Trapped In DORA The Explorer's World part 2
Real World Name: Tommy Jonhs
Adoptive/Cover Name: May Corasina Markez
Real World Age: 19 ½
Cover Age: 7
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, Diego, Elicia, Daisy, their parents, etc.
Weapon: My Voice and the White Crystal
Chapter Twenty-Three
Fiesta before Siesta
Mariana and I wadded in the shallows by the beach.
'Ready,' I asked, looking at Mariana.
She nodded firmly.
'But I'll need to change my hair colour for a while,' I said, frowning. 'Since they've already seen me as a human, they'll recognize me as soon as they see me.'
The crystal started glowing brightly, the light surrounding us.
Not too far off, the woman and the pudgy man with a nearly balding head were walking around the water, looking for Mariana.
They heard a noise and turned around.
A young girl with long orange hair and blue eyes, wearing a purple T-shirt with a star on the front and blue jeans, wearing a pearl necklace was standing behind them.
A younger girl was standing behind her, looking out anxiously.
She was wearing a long, orangey-white gown, like a princess, with long brown hair and eyes.
'Get lost, you little brats!' the woman said angrily, glaring at them. 'Go bother someone else.'
The girls ran off into the trees nearby.
Dora and Boots were waiting for them.
'Mariana, you look great as a human,' Dora said, smiling.
'Thanks,' Mariana said, closing her eyes and smiling.
'May, you look like Dora's twin,' Boots said, looking at me.
I smiled. 'Yeah, I know,' I said, looking at my reflection in the crystal. 'But it's not me.'
The crystal glowed with white light that spread over my body.
My hair turned blonde and my eyes turned blue.
My clothes turned back to the ones I'd been wearing before.
'Now, all we have to do is find a place where that net isn't in the ocean and Mariana can go back to the Mermaid Kindom,' Boots said, smiling.
'Not just yet,' I said, looking at Mariana.
'Huh?' Boots said, sounding confused.
'Mariana,' I said, smiling at her.
'Yes, May?' Mariana asked, looking at me too.
'We've been to your home in the Mermaid Kingdom,' I said, taking her hands in mine. 'But you've never been to ours. Would you please come? Even if only for a little while.'
Mariana looked surprised, then she smiled.
'Of course,' she said, looking at me. 'I'd be glad to.'
I hugged her happily.
'But, how will we get back to Dora's Abuela's house?' Boots asked, scratching his head.
'We can handle that,' Dora said happily, pulling her pink crystal out of her T-shirt.
'Please take us home,' Dora and I said to our crystals. 'Please take us home.'
The crystals started glowing.
White and pink light swirled around the 4 of us.
When the light faded we were standing a little away from Abuela's house.
It was late afternoon.
'Wow,' Mariana said, looking around. 'Everything's so different.'
'Come on,' I said, taking her hand and running towards the house. 'I want you to meet Abuela.'
We all went inside. No lights were on.
'Why are all the lights off?' Boots asked, raising an eyebrow.
'Abuela!' Dora called, looking around.
'Maybe she's in the backyard,' I said, hurrying to the back door.
Dora, Boots and Mariana followed me. We hurried outside.
There were a bunch of tables in the backyard, all lined with party food and there were party decorations all around the backyard.
'What the—?' I said, looking around, confused.
'Surprise!'
We all stared in shock.
All of our friends had jumped out from behind the table and other hiding places.
Mami, Papi and the twins, Abuela, Abuelo, Diego, Elicia, Daisy and their parents, Benny, Tico, Isa, Swiper, Azul the blue Train, the Grumpy Old Troll, Santa Claus, Baby Blue Bird, Señor Tucán, the Pirate Piggies, including Little Piggy.
Everyone was there.
Even Kaname and Mayra.
'Wh—what's this about?' I said happily as 2 birds flew over my head and put a party hat on it.
'It is to truly welcome you into our family,' Mami said, walking up and hugging me.
'What?' I said, feeling a little confused. 'But I've been in your family for ages now.'
'Not quite,' Abuelo said, walking up to me. 'The papers making it official only arrived today.'
'May,' Dora said happily. 'This Fiesta is for you.'
'For me?' I said, still feeling shock. 'I... I don't know what to say.'
'Well, Abuela has a very special gift for you,' Papi said, smiling.
Abuela walked forward, holding a wrapped gift in her hand.
'E mi ha,' she said, holding it out to me.
'Abuela, could you please speak to me in English?' I asked, looking at her.
Abuela looked surprised. 'I thought you wanted me to speak to you only in Spanish,' she said, shaking her head.
'No, not really,' I said, shaking my head. 'I may live with Dora but I'm not fluent enough in Spanish to have a conversation in it. Didn't you wonder why I had Dora translating everything you said to me?'
'Oh,' Abuela said, thinking. 'That does make sense.'
'Um, Abuela,' Mami said, putting her hand on Abuela's shoulder.
'Si?' Abuela said, turning to her.
'The present?' Mami said, nodding to me.
'Oh, si,' Abuela said, nodding. She bent down and held the gift out to me. 'May,' she said, smiling. 'This is for you.'
I took the present and opened it, lifting out what was inside.
It was a green Star Pocket, just like Dora's purple 1.
My eyes lit up.
'You are now an official Star Catcher,' Abuela said, smiling.
'Gracias, Abuela!' I said, giving her a big hug.
'De nada,' she said, hugging me back.
At that moment ,laughter erupted from around the yard.
Everyone looked around.
'I think I hear stars,' Abuela said, smiling. 'Time for your 1st catches, May.'
'Right,' I said, nodding, putting the Star Pocket on the left-side of Magic Pack.
'Go, May,' Dora said happily, smiling.
I nodded and started looking around the yard.
Four stars flew out from a bush where they'd been hiding.
I jumped into the air, holding up my hands.
I caught the stars, landing firmly on the ground.
I let go of the stars and they floated above my head, smiling.
'Great job, May,' Dora said, hurrying over, smiling. 'You caught your 1st stars.'
'Star Pocket!' one of the stars shouted, flying to the Star Pocket.
'Star Pocket, Star Pocket!' the other 3 shouted, flying in after the 1st.
'Well done, May,' Abuela said, walking over, smiling. 'Now, check the stars you caught. I think 1 of them has something for you.'
I looked at the Star Pocket.
A light-yellow star flew out and stopped in front of me, smiling.
It was an Explorer Star.
'Wishing Star!' Dora said smiling.
'Wishing Star?' I said, looking at Dora, feeling a little confused.
'Because you caught him, he'll grant you 1 wish,' Boots said happily.
'A wish?' I said, smiling. 'Any wish?'
'Any wish at all,' Dora said, smiling.
I closed my eyes and thought about it.
What could I use the wish for?
I opened my eyes, smiling.
'I know what I want to wish for,' I said, smiling at Wishing Star.
'Then tell Wishing Star and he'll grant it for you,' Dora said, smiling.
I leaned toward Wishing Star and whispered my wish to him.
He smiled.
'Si,' he said, smiling.
He shone brightly.
A glowing light appeared in my arms.
When it faded, I was holding my Togepi plush toy from the real world and my grey teddy bear, Emily.
'Wow,' Dora said, smiling. 'May wished for an Osito.'
'And she also wished for an um... um...' Boots trailed off, not sure what Togepi was.
'It's a toy from a TV show, back in my world,' I said, hugging the 2 toys close. 'It's called Togepi and the teddy bear's called Emily. I've had them from a very young age.'
'A wish well used,' Abuela said, smiling.
'Hey, come on, now,' I said, looking around at everyone. 'Enough of this mussy stuff. Let's Fiesta!'
'Yeah!' everyone cheered.
We partied until night-time.
Kaname introduced me to Mayra.
She'd grown a lot since I'd last seen her.
Then again, Elves grew at a faster rate than humans.
As far as Mayra knew, I was just a friend of her father, Kaname.
I was glad he'd honoured my wishes not to let Mayra know that I'd given birth to her.
Especially since there wasn't anymore physical evidence in my body to prove that other than our D.N.A.
As the day turned into the night, it came time to bring Mariana home.
Mami and Papi drove us down to the beach, where there were definitely no nets.
Dora and I hugged Mariana goodbye at the shore.
'Promise you'll come and visit the Mermaid Kingdom soon,' Mariana said to us as we let go.
'We promise,' Dora and I said together.
'Well, asta loada,' she said, waving to us and running towards the water.
Dora and I nodded to each other.
I held the magic crystal in my hands.
It glowed brightly.
A flash of light flew from it, hitting Mariana, making her shine with white light as she dived into the water.
She resurfaced, a mermaid again, waving to us.
We waved goodbye to her as well.
She smiled, diving back under the water.
Dora and I smiled at each other. Now it was time for us to go home.
We both yawned, our eyes drooping sleepily.
Mami and Papi came over and picked us up
They carried us to the car, did up our seatbelts and drove off, back home.
When we got home, Mami and Papi put us in our pyjamas, carried us to bed and tucked us in.
Mami put Togepi and Emily in bed next to me.
I slept the best I ever had that night.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Fairytale Adventures
The next morning I woke up early.
