"Brady are you sure you want to go back?" I asked.
"Yeah Taylor. I haven't seen my brother in a while," Brady said, "it will be nice to see him again." I sighed realizing there was no stopping him.
"Alright I guess it wouldn't hurt," I said.
"Yes!" He yelled then kissed me on the cheek, "Kinkow here we come!"
"Uh," I said while holding on to the basket of the balloon, "you know I hate traveling. I am going to be sick."
"Calm down baby we are almost there," Brady said as he rubbed my back. I just closed my eyes and leaned into him and focused on nothing but the sound of his heart beat.
"And you're sure this placed exists?" I asked.
"Have I ever been wrong before?" He questioned.
"Yes," I answered plainly, "there was the troll in the sink."
"Like I was to know a spoon got stuck in there!"
"Are neighbors the gnome?"
"He was short and had a white beard."
"Cheese wheel to France?"
"It could have worked if we just went to Wisconsin for the cheese festival."
"No sweetheart it wouldn't have." He just grumbled in response and I laughed. He can be so cute sometimes. I looked out over the water and saw how it sparkled. It was very shiny and it seemed so clean and pure. The sight was just breathtaking. "Wow!"
"Like the view?" Brady asked.
"It's so beautiful!" I said with amazement.
"That's just part of it!" Brady said with excitement, "wait till you see the island!" After a few minutes of traveling in the clear sky something unexpected happened. All of a sudden the white clouds turned stormy grey and the light seemed as if it was shut off by a switch.
"Brady!" I yelled. The wind picked up and the rain started to pour down on us like needles. Brady tied down the loose rope and then grabbed my hand and pulled me closer to him. Lighting struck everywhere and thundered rolled. "Brady!" I yelled again. He tried to say something but I couldn't hear him over the noise. Then our balloon was hit and it blew up in fire and smoke. We started to spiral towards the water.
"Don't let go!" Brady yelled. I nodded and held his hand. We hit the water with a crash and I got tangled in the balloon. The weight was dragging me down and I was running out of air. Finally I got untangled and I kicked towards the sky. I was relieved when I still felt Brady holding my hand. When I broke surface, Brady and I gasped for air like a fish. The storm was gone as quickly as it came and just out over the horizon I could make out a piece of land.
"Brady," I shouted, "look!" He followed my gaze and saw the brown piece of land in the middle of the blue ocean. He laughed and started to pull me along to it.
"We are almost there," he said and together we both swam to the shore line.
By the time we reached the island neither Brady nor I could stand up. We literally dragged ourselves onto the beach and just lied in the sand, completely out of breath. I could barely focus on anything. Color and shapes blurred together, the sound of my blood rushing to my ears was the only thing I could hear. My arms felt like they were going to fall off. Brady had let go of my hand so he could try to block the sun from his eyes. "We made it," is what he finally said when he caught his breath. I could only nod in agreement. "Taylor?" Brady asked, "you okay?" I gave him a thumbs up even though it wasn't true. I just didn't want him to be so worried about me. He practically dragged me all the way here! The last thing I need is for him to worry about his pathetic girlfriend.
"King Brady?" Someone said. I slowly sat up to see if I could get a better look. At first I thought it was Bigfoot but then I realized it was a less hairy man. He was a tall and very well-built. His voice was deep and low. He looked pretty confused, then again I would too if I saw a couple of complete strangers wash up on a beach.
"Hey Mason," Brady said with a small smile.
"What are you doing here? Why are you all wet? Who's that?" Mason rambled on.
"I'll answer all your questions later, right now I could use your help," Brady said.
"Of course my king," Mason said as he helped Brady up. I didn't want to seem weak so I tried to stand up myself. Big mistake on my part. Maybe I stood up too fast or I was still tired, but my legs wouldn't support me and I ended up falling back down. The last thing I heard was my name being called.
I woke up in a room that was made out of stone. I had a washcloth on my head and I was covered with a blanket. To my left was a bowl of fruit and to my right was a chair that was currently occupied by a man I have never seen before. So the first thing I did was scream grab the bowl of fruit and throw it at his face. He got a banana to the eye and while he was in pain I jumped out of the bed and ran out of the room. I noticed that I was changed into a dress that I was clearly not wearing before and I so hope I was at least changed by a girl. Anyway I ran down the hall pass many people who were carrying plates of food and fancy stuff like they were getting ready for a party. While I was running I hurried by people yelling "stop that girl," but no one did. Soon I reached what looked like a throne room. No one was in the room so I ran in and hid behind the chair. I sensed someone approaching me and with no energy left I just curled into a ball and shut my eyes tight.
"Taylor?" said the voice I looked up and saw it was Brady and I threw my arms around him and buried my head in his shoulders. He was surprised and first but then just patted my back and whispered comforting things into my ear.
"My king!" the man I recognized as Mason from the beach said, "did you find the girl? She went crazy when she woke up and hit a guard with a banana." Brady just chuckled at that and I blushed.
"Oops?" was all I said, "sorry. I woke up and didn't know where I was and I just saw a strange man and reacted without thinking."
"You caused a lot of trouble Miss," Mason said.
"Sorry," I replied
"I am afraid you might have to be contained for a while," he said.
"Come on Mason, she was just scared," Brady said. Mason looked at me for a moment and then sighed in defeat.
"Fine we'll act like this never happened," then he walked away. After a moment it was silent until Brady said,
"banana to the face?"
"It was out of panic!" I said in defense. He laughed and kissed my head.
"You ready to meet my brother?" He finally asked.
"Yes!" I said happily. Brady grabbed my hand and lead me out of the castle to the forest. We walked for a while and he explained about some of his adventures here, all of a sudden we heard some screaming. I turned around and saw two guys being chased by a giant bee.
"RUN!" Said one. The other just screamed. Brandy grabbed my hand and we ran back in the direction we came with the two guys right behind us. All of us ran back inside and closed the door with a loud BANG. One of the guys was black and short while the other one was tall and white.
"Brady!" Said the black boy when he took notice of us. They did there man hug thingy.
"Sup Boomer," Brady said with a smile, "I missed you bud." So this was Boomer. I thought it was weird how they look nothing alike but I didn't say anything.
"So you're Brady?" Asked the tall ginger haired one.
"Yes I am and you are?" Brady asked.
"Oh, I'm Boz, your other brother," Boz said. Brady looked completely shocked at the news and so was I. Neither of these three boys looked anything alike.
"Say what?" was all Brady could say. Boomer explained the whole story which I thought was fascinating. Then once the story was over Boomer finally saw me hiding behind Brady.
"And who is this?" Boomer asked.
"Boom and Boz," Brady said, "I would like you to meet Taylor Malcolm, my girlfriend." I blushed when he said that but put my hand out for them to shake anyway.
"Hi," I said politely, "nice to meet you." Boomer and Boz both shook it and gave me a friendly welcome.
"Ah Brady," Boomer said, "can I talk to you for a minute?" Brady nodded and told me I could go sit on the couch. So I did and Boz came over and I decided to try to talk to him.
"So what are they talking about?" I asked.
"If I had to guess I would say Mikayla," Boz said.
"Who is that?" I asked.
"Masons daughter, she is really strong and tough. Brady liked her for a while," Boz said.
"Really," I replied, "I didn't know that." Brady came back over and took my hand.
"We'll I'm going to show Taylor around," he said, "see you guys at the banquet." I waved goodbye to Boz and left with Brady to explore the island, but this time without a bee attack, hopefully.