, but it stops him from adding the anger from other times to present anger.

If not for those restraints, Tom would probably be in prison for killing someone.

That's how bad it would be in he didn't have those mental restraints.

'So, what happened?' I asked, a little intrigued.

'Well, even though Jack can never die, let's just say he doesn't want to run into me ever again,' Tom said, still grinning.

I smiled.

I know it's wrong to like the fact that Tom had threatened the lives of the people in Torchwood, but he'd done it for me.

That made me happy.

'Thank you, Tom,' I said, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek.

To my surprise, I could swear I saw him blush a little.

Suddenly I felt a tightening in my stomach.

I moaned, holding my arms around my stomach.

Tom didn't need to ask why I'd just moaned.

He'd seen enough TV shows to know what was happening.

'Mr. and Mrs Mendez, Dora,' he called, standing up, bending down and putting his right-hand on my shoulder. 'I think May's having the baby.'

No one asked questions.

Mami and Papi ran out, carrying a small bag with things I'd need while in the hospital.

Dora ran out with them, Magic Pack slung over her right-shoulder.

Tom picked me up and they hurried me to the car.

Papi got in a turned the ignition.

The engine murmured and went dead.

'Oh, of all times for the car to break down,' Tom said angrily, shaking his head.

'How are we going to get May to the hospital now?' Dora asked, looking at me in Tom's arms.

My eyes were screw up tight.

This was really painful.

How could woman with more than 1 child go through with this more than once? It was agony.

Just then, a train's whistle tooted close by.

Everyone turned to the right.

Not too far away were some train tracks.

They didn't pass the house exactly, but if Tom ran, he'd be able to reach them in a few minutes.

'I know that whistle,' Dora said, looking at the train tracks in the distance. 'That's Azul.'

'The blue train,' Tom said, thinking. 'Okay, Dora, follow me. If we hurry, Azul might be able to give us a lift to the hospital.'

'Right,' Dora said, nodding firmly.

'Mr. and Mrs. Mendez,' Tom said, turning to them. 'Try and get a taxi or something. Even if Dora and I get May to the hospital on time, there'll be some paperwork that only you 2 can sign.'

They blinked, seeming surprised by how much Tom knew about the ways and workings of a hospital.

'I've been in hospital a couple of times myself,' he said, seeming to read their minds. 'You learn a few things after your 4th long visit.'

'Tom, come on,' Dora shouted, running off towards the train tracks. 'Azul will be passing soon.'

'Got it,' Tom said, turning around and hurrying after her, carrying me in his arms.

I wished he hadn't run.

It made it even more painful more me, bobbing up and down in his arms.

2 minutes later, Tom and Dora stopped next to the train tracks.

'Okay,' Tom said, panting. 'How long do you think it'll be til Azul gets here? Phew, that run took more out of me than I thought it would.'

'I'm not really sure,' Dora said, getting her breathing until control and looking both ways up the tracks.

Just then, Tom saw a blue dot appear in the distance.

It grew bigger and bigger very quickly.

'There he is,' Tom said, looking in the direction the blue dot was coming from. 'It's Azul.'

It definitely was Azul.

'Azul! Azul!' Dora and I cried, Dora waving her arms over her head.

Azul noticed us and stopped next to us.

'Hola, Dora,' he said, smiling at her. 'Who's the man-?'

'No time to explain, Azul,' Dora said, shaking her head. 'We need to get May to the hospital as soon as possible.'

'How come?' Azul asked, looking from Dora to Tom to me, lying in Tom's arms, a strained expression of my face.

'We'll explain along the way,' Tom said, hurrying over to Azul's carriages, opening the door and putting me down gently.

Dora hurried in after him, closing it.

Azul tooted his whistle and started chugging down the line.

'Okay,' he said as we hurried down the line. 'Why's May got to go to the hospital? And why is her tummy so big?'

'Are you kidding me, Azul,' Tom said, leaving Dora with me, standing up and frowning. 'You don't know? She's been pregnant for over 3 weeks now.'

'Pregnant?' Azul cried, braking for a second and then continuing down the line. 'But she's only-'

'Only 7-years-old, I know,' Tom said, shaking his head. 'It's complicated, alright. But May is pregnant and we need to get her to the hospital as soon as possible.'

'Ah!' I cried, my grip on Dora's hand tightening.

'I think the contractions are getting closer,' Dora said, looking up at Tom, a worried look on her face, ignoring the fact that I was almost crushing her fingers.

My belly suddenly started shining.

'Hurry up, Azul,' Tom said firmly. 'We need to get to the hospital more than ever.'

Azul didn't argue.

He sped up and we hurled down the line.

Ten minutes later, he stopped outside the hospital.

'Thanks, Azul,' Tom said, grabbing me and carrying me out of the carriage. 'Come on, Dora.'

'Gracias, Azul,' Dora said, getting out and hurrying after Tom.

'Be nada,' Azul called after us. 'Tell May I wish her good luck.'

'I will,' Dora called, waving, running faster to catch up with Tom.

Azul tooted his whistle and chugged off, down the line.

Tom and Dora raced into the hospital's check-in.

'I'm looking for Doctor Cornal and Nurse Sulty,' Tom said to the lady at the check-in desk.

She looked up, shifting her eyes from Tom, to Dora, to me.

Tom leaned forward, lowering his head a little.

