Chapter Three: The Bike Ride
From the Diary of Kelly
For as long as I could remember, I had these dreams every night. They constantly haunt me, leaving me confused and scared out of my mind. Because of that, I never got a good night's sleep.
It was hard being five. I would wake up everyone at the orphanage in the middle of the night. The grown-ups there believed I just wanted attention, saying I had to grow up. And the kids there would call me a weirdo...and a family wouldn't want me.
The kids would leave me be. I'd watch them laugh and play while the adults wondered why I was always unsociable.
I wanted to tell them that I wasn't. That I didn't like it there. That I wanted to go back to the forest. To Chogan...
But I kept it to myself.
Then a year later, my soon-to-be foster family met me. At first, a grown-up there told them I would be too much to handle. Unexpectedly, they didn't care and took me away from that big, old house.
But...the dreams also came with me. When I woke them up on the first night, I cried even more. Because I believed they would hate me and send me back.
But Dad kindly said it was alright. And Mom gave me a cup of cocoa. It was there I realized they weren't like the grown-ups at the orphanage.
They were a happy-go bunch of people. They were caring, supportive and didn't think of me different. They showered me and Baxter with hugs, kisses, laughter and smiles. They loved us deeply.
They did their best to help me, to give me a happy life. However, as much as they could, the dreams still kept on coming. I guess even though they were my family, I just didn't have the heart to tell them how intense my dreams were. But my parents were stubborn to give up.
One day, they took me to a doctor. Hoping that we could find the answers. And knowing could finally ease me. However, when we arrived at a clinic, I pleaded my parents to leave quickly. Thinking...I would lose them if we didn't.
The doctor thought I was throwing a tantrum and impatiently told me to be quiet, grabbing my arm. That outraged my parents. We left, with Mom ending the appointment with a loud rebuke at the doctor.
I didn't tell them why I was so upset. I didn't tell them that the night before, I dreamt of the doctor's head plunge near a pool and something crawled into his ear, making him grin wickedly.
I was just relieved we didn't stay.
And when we were home, Dad patted my head, promising me we would never go there again and Mom declared that we all could watch a late night movie.
But I knew, right there, this wasn't normal. Even if my parents were trying to hide it, I could tell. Because of me, they weren't getting enough sleep. Even if they told me it was alright, I knew I couldn't let this go on.
In the end, the grown-up at the orphanage was right. I was a difficult child for them to handle.
They loved me. But I loved them too.
So I decided to hide my frustration. I taught myself to cry softly so my family could sleep easily at night. I pretended I was fine by smiling happily at everyone. If someone noticed I was bothered, I'd quickly laugh it off and distract them with a topic.
I swore I'd never trouble anyone with my dreams. I'd never tell this problem of mine, even if the cost is to endure through the sleepless nights...
I swore not to let them hurt anyone.
Tobias
It was pretty late that night. By now, Ax was back at his scoop and the others were sitting back, enjoying a nice warm dinner in the comfort of their homes.
Me? Well, considering I've been living the life of a hawk, I had just eaten my usual meal – a field mouse – and now, I was keeping an eye on the girl Ax got a crush on.
It took a while to locate her till I found her campsite. I perched up a tree nearby and allowed my hawk eyes do all the seeing.
So far, I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary. Or that could cause us trouble. The only thing I was surprised was that Kelly seemed to know a great deal of camping out here alone. I didn't think she was the type who liked the outback, let alone in such faraway circumstances. She looked more like the type who knew nothing outside her own world.
For the whole time, I watched her set up her tent, gather woods, make a fire using some matches, wood and rocks, give her dog – Ax said its name was Horatio – a bowl of dog biscuits and then toast a sandwich with a stick.
But...she was a little clumsy.
"Yeow! Oh! Hot! Hot! Hot! Hot!" Kelly screamed, tossing about the toasted sandwich in her hands.
Really, I have no idea what Ax sees in her. I was happy he got someone to like, being stranded on Earth far away from his people. But, this was a weird girl in some traits.
I've seen her once. But it wasn't much seeing. It was because partly, my head was in a toilet bowl at the time (bully thing) and partly, Kelly was rushed to the hospital because she fell down a flight of stairs and broke her arm.
Nobody knew how it happened. It just did. I heard from Rachel that she and Kelly's brother – I think his name was Baxter – discovered her unconscious near the stairs.
Two days later, she returned to school in an arm cast. And I never went back to school.
