Amy made me start writing my thoughts down in a journal. This journal. This dumb journal. She said that, seeing as that so much had happened to us already, who knew what would come next? At first, I completely thought that she was kidding. I mean, why would I want to write down everything that happened to us?
Dear Diary,
Today, I almost got killed by a madwoman. It was so scary, and now I am so worried about what will happen next, but I am like totally glad the Clue hunt is over. I, like, got a million dollars! No joke. It was like, OMG! Now I hear my dearest sister calling me. Toodles!
-Dan Cahill
I completely bet that's what she wants me to do. But really? Really? I bet she's going to read this, if she can find it. I should probably pick a better place than she did. In a normal book cover? Sheesh. She put it in the cover of Pride and Prejudice, but that book is huge and her journal is puny! I read it all the time. On second thought, though, I won't hide it. Then you, Amy dearest, can read everything I say! How exciting! Not.
I have written enough. This took up a quarter of a page of the giant book she gave me. That is a quarter of a page too much. Seriously.
-Dan
I decided that it might be an excellent idea to start recording my life in Rio, as I can look back on it in twenty years and think, "I have risen so far since then. But then again, did I expect less?" It will truly be a triumph, for I will rise, as I have risen in the past, and then anybody who cares to read this will be in awe.
However, that is not the only reason I write. I am certain that people besides myself will read this in the future, and so I have need to clear up a misconception.
It is a well-known fact that I was quite a cruel and heartless man, in the past, and that I ruled the world, in essence, with my wife in a state of power and glory. Everybody bowed down at my feet, all who saw me revered me. I must correct myself—most revered me. There was one woman who did not bow to me, but scorned me, did not respect me but held me in contempt. "I remember you at Oxford," she would say. "You were kind, you were polite, you were gentle. Everybody loved you. Even I loved you at a time. I can't believe it now. Look at what you turned into. Look at what she turned you into. Do you even remember the real you?"
No, I don't. And for quite a time, I went along with Isabel's schemes, actually reveling in my newfound power and the fear people viewed me in. But then I saw, really saw, what she had been doing when she let Irina die. I might have loved her once, as well—I was not sure—but Irina had never gone against our wishes before. Always obeying, never questioning, right there when we wanted for her. And then Isabel let her die. When I had asked, all she had said was, "Why bother?" And then I saw what I had been doing, too.
I spent the next month gradually, subtly, unnoticeably breaking off all ties with her. I even forged her signature on the divorce papers—we are no longer married. I have no desire to be some "goody-goody" charitable saint, but I have no desire to down the path she led me down again.
And so I start this journal now to record my new life, my life without Isabel, my life without so much hatred. I miss the power I had felt, but I would never take it up again if given the chance.
-Vikram Kabra
Yes! Yes! Yes! Amy is the best! Woohoo! Oh yeah! Uh-huhh! Uh-huhh! Oh yeah! Oh yeah! Yayayayayayaya! Y—
I just read over what I just wrote. Wow. But I have reason to be, mind you! I have a reason, Amy! Don't think I'm crazy! Oh. Right. You already know the reason….I just talked to Amy. She says I need to "chronicle the happening of this week anyway." I hate that rule. I could be getting ready to go, but no, I have to write in my "diary." She still calls it that. But anyway, tomorrow, we are going to D—wait. Guess.
…
…
…
Since you obviously haven't guessed, I'll tell you. We're going to DisneyWorld! Amy went totally awesome-ninjalike and convinced Fiske to take us. To give us a break from all this stress, she said. And so we're going! Tomorrow! I'm not gonna be able to sleep tonight. Now do I have any Mickey Mouse shirts? Hmm…
-Dan
Life in Rio de Janeiro is quite dull, to say the least. I cannot escape the boredom of this place, and I have a suspicion that those pompous Britishers will come around here looking for me next, as I am still considered a "willing accomplice" to Isabel, my late wife. I received word from Frederick that they were traveling from Brasilia at the moment. I have quickly come to the decision that I must leave. I shan't say I'm sorry about this; I'm not. I shall be travelling to Florida and living there; apparently, the weather is fine and I can adopt a disguise quite easily. I am to be the top executive of a man named Darrell Waltrip's Honda car sales. The job pays quite well, and I am eager to escape from this land. I shall be leaving tonight. I have already found a luxury apartment and everything I could possibly need.
-Vikram Kabra
Dude, DisneyWorld is huge! I saw coming in from the airport last night, and it is gigantic! This is going to be awe. Some. Nellie is taking a ridiculously long time in the hotel restroom, though, and so I'm still waiting for her to get out. I need to—I shall use proper language in this book, for dearest sister's sake. I have a need to relieve myself. Tada!