'Alia 9, 2, 3,' he murmured quietly so no one else would hear.

Even in all the pain, I registered what he just said, a frowned inward.

Why had he said that? It didn't make any sense.

The nurse's expression changed.

She was alert.

'I will get Doctor Cornal and Nurse Sulty right away,' she said, nodding. 'Please, wait in Doctor Cornal's office.'

She indicated to a door next to the toilet doors.

Tom thanked the woman, nodded to Dora and they hurried me into the office, trying to look normal.

Even if some people knew about my being pregnant and understood, other people wouldn't.

We didn't want people singling me out as some kind of freak.

Dora pushed the door to Doctor Cornal's office open and Tom walked in, carrying me in his arms.

It looked like any doctor's office word.

Diplomas and plaque showing completed medical certificates, posters of the human body and anatomy, models of eyes, etc.

'Ah!' I cried, screwing my eyes shut ffrom the pain.

Tom had gotten me into the room just in time.

If someone out there had noticed me in pain, they'd have asked why I was in such pain.

That would have been a real workout for Tom's lying skills.

'I think the contractions are even closer together now,' Dora said, looking up at Tom as he laid me down on the bed in the office. 'What do we do now?'

'We'll have to wait for Doctor Cornal and Nurse Sulty and try to keep May comfortable,' Tom said firmly. 'That's all we can do.'

A minute later, a man in a doctor's uniform and woman in a nurse's uniform came into the room.

The woman had brown hair and brown eyes, her hair tied back in a ponytail.

The man had short black hair and blue eyes.

'About time you got here,' Tom said, standing up from the seat he'd been sitting in, glaring at them. 'May's practically ready to have the baby right here, in this room.'

'I'm sorry for the delay,' Doctor Cornal said apologetically. 'We got a little tied up. Jack wanted to know what was happening as soon as I got the message that you'd arrived.'

'You're a few days earlier than we'd expected, so we had to rush things,' Nurse Sulty said, smiling.

'Yeah, whatever,' Tom said angrily, shaking his head. 'Now, can we stop talking and get May to the Birth Room, or whatever it's called, before she has the baby right here?'

'Right,' Doctor Cornal said, nodding. 'Bring her this way.'

He and Nurse Sulty walked out of the room.

Tom picked me up, nodded to Dora and they followed the both of them, trying to seem as normal as possible as they walked passed other people.

We went into a small room.

Dora and Tom were asked to step outside and wait.

Dora didn't want to leave me, but Tom put his hand on her shoulder, shaking his head.

'We shouldn't push our luck,' he said firmly. 'Jack's annoyed enough that we're not handing the baby over to Torchwood. We should just do what they say and sit in the Waiting Room.'

Dora could see that Tom wasn't kidding.

He had a worried look in his eyes.

Something she'd never seen before, but when I'd thought I was him.

They walked out, the door closing behind them.

I hadn't wanted Dora to leave.

I needed support from someone a knew and trusted.

I didn't really know anyone in this hospital.

Another doctor, a woman, came in, carrying a blue hospital dress.

It looked like it was for a 9-year-old, but I knew that it was for me.

The woman doctor quickly changed me out of my dress and into the hospital dress.

I was placed on a table and wheeled into the next room.

The Delivery Room.

There were lamps in a circle in the middle of the room.

I was wheeled into the circle.

20 people surrounded me.

They were all wearing hair-nets, face-masks and rubber gloves.

'Okay, May, breathe now,' a woman said next to me on my right, taking my hand.

I could only see her eyes. They were hazel.

'Dora!' I gasped, my eyes screwed shut. 'I- need- Dora!'

'Get her sister in here, pronto,' the woman said to a man closest to the door.

He nodded and hurried out.

Meanwhile, in the Waiting Room, Dora and Tom were sitting at 1 of the small desk where little children coloured in while waiting to see the doctor.

Dora wasn't colouring.

She was too worried about me.

'Don't worry, Dora,' Tom said, trying to make her feel better. 'May's like me. She's tough. She'll be aright. Trust me.'

'Hmm,' Dora said, looking down at her hands, still unsure.

'Dora Mendez.'

Dora and Tom looked up at the sound of Dora's name.

A man wearing a blue doctor's smock, white rubber gloves, a face-mask and a hair-net was standing by the door to the room I'd been taken into, looking around the Waiting Room.

'I'm Dora,' Dora said loudly, hurrying over, Tom right behind her.

'What's going on?' he asked the man. 'Is it over.'

'May wants to see Dora,' the man said, looking down at her. 'It's important.'

'Right,' Tom said, nodding.

He knew what was going on.

In many of the shows and movies where someone had had a baby, the mother had always wanted someone the cared about there.

Since Mami and Papi weren't here yet, that just left Dora.

Tom knew, if I had to choose between him and Dora, I'd choose Dora.

'Go on,' he said to her, smiling.

'Are you sure?' Dora asked, looking up at him.

'I'm sure,' Tom said, smiling and nodding. 'May's wants you, her sister, not some guy whose memories she shares. Besides, I think I need to have a little talk with Jack Heartness. Make sure he remembers the conditions of this birth.'

Dora nodded and hurried into the room with the man.

'Ah!' I cried, white light shining from me. 'Dora!' I cried. 'Where's Dora?'

'May, I'm right here,' Dora cried, running into the room, wearing a small hospital smock, rubber gloves, face-mask and a hair-net.