Resting the sandwich on her lap, Kelly blew onto her hands before she tore off a piece and threw it to Horatio. She then ate quietly before the roaring fire while her dog gobbled the piece up quickly.
I stayed where I was, without moving a muscle. I locked my eyes on her as she brushed off the crumbs and prepared her sleeping bag.
However, Kelly didn't go to sleep straight away. Instead, she sat down and stared at the campfire. For the longest time, Kelly watched the fire blaze wearily. She didn't crawl into her tent or shut her eyes.
How long was she going to stay awake?
A whine caught her attention. Horatio had licked his chomps before resting beside her. Just like me, he too noticed her exhaustion.
Kelly patted him on the head with a smile. "You're worried, aren't you? Don't be, Horatio. I just...don't want to fall asleep." Gradually, the smile became a frown. She stared back at the fire. "If I sleep, they'll come... I don't want to see them..."
They?
"I can't..."
She stayed awake as much as she could. And I did the same. But after two hours, I could feel a cramp. My neck was killing me. Standing watch on the same branch all night wasn't good for a hawk. Wings tend to go asleep.
Finally, her eyes closed and her body laid on the ground.
Maybe I could catch forty winks.
But that wasn't the end of it. In no time, Kelly tossed and turned, whimpering quietly. Her hands gripped her head tightly.
Horatio was aware of this and tried to coax her up with his nose. It didn't wake her up. She looked as if she was having a bad nightmare. A really BAD one. And a long one too. I thought nightmares were supposed to be short. The moment you see something horrifying, you instantly wake up. This girl's dream took it to a whole different level.
Suddenly, she bolted up. "NO!"
She was drenched in cold sweat, gasping in the night's air heavily. Tears were beginning to swell.
"No...no..." she said worriedly. "Not him... Not him..."
Slowly but surely, Kelly buried her face in her knees. I could hear her soft sobbing. Horatio nudged his head at her, trying to give her some comfort.
Ax did say she ran away because of her dreams. But I never imagined they would be terrifying ones. Maybe there was some truth to her reason for running away.
Dreams... It's kind of funny, thinking about dreams. I remembered the last time Cassie and I dreamt, it led to finding Ax in a dome under the sea. And since then, he has been with us.
I wondered. Were Kelly's dreams like ours?
A movement in the trees. Something was there!
My nerves tensed up when I spotted golden eyes from the distance.
Great, there had to be a predator nearby. I hate golden eagles. They always come and rack talons at me. Why couldn't they be in another part of the continent?
I then realized something strange.
I knew most of the golden eagles around here – those that tried to pick on me. But this one was a different eagle. A new one in the area, I assumed. I could tell because it was covered in ruffled feathers, as if it had been in a recent fight.
But it wasn't eyeing me like the other eagles did.
It was watching Kelly.
I felt uneasy about its gaze. It never took its eyes from her.
I don't know why but I just didn't like it.
The golden eagle spread out its wings and took off. Once it was no longer in my view, I relaxed a bit. Good, one problem gone. Back to Kelly.
She cried for an hour but didn't go back to sleep again. Kelly wrapped her arms around her legs and stared at the fire again. She rocked back and forth a bit.
Man, I was sleepy. I'm more of a day bird-person, not a nocturnal one. I tried to stay awake but my eyes felt heavy.
Then, slowly, everything went dark...
(HEY, TOBIAS! WAKE UP!)
(Huhwhatwhatwhowhere! ?) I nearly jumped out of my feathers.
Strong light. It hurt my eyes for a while. Was it morning already?
I looked about only to see an osprey next door to me. It waved a wing.
(Oh... Hey, Marco...)
(Top o' the morning to you,) he spoke in a fake Irish accent. (Sleeping on the job, are we? What happens if Oddball Kelly goes off somewhere and stumbles right in front of Ax-man? She might just disappear right under your nose. Like right now.)
(What! ?) I shouted and quickly looked down.
Kelly was gone. But her things were still there. So was Horatio, his leash tied to a tree. He let out a wide yawn and scratched his ear.
(Relax, Bird Boy. She just went to the river to wash up. See? Here she comes now.)
He was right. Kelly came out from the underbrush a second later.
(See? She isn't going to sprout wings and fly away,) Marco intoned.
(What time is it?) I asked.
(Well, it's past noon by now.)
Huh. No wonder I was feeling a bit hungry.