It just hit me that you might be wondering how I'm writing moment by moment. I'll answer your question—I'm not. I'm just remembering all of this so I can write this all down, exactly like it is, tonight. That's what my lovely sister Amy said to do. Figures. She even wants me to journal at the park. In my head at least. Over-controlling and demanding much? I thought so.
-Dan
Today was quite an interesting day. Better than I first thought it would be, by far. As I write this tonight, my first night in the United States, I find myself actually somewhat hopeful for the rest of my stay here, if all future days follow as this one did.
It started off auspiciously, to say the least. From the airport to customs to my apartment, which was adequate, all went exactly as it should; nothing went wrong. I exited the apartment, intending to hail a taxi, but I saw none. However, I saw a pole sticking out of the sidewalk with a sign that read, "Going to DW?" I found it quite impressive that my new company had a bus line of it's own, and I walked over to the sidewalk. I was joined by a peculiar young woman with multiply colored hair and a serpent pierced through her nose who kept yelling, "Come on, kiddos!" to two figures in the distance. I remember thinking it quite strange that she worked at Darrell Waltrip, but I accepted it as an American thing. A bus with pictures of adults and children sitting in topless cars in vertical rows pulled up to the DW sign, and I observed the cars we were to sell. Quite different from the automobiles in Great Britain.
I boarded the bus, noticing with disgust how many common children were aboard. The two figures caught up with us and jumped into the bus behind their…sister? But I could not see their faces. Perhaps it was "Take-your-children-or-other-young-relatives-to-work day" today. But then I noticed that many of those in the bus were wearing T-shirts and other apparel with mice on them. One particular mouse, actually. Perhaps it was "take-your-children-or-other-young-relatives-to-work-while-supporting-the-mouse-population day?" I was utterly baffled. And then a voice came over the intercom, "Welcome to DisneyWorld, the happiest place on earth."
DisneyWorld? That was definitely not Darrell Waltrip. I tried to discern what exactly DisneyWorld was, but then I remembered. The most sickening, dreadful, repulsive, peasant-filled place on earth, in essence. And I was stranded there. But then I realized that nobody would look for me here. If I could find some shade and work on my laptop, I might be just fine. I smiled to myself. I only had to check in to Darrell Waltrip at some point during the day. Perhaps this wasn't completely terrible, after all, I had said to myself. I had turned out right. But then again, I most often do.
-Vikram Kabra
As I get off the bus with Amy and Nellie, my first thought's something like, "Oh my ninja star, oh my ninja star, oh my gosh this is cool!" Nellie has a big grin on her face, and even Ames is smiling a tiny bit, too. We step into a humongous line of people to get tickets, and it seems to take hours to get in. It's actually only twenty minutes, though. Apparently, this is a "fast" line.
"We're coming back tomorrow, right, kiddos?"
"Definitely!" I say, and Amy nods. Nellie turns to the ticket lady. "Three two-day passes, please." She pays quickly, and the gate opens for us. I run inside.
"Let's go to the Animal Kingdom!" I say, pumping my fist. This day is going to be awesome!
"No, Dan. You're here because Amy asked. She gets to pick first," Nellie says, and Amy brightens up.
"Could we maybe go the Magic Kingdom?" Amy asks, and I groan.
"You have got to be kidding me, Ames. That is completely stupid!"
"Is not! That's the Disney princess area!"
"Exactly why it's so stupid, dork."
Nellie glares at us, and we stop for a second.
"But we're going to Typhoon Lagoon Gang Plank Falls right afterwards!" I say, and Nellie nods.
"It's a deal."
I'm going to stop signing off—you know I'm Dan.
I had walked to a place by the name of "Typhoon Lagoon" after paying for a one-day ticket, as the woman had said there was a rest area over there. I settled in, pulled out my laptop, and began re-checking Darrell Waltrip's stocks and other such things. The area was decently loud, actually, but not relatively crowded, and definitely quieter than when I was walking through the park. Not satisfactory by any standards, but it would have to do.
The next time I looked at my watch, it was one o'clock already. I stood up and gently stretched my hands, as they were cramping from typing so much. I deliberately packed up my laptop in its case and swung the strap over my head onto my shoulder. I noticed a café about two hundred meters away. Perhaps they might have a simple sandwich or something different than the garbage I had seen the people around me consuming. I began walking over.
We were in Magic Kingdom for three hours. Three. Hours. And we hardly did anything. Hooray for the Disney Princesses! Not. Amy and Nellie were enjoying themselves so much that I had to drag them away from that theme park. But a promise was a promise, and it was time to go.
Now we're walking over to Gang Plank Rafts. I can see the line, and it's puny for some reason. Score! I rush over to get in line, Amy and Nellie right behind me. I think they're catching my excitement, but this is going to be awesome!