The woman moved aside so that Dora was on my right.

She grabbed my hand.

'You can do this, May,' Dora said firmly. 'I know you can.'

'Hmm,' I moaned through gritted teeth.

A light shone from beneath my dress.

A few seconds later, it was over.

I heard the sound of a baby crying.

I was breathing heavily, trying to catch my breath.

The woman from before walked over to my right, holding something in her arms.

She handed it to me.

It was the smallest baby I'd ever seen.

I took it in my arms.

Instantly, I felt a wave of happiness I'd never felt before.

This must be what mothers always feel like when they have a baby.

I smiled down at the little baby girl in my arms.

It was a girl.

Her eyes were closed.

She'd fallen asleep as soon as I'd held her.

Dora took off her face-mask and smiled at me.

I knew that the baby was an elf.

How?

She had pointy elf-ears

10 minutes later Mami and Papi arrived with the twins.

They were shown to my room.

When they walked in they saw me sitting up in a bed in the middle of the room, Dora sitting next to my bed on the right.

Tom was leaning against the wall, his eyes closed, smiling.

Next to Dora, lying sound asleep in a baby crib was the little elf-girl.

I'd named her Mayra, after me and Dora.

'So, what will happen now?' Mami asked as she and Papi sat down on the 2 seats on the left-side of my bed.

'She's fine, thanks for asking,' Tom said, shaking his head. 'Some people forget the right questions at the worst possible moments.'

'Yes, I fine, Mami, Papi,' I said smiling, then looking down. 'If I'm right, Kaname will be here shortly to take the baby away.'

'Can't we stop him?' Papi asked, looking at me.

'It's fine, Mr. Mendez,' Tom said, getting off the wall and walking over to the bed. 'May has everything under control.'

'But-' Papi began.

'Papi,' I said, leaning forward and putting my hand on his.

He stopped and looked at me.

'Trust me,' I said, smiling. 'I know what I'm doing.'

We waited for his answer.

'Hmm... alright,' Papi said after a few minutes. 'If you're sure.'

'I am,' I said, smiling and nodding.

Tom suddenly went stiff.

'He's here,' he said, turning to Dora. 'We'd better leave. This is something May has to do alone.'

'Why?' Mami said, looking shocked.

'May has a... complicated past,' Tom said, walking over to the door, opening it and standing aside. 'We'll explain later, but we can't intervene. This is something she needs to do on her own.'

'Oh,' Mami said slowly, looking unsure. 'If you say so.'

They got up and walked towards the door, carrying the twins.

Dora gave me 1 last hug, then she ran out the door.

Tom looked at me and smiled.

'Good luck, May,' he said, nodding.

'Thanks, Tom,' I said, smiling.

'You'll need it,' Tom said, grinning.

'Oh, shut up, you...' I said grinning, grabbing 1 of the spare pillows and chucking it at the door.

Tom quickly closed it, chuckling.

I shook my head, got out of the bed and walked over to the window, getting up on a stole so that I was looking out from Tom's height.

The door slowly opened.

I didn't turn around.

Kaname was standing there, his face as unreadable as usual.

'I knew you'd come,' I said, closing my eyes.

'Then you know why I'm here,' Kaname said, walking forward, the door closing behind him. 'That baby needs to be raised in the proper environment. A house full of humans is no place for a baby vampire to grow up.'

'A vampire?' I said, smiling.

'Yes,' Kaname said, nodding. 'A vampire cannot grow up in house full of humans. It would be dangerous.'

'I agree that Mayra shouldn't grow up in the same house as my family,' I said, turning around and stepping off the stool, walking towards Kaname. 'But a vampire? I think I'd know if she was a vampire.'

'How?' Kaname said, frowning at me. 'Vampires do not show the usual signs until after a few years.'

'That's probably true,' I said, walking up to Kaname with my hands behind my back. 'I don't know how vampires grow up so that's probably true. Except that my baby isn't a vampire, is she?'

'Wha- what do you mean?' Kaname asked, showing a flicker of worry.

'She's an elf,' I said, lifting my left-hand up to Kaname's face and holding it against his cheek.

I saw a flicker in his eyes.

'I know the truth, Kaname,' I said, letting my hand fall, turning around and walking over to Mayra's crib. 'I know that you're an elf, not a vampire.'

Kaname sighed.

He glowed white, shrinking down in size.

When the glow faded, he was his elf self again.

He was wearing his Christmas uniform.

'Then you know about... us,' he said, looking a little uncomfortable.

'Not too much,' I said, closing my eyes, putting my right-hand on Mayra's forehead. 'But I know enough.'

'Then you know that, regardless of our past, I still need to take the baby,' Kaname said, still looking uncomfortable.

I walked up to him, a firm expression on my face.

He flinched, worried.

He knew I had Tom's memories, so I could get really angry at him if I simply tapped into the memories of Tom's anger.

I leaned forward, and before Kaname could do anything, I kissed him on the cheek.

He blinked, not sure what had just happened.

'I'm sorry I didn't love you as an elf,' I said, holding my hand together, meaning what I said. 'It meant you never had a family of your own.'

'Um... well...' Kaname said, still not fully recovered from the surprise kiss on the cheek that he'd thought was going to be a knuckle-sandwich.

'But now you can,' I said smiling.