I sat up in bed and stretched.
Suddenly, I noticed a small, folded piece of paper on the bedside table between mine and Dora's bed.
I frowned.
What was that doing there?
I leaned over, picked it up, opened it and started to read:
Dear Dora and May,
Please come to the edge of the rainforest today at 10am.
I would like to show you something very special.
Signed, Old Mother Hubbard
I felt confused.
Old Mother Hubbard? As in, the fairytale Old Mother Hubbard?
This was interesting.
I woke Dora and showed her the note.
We agreed we'd go after breakfast.
So, after a breakfast of toast with honey and jam, Dora and I slipped Backpack and Magic Pack over our shoulders and set off for the edge of the rainforest.
Dora was wearing her usual clothes, but I'd change my look a little.
Today, instead of wearing that sleeveless white jumper and brown, light-brown shorts that I'd been wearing when I'd 1st met Dora, I was wearing a white T-shirt and an orange skirt. The look suited me.
As we passed Boots house, he came running out the front door.
'Dora!' he called, waving to us as he ran. 'May!'
'Hi, Boots,' we both said in unison.
'Where are you going?' Boots asked, stopping in front of us.
'We're going to go see Old Mother Hubbard on the edge of the rainforest,' Dora said, smiling.
'Do you want to come too?' I asked, smiling.
'Yeah, yeah, yeah!' Boots said, flipping in excitement. 'Ooh-ohh ah-ah!'
'Then come on, Vámonos,' Dora said, smiling. 'Let's go and see Old Mother Hubbard.'
We set off down the road.
Not too long after, we arrived at the edge of the rainforest.
Old Mother Hubbard was sitting on a tree stump, waiting for us.
She looked as I'd expected.
Relatively wide old woman with grey hair tied in a bun, wearing a long, marron plaided dress and a grey woollen shale.
Her eyes were blue and inviting.
'Welcome, welcome,' she said when she saw us coming.
'Hola, Mother Hubbard,' Dora said as we stopped in front of her. 'So what did you want to show us?'
Mother Hubbard smiled.
I frowned.
Was it my imagination, or did I see a glint of red in her eyes as she smiled.
'I wanted to show you this,' Mother Hubbard said, pulling a large, brown book from behind her back.
It was 1 of the biggest books I'd ever seen.
It was as big as 3 Doras.
'The Big Book Of Nursery Rhymes,' Mother Hubbard said, smiling at us.
'Wow,' Dora and Boots said together.
I was frowning, puzzled by something.
Why would Old Mother Hubbard come out of her own Nursery Rhyme, just to show us the Big Book of Nursery Rhymes? It didn't add up.
'Let me show you,' Mother Hubbard said, breaking my train of thought.
She opened the book to a page showing a large wood.
'There once was a sneaky fox,' Mother Hubbard began, holding the book in front of us. 'Who never ever wore socks.'
Suddenly, Swiper appeared on the pages, looking around sneakily.
'Swiper!' Dora and Boots exclaimed, looking excited.
But I wasn't smiling.
Something didn't seem right.
Suddenly I felt something hot underneath my T-shirt.
I reached in and pulled out my Magic Crystal.
It was glowing dimly, as if warning me of danger.
'But the fox was not careful,' Mother Hubbard was saying. 'He didn't listen when an old witch said go away fox.'
The picture showed Swiper sneaking up on a scary-looking house with a straw roof.
Outside, hanging in front of the door, was a small glass box.
'He tried to swipe the witch's glass box,' Mother Hubbard said, a glint in her eyes. 'So the witch trapped him. That cheeky, sneaky fox.'
The picture showed the witch opening her door and seeing Swiper about to swipe the glass box.
She glared at him, took a black wooden wand out of her pocket and waved it in a circle.
Swiper glowed with black light and vanished, only to reappear inside the tiny glass box.
'Now there you shall forever stay,' the witch said angrily. 'And you shall always roo this day.'
She slammed the door, leaving Swiper in the glass box.
'Someone, help!' Swiper cried, banging on the glass.
'Oh, no,' Dora cried, staring in horror.
'Poor Swiper,' Boots said, shaking his head.
'Come to think of it,' I said, looking around, frowning. 'I haven't seen Swiper all day. And he would've definitely tried to swipe something from us on the way here.'
'Then that means Swiper's trapped in the story,' Boots said, looking worried.
'We have to save him,' Dora said firmly.
Old Mother Hubbard chuckled evilly, her voice going a little higher.
'Mother Hubbard?' Dora asked, looking at her.
There was a flash of black smoke.
When it cleared, Old Mother Hubbard had turned into the witch from the story.
'You're not Mother Hubbard!' Dora cried, pointing.
'No, I'm not,' the witch said, cackling as all witches do. 'I'm the sister of the witch from Fairytale Land.'
'Fairytale Land?' Dora and Boots cried together.
'This can't be good,' I said, glaring at the witch. 'And it explains why my crystal was so warm. It was warning us about you!'
'Now I will make you pay for what you did to my sister, Dora The Explorer,' the witch said, taking out her wand and pointing it at Dora. 'And I'll take care of you 2 as well,' she added, looking at Boots and me.
She waved her wand and pointed it at us.
A wave of black sparkling light flew from the tip of her wand surrounding us.
The Big Book of Nursery Rhymes glowed with the same magic.
'Whoa!' we cried, being pulled into the pages of the book.
When the magic stopped spinning around us we were standing in a wood, just like the 1 from the story.
'Where are we?' Boots asked, looking around.
'I think we're in the Big Book of Nursery Rhymes,' Dora said, looking around.
'But how do we get out?' I asked, looking around too.
There was a puff of black smoke and the witch appeared in front of us.
'The Witch's Book of Evil Magical Deeds states that if I'm to trap you in this book, I must also give you a small chance of being able to free yourselves,' she said, folding her arms, smiling. 'So here's how you can get out of the book. Complete the 3 Nursery Rhymes that you come to and you will be able to free yourselves and Swiper.'
'That doesn't sound too hard,' Boots said, looking at Dora and me.
'I really wish you hadn't said that, Boots,' I thought worriedly.
'Too easy for you, huh?' the witch said, smiling. 'Then I'll make it harder.'
She waved her wand in the air.
A flash of black sparkling lights flew from the wand, exploding in the air and flying off in multiple directions.
'Now, certain characters from each of the Nursery Rhymes will have a bad cold, making it impossible for them to do their Nursery Rhyme,' the witch said, grinning. 'You will each have to take that character's place in the Nursery Rhyme and complete it for them.'
'Thanks a lot, Boots,' I said, giving him a quick glare.
'Sorry,' Boots said, shrugging weakly.
'Good luck,' the witch said, smoke appearing around her feet. 'You'll need it.'
She cackled, disappearing into the smoke.
'What do we do now?' Boots asked, looking from me to Dora. 'Which Nursery Rhyme should we go to 1st?'
'Who do we ask for help, when we don't know which way to go?' Dora asked Boots, smiling.
'Map,' Boots said happily.
'You'd think he'd have realized this by now,' I thought, rolling my eyes.
Just as Dora was about to reach for Map, there was another puff of black smoke.
The witch was standing in front of us.
'Oh, I forgot to mention,' she said, pointing her wand at Map.
He was surrounded by the black sparkling light and floated out of Backpack.
'Whoa!' he cried, flying over to the witch.
'You can't use Map during this challenge,' she said, pointing her wand at Map again.
He vanished in a puff of smoke.
'Map!' we all cried.
'Do not worry,' the witch said, smiling. 'He is with Swiper. If you can finish every Nursery Rhyme in time, I'll set them both free.'
She cackled again, vanishing once more in a puff of black smoke.
'Now what will we do?' Boots asked frantically. 'The witch has Swiper and Map. How will we find them? Oh, what'll we do? Oh, what'll we do?'
'Boots,' I said, putting my hands on his shoulders. 'Calm down. Take a deep breath and calm down.'
Boots did as I told him.
'Now,' I said, looking at Dora. 'It's been a while since I've bothered with Nursery Rhymes, so Dora, you and Boots are going to need to help out the most, since you both have been listening to Nursery Rhymes more recently than I have.'
'Right,' Dora said, nodding.
'Got it,' Boots said, nodding too.
'I can remember some of the Nursery Rhymes from my childhood, back in my world,' I said, folding my arms, frowning. 'But I think there are some I've forgotten and others I may never have even heard of. This won't be easy.'
'But we'll do it together,' Dora said firmly, holding out her hand.
I smiled, placing mine on top of it.
'Together,' I said, nodding.
'Together,' Boots said, putting his hand on top of mine.
'Let's do this,' I said firmly.
'Vámonos!' we shouted, lifting our hand up in the air.
There was a puff of light-blue smoke and Fairy Godmother appeared.
'Fairy Godmother!' Dora and Boots cried happily.
'Hello, Dora,' she said, smiling. 'Hello, Boots.'
Suddenly she realized I was standing behind them, glaring at her.
'Oh,' she said, pulling at the neck of her dress's collar nervously. 'Hello... May.'