The ticket lady looks at us. "You two," she says, pointing to Amy and Nellie, "Get in that raft. Put all your stuff you don't want wet in those baskets." I take off my shirt and start bouncing around in my swim trunks, but then the lady says, "Find yourself a partner. You can't go with them. If you hurry, we'll wait.
I waste no time asking questions, sprinting down the line of people right away. But everybody already has a group they're going with, and I'm at the end of the line. I'm about to turn around when I see a man walking towards us in a gray suit and carrying a laptop. Really weird clothes for DisneyWorld, but at least it's someone.
I run over to him. "Him, I'm Dan, nice to meet you. Do you want to go on the ride with me?
I remember staring at that boy like he had three heads and a purple nose. "Pardon? Yes?"
He mistook my response, his face lighting up in anticipation. "Awesome! Just come over here and take your stuff off—you might not want to bring the computer—and hurry! We're at the front of the line."
"Take off my 'stuff?'", I said.
"Yeah. Lose the suit and watch and stuff. Like me, see?"
Did all males half-dress in this country? Nevertheless, I gradually loosened my tie and took off my clothes, except for my trousers and undershirt. He held out a basket, and I raised an eyebrow.
"It's for putting all that in. Hurry!" He noticed me eyeing the basket. "Oh, it's safe. They watch it. What have you been doing all day?"
I didn't answer, just folded my suit neatly in the basket and put the laptop on top. I still had no clue what was going on. I remember I thought the boy was crazy, but I imagine he had thought the same thing.
The boy—I believed he had said Dan was his name—led me to the front of the line. "He's going," Dan told the ticket lady, and she pointed at a yellow inflated device lying on the ground.
"Come on!" he said, and picked up some of the tube. "Help me here!"
"Pardon?" I said.
"Pick up the raft and come on!" he said, clearly becoming impatient.
Bewildered and feeling completely ridiculous in my attire, I picked up the raft and followed him down the path he had pointed out. A young woman in a swimsuit was waiting at the bottom.
"Set that down right there, and settle in—grab the hand grips on the outside and don't put anything outside of the raft while it's moving, and I'll push you off. Have a great ride!"
I had compared the boy's whoops of excitement to a Native American war whoop, he was so excited. On the other hand, I had been completely and utterly confused by what was going on. This state hadn't happened to me in quite a long time, and I didn't know how to react to it, so I complied with the young woman and sat in the raft, noting another path of water, not land, nearby. Was she going to push us around the park? What was the pleasure in that? For anyone?
Dan climbed into the boat and started saying things like, "This is gonna be awesome!" and "Let's go, let's go!" The lifeguard counted down from three, then gave the boat quite a powerful shove—into the path of water.
And that was when it "clicked," as the Americans say.
"We're going down that?"
The look on the man's face was hilarious! I could have sworn he knew why we were going down, or else he wouldn't have come, I thought, but his face is changing colors from bright red to the palest white I have ever seen on a darker-colored man. Peppperoni-colored to cheese-colored and back again.
"Exactly," I say. "You didn't just get that, did you?"
"Yes! I will sue! I will sue you and DisneyWorld and the state of Florida and the lifeguard! This is insane. I didn't want to ride down this thing! This raft doesn't look safe!"
"You sound a lot like Ian," I noted.
The man got a funny expression on his face. "Who is this 'Ian?'"
"Oh, a boy my sister's age who chased us around a lot on the Clu—who flirted with my sister way too much about a year ago."
"You don't say," he says, forgetting for a second that we were on the ride. He seems a little bit startled, and he leans back on the raft with his elbow. But then a giant wave splashes up and hits us in the face.
"This is awesome!" I splutter. "This is awesome!"
"On the contrary, it is awful! I don't want to be wet! I have to go to work today! Whoever made me come on here was completely ludicrous!"
"That was you. You said yes," I observed with a smile. "Calm down. If you stop screaming about suing and work at a park for people who want to play, it'll be really fun. You'll see."
"You impudent little—" he stops. We're at a gentle section, and the raft's rocking a little bit. He seems to take my advice, and the muscles in his arms stop bulging from holding the handrails in a death grip. I should really get him to teach me that."
"Okay, a big wave's coming up," I warn him. "I can see it, but it'll be fun. Trust me." In normal life, don't the adults tell the children it's going to be okay? This is a weird man, I can tell.
He only nods and shuts his eyes with a groan. I start bouncing in the raft. This is gonna be great, this is gonna be great, this—wow! Boy, did that hit us! I'm soaked! Whoever invented this ride was a genius!
Then I notice that the man's screaming, too. And it's not his angry, almost-scared scream from earlier. It's more like, happy? Excited?
"You liked it?" I say, and the man immediately stops screaming, looking sheepishly at me.
"I suppose you could say that. It was enjoyable." He's even more drenched then I am, but when my vision clears up from having water in my eyes, I can see that he's smiling. Score one for Cahill!