'Huh?' Kaname said, confused.

I turned to Mayra and smiled.

'With Mayra, you can have the family you wanted,' I said, closing my eyes. 'You told the elf me that you wanted to have her children with her.'

I looked at him and smiled.

'Since Mayra is my child, even if by the accident of an that bauble being somewhere it shouldn't have been, you can still raise her,' I said, taking his hands in mine. 'She's the perfect child for you. From me, even if I'm not an elf anymore.'

Kanme looked at me and smiled.

'Thank you, May,' he said, looking at me. 'I will never forget this. Elf children grow quickly. Maybe we can visit you on Christmas.'

'I'd like that,' I said, smiling. 'I'd really like that.'

Kaname walked over to Mayra, picked her up, held her in his arms and smiled.

He turned to me and nodded.

I nodded, smiling.

They both glowed with white light and disappeared with the sound of Christmas slay bells.

I looked out the window, smiling at the sky.

I felt a sadness, letting go of Mayra, but I knew that it was the right thing to do.

Besides, it wasn't goodbye.

I'd see her again.

There was no question about it.

Until then, however, Dora and I had many more adventures to come and I had a feeling the next 1 was right around the corner.

Later that night, I sat in, my bed, looking at my knees.

Kaname had appeared a little while ago.

Had used elf magic to regenerate my body.

But ever since Kaname had used his elf magic to regenerate my body, I'd been feeling kinda off.

Not quite right.

That was why I was in bed.

I'd asked if I could, thinking that maybe, if I went to bed early I'd feel better after a good night's sleep.

'You'll be just fine.'

I looked up.

Bed was standing in the doorway, looking at me with a kind smile.

'How can you be so sure of that?' I asked, looking back down at my knees again.

'I don't,' Tom said, sitting on the end of my bed. 'Not really. I'm just staying positive. Something you know I've always tried to do, back in my world.'

I gave a small smile.

'Yeah,' I said, looking up at him. 'Everyone always wondered how you could stay so positive when everything seemed to be against you.'

'It's my best trait,' Tom said, grinning. 'I've only ever lost it a few times.'

'And they never lasted more than half a day,' I said, looking up at him. 'Thanks for cheering me up, Tom. I needed that.'

'Sure,' Tom said, leaning forward and ruffling my hair. 'Now, get some sleep, aright? As long as you've got my memories, I don't want you ever thinking in the negative.'

I smiled and nodded, lying back in my bed and going to sleep.

Tom got up, climbed out the window, walked through the backyard and stopped at the slide, looking up at the sky.

He stayed that way for half and hour, just staring up at the stars.

'I know I'm never going home,' he said suddenly, closing his eyes and smiling. 'But maybe I can make a life in this world.'

Then he scowled.

'I just wish I wasn't some half—physical, half-ghostly thing,' he said, clenching his fist. 'Why can't I just have a normal body? Even being in May's body, back when I 1st came into this world was better than this!'

'I see,' a voice said from behind him. 'So that's what happens.'

Tom whirled around and froze in shock.

I was standing behind him.

But it was me me.

It was elf me.

The elf I'd been before I became a mermaid.

'What in the-?' Tom cried, staring in shock. 'How-? When-? Where-?'

'I see what I must do,' Elf May said, closing her eyes and nodding.

There was a swirl of snow-like white light.

When it faded, Elf May was gone.

'What the hell was that all about?' Tom asked, frowning and walking back toward mine and Dora's room. 'What was Elf May doing here? She had to have travelled through time, but why and how? And what does this mean for May.'

He climbed back in through the window.

Dora was in her bed, sound asleep.

Tom smiled, shaking his head.

Suddenly a white light started shining in the room.

Tom turned to my bed.

I was wearing my white Magic crystal.

It was glowing with and strong, bright light.

'What the heck?' Tom said, frowning. '1st Elf May appears in the backyard and now May's Magic crystals glowing brighter than ever? What hell's going on around here?'

Tom leaned forward to shake my shoulder and wake me up.

Suddenly the Magic crystal started glowing even brighter.

'Oh, come on,' Tom said, holding his left-hand to his eyes, trying to shield them from the light. 'Quit shining so brightly, will ya?'

Tom leaned forward and placed his hand around the crystal, trying to block out the light.

The glow brightened and Tom started being sucked in, like he'd seen cartoon characters when they fell into a black hole or something like it.

'Whoa!' he cried, disappearing into the crystal.

It shone even brighter and a white glow spread from it, over my body.

Almost as quickly, the glow faded.

The room was still and quite.

Tom didn't come back out of the crystal.

The next morning, Dora was the 1st to wake up.

She yawned, stretching and rubbing her eyes.

She turned to my bed and saw that I was still fast asleep.

My right arm was lying above my head and my hair was a little messy.

'May,' Dora said loudly, looking at me. 'Time to get up.'

I stirred, sitting up, rubbing my eyes.

'Why'd you call me May?' I asked, opening my eyes and looking at her. 'I'm Tom.'

Dora froze, staring at me.

'Tom?' she asked, getting out of her bed slowly 'You're Tom?'

'Yeah,' I said, looking down at my hands.

It was true.

I was Tom.

'The last thing I remember was touching the Magic crystal around May's neck,' I said, looking at Dora. 'The next thing I know, I'm waking up in her body, with you looking at me.'

'But if you're Tom,' Dora said, looking worried, 'where's May?'