Below, Kelly had started making another fire. Once the flame was big enough, she made a frame out of sticks over the fire and placed a small mash tin on top. She then took out a bottle and poured a portion of what looked like yellow liquid into the mash tin and stirred it up till it became fluffy.
She was cooking eggs for lunch.
(So did she do anything odd last night? Knowing her, anything she does is odd.)
(Do you assume everything she does is always strange?) I uttered. (Nothing much happened last night. She ate dinner and went to sleep until she got a nightmare.)
(Uh-huh,) he said as he began cleaning his feathers.
(I think Ax was right about her dreams. She didn't sleep the whole night.)
(Sure, sure.)
(Oh, by the way, there was this big golden eagle over at the horizon. And you know why? It was watching Kelly too.)
(That so?)
(...You're still mad at Kelly, aren't you?)
He stopped cleaning. (Who's Kelly?)
(It was a dance. Drop it.)
(Ah, it was just a dance before we all got sick.)
I felt like shaking my head. (Anyway, why are you here? Today's a school day, isn't it?)
(Didn't I say this before? Like maybe, last month? I am a free guy, Tobias. No school can keep this kid in.)
(Uh huh. So what really happened?)
(Apparently, someone clogged up the bathrooms as a partiacular joke and flooded the school over night. If you ask me, it's a blessing in disguise.)
I turned back. Kelly had already finished cooking and ate half of her eggs. She kept the rest in a container and took hold of her bag. She brought out a pen and a book, and began writing.
(She's writing something in that book,) I said.
(Probably writing a story about little ponies frolicking in pink meadows and talking about how cute their big red bows are.)
(Could you be a bit more serious now and then?)
(Fine, fine. If you want me to be serious, then I'll be serious.)
(Oh, really? How?) If I was human, I would be cocking up an eyebrow at him.
(You'll see.)
Why did I not like the sound of that?
Half an hour later, Kelly stopped writing, put her book back into her bag and stretched her arms out. Horatio let out a bark and spun around three times.
"Time for a walk, huh?" she asked and got two more barks as her reply. "Okay, okay. Let's go, Horatio."
Kelly grabbed the leash and the two disappeared through the trees.
(Alright. Time to get busy,) said Marco and dove to the ground. He demorphed.
(What are you doing? Do you want to be seen by her?)
"Relax. I borrowed this morph from one of Cassie's animal friends," he spoke once his beak softened into a human mouth. "Besides, she's gone."
He took to his next morph. First, his body shrunk down slowly. Grey, white and black hair sprouted all over his skin but in a certain pattern. A tail slithered from his spine with black bands. His nose stretched and his ears pointed upwards while his hands and feet shriveled into little claws.
Marco's morph of the day was a raccoon.
(What'd you think? Catchy?)
(Nope,) I replied, which made his raccoon face somehow scorned. (What are you planning to do? Mess up her camp?)
(No, birdbrain. Since you're so interested in what she wrote, I'm going to get that book for you.)
(That means stealing.)
(Of course not. We're just borrowing it. There's a difference.)
(Thief,) I called him.
(That's actually what this animal is called. Now shut up and look out for the oddball.)
He scampered to the backpack and fiddled with the bag's buckle until it came off. With his teeth, he tugged open the zipper and began digging in.
(Yum! Gummi bears!)
(Marco!)
(Alright, alright! Hold your horses... Here it is.)
He pulled out the book and pried it open, somewhere in the middle. With my hawk eyes, I examined the contents as Marco turned one page at a time. From the looks of it, I could tell it was a journal.
(Wait, isn't it bad to read a girl's diary?)
(Why would you care about that? We're animals, if you haven't noticed. Like it'll matter if she finds out a raccoon and a bird are reading her book.)
(It matters to me. This is her privacy!)
(Oooh! So you're the sensitive type of guy. Won't Rachel be jealous to hear you say that over this girl...)
I ruffled my feathers angrily. (That's none of your business! And this is Ax's crush! Not mine!)
(Whatever... Aha! This is a nice page to read!)
I hesitated for a second before sighing deeply. I mentally gave a silent apology to Kelly for doing this. So I looked.
There was a lot of writing in the book. One paragraph read "I met a boy named Phillip today. He's a weird-looking guy. He's funny too. Seemed to like food a lot. It's strange. I only met him and I kinda like him."
...I wondered how Ax would react if he read that.
Besides the writing, there were a lot of drawings on the page. Doodles, actually. But good ones.
(Didn't know she had such an odd imagination too,) said Marco. (Creative, but downright odd.)