'Fairy Godmother,' I said, no hint of greetings in my voice what so ever.
Dora and Boots noticed my tone and realized I needed to say something stern to Fairy Godmother and they'd be wise to stay out of it.
'Um, maybe I should come back later—' Fairy Godmother began, turning around.
'Oh, no you don't!' I said, grabbing her left-wing and holding it firmly.
I had her now.
In the Santa Claus 2 movie, I'd seen Santa Claus grab the Tooth Fairy's left-wing, making it impossible for him to get away.
I'd had the feeling the same would apply to Fairy Godmother. I wasn't wrong.
She looked back at me worryingly.
And so she should be worried.
She had a lot to answer for and I wasn't letting her get away until she explained herself.
'You lied to me, Fairy Godmother,' I said, my face and voice stern.
She wiggled nervously.
'You told me that when I'd fallen into this world, my body had started to disintegrate,' I said, glaring at her. 'You told me you'd turned me into a girl to save me. But my body was never even here! My memories and subconscious were what entered this world and ended up inside this body because the real owner of it had lost all of their memories, so mine took their place!'
She whimpered, confirming that everything I'd just stated was true.
'You called my cell phone, pretending to be my dad, making me think he now knew about what had happened to me!' I yelled, my nostrils flaring.
She whimpered again.
'Why?' I asked angrily. 'Why did you lie?! All that time I thought my family were going to be worried sick because I'd fallen into another world, but the real me is still in my world, with no knowledge that this has even happened!'
'I— I did it for you,' she managed at last.
'What?' I said, my eyes widening, the anger clearly visible. 'What do you mean you did it for me? What possible reason could you have had for making me believe that conglomeration of fibs?!'
Conglomeration? Huh. If I wasn't so angry, I'd be impressed with my word choice.
'You would have felt horrible if you'd known from the beginning that you were only your memories trapped in the body of a girl whose own memories had vanished,' she whispered fearfully.
I stopped, my grip loosening on her wing.
I slumped to the ground. She was right.
With my way of thinking, I'd have been horrified to learn right away that I'd just been my own memories, transported into Dora's world and trapped in the body of a girl, whose memories had just recently been erased.
I would have been on a guilt trip from then to now, if I'd even lasted that long, feeling like it was my fault the girl's mind was gone, with only me to replace it.
'I am sorry I lied to you,' Fairy Godmother said, looking at me sadly. 'I know it was wrong.'
I didn't answer. I just sat there, staring into space, not sure what to say.
Fairy Godmother smiled.
'But if I hadn't lied, you never would have become the person you are now,' she said, landing lightly in front of me. 'You are the strong, confident person you are, because you always believed that you were who I'd said you were.'
'That's... true,' I said slowly.
'And you wouldn't have become my sister,' Dora said, sitting next to me and putting her hand on my shoulder.
'And we wouldn't have become such great friends,' Boots said, sitting on my other side.
I smiled at the both of them.
Then I took a deep breath and looked up at Fairy Godmother.
'Okay, Fairy Godmother,' I said, looking at her. 'I forgive you.'
'I am glad to hear it,' she said, smiling back.
'Now,' I said, standing up. 'Let's get through these Nursery Rhymes and save Map and Swiper.'
'Yeah,' Dora and Boots said together, nodding.
'You will need these on your journey,' Fairy Godmother said, waving her wand.
Three small golden circles encrusted with diamond, rubies, sapphires, emeralds and other gems aligned in a circle appeared in our hands.
'What are these?' Boots asked, frowning curiously at the golden circles.
'They are magic compacts,' Fairy Godmother said, smiling. 'They tell you which Nursery Rhyme you are nearest to and will allow you to take the place of each Nursery Rhyme character under the witch's Cold Spell.'
'Wait, you mean without these we wouldn't have been able to take the character's places?' I asked, staring up in shock.
Fairy Godmother nodded.
'That good for nothing witch,' I growled, clenching my fist. 'She knew that and didn't tell us. We'd have been trapped in this book forever. I thought she said that Witch's book said she needed to give us a chance to escape.'
'Oh, she did,' Fairy Godmother said, a disapproving look on her face. 'Unfortunately, The Witch's Book of Evil Magical Deeds book doesn't say she has to tell you all the rules or help you in any way.'
'That witch,' Boots said angrily, stomping his foot.
'Thank you, Fairy Godmother,' I said, looking at her and smiling. 'I'm very glad you got your spells right this time.'
'Why, thank you,' she said, curtseying, before realizing that that had been a compliment and an insult at once. 'Hey!'
'Well, let's get going,' I said, holding up the golden compact. 'We've got Nursery Rhymes to complete.'
We ran off into the woods.
Fairy Godmother watched us, shaking her head, smiling.
'She certainly is a determined child,' she said, chuckling.
She waved her wand and vanished in a swirl of blue sparks.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Little Red Ridding May
Dora, Boots and I walked through the woods.
'I wonder which Nursery Rhyme we'll have to complete 1st,' Boots said as we passed a bramble bush.
'I'm not sure Nursery Rhymes are the only things here,' I said, pushing a branch aside, allowing Dora and Boots passed.
'What do you mean, May?' Dora asked as I let the bramble go back.
'Well, I noticed a few words scribbled out on the front cover of the book as we were being pulled into it,' I said, hopping over a piece of deadwood.
'What was that?' Boots asked, hanging from a tree branch.
'That wasn't the Big Book of Nursery Rhymes,' I said, shaking my head. 'It was the Big Book of Nursery Rhymes and Fairytales.'
'So, we'll have to complete Nursery Rhymes and Fairytales?' Boots asked, staring at me.
'It would appear so, Boots, yes,' I said, nodding.
'Which Nursery Rhyme or Fairytale will we have to complete 1st, Dora?' Boots asked, looking at her.
Dora took the golden compact out of her pocket and opened it.
The mirror inside it shone brightly.
Instead of Dora's reflection the mirror showed a picture of Red Ridding Hood.
'We have to complete the story of Little Red Riding Hood,' Dora said, looking up.
'Does it tell you which character needs replacing?' I asked, looking at her.
Dora frowned, looking at the mirror.
She sighed sadly. 'No,' she said, shaking her head.
'Damn,' I cursed, thinking. 'That means we'll have to figure it out. It could be any of them.'
'Red Riding Hood's mom,' Boots said, counting off the possibilities on his fingers. 'Red Riding Hood, her grandma, the Wolf.'
We walked for a few more minutes and arrived at a small, 2 story cottage in a clearing.
'That's gotta be Red Ridding Hood's house,' Boots said excitedly, pointing.
'Hey,' I said, frowning. 'Little Red Riding Hood's called that because she wears a red hood, right?'
'Yeah,' Boots and Dora said, nodding.
'So what do people call her when she's not wearing it?' I said, looking at the 2 of them.
They frowned, thinking.
'I don't know,' Dora said eventually.
'Me neither,' Boots said, shaking his head.
'Well, maybe we can ask her,' I said, walking into the clearing and heading for the house.
Dora and Boots followed me.
I knocked on the door. Dora and Boots came up behind me just as it opened.
A woman with blonde hair and blue eyes opened the door.
She was wearing a blue hood over a brown dress.
'Um, are you Little Red Riding Hood's mother?' I asked, frowning a little.
'Yes,' she said, nodding. 'But I may not be for long.'
Dora, Boots and I looked at each other.
What did she mean by that?
Mrs Hood showed us inside and up the stairs to Red Ridding Hood's room.
Red Ridding Hood was lying in bed, a thermomotor in her mouth.
Her brown eyes were baggy, her brown hair messy and she had a hot water bottle under her right-arm.
'Oh, no,' Dora cried, running into the room. 'Little Red Ridding Hood, are you alright.'
'I'll be fine,' she said, her voice sounding like anyone with a cold does. 'Bu' I can' finig de 'tory and gib de goodies tow gwandma wid dis cold— Ah-choo!'
'It looks like we know who we'll need to take the place of in this story,' I said, looking at Dora. 'Little Red Ridding Hood herself. And since you're the only 1 with brown hair, Dora, I guess you'll be taking her place—'
As I spoke the golden compacts flew from mine and Dora's pockets and from Boots waist.
They span above us in the air. Suddenly they all stopped and opened.
A beam of yellow light flew from each compact and pointed to me.
'Huh?' I said flatly, confused.
Each compact glowed brightly and a flash of golden light flew from them, consuming me.
When the light faded, I was wearing a red hood, holding an empty basket.
'Um, what's going on?' I said, slightly annoyed, glaring up at the compacts. 'My hair's blonde. Red Ridding Hood's is brown.'
The compacts flew to our hands.
Fairy Godmother's face appeared in the mirror of each compact.
'I forgot to mention that the compacts will choose whomever they think to do the story,' she said, smiling. 'Buenas suelta.'
She faded away.
'Hey, come back!' I said angrily, my angry face glaring back at me from the mirror.
'Well, May,' Dora said, looking at me. 'It looks like you'll be taking Red Riding Hood's place.'
'Hey, what did you mean when you said you wouldn't be Red Ridding Hood's mom for much longer?' Boots asked Mrs Hood, looking up at her.