'I can answer that.'

A bright light shone in the room.

When it faded, Elf May was standing by the door, looking at us.

'You again?' I said, frowning at her.

'Again?' Dora asked, looking at me in confusion.

'She was in the backyard last night,' I said, not taking my eyes off of Elf May. 'What are you doing here? Did you have something to do with the reason why I'm back in May's body?'

Elf May nodded.

'You are in my future,' she said, looking from me to Dora. 'I have come to see what I must do in my life.'

'So you're travelling to the future to learn in advance instead of just waiting to see what happens?' I asked, frowning. 'Don't you know it's dangerous, doing that? You could rip the very fabric of reality apart. I've seen enough TV shows and movies involving time travel to know that.'

'That's true,' Elf May said, nodding. 'But I needed to talk to you.'

'About what?' I said angrily. 'Why am I back in May's body? Where's May?'

Elf May sighed.

'She is inside you,' she said, looking at me.

'Ew,' I said, screwing up my face. 'That sounded so wrong. Not to mention creepy, weird and confusing.'

'I will try to explain,' Elf May said, closing her eyes. 'When May's body was regenerated after giving birth to the elf baby, it required her body to go back to the way it was, before the baby came into existence. And since you did not technically leave May's body until a little before the baby's existence...'

'I was pulled back into May's body because my memories were the first thing she knew of when she became human,' I said, looking down at May's hands- our hands, I mean my hands.

This was very confusing, even for me.

'So, what happens now?' I asked, looking from Elf May to Dora. 'Will May come back, taking full control or...?'

'No,' Elf May said, smiling. 'You are the soul inhabitant of that body. May will only exist as a part of your memory and personality.'

'Um, okay,' I said, raising an eyebrow. 'Is this 1 of the things May remembered when she learned that she used to be you?'

'No,' Elf May said, shaking her head. 'This is something she never remembered. Good luck with you lives, May, Dora.'

With that, there was a swirl of snow-like white light and Elf May was gone.

Dora and I stood in silence.

'What should we do know?' Dora asked after several seconds, looking at me.

'Well, I guess we should just live our lives,' I said, looking at her, then down at my hands. 'It's gonna take me some time to get used to being back in this body again. And I guess we should refer to me as May. That way, no one will ask any difficult to answer questions.'

Dora nodded.

We got dressed and went downstairs to have breakfast.

Now that I was back in May's body, things were certainly going to get interesting.

Then again, every day in this world was interesting so what was different, huh?

Chapter Twenty-Two

A Sister In Need Is A Sister Indeed

'Come on, May,' Dora called to me, running into the backyard.

'I'm coming, I'm coming,' I called, running after her.

We were at Abuela's house.

We'd been staying there for the weekend.

It's Sunday.

I didn't mind it so much, other than the fact that I didn't really know anything about Dora's grandmother and that Abuela hardly spoken anything but Spanish.

How come, when May had heard Tico speaking in Spanish, she'd understood every word, but now that I was in her body, I could barely understand any of the Spanish that Abuela spoke.

I kept having to ask Dora to translate for me because most of the time, I couldn't understand a word Abuela said.

It was 3 days since I'd been pulled back into May's body.

It had taken a little time, but I'd gotten used to being in a girl's body again.

Mami and Papi had told us the very morning I'd been placed back in May's body that Abuela had asked if we'd like to stay at her house for the weekend.

Dora had said "yes" right away.

I agreed, interested to know what was going to happen when I went.

May hadn't actually met Abuela so it would be a new experience for me since there were no memories of it, and the only time I'd seen Abuela in the DORA The Explorer show, back in the real world (curtosy of the memories coming from the me back in the real world) during Dora's Big Birthday Adventure and even then, Abuela hardly appeared at all in that. A few times, tops.

As Dora and I got out into the backyard, I got the strangest feeling that something was about to happen.

I stopped, scratching my head, frowning.

What was this strange feeling?

It wasn't a girl thing, was it?

A seagull cawed above me.

I looked up and jumped to the side just in time.

A seagull crash-landed on the ground where I'd just been standing.

It laid there, unconscious.

'What the heck?' I said, frowning at the unconscious bird.

Suddenly it opened its eyes and stood up, shaking its feathers.

'Are you May?' it asked, looking up at me.

It was a boy seagull.

'Yes,' I said slowly.

'This is for you,' he said, lifting his right-leg, which I know saw had a note attached to it.

I bent down, took the note, straightened up, opened the folded note and read it.

It read:

May, this is urgent.

Mariana has been captured by poachers and they're going to take her away.

You have to help her.

Signed, the Mermaids and Mermen of The Mermaid Kingdom.

'Oh no,' I cried, reading the note again.

'What is it, May?' Dora asked, hurrying over.

'Mariana's been captured by poachers,' I said, looking up form the note. 'We've got to save her.'

'Right,' Dora said, nodding. 'But where is she?'

'I can take you,' the seagull said, flapping his wings, flying onto my shoulder and nodding.

'You know where she is?' I said, looking at him.

'Yep,' he said, nodding. 'But it's pretty far away. How can we get there in time to save her?'

'We can handle that,' Dora said, smiling, lifting her hands up to the pink Magic crystal around her neck.

I lifted my hands to the white Magic crystal around my neck.

We hardly ever took our crystals off.

We wore them all the time.