I had to agree with him there. A few doodles I could make out were animals: wolf, bird, tiger. But there were others that looked like experimental animals gone wrong. And it looked like Kelly kept drawing the same freaky-looking animals again and again.
These were the most common ones:
One was a bold striped cat-like beast with horns and a thin long tail, which somehow, had two beady eyes and fangs. Gave me the impression it was some creature I learned about Greek Mythology.
Another was a whale, drawn with an armored back and had extremely long wing-shaped fins. Six black legs were scribbled underneath the whale.
A third one was bird-like, but drawn with two pairs of clawed wings – one set seemed to be shooting out pointed tendrils – and a pair of cat's eyes.
The next one was an eight-legged, six-eyed lizard – four small ones were drawn behind its other two big ones. Large blades marked along its back, making the small creature look really dangerous.
Fifth one, its body looked bear-like. Big, tough and mostly furry. Long and thick claws ready to tear apart anything. But its limbs were deprived of fur. It had a long tail with hair fanned at the end. And its nose was sharper, bearing teeth. Like a wolf.
The last one strangely looked familiar. Maybe it was because it reminded me of Ax a little. Very little. It was drawn as a powerful centaur but instead of hooves, its legs were triangular points. It had the pincers of a lobster for hands and the wide head of a...shark, I think.
Kelly had some imagination, alright.
Then, one doodle caught my eye in the next page.
(Hey. Does that...look like a Hork-Bajir to you?) I said.
(What?) Marco took a closer look. (I don't think so.)
(Yeah, it does. Look at the spikes.)
(It's just a scribble. Besides, she's an oddball so she's bound to draw oddly anything.)
RUSTLE!
The bushes shook. Marco froze.
A groan escaped from behind the bushes. Kelly had returned to her camp with Horatio. As she brushed off the leaves caught in her hair, Horatio caught sight of Marco and let out a low growl.
(Oh, not good.)
Hearing the growl, Kelly finally noticed Marco and blinked twice. I guess she was wondering why a raccoon had wandered into her camp.
She then spotted the book in his claws.
"My diary!" she shouted.
(Marco! Run!)
He scurried off, the book spine in his mouth.
(Couldn't you have dropped the book?)
(Well, forgive my instinct for biting into anything that might be food!)
"Woof! Woof!"
"Horatio!"
And Marco's bad luck just became worse luck. Horatio's leash slipped free from Kelly's hand and immediately, the dog chased after him.
(NO! NO! NO! NO!)
There was no way he could outrun a big dog.
(Hang on, Marco!) I flapped my wings and readied to dig my talons at Horatio. I was sorry to attack him since he is Kelly's pet. But I couldn't let Marco get bitten!
I racked at Horatio's back. But that didn't stop him! Must be because of his thick fur.
"Shoo!" Kelly shouted, waving her arms at me. "Get away from him!"
(TOBIAS! TOBIAS!) he screamed as teeth drew closer to his tail. (AAAAAAH! ! !)
I couldn't bear to watch.
CHOMP!
There was no scream of pure agony. That was because Horatio didn't sink his teeth onto Marco's tail. He bit onto the book and lifted it up. But he also brought Marco up.
Marco's claws clenched tightly to the book as he dangled in the air.
(Nice doggie. Good doggie. You don't want to eat me. You want a nice juicy bone. I know one near a dumpster if you let me go, K...? No?) Marco whimpered pleadingly.
Horatio only glanced at him. With a huff, he began shaking his head sideways.
(Whoa, whoa, whoa!)
Marco tried desperately to hold on. But the dog forcibly shook him right off the book. And he went flying out to the bushes.
(AAAAAAH!)
THUD!
(Marco,) I called, landing near him. (Are you ok?)
(...What...do...you...think? Ugh!)
I peered from the underbrush. Horatio strolled to his master and placed the diary in her hands. She then unhurriedly patted his head as a reward and said, "...Good boy."
(Good boy! ? What good boy! ?) Marco snapped, getting up. (That thing tossed me like a shot put!)
(Be glad he didn't eat you.)
(Well, it wouldn't turn like this if you kept watch. Ouch! I think I sprained something.)
(If Rachel was here, she'd call you a baby.)
(Sure, take her side. While I'm here hoping I don't need some crude examination from Cassie's dad!)
(Oh, stop whining. I dealt with it before,) I groaned. Believe me, I have. (Serve you right for taking Kelly's diary.)