She looked down sadly.
'Boots,' I thought angrily. 'This so isn't the time.'
'If our story is not completed, I will disappear,' Mrs Hood said sadly.
'Great,' I thought, rolling my eyes. 'Like I'm not under enough pressure at the thought that we could be stuck in this book forever if I fail already, you have to go and say something like that.'
'Let's do this,' I said, shaking my head and hurrying down to the kitchen. 'The sooner we finish this story, the sooner we can move on already.'
Mrs Hood put all the goodies in my basket and Dora, Boots and I set of towards Grandma's house.
'Will you have to do the story exactly the way it's written in the book?' Boots asked as we walked all.
'We'd better not,' I said, feeling my face going as red out of embarrassment as this hood I had to wear. 'There's no way I'm letting that wolf eat me!'
'Oh, you won't have to,' a small blue-bird said on the tree above us. 'You only have to make sure you say the things Red Ridding Hood says to the wolf before it reveals that it's the wolf.'
'Um, thanks,' I said, as the bird took off and flew away.
'That was a little convenient,' I thought, giving a small smile. 'Hang on, I'll bet that bird was Fairy Godmother. She's sneaky. I'm impressed.'
We arrived at Grandma's house a few minutes later.
All through the walk I could have sworn I could hear Peter Combe's Little Red Ridding Hood song.
'Well, here goes,' I said, knocking on the door.
'Ahem— come in,' a voice called from inside.
It took everything I had not to scream in frustration. That wolf was doing the worst impression of a woman I'd ever heard.
How did Red Ridding Hood fall for it so easily? Was she completely retarded?
I pushed the door open and walked in.
The wolf was wearing Red Ridding Hood's Grandmother's pyjamas.
I mentally shook my head.
He wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he was the wolf pretending to be Grandma.
I gave an inward sigh and said the lines I needed to.
'Oh, Grandma,' I said, pretending to be surprised. 'What big eyes you have.'
'All the better to see you with, my dear,' the fake Grandma said.
URH! I gave an inward shout. He wasn't even disguising his voice anymore.
If I was forced to go along with this fairytale couldn't the other characters, especially the villain, I don't know, put in the effort?
But, despite my intense desire to wallop the wolf in the head, I carried on.
'And Grandma, what big ears you have,' I said, pretending not to have noticed the low voice.
'All the better to hear you with... my dear,' the fake Grandma said, actually trying to make its voice sound like an old woman.
'And Grandma,' I said, pretending to look very worried. 'What big teeth you have!' 'All the better to eat you with, my dear!' the wolf cried, leaping out of the bed, whipping off the disguise.
'Finally,' I thought, grinning. 'Now for some fun.'
I leaped into the air, dodging the wolf's razor sharp teeth.
It slammed into the wall, sliding down.
'Oh,' he said, little mes running around his head. 'That wasn't right, was it?'
'Sorry, wolf-boy,' I said, pulling off the hood, grinning down at the wolf. 'Ridding Hood's off the menu.'
'Mummy,' the wolf whimpered.
Dora and Boots sat outside, waiting.
Suddenly they heard a loud commotion.
The kind when you hear when someone's being beaten up in those old Looney Tunes cartoons.
But they could tell it was the wolf in trouble, not me.
A few minutes later, I walked out of the house, Red Ridding Hood's Grandma right behind me.
'What happened?' Dora asked, looking at me.
I dusted my hands. 'Let's just say, that wolf won't be eating anyone else, anytime soon,' I said, grinning.
Inside, the wolf's arms and legs were tied to the chandelier.
'I should've been a vegetarian,' he said sadly, hanging there.
'So, have we completed the story?' Boots asked, looking at me.
'Let's check,' I said, pulling the golden compact out of my skirt's left pocket and opening it.
The rubies glowed brightly and a big golden COMPLETE appeared in the mirror.
'Story complete,' I said, smiling.
'Yay!' Boots cried, punching the air.
'Now, let's go and find the next story,' Dora said, smiling.
We said "adios" to Red Ridding Hood's Grandma and headed off into the woods.
Chapter Twenty-Six
GoldiBoots and The 3 Bears
'Which story do we complete next?' Boots asked, looking at Dora.
She took out her golden compact and opened it.
A picture of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears appeared.
'Goldilocks and the 3 Bears,' Dora said, smiling. 'But who will we have to replace?'
'And who's doing the replacing?' I asked, folding my arms. I was still wearing the Red Riding Hood hood. I guessed it wouldn't disappear until either I had to take another character's place or we left the book.
We walked through the woods, looking for signs as to whom we'd have to replace.
We came across a small cottage that looked very familiar to me.
I hurried forward, knocking on the door.
Snow White opened it as Boots and Dora caught up with me.
'Snow White?' Dora asked, looking confused. 'But the compact said—'
'Ah-choo!' a loud voice said from inside the house.
We entered and saw Goldilocks sitting at the long table, wrapped in a blanket, a cup of warm chicken soup in her hands.
'Oh, I get it now,' Boots said, nodding. 'Goldilocks is the 1 who's sick, but Snow White's taking care of her.'
'So, who's gonna replace her so that the story's completed?' I asked, lifting up my golden compact.
It, along with Dora's and Boots' compacts flew into the air and circled around us.
They stopped, a beam of golden light pointing at Boots.
'Huh?' he said, looking as confused as we felt.
'Okay, this is just weird,' I said, shaking my head. '1st I get chosen to replace Red Ridding Hood, who's a brunette, while I'm a blonde, and now Boots has been chosen to replace Goldilocks, even though he's a boy.'
'A boy monkey,' Boots corrected me.
3 flashes of golden light flew from the compacts and zapped Boots.
When the light faded, Boots was wearing a frilly pink dress and had long, curly blonde hair.
'I look ridiculous,' Boots said, folding his arms, pouting.
'No, no,' I said, holding my hand over my mouth. 'You look great.'
Dora and I burst out laughing.
We couldn't help it. We'd tried to be kind and not laugh, but that had only worked for, like, a nano-second.
Boots watched us angrily as we both rolled back and forth on the floor, laughing our heads off. Not literally of course, although, in a cartoon world, that was possible.
'Come on,' Boots said angrily, stomping out of the house. 'Let's get this over with.'
Trying to stop our snickers, Dora and I hurried out after him.
I'd really needed that laugh.
We walked through the woods, going down a path on the small map the compacts had shown us.
As we walked, I could swear I'd heard Peter Combe's Goldilocks, Goldilocks song.
What was going on? Why was I hearing these songs?
A few minutes later, just as the song seemed to stop, we came to a clearing, in which there was a single small, two-story cottage with a straw roof.
'This is it,' I said firmly. 'The 3 Bears' house.'
'Um, do I really have to do this?' Boots asked nervously. 'Bears can be scary.'
'Don't worry, Boots,' I said, smiling. 'Goldilocks was always fine in the end. It's perfectly safe. Unless it's like on the Simpsons, when the 3 Bears killed Goldilocks in a bloody attack.'
'What?!' Boots squeaked, frozen to the spot.
Whoops. Slip of the tongue again.
'Just forget I said that,' I said, patting his back assuredly. 'You'll be fine.'
Still looking anxious, Boots walked out from the trees, reached the 3 Bears' house, opened the door and went inside.
It was pretty obvious to tell what came next.
In order:
Boots tried all 3 bowls of porridge, eating all of Baby Bear's.
Boots tried sitting on all 3 chairs, finding Baby Bear's the comfiest and breaking it.
He tried all 3 beds, finding Baby Bear's the comfiest and fell asleep.
Dora and I waited in the bushes, looking out for the 3 Bears.
Little did we know, that the witch was watching us from the branches of a nearby tree.
'Hmm,' she said frowning, rubbing her chin. 'These 3 are better than I thought. Looks like I'm going to have to make things more difficult.'
At that moment the 3 Bears walked into the clearly, walking on their hind legs.
The witch grinned. 'I have an idea,' she said, pulling out her wand and pointing it at the 3 Bears. 'You like eating porridge, that's plain to see. But now you want to eat the curly-haired monkey. One, two, three!'
A stream of black, sparkling light flew from her wand and covered the 3 Bears.
Dora and I watched as their happy expressions turned into rage.
'Oh, no,' Dora cried, turning to the left and seeing the witch fly off on her broomstick, cackling. 'The witch has done something to the 3 Bears.'
'She's made them hungry for monkey, that's what she's done,' I said, grabbing my compact and opening it. If I was right, I should be able to contact Boots with it. 'Boots!' I shouted, looking into the mirror. 'Boots, the 3 Bears are back and they want to eat you. Boots!'
Up in the 3 Bears bedroom, Boots was snoring on Baby Bear's bed.
'Boots?' my voice cried from his compact.
He stirred a little, then continued to snore.
'BOOTS!' my voice shouted loudly.
'WAH!' Boots cried, waking up, leaping into the air and banging his head on the roof. 'Ow!'
'Boots!' my voice cried from the compact.
'May?' Boots said, opening the compact, still a little sleepy. 'What is it?'