'Just focus on where Mariana is, and we'll do the rest,' I said, smiling firmly.

'Okay,' the seagull said uncertainly, closing his eyes.

Dora and I closed our eyes too, concentrating.

The crystals glowed brightly.

Pink and white light came from the crystals and swirled around us.

'Hi, Dora!' Boots cried, jumping down from the tree branch above Dora's head.

'Boots!?' we both cried in shock.

The swirling lights completely surrounded us and we vanished from the yard.

The swirling lights vanished around as and we were standing in front of a large, abandoned aquarium by the sea.

'An abandoned aquarium?' I said, looking up at the building, frowning. 'They chose a place like this? I mean, I know an aquarium is the perfect place to hide a captured mermaid to avoid anyone else finding out, but an abandoned 1. All the water would have been drained out of the tanks ages ago and if the poachers put water back in the tanks, the filters wouldn't be working.

These had to be the stupidest poachers in the history of the world.

Even the Circus Brothers from Blinky Bill's Around The World Adventures were smarter than that. And that's saying something, cause they were real idiots.'

'Well, this is where the poachers took her,' the seagull said, looking at me from my shoulder.

'Okay,' I said, thinking. 'We're going to need stealth if we want to get in there, free Mariana and get out without the poachers finding out.'

'A little late for that, little missy,' a snide male voice said from behind me.

2 large, hairy arms wrapped around my chest, lifting me up.

I turned my head and my eyes widened.

I was looking at a pudgy man, with a nearly balding head, black hair, an unshaven face, wearing a blue and white horizontal lined T-shirt, baggy brown shorts and a bandana around his neck.

His eyes were green, a bloated.

This guy clearly didn't care for hygiene.

I struggled against his grip.

But, being in the body of a 7-year-old girl, I didn't exactly think I had much of a chance forcing myself free.

'Dora!' I cried, still struggling against my captor. 'Boots!'

'May!' they both cried.

I struggled to get my head in a position that I could look over the man's shoulder.

Dora and Boots were being held by 2 men, similar to the man holding me.

Dora's captor had brown hair, was wearing a green T-shirt and had blue eyes.

Boots' captor had blonde hair, was wearing a red T-shirt and had brown eyes.

'Let us go!' Dora shouted, struggling against her captor in vain as I had.

'Well, well,' a woman's voice said. 'Who do we have here?'

I turned around, facing in front of me.

A woman with long, black hair and brown eyes, wearing a one-piece red jump-suit and red high-heels was walking towards as.

'We found these 3 snooping around,' the man holding me said, looking at the woman.

She stopped in front of me, putting her ring-finger under my chin.

I glared at her.

I didn't need a police investigation to tell me that this woman was the leader.

She saw the look in my eyes and smiled.

Suddenly her smile turned into a snarl.

She looked around at all 3 of the men.

'How did they get here?' she said, looking from 1 of them to the other. 'What do they know?'

'We're not sure, mistress,' the man holding Dora said, grinning as she continued to struggle against him.

'Take them inside,' she said, nodding at the man holding me. 'We'll find out what they know soon enough.'

The men all nodded and started carrying us inside.

They carried us through what must have been the foyer.

'Let us go! Let us go! Let us go!' Boots shouted, struggling against his captor.

'If you don't let us go, right now, you'll be sorry!' I shouted, struggling against my own captor.

'And how are you going to back that up?' the man holding me asked, breathing tobacco smelling breath at me. 'You're just little girls. There's nothing you can do.'

'Arh!' I cried, screwing my eyes shut.

'May!' Dora cried, looking at me as a squirmed in the man's arms. 'What's wrong?'

'It's the me from my world,' I cried, straining to contain something inside of me. 'I just felt something.'

The woman walked in, frowning.

She'd heard what I just said and was intrigued.

'Such- anger!' I cried, bitting my bottom lip. 'It feels as if something's trying to burst out from inside me. He somewhat held it in, but I don't think I can.'

'What on Earth are these girls talking about?' the woman asked, looking at the man holding Dora.

'I don't-' the man began.

'ARH!' I cried, my eyes glowing red.

Red energy exploded from my body, sending the man holding me flying into the wall behind him.

The other men were thrown backwards as well, letting go of Dora and Boots, slamming into the wall.

'May!' Dora cried, trying to fight against the massive waves of red energy storming through the room. 'What's going on?'

'I don't know!' I cried, holding my head. 'I've still got some kind of connection to the me back in my world and he's angry about something. Worse than anything I remember!'

'But why is this storm of energy appearing?' Boots cried, trying to find the energy waves, the same as Dora.

'It's the crystal!' I cried, feeling the me from the real world's anger surging throughout my body. 'Because of the crystal's magic, the anger is turning into negative energy!'

'What's he angry about?' Dora cried, shielding her eyes with her arms.

'I don't know!' I cried, straining to see. 'All I can tell is the date of my world and the time. The 7th of July, 6:54AM.'

'May, you've got to control the anger!' Dora cried, her feet slipping a little against the force of the energy.

'I can't!' I cried, feeling like the anger I was feeling would rip me apart. 'It's too strong! Whatever his angry about, it's something that means a lot to him. A major part of his life!'

'Well, we'd better think of something, fast!' Boots cried, his boots slipping a little backwards. 'If we don't something bad might happen!'