As the ride finishes, we talk pleasantly, screaming together, laughing together, comparing who is the wettest. I see the end now and it's like, "Welcome to the place where you go back to normal life! Hooray!" Dang it.
The man and I walk back over to the front of Gang Plank to pick up our clothes. As we walk to the changing area, I realize he never told me his name.
"Hey, excuse me?" He looks at me. "What's your name, by the way."
He pauses for a second, then closes his eyes and nods. "Vikram." What? "Vikram Kabra."
He deserved a right to know, of course. After all, I knew exactly who he was. His family, his grandmother, even Grace's cat, Saladin! I had known ever since he had mentioned my son. Still, I had been afraid that he would leave and call his great uncle or the police. I didn't want to see what telling him my name would do—I closed my eyes.
I was thinking about what Dan had said, "You sound like Ian." Did that mean my son was turning out like me? That was worrisome. If he was turning out like me, then he might become like I was, turn out like I did. Most fathers want their sons to resemble them—I wanted him as different from myself as possisble.
"Uh, yo? Mr. Kabra? Why are you closing my eyes like that?"
I opened my eyes. Dan was staring at me worriedly.
"I thought you had left, Dan. You know who I am, and from what I've heard through Isabel, our family on the parental side hasn't been very chummy with you."
I saw a grim line set across his face as he heard Isabel's name, but he erases it quickly. "Yeah… If you don't mind me saying, Isabel isn't really the kind of person you want to hang with. But I like you—I think. You could have killed me like eight times on the ride, or kidnapped me or something, but you didn't. And so I think I' m going to like you. But if you mess with me, I will use my twelve-year-old ninja powers to kick you so hard, you'll wish you had never met me."
A playful scowl was on the boy' face, and I relaxed some. "I won't hurt you. I'm trying not to hurt people anymore." I smiled at him, and he smiled back up at me.
"Hey, by the way, do you want to meet my family?" he said.
Okay, so I'm talking with Vikram Kabra. The Vikram Kabra. Ian and Natalie's dad. Isabel's hus—actually, I doubt that, but Vikram. And he's actually nice.
I lead him over to where Amy and Nellie were standing, fully clothed, impatiently waiting for me.
"Hi, guys! Sorry I took so long. I want to introduce you to somebody. This is my riding partner. His name is Vikram Kabra." I thought I should say as much from the start.
Amy jumped at the word "Vikram," Nellie just after her at "Kabra." I start laughing. They look so funny, and Vikram looks so uncomfortable behind me—it's hilarious! "Guys, he's not bad. And no," I say, reading Amy's face," he didn't poison me or hypnotize me or anything like that. And he didn't try to kill me, once. Actually, maybe my ears with his screaming, but other than that, he's really cool."
Amy studies him for a second, trying to determine whether I'm right. "One question," she says. "Were you there the night—the night of the fire?"
Vikram's face relaxes. "No. I wasn't."
Amy smiles. "I'll believe my brother, then. Nice to meet you."
"You as well, Amy. I really must be going now, as I need to get to work soon, but I have a favor to ask. Would you tell Natalie and Ian that I said hello?"
"S-sure, I w-will," Amy stutters. She's stuttering again. I don't get her. Vikram smiles at us, nods, and says, "Good day." Then he is gone.
I wonder how my children are right now. If they're safe, if they're happy, if they're turning out anything like the children I met today: strong, independent, mature (well, the girl anyway) but innocent, and forgiving. I would give the world could I assure myself that they were as such.
I never expected to meet the Cahills today. That they would be in Florida, when they live in Boston, and that they would go to DisneyWorld, and that they would go today, and that I would meet them when the park is gargantuan—it's such a complete coincidence, but there must be a reason. Perhaps it was to assure me that my children were all right.
I never expected to see him at the park today, but when we met, it turned out perfectly.
Like I never would have dreamed of.
Like it should be.
\/~/\~\/~/\~\/
Alright, longest story yet! And the first one I feel a need to explain. So I shall. But first, thank you for reading this. It's only 4,000 words, but it's ten pages on Word. Thanks.
First off, Dan and Vikram each start journals. Dan speaks in bold, Vikram speaks in italics. The one line that has nothing special, that's when they both talk together. That's both of them. And at the park, Dan speaks in the present tense, because he's recording moment by moment, where Vikram speaks in the past perfect and perfect, because he is looking back on the day. But the stories still interlock in the same way.
And yes, I am aware that Vikram switches tenses. That was intentional. He speaks in the past perfect when remembering the day, but when he goes back into the scene, he switches into perfect tense. And yes, he returns to present at the end. I apologize if I confused you, but it was intentional.
Thank you for reading this. Review if you feel urged to.
Cecily