'The 3 Bears are back and the witch has done something to them,' I said firmly, my face appearing in the mirror of the compact. 'They're coming up to eat you!'
'They're what?' Boots cried, his eyes widening.
'Boots, get out of there, now!' Dora cried, her face appearing next to mine.
A noise came from the stairs. Boots turned to see the 3 Bears walking up the stairs, looks of pure rage and blood-lust on their faces.
'Oh, boy,' Boots said, jumping up, using his tail to swing to the window. 'I'm outta here!'
He swang out the window as Papa Bear lunged at him.
He landed on the ground and hurried over to us.
'Did we complete the story?' he asked, his hands on his knees, breathing heavily.
I looked into the mirror of my compact.
The sapphires glowed brightly and a big golden COMPLETE appeared in the mirror.
'Story complete,' I said, smiling.
'Phew,' Boots said, dropping to the ground, smiling. 'That's good. Because I'm not going back in there.'
'So, let's head for the next story,' I said, smiling. 'It should be Dora's turn next.'
'As long as my story doesn't involve any bears,' Dora said, smiling.
We all laughed and headed deeper into the woods, ready for the 3rd and final story.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Sleeping Dora
We walked out of the trees and found ourselves staring at a village with a large castle in the middle.
'Which story is the last 1?' Boots asked, looking at me.
I lifted up my compact, opening it and looked into the mirror.
A picture of Sleeping Beauty, lying fast asleep appeared in it.
'Sleeping Beauty,' I said, smiling. 'And if I'm right, it'll be Dora's turn.'
As I spoke the compacts floated into the air, span around our heads and pointed a beam of golden light at Dora.
'Yep,' I said, folding my arms, nodding. 'I was right.'
'But who will she replace in the story?' Boots asked.
Unexpectedly, the compacts flew back to us, without changing Dora.
'Huh?' we said, frowning.
'What's going on?' Boots asked, pushing some of his new curly golden hair out off his eyes. 'Why didn't the compacts change Dora?'
'Maybe we need to learn the character that needs to be replaced first,' Dora suggested, pocketing her compact.
'I think you're right,' I said, pocketing my own. 'Both the times Boots and I got chosen to replace Red Riding Hood and Goldilocks, we'd already learned that they were the ones with colds. We need to learn who Dora will replace before the compacts make it happen.'
'Then let's go,' Boots said firmly, nodding. 'I'll bet the person Dora replaces is in the castle.'
Dora and I both nodded and the 3 of us headed for the kingdom.
The witch watched us from above the woods' trees, glaring down at us.
'I can't believe they completed the 2nd story after I used that spell,' she said, shaking her head angrily. 'Well, I know what to do that will make it so they never escape from here.'
And with that, she flew off, towards the neighbouring kingdom.
Meanwhile, Dora, Boots and I arrived in the village. People stared at us as we walked through the streets, not sure if they were seeing things.
'I wish they'd stop staring,' Boots muttered as we passed a Barber Shop, where the barber was still spraying shaving cream on a man's face, too busy staring at us to realize that he was spraying too much and now the shaving cream was falling off the man's face and onto the floor.
'Well, I doubt they see a little girl, Red Ridding Hood and a monkey dressed like Goldilocks walking through their streets every day, would they?' I muttered back, trying to ignore all the stares.
We reached the palace.
'Halt,' the two, big-muscled, armoured guards said, standing in our way. 'State your business.'
'We're here about the princess's cold,' I said firmly.
The guards nodded and stepped aside.
'Wow,' Boots said as we walked into the courtyard. 'They let us right through.'
'I can't believe that actually worked,' I said, shaking my head. 'I was just saying the first thing that popped in my head.'
We were shown to the throne room.
The king and queen, who looked a lot like the ones from Disney's Sleeping Beauty movie sat on their thrones, the princess on the throne next to them.
Like Red Ridding Hood and Goldilocks, she showed clear signs on a bad cold.
But, she didn't seem like an adult. She looked about 10 or 11-years-old.
'What will we do?' the king asked, looking down at us. 'Our daughter can't complete the story with her cold.'
'And if we can't complete the story, we will fade away and our story will be lost forever,' the queen said worriedly.
'Not to worry, your majesties,' I said, kneeling to them. 'My sister can take her place and we will finish the story for you.'
As I spoke the compacts lifted into the air and a beam of golden light flew from each of them, zapping Dora.
When the light faded, she was wearing a blue princess gown.
The king and queen stared in amazement.
'Now all that needs to happen is for Dora to prick her finger on the spinning wheel needle and fall to sleep,' Boots said, smiling. 'After that, the prince can wake her up and we can go save Swiper and Map and return home.'
As we spoke a spinning wheel came flying through the open window above.
It flew passed us, its needle pricking Dora's left-ringer finger as it went.
Dora's eyes closed and she fell to the floor, fast asleep.
'Um, that wasn't quite how the story went the last time I heard it,' I said, kneeling down, watching Dora as she slept.
'We will place her in the tower, to await the kiss of from a prince that will awaken her,' the king said, standing up.
Boots and I nodded, then looked at each other.
'We'd better go and get the prince so he can wake Dora,' Boots said, looking at me.
'He'll be in the next kingdom over,' I said, nodding. 'Let's get moving. If we hurrying, we can make it back before sunset.'
We ran out the palace doors, through the village and out onto the road.
'But which way do we go, May?' Boots asked, looking at me.
'Well, we don't have Map to show us the way,' I said, frowning. 'But I'm sure the compacts will point us in the right direction.'
I took my compact out of my pocket and held it up.
A beam of golden light flew from it, pointing toward the east.
'That's the way to go,' I said, pointing. 'Let's hurry, in case the witch tries something else.'
'Yeah,' Boots said, nodding.
We ran off towards the east, heading for the kingdom of the prince.
We arrived at the palace of the next kingdom, only to learn some horrible news.
The prince had a cold too.
'But— but— but, what about Dora?' Boots cried, staring at me. 'She needs the prince to kiss her and wake her up or we'll never save Swiper and Map and get home and she'll be asleep forever.'
'This is the witch's doing,' I said, clenching my fists angrily.
There was puff of black smoke and the witch appeared, floating in the air above the thrones.
'You!' Boots and I yelled angrily, pointing up at her.
'That's right,' the witch said, grinning gleefully. 'Now you'll never finish the story and be trapped here forever.'
She cackled and vanished in another puff of black smoke.
'What'll we do, May? What'll we do?' Boots cried, looking at me. 'We need to find a way to wake Dora up or we'll never finish the story.'
Just then the compacts flew from mine and Boots' dress pockets. They circled us, a beam of golden light pointing from each of them to me.
'Huh?' Boots and I said, both frowning in confusion.
A flash of golden light flew from both compacts, zapping me.
When the light faded, I was wearing a prince's clothing, shield on my left-arm and a sword strapped to my waist.
'What in the heck?' I said, looking at myself.
My hair was shorter too. No longer the long blonde hair it once had been, it was now short-cut, not even going passed my ears.
'I've got to replace the prince?' I said, staring at the compacts. 'But I'm a girl!'
'That's means you'll have to kiss Dora to wake her up,' Boots said, pointing at me.
'Ew!' I said, screwing up my face. 'But we're sisters. That is so wrong.'
'But you have to, May,' Boots pleaded, looking up at me. 'If you don't, Dora will stay asleep forever and we'll never get home.'
I moaned, putting my head in my hands. They could never make this easy, could they?
'Fine,' I said grumpily. 'Let's do this before I back out.'
The king lent us a horse so we could rid to the other kingdom.
'Vamos, vamos!' I shouted, flicking the reins.
The horse neighed loudly and we galloped across the countryside, heading for the kingdom where Dora lay, fast asleep in the tower.
The witch watched from the castle's tower, glaring down at us.
'Won't these kids ever give up?' she asked angrily, disappearing in a puff of black smoke.
We arrived back at Sleeping Beauty's castle close to sunset and ran inside, and up to the tower.
Dora lay on a beautiful, soft bed with blue sheets.
We walked up to her and looked down. She seemed so peaceful.
'Are you really going to do it, May?' Boots asked, looking at me, pushing 1 of his golden curls away from his eyes.
I sighed. 'I don't have a choice, Boots,' I said, shaking my head.
I looked at Dora and gulped.
'Please don't let God hold this against me,' I prayed silently, leaning forward.
I kissed Dora on the lips, every part of my brain yelling "What the fuck!?".
I leaned back, wiping my mouth on my right-arm. That had felt so wrong.
Dora's eyes fluttered and slowly opened.
She saw me standing over her, dressed like a prince and her eyes widened.
'May, did you—?'
'Please, Dora,' I said, closing my eyes and shaking my head. 'Don't ask. For God's sake, don't ask.'
Dora got up and off the bed. 'So, did we complete the story?' she asked, looking from me to Boots.
I took out my compact.
The emeralds glowed brightly and a big golden COMPLETE appeared in the mirror.
'Story complete,' I said, punching the air.
'Yay!' the 3 of us cried, slapping each other hive-fives.
'Now what happens?' Boots asked, looking from me to Dora.