'You don't know the half of it, Boots!' I cried, trying to open my eyes.

'What do you mean?' Dora shouted, trying to keep her footing.

'Coupling this anger with the power of the Magic crystal could tare this universe apart!' I cried, feeling my body straining under the pressure of the anger.

The crystal around my neck was glowing a dangerous red.

The anger I was feeling was corrupting the pureness of the crystal.

'What can we do?' Dora cried, straining to look at me.

'The only thing I can think of, is that we need to sever my link with the me in my world!' I cried, my left-knee buckling.

'But, how?' Boots cried, wrapping his tail around a pole in case his lost his footing. 'We don't know what's connecting you!'

'You stupid children!' the woman cried, the energy pulling her against the wall at the far end of the room. 'You're going to need to phone your best lawyer when I'm through with you...'

She went unconscious.

'Phone?' I whispered, thinking. 'My phone! That's it!'

I struggled to reach into my jumper's left-side pocket, pulling out my phone.

'May!' Dora cried, watching me. 'What are you doing?'

'It's the SIM card in my phone!' I cried, ripping the back off of my phone. 'It's the link! It's the only thing that was physically copied into this world with me.'

I shook my phone, the battery flying out.

I struggled against the wind, reaching in and pulling out the red Virgin Mobil SIM card from inside, tossing it to the ground.

'This should do it!' I shouted, stomping my right-foot down on the tiny SIM card.

It smashed under the weight of my foot.

'I did it!' I cried, grinning.

'AH!' I cried, red energy bursting from my eyes and mouth, swirling into the air.

The crystal starting glowing white, outwards.

The energy coming from my mouth changed to white, swirling into the red energy cloud that was above my head.

An explosion of pure white energy burst from my body, spreading across the room, eliminating the negative red energy.

When the energy faded away I collapsed on the floor.

'May!' Dora and Boots cried, running over, turning me onto my back.

I slowly opened my eyes.

'May, you're alright,' Dora cried, smiling.

'If you can call it that,' I said, grunting as I sat up

'What happened?' Boots asked, looking at me.

I leaned forward, picking up the broken pieces of the SIM card.

'This was what kept a connection between me and the me back in my world,' I said, showing them the shattered SIM card. 'When I destroyed it, the link was severed and the anger stopped flowing into me. Now that the connection's been severed, I won't receive any memories from that world again.'

'Especially the angry ones,' Boots said, folding his arms.

'What could have caused such anger that it created an energy storm?' Dora said, looking at me.

'I'm not really sure,' I said, letting the pieces fall from my hands. 'All I know is that it was caused by something in the early morning of the 7th July. The only positive thing I can say about it is the timing for it to reach me. It saved our bacon.'

'Bacon?' Boots asked, frowning. 'But we don't have any bacon.'

'No, Boots,' I said, giving a small smile and shaking my head. 'It's a figure of speech. I just meant that, while it wasn't an enjoyable experience, if that anger hadn't happened, we wouldn't be safe right now. We'd probably be being tortured by those men and that horrible woman.'

'She's right,' Dora said, looking behind us at the unconsious men and the woman. 'She wouldn't have thought twice about it.'

'Come on,' I said, standing up. 'We need to find Mariana and get her out of here.'

Dora and Boots nodded and we hurried down a nearby corridor, heading for an area where there would have been a large enough tank for Mariana.

We reached an intersection.

3 different paths.

1 had to lead to Mariana, but the others wouldn't.

'I'll take the middle path,' I said, looking from Dora to Boots. 'Dora, you take the path on the left and Boots, you take the path on the right. Meet back here if you find Mariana.'

'Right,' they said, nodding.

We all walked down each path.

I ran down the corridor, going passed empty tank after empty tank.

'Come on, Magic crystal,' I said as I ran, holding the white crystal in my left-hand. 'Show me where Mariana is. Please?'

The crystal started shining.

I stopped, waiting to see what would happen next.

It kept glowing.

I noticed 2 corridors.

I held the crystal up to the corridor on the left.

Its glow dimmed a little.

I moved it towards the other corridor and the glow brightened.

'This path,' I said, nodding.

I ran down the corridor.

I passed another couple of empty tanks, then stopped.

Wait.

1 of those tanks hadn't been empty.

I hurried back to the 5th tank in the corridor.

There was water inside of it.

'Mariana!' I called, cupping my hands over my mouth. 'Are you in there?'

Mariana swam up to the side of the tank, putting her hands on the glass.

She was still wearing the Magic crown.

'May!' she called, relief filling her face. 'You came to save me.'

'Yes... and no,' I said, feeling a little uncomfortable.

I'd suddenly realized that I'd have to tell Mariana what happened. All of it.

'What do you mean?' Mariana asked, looking confused.

'I'm Tom,' I said, putting my hand to my chest. 'The boy whose memories entered this body after May's memories of being a mermaid were erased and Fairy God Mother used her spell.'

That reminded me. I still needed to find Fairy Godmother and have some stern words with her.

'What does that mean?' Mariana asked, still looking confused.

'Nothing really,' I said, smiling. 'I still think a lot like May and have her heart and emotions. I still see you as my sister, even though I remember my family from back in my world.'

'Um, okay,' Mariana said, still looking like she didn't understand.

'Is there a way out of that tank?' I asked, peering into it.

'There's a hatch that leads to the sea,' she said, looking behind her. 'But it's locked. I can't open it.'