All our compacts flew into the air and started spinning around us, faster and faster and faster. They became a blur of golden light that spread all around us.
When the light faded, we weren't wearing the clothes from the stories and were standing in front of the witch's house.
'No!' she cried, staring at us in horror. 'You broke my spell!'
White, swirling light surrounded her. 'My power is gone!' she cried, vanishing.
'We broke the witch's spell,' Boots said, doing a back flip. 'We broke the witch's spell. Ohh-ohh, ahh-ahh.'
'And there're Swiper and Map,' I said, pointing to the small glass box hanging over the witch's doorstep.
The glass shone with white light and exploded.
Swiper and Map appeared in front of us.
'Swiper!' we cried, running forward and hugging him. 'Map!'
Map leapt up into Backpack, who smiled happily.
Suddenly white light swirled around us.
'We're going home!' we all cried happily.
When the light faded, we were standing at the edge of the rainforest and the Big Book of Nursery Rhymes and Fairytales glowed with white light and vanished.
'We completed the 3 stories and saved Map and Swiper,' Boots said happily.
'We did it!' Boots, Dora and I cried, punching our fists in the air.
'Now, Swiper,' I said, turning to him. 'This better have taught you not to try swiping from witches. Especially those in fairytales and nursery rhymes.'
'I have, I have,' Swiper said, nodding. 'I'll never swipe from a witch again.'
With that, he ran off, not doubt to try and swipe something from someone else.
I looked at Dora and smiled.
'Let's go home,' I said, holding out my hand.
She smiled, taking it and we headed home.
It was still the afternoon, so we had plenty of the day left.
Later that evening, Dora, Boots and I were at the beach we were having a small Beach Fiesta.
Everyone was there.
Mami, Papi and the twins. Tico and Benny. Isa and Swiper. Baby Blue Bird and The Big Red Chicken.
We were all wearing swimming clothes.
'Come on!' I cried, grabbing a green surfboard and running into the water.
'No, thanks,' Dora and Boots called back. 'We'll just stay on the beach and make sand castles.'
'Suit yourselves,' I said, a big wave coming close to me.
I started singing the theme song from the ABC3 show Stoked.
My Magical Singing voice made it so that as and after I sang, I could surf.
Mariana popped her head up as I took a sweet 7-foot wave.
'Want to join me?' I asked, looking at her.
'You bet,' she said smiling, swimming alongside me.
My Magical Crystal glowed and Mariana turned into a human, wearing a purple bikini, riding a blue surfboard.
'Wow!' Dora said, looking up from the sand castle she and Boots were making, seeing Mariana and I surfing a 4-foot wave.
'They're awesome!' Boots said, watching us with wide eyes.
We both surfed the wave down to the beach.
We all ate a barbeque dinner as the sun glowed orange, half-set.
When evening came we said adios to Mariana, who dived back into the water and I changed her back into a mermaid.
Then we went home.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The Voice with Wings
It was 2 days after Dora, Boots and I had broken the witch's spell in the Big Book of Nursery Rhymes and Fairytales.
We were having a day out in the town.
Dora, Mami, Papa, the twins, Ciemo and Isabella and myself were sitting at a small café.
'May, Dora, why not sing for us?' Mami asked as a small sticky-date pudding was placed on our table.
We both smiled and nodded. We got up, walked to the front of the café and started to sing Billa, Billa, Billa.
For those of you who don't know, "Billa" is Spanish for "Dance".
'Shush!' a loud voice shouted.
We stopped singing and everyone looked around.
'That sounded like Señor Shush,' Dora said, looking at me.
'What does he want now?' I asked, frowning.
'I want there to be silenció,' Señor Shush said, appearing from behind a nearby statue. 'And your singing is not silenció.'
'We have all the right to sing,' I said firmly, glaring at him. 'If you don't like noise, move out of town and find a nice, quiet place. We're not gonna stop singing just cause you tell us to.'
'Oh, yeah?' Señor Shush said, pulling out a sparkling blue handkerchief. 'With my magic handkerchief, I silence your voices from ever singing again!'
He waved the handkerchief and a swirl of sparkling blue light flew from it, heading right for us.
'No!' I cried, pushing Dora out of the way.
The blue light engulfed me.
'May!' Dora cried, watching as I held my throat, coughing in the blue light.
It faded away and I looked down sadly.
Dora, Mami and Papi ran over, looking worried.
'May, are you alright?' Mami asked, holding my face like any mother does their child.
I tried to say "no, I'm not", but no words came out. My voice was gone.
'You horrible man,' Mami said angrily, glaring at Señor Shush. 'You've taken away my daughter's voice.'
'But... I didn't mean to take her whole voice away,' Señor Shush said, looking worried. 'I just wanted her to stop singing for a while.'
'Then you should have asked!' Papi said angrily, stepping forward and picking Señor Shush up by his collar. 'Now, because of you, my daughter can't talk!'
'I'm sorry, I'm sorry!' Señor Shush said nervously.
'All will be well.'
We all turned to see Fairy Godmother appear in a flash of blue light.
She floated over to me.
'I am afraid I can't return your magical singing voice, May,' she said, looking at me.
My head fell sadly.
'But I can give your voice a new power,' she continued, smiling.
I looked up.
She waved her wand and a swirl of sparkling blue light flew from it, surrounding me.
When it faded, Fairy Godmother smiled at me.
'Try and speak,' she said, nodding to me.
I nodded back and took a deep breath.
'Peter Piper picked a pack of pickled peppers,' I said, using a tongue twister as the test.
Everyone cheered.
'Now, instead of your voice being able to make things a reality when you sing, you can talk to animals,' Fairy Godmother said, smiling.
'You mean like Diego and his family?' I asked excitedly.
She smiled and nodded.
'Hurray! Hurray!' Dora and I cried, holding each other.
'Now you really are a member of our family!' Dora cried as she held me.
'Huh?' I asked, pulling a little away.
'In our family, when you turn 8 you gain the ability to speak to animals,' Mami smiled at me. 'Dora has been able to do it since hers. And now, you can, too.'
'And as for you, Señor Shush,' Fairy Godmother said, floating over to him.
Señor Shush gulped.
'When I gave you that Magic Handkerchief, when you were a child, I thought you were going to use it for good,' Fairy Godmother said, her face stern.
'P—p—please, Fairy Godmother,' he said, kneeling on both knees. 'Give me another chance.'
'Hmm,' Fairy Godmother said, frowning. 'Alright. But only if you promise to use the handkerchief for good.'
'I promise, I promise,' Señor Shush said, nodding frantically.
'Very well then,' Fairy Godmother said, nodding. 'But don't forget it. This is your last chance. Don't mess it up.'
'Oh, I won't, I won't, I swear,' Señor Shush said, holding his right-hand over his heart.
'Good,' Fairy Godmother said, her smile returning. 'Then my work here is done.'
'Ah!'
She turned around.
I was on my hands and knees, my eyes screwed tightly shut.
'May, what's wrong?' Dora asked, her hand on my left-arm.
'My back,' I said, my voice strained. 'Something's trying to burst out of my back— AH!' As I cried, the skin over my shoulder-blades ripped open.
Everyone stared in amazement.
Extending from my back were large, white, angel-like wings. They were at least 4-feet long.
'What— what happened?' I asked, staring back at the wings, shock on my face.
'Oh, dear,' Fairy Godmother said, looking a little embarrassed. 'I must have accidently used a Grow Wings spell as well as a Talk To The Animals spell. I'm sorry, May.'
'Wh— why are you apologising?' I asked, standing up, flapping the wings. 'This is cool. I've always wanted wings.'
'You— you have?' Fairy Godmother asked, looking surprised.
'Of course,' I said, as Dora felt my feathers. 'What human doesn't?'
'Your feathers are so soft,' Dora said, letting her hand slide down them.
'Do you think you can actually fly?' Mami asked, holding Isabella closer so she could feel my wings too.
'I don't know,' I said, smiling. 'Let's see.'
I took a running leap, extended my wings and flapped hard.
I soared into the air at rocket speed.
'This— is— AWSOME!' I cried, flying in circles, diving, pulling up and shooting like a built across the sky.
Everyone watching me below clapped and cheered. They'd never seen such a great street show.
Fairy Godmother smiled, glad that 1 of her mistakes had turned out alright for once.
She glowed with blue light and vanished.
I flew through the air, loving the feel of the wind on my face. Whatever happened next, it was gonna be FUN!
'Vámonos!' I shouted, shooting across the sky.
Chapter Thirty
The Rhythm Of Africa
'Smell that African night air,' I said, closing my eyes, putting my hand behind my head, smelling the air.
Dora and I were in Africa. We'd come with Diego, who'd been called to help return a baby lion cub that had been rescued from poachers to the wild.
We'd succeeded in returning the baby lion cub to the wild and it had been adopted into a Pride by a lioness.
We were staying in a small hut, not too far from a small village for the night with a boy from Africa's branch of the Rescue Center.
He had short black hair and brown skin. He was wearing a pair of brown shorts and a blue T-shirt.
His name was Jason.
We were standing outside the hut, letting the wind blow against us.
We were both wearing safari gear.
Small slits had been cut into the back of mine so that I could move my wings.
They could fold up against my body, seeming almost invisible, but it was still nice to know that I could extend and stretch them whenever I felt like it.
And flying was a blast. I always got this enormous surge of adrenaline when I flew, feeling the wind as it caught my feathers, lifting me into the air. It was great.
'I love Africa,' Dora said, smiling. 'It's full of so many different and wonderful animals.'
'I'm glad you came along,' Diego said, walking up behind us.
'Run! Run for your lives!'
We all turned around.
An African man wearing a torn grey T-shirt and brown shorts was running towards us, a look of pure fear in his eyes.
He stopped in front of us, grabbing my shoulders.
'The Rhythm!' he cried, the fear shining from his eyes. 'It's The Rhythm! Run, before it gets you too!'
'Hey, back off!' I shouted, whipping out my wings, knocking the man back.
He got up and ran off shouting, 'The Rhythm! The Rhythm! Watch out for The Rhythm!'
'What was that all about?' Dora asked as I folded my wings back in.
'The Rhythm?' I said, looking at her, raising an eyebrow. 'As in, dance rhythm? What's so scary about that?'
'The Rhythm?' Diego said, frowning. 'Could... could it be true?'
'Could what be true, Diego?' Dora asked, looking at him.
'I— I thought it was just folklore, but...' Diego said, not seeming to have noticed the question.
I walked up to him.
'DIEGO, DORA ASKED YOU WHAT THE RHYTHM IS!' I shouted, making him jump.
'Oh, right,' Diego said, composing himself. 'Well, The Rhythm is a monster from the folklore of the Rawan people. They're a small group of native Africans, who are sworn to protect Africa and its people from The Rhythm.'
'Well, judging by what that guy was saying, it sounds like they're not doing a good enough job,' I said, folding my arms.
At that moment I heard a small scratching sound.
I frowned. I knew that sound. Swiper.
I crept up to a nearby bush, where I could see the faintest bit of a fluffy fox's tail.
'NO SWIPING!' I shouted.
Swiper jumped out of the bush, into the air and flopped on the ground in front of me.
'Swiper,' Dora said, folding her arms.
'Um, hi?' he said, giving a weak smile.
I sighed, shaking my head. Would that fox ever learn?
Well, now with Swiper here, we couldn't simply leave him outside for the night. Luckily, there was an extra bed in the hut, so he could stay with us.
After we'd each showered in the hut's make-shift shower we went to bed.
Dora, Diego and Swiper went to sleep almost instantly, but I stayed awake, thinking.
How was a kid like me with wings able to lie in bed, you might be wondering? Well, I kind of lay on my sides or stomach. Trying to lie on my wings could be really uncomfortable.
Suddenly I heard a noise outside.
I sat up, alert.
Something was moving outside. I could see its shape silhouetted against window in the light of the full moon.
But it had no real shape. It looked like some kind of blobbish thing.
My eyes widened.
'Guys, get up!' I shouted, whipping my sheets off, grabbing my sneakers and putting them on as fast as possible.
The blobbish thing paused, as if listening closely.
'Huh?' Dora, Diego and Swiper said, sitting up, rubbing their eyes.
'Hey, May,' Swiper said, yawning. 'What's with the wake up call?'
'The Rhythm's right outside!' I hissed, kneeling down on the floor.
They all froze.
'What?' Diego whispered, getting out of his bed, staring at me. 'Are you sure?'
'Well, unless there's some other kind of monster living in Africa that looks like a blob, I'd say yes!' I hissed back. 'Diego, what do you know about The Rhythm.'
'At night, when you turn off all the lights, there's no place left to hide,' Diego said, reciting the words he'd heard the Africans use when describing the legend of The Rhythm.
'The Rhythm's gonna get ya,' Swiper whispered quietly.
'That's right, Swiper,' Dora said, nodding.
'What do we do?' Swiper whispered fearfully.
'Sneak out quietly,' I whispered, glancing at the window to see the blobbish thing still there. 'If we don't make any noise, we might be able to escape it.'
'Got it,' they whispered, nodding.
But as they stood, Diego knocked his knee against a nail sticking out of the bedside.
'Ah!' he gasped loudly.
The door was bashed open and the blobbish thing slithered into the hut.
It was purplish-pink, with no eyes.
'Okay, forget quiet!' I shouted, holding my hand out at 1 of the walls.
My crystal glowed and a flash of white light flew from my hand, smashing a large hole in the wall.
'Run!' I shouted, running out the hole.
Dora, Diego and Swiper were right behind me. But Jason wasn't so lucky.
He'd just woken up and The Rhythm was blocking his path to the hole.
He stood on the bed, watching in horror as the blobbish thing took a long, stick-man shape.
He pulled the covers over his head, in a desperate last attempt to avoid the stick-figure, in vain.
It grabbed him in its large, spindly hand, pining his arms to his sides.
'Help!' he cried, as a large opening appeared on The Rhythm's expressionless face.
It lifted him toward it, tossing him in.
'Jason!'
The Rhythm turned to see me standing in the hole, glaring at it.
'You'll pay for that, you African monster!' I shouted, my body glowing with white light from the crystal.
The glow flew to my hands, forming a sphere of white energy.
'Eat this!' I shouted, energy flying from the sphere, smashing through The Rhythm, leaving a large hole in it. But as I watched, the hole healed itself.
'No,' I said, staring in horror. 'That's not possible!'
'May!'
I turned around. Swiper was standing next to me, looking as horrified as I was.
The Rhythm lunged at us.
'Move!' Swiper yelled, pushing me aside.
The Rhythm's long, spindly hand grabbed him and he cried out in pain.
'Swiper!' I shouted, throwing my left-arm forward.
A flash of white energy flew from it, cutting The Rhythm's hand off, releasing Swiper.
It howled in anger. A horrible, gut-retching sound, like a starving hyena being ripped apart slowly.
'Are you okay, Swiper?' I cried, running over.
'Ah!' he gasped, holding his left-wrist. 'I'll be fine.'
'Then let's get out of here!' I cried, grabbing him around the waist, my wings extending and flying into the air.
The Rhythm watched us go and, if you were watching, you could have sworn it gave a small smile.
It was early morning. The sun was just peaking over the horizon, covering the land in a red and orange glow.
Dora and Diego were hiding in a bush about twenty miles away.
I landed in front of them, letting go of Swiper.
I flopped to ground, exhausted. I'd flown all night.
'Where's Jason?' Diego asked, looking at me.
I looked down sadly. 'The Rhythm got him.'
Diego stared at me, his face a mask of shock and horror.
'It almost got Swiper, too,' I said, standing up, wincing as the top of my right wing stung. I'd grazed it against a low-hanging tree branch as I'd come down.
'Really?' Dora asked, looking at Swiper. She'd been wrapping a cloth around his wrist where The Rhythm had grabbed him. It had turned red in that place. 'So that's how you got this red mark.'
'If it hadn't been for May, I'd be a goner,' Swiper said, nodding.
'So, what do we do now?' Diego asked, folding his arms. 'We need to save Jason.'
'We need help,' I said, folding my wings in, wincing again. Man, my wings were really sensitive. 'Diego, do you know where we can find that tribe you were talking about earlier?'
'The Rawans?' Diego asked, looking at me. 'No human has ever seen them.'
'But, how do you know they exist if no one's ever seen them?' I asked, my eyes wide.
'Um...' Diego said, looking up, frowning. 'I'm... not sure. All I remember hearing is that they will reveal themselves when needed.'
'Well, that's helpful,' I said, rolling my eyes. 'Come on, let's go.'
We paused, watching for any sign of The Rhythm.
When we were sure that it wasn't around, we headed out across the savannah.
Rescue Pack turned into an African buggy and we drove across the savannah.
As we did, I noticed Swiper was sweating. It wasn't that hot, but the sweat was clear on his body.
Was this something to do with the burn on his arm from The Rhythm?
I decided that I'd watch Swiper carefully. If something was happening to him, we'd need to be ready.
As the day turned to afternoon, we stopped near a small clearing, Rescue Pack turning back to normal.
We'd stopped because mine and Dora's crystals were reacting to something.
I bent down, examining the ground.
There were small signs of someone having been there.
It was faint, but there were small signs of a fire too.
Now, when I say it was faint, it was like a fire had been there, but it hadn't. It was hard to explain.
'May, what is it?' Dora asked, kneeling down next to me.
'I'm not really sure,' I said, frowning. 'But the crystals sure seem to.'
Both my white crystal and Dora's pink crystal were glowing brightly.
Suddenly a wall of purple light soared from the ground, surrounding all of us.
'Ah!' Swiper cried, holding his wrist, his eyes screwed tight in pain.
We shielded our eyes from the light.
When it faded, we were still standing in the same place, but something had changed.
We weren't staring at an open savannah anymore. Standing in front of us were about a hundred Africans, the men wearing only brown loincloths and the women only just wearing more with a strip of cloth over their chests.
'The Rawans,' Diego said, staring in amazement.