'Hmm,' I said, thinking. 'Maybe I can.'

'How?' Mariana asked, looking at me.

'I think she went down here, boss,' 1 of the men's voices said from down the corridor.

'Good,' the woman's voice said. 'That girl's going to pay for what she did.'

'Oh no,' Mariana said, looking worried. 'It's the people who kidnapped me. You've got to hide, May.'

'Yeah,' I said, looking at the tank, thinking. 'And I'll hide in plain sight.'

'Huh?' Mariana said, looking confused.

I held the Magic crystal in my hands.

It glowed with white light.

The glow surrounded me and I floated up to the top of the tank, where it was too high for Mariana to get down from without hurting herself.

I had to hand it to those poachers.

They were smarter than they looked.

I dived towards the water, the white light shining brightly.

My white jumper-shirt disappeared, to be replaced by a sleeveless white shirt with white frills at the shoulders.

My legs came together, turning into a greenish-blue mermaid tail, with a white frill at the point where my waist connected to my tail.

I'd become a mermaid again.

I dived into the water, swimming to the back of the tank, so as not to be seen.

Mariana watched as he poachers walked passed the tank, looking for me.

When they'd gone, I swam up to Mariana.

She hugged me happily.

'It's so good to see you, May,' she said, smiling at me as we separated.

'It's great to see you too, Mariana,' I said smiling. 'Now, let's get out of here.'

'But how, May?' Mariana asked, looking at me.

The only way out of this tank is that hatch to the sea, but it's locked.

'Hmm,' I said, swimming over to the circular hatch and examining it.

'What are you going to do?' Mariana asked, swimming up to me. 'You can't unlock it.'

'Maybe I can,' I said, holding the Magic crystal. 'If I focus hard enough, the Magic crystal should open the hatch and we can swim out of here.'

'That's a great idea,' Mariana said excitedly.

'But what about Dora and Boots?' I asked, looking at her. 'How will they get out?'

'We already have,' Dora's voice said.

'Huh?' Mariana and I said, looking at the crystal.

Dora and Boots appeared in it.

'We're already outside, May,' Dora said smiling.

'So hurry and get out of there so we can bring Mariana back to the Mermaid Kingdom,' Boots said happily.

I nodded.

The picture faded away.

I focused on the hatch in front of me.

The crystal glowed brightly with white light.

The hatch started to do the same.

'Are you sure this will work?' Mariana asked, swimming up behind me.

'I think so,' I said, frowning. 'I'm guessing this hatch opens to a pipe which, when this aquarium was still in use for the public, pulled new water from the sea to this tank. But since this place has been abandoned, the pipe should have been turned off, but it still leads to the sea.'

'And when it opens, we can swim through it to the ocean,' Mariana said, smiling. 'May, that's a great idea.'

The glow stopped and there was a banging sound.

The pipe was about to open.

Just then, I realized something.

If the pipes were turned off, wouldn't the water pressure have been building up? And if the pipe suddenly opened, wouldn't it mean that all the pressure would pull the water in this tank out.

Like Agoutis Gloop was shot up that pipe in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

There was a loud groaning noise.

'What's that noise?' Mariana asked, looking around, worried.

'I really didn't think this through,' I said, watching the hatch. 'Brace yourself, Mariana.'

'For what?' Mariana asked, looking at me in confusion.

'1 hell of a ride,' I said as the hatch opened.

Suddenly a blast of pressure yanked us forward, tumbling through the pipe.

'Hold on, Mariana!' I cried as we span forward, round and round down the pipe.

'Whoa!' we cried, flying out of a pipe by the ocean, falling for a second and splashing in the water.

'Ow,' I said, rubbing my head as we both floated under the water. 'I'm not going on that ride again.'

'Do you think we got away?' Mariana asked, looking at me.

A beeping noise floated through the water.

I knew that noise.

It was the beeping of an underwater radar.

'Come on,' I said, swimming forward, indicating that she should follow.

We swam forward.

We were close to a beach.

In front of us were the underwater pillars of a wooden jetty.

We surfaced above the water, underneath the jetty.

'Keep searching the water,' we heard the woman's voice say on the jetty above us. 'She can't have gone far. She can't go anywhere that isn't in the water and I've netted 12 miles of the area around this beach. She can't escape.'

We heard her footsteps along the jetty.

When they stopped, Mariana looked at me, a worried look on her face.

'You heard her, May,' she said, tears in her eyes. 'I can't escape.'

'Maybe you can,' I said, thinking.

'How?' Mariana asked, raising an eyebrow.

'If you become a human, you'll be able to walk on land, find a spot where the nets end, turn back into a mermaid and dive in again,' I said, smiling.

'How?' Mariana asked, looking shocked at the idea.

'My crystal,' I said, lifting my hands to it. 'But 1st, we'd better swim closer to the shore.'

I swam towards the shore under the jetty and Mariana followed me.

Spanish Words & Names

Gracias- Thank you

Asta loada- Goodbye

Cristal- Crystal

El rásgate-

Feliz Cumpleaños- Happy Birthday

Elicia

Vámonos- Let's Go

Adiós-Bye

Sénior- Mr.

Excelente- Excellent

Recorra- Clean Up

Buenas suelta- Good Luck

Barda- Stop

Corona- Crown

Espacio Exterior- Outer Space