One of the men, the 1 dressed like an elder, with beaded, long black hair, reaching down to his feet walked forward. He was holding a staff with a caribou's skull.
'We have waited a long time, Dora and May,' he said, looking at the both of us.
Dora and I looked at each other.
'You've been waiting for us?' Dora asked, frowning.
'Indeed,' the man said, nodding. 'You're arrival was foretold, many moons ago. The 2 explorer girls, sisters, not by birth, but by love.'
'Ah!' Swiper gasped, gritting his teeth.
The elder looked up from us, at Swiper, frowning.
'You,' he said, walking passed us, up to him.
'Me?' Swiper said, looking up nervously.
'You have been touched by The Rhythm,' the elder said, his frown deepening. 'It has marked you as its next victim.'
'What?' Swiper cried, staring up in horror.
'Well— what can we do to save him?' I asked, hurrying over to Swiper, holding his shoulders. 'There must be something we can do.'
'There is,' the elder said nodding. 'You and Dora must learn to truly harness the power, hidden deep within you.'
'The power deep within us?' Dora asked, frowning. 'What power?'
'That... is something you must learn yourselves,' the elder said, looking at her. 'Follow me.'
We did. He took us to a small hut, where he taught us of an ancient prophecy.
2 girls, sisters, not by birth, but love. Together, they would rid the mortal realm of The Rhythm, forever.
That was another thing we learned. That was why no one had ever seen the Rawan tribe. They existed in the Spirit World, which was where we were now.
We were taught the ancient chant. Ohway, ohway. Ohway a ohwa.
Spoken with the perfect balance of spiritual and physical energy, this chant would seal The Rhythm away forever, releasing all who had been captured by it.
It became apparent that Swiper was not very welcome.
The men and women of the tribe avoided him and the children were kept away, forbidden to go near him.
Swiper remained away from everyone else, his resentment growing stronger as the day wore on.
'You don't have to put up with this,' a voice whispered in his ear.
He looked around, but no one was there.
'I am inside of you,' the voice said, sounding like a voice whispering in his ear. 'If you let me, I can help you make it that no one will ever treat you like this again.'
'But— but you're bad,' Swiper said, standing up, still looking around for who was talking.
'False conclusion,' the voice said, sounding pleased. 'I am the salvation of all. Let me in and I'll ensure all of your friends survive.'
Swiper looked like he'd rather not, but he agreed.
His eyes glowed with purplish-pink energy. 'Of course, that's only if they join me,' Swiper said, his voice sounding like the other voice. 'Otherwise, they will be eliminated.'
Dora and I were in the elder's hut.
We were wearing traditional Rawan clothing. A brown loincloth and brown loin-strip across our chests. Beads and feathers of different colours in our hair. Red face-paint in 2 lines on each side of Dora's face and blue ones on mine. Our crystals hanging around our necks.
'Now, you're spiritual energies and physical energies are in perfect balance,' the elder said, smiling at us. 'Now, you are able to seal The Rhythm.'
We nodded, smiling. Even though we'd spent less than a day in this tribe, we'd learned so much.
Our minds had been opened to the Spirit World, where we spoke with Spirits of the past. They had shown us how to harness the power deep within us.
Just then, cries of fear came from outside.
We hurried out of the hut.
Swiper was standing in the middle of the tribe's camp. His eyes were glowing with purplish-pink energy.
'Swiper, what are you doing?' Dora cried, looking at him.
'I am not Swiper,' Swiper said, grinning.
'It's The Rhythm!' I shouted, glaring. 'He's taken over Swiper's body.'
'What?' Diego cried, running over to us, looking shocked.
'Yes,' Swiper said, grinning. 'And now, I will consume you all!'
Swiper glowed with purplish-pink energy. It expanded, growing larger and larger, reaching high into the sky.
We all stared in horror as the large, purplish-pink Swiper reached into the sky, pulling open a purplish-pink hole.
More of the same coloured energy flew through the hole, merging with the over-sized Swiper.
It morphed, turning into a large blob with Swiper's eyes and teeth.
'Swiper!' we cried, staring up in horror.
'Crystal Sisters!' the elder cried, holding his staff to the sky. 'You must seal The Rhythm forever!'
'Right,' we said, nodding.
Behind us, several small fires were lit with bark from the Spiritual Coburn tree.
Dora and I took a stance, putting our hands together in front of us.
'Ohway, ohway,' we chanted, putting our hands on our crystals.
'Ohway, ohway,' the men chanted, beating on traditional drums.
'Ohway a ohwa,' we chanted.
'Ohway a ohwa,' the men chanted.
Our crystals started glowing brightly.
'What?' The Rhythm cried, glaring down at us.
'Ohway, ohway!' the men chanted louder.
'Ohway, ohway!' Dora and I chanted, pink energy and white energy glowing in a large sphere in our hands.
'Ohway, aohwa!' the men chanted.
'Ohway, aohwa!' Dora and I chanted loudly, aiming the spheres at The Rhythm.
The energy surged forward from the spheres, smashing into The Rhythm.
It roared in anger, glowing with pink and white energy.
Swiper flew out of it, along with Jason and a bunch of other people.
'Oh, man,' Swiper said, rubbing his head as he sat up, having flopped head-first on the ground. 'What happened?'
The Rhythm roared, its eyes and teeth disappearing.
'It is in a physical form!' the elder shouted at us. 'You must deliver the final blow, now!'
'Got it!' Dora and I nodded, running forward.
Spheres of energy appeared in our hands as we ran.
The Rhythm lunged a long, spindly hand at us.
We leapt into the air, dodging it, and ran up the arm.
'I just love this Latin rhythm,' Dora said, referring to the chant. 'Isn't it perfect for my Dance Fiesta next Term at school.'
'Now's not really the time for this, Dora,' I said, my white sphere turning into a spear. 'Now, ready?'
Dora's pink sphere turned into a spear and she nodded to me, her face grim.
'3, 2, 1!' I shouted, shoving my spear into what should have been The Rhythm's neck, Dora doing the same.
Pink and white light burst from where we'd shoved down our spears.
'NO!' it cried, its whole body shaking.
'Dora, hold on!' I cried, leaping forward, whipping out my wings and flying us away.
'RAH!' The Rhythm cried, bursting in a storm of energy, vanishing into a pin-prick.
I landed down in front of the tribe, Diego, Swiper, Jason and all the other people we'd freed from The Rhythm.
'You did it!' the elder said, smiling, walking forward, looking down at the 2 of us. 'Now, The Rhythm will never worry African again. We are forever in your debt.'
He and the rest of the tribe kneeled to the both of us.
Dora and I smiled at each other.
Not too much later, we were saying farewell to the Rawan tribe.
'Know that from this day forth, Dora and May,' the elder said, smiling at us. 'You are now both full-fledged members of the Rawan tribe.'
'Thank you, great elder,' we said, putting our hands together in front of us, bowing.
'Now, return to your own world,' the elder said, holding out his open hand. 'There, you will face your future adventures and challenges.'
We smiled and nodded.
The world started glowing with purple energy and the Rawan tribe started to fade away.
'Remember the future of Christmas to come,' the elder's voice called to us as they all vanished and the savannah was empty, like before.
We all smiled at each other.
'We did it!' Dora and Diego cried, punching the air.
'What do you think the elder meant?' Swiper asked, looking from each of us. 'What did he mean when he said "the future of Christmas to come"?'
'Hmm,' Dora said, thinking. 'I'm not sure, Swiper.'
'I think I might,' I said, frowning. 'Remember how you told me you and Swiper went into the future of Christmas Eve, so Swiper would change and stop swiping on Christmas?'
'Yeah,' Dora and Swiper said, nodding. 'So?'
'So,' I said, folding my arms. 'I wasn't there.'
'What?' they asked, frowning.
'In the future,' I said, rubbing my chin. 'I wasn't there.'
'Oh, my gosh, you're right,' Dora said, gasping. 'You weren't.'
'So?' Swiper asked, frowning. 'What does that matter? We didn't meet May until a lot later after that Christmas.'
'Swiper, if time moves forward, the past affecting the future, that was a future in which, even though I've been living with Dora as her sister, I wasn't there in the future you visited.'
'Whoa!' Swiper gasped. 'You're right. Why weren't you there?'
'Maybe something happens in the future that makes May leave,' Diego suggested.
'Like what?' I asked, looking at him. 'I'm never going back to my world, so I know that's not the reason.'
'Well, whatever the reason, we'll find it out, together,' Dora said, taking my hand, smiling.
I smiled back.
She was right. No matter what happened, as long as we stuck together, we'd always get through it.
'Vámonos!' we all cried, looking up at the sky.
Spanish Words and Their Meanings In English
Gracias— Thank you
Asta loada— See you later
Cristal— Crystal
El rásgate— To Rescue
Feliz Cumpleaños— Happy Birthday
Elicia — (this one is a name)
Vámonos— Let's go
Adiós— bye
Señor — Mr.
Excelente—Excellent
Recorra— Clean up
Buenas suelta— Good luck
Barda— Stop
Corona— Crown
Espacio Exterior— Outer Space
Billa— Dance