Marco grumbled softly. For Pete's sake, could he stop being mad at her?
"Hope you didn't hurt that raccoon," we heard Kelly say. "Hey, Horatio, do you know why a raccoon and a hawk are in the same area? I thought they were natural enemies."
We jumped in our skins.
It is true that raccoons and red-tailed hawks are enemies. I have faced a few. Apparently, they wanted to eat me. But, man, I was shocked to hear she knew about animals. Maybe as much as Cassie did.
Did we just screw up? And if Kelly was a Controller, would she suspect something?
Horatio just panted heavily in response. Kelly shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe it was just a coincidence."
(Phew. That was close. But I'm surprised. So does this mean I get to bully you?)
(Oh, ha, ha. I am almost tempted to peck you.)
(Ok. Chill, Bird Boy.)
I wheeled back. Kelly had seized Horatio's leash and led him back to the camp. Putting the book away, she then stood up and stared at a direction of the woods.
"Phillip's not coming...is he, Horatio?"
That was a surprise. Ax didn't say he was supposed to meet her again. Then again, Jake did order him not to go near her.
(Did she just say Ax's human name?)
I ignored Marco and wondered if she had been waiting for him since this morning.
She sighed deeply but smiled faintly. "He's probably with his family. Maybe enjoying a good lunch."
With that in mind, Kelly started taking her campsite apart. First, she packed away her tent and rolled up her sleeping bag. It amazed me how she could fit so many things into one backpack. She then threw soil over the campfire and once it settled, she stamped on the scorched earth, making sure no wildfire would be created in the long run.
Gradually, there wasn't much to call it a campsite. The smoky ground was the only evidence it ever existed.
Brushing the dirt and soot off her hands, she gazed again at the same direction as before.
"Sorry, Phillip. I have to go."
Bag strapped to the back of her bike, campsite cleared and leash wrapped tightly to her hand.
She was ready. Kelly climbed onto her bike, gave one last look, and pedaled away with Horatio striding beside.
(She's leaving? Whoop-de-do! Now we won't have to worry about the oddball again!)
(I don't think so.)
Marco jolted his raccoon head. (And why's that? Look at her. She's finally going home. That solves all our problems.)
(Then why is she going the other way?)
It was true. Rather than heading towards a road that led to Cassie's place and back to the city, Kelly rode to the opposite direction. She wasn't going back. She was still running away from home.
The only road at the other side I knew of was the one to the highway. Where was she planning to go from there?
(Well, not our problem,) Marco uttered. (Doesn't matter where she goes as long as Oddball Kelly doesn't cross our paths at all.)
If only I could roll my eyes. I took off to the sky.
(H-Hey! Wait for me!)
Marco scuttled after me. I didn't give him time to demorph first and morph into a bird. But, hey, I was told to keep watch on Kelly as top priority. Luckily, she was riding at a steady pace, for the sake of her dog so we could easily catch up with her.
Well, not so much for Marco. He was badly trying to catch his breath.
After a couple of minutes of trailing her, Horatio surprisingly came to a halt.
(Ah... Finally...they stopped...–gasp–...oh, god. I feel a stitch coming...)
"Horatio?" Kelly called out, stopping her bike. "Something wrong?"
Horatio glanced about. He then sniffed the ground, walking around in circles.
Kelly laughed lightly. "You found the raccoon again?"
(Oh no! If he comes after me again, I'm hightailing out of here!)
From my point of view, it didn't seem like he was after Marco. Horatio was too far away to get his scent so Marco was in the clear. But he was indeed sniffing something.
Horatio gallantly pointed himself to the north.
Then without warning, he darted.
"WH-WHOA!"
And he pulled Kelly's bike along for the trip.
(They're getting away!)
(Awww, man!) Marco groaned but reluctantly followed.
The dog ran fast. Whatever got his attention had his canine mind set on it. Nothing would stop him from getting to his destination, not even Kelly's commands.
"HORATIO! STOP! HORATIO!" Kelly hollered. She had no control over her bike.
Horatio didn't stop. He kept on going.
(Why doesn't she hit the brakes?) Marco exclaimed.
(She'd risk hurting her dog. What else?) I said.
(Well, it's better than risking her life!)
"HORATIO! PLEASE STOP!"
(Say...–pant–...Tobias? Doesn't this place look familiar?)
I scanned the area below. For some reason, I recognized the ground. (Yeah, they do look fami–Uh-oh.)
(Don't tell me. This is the way to Ax's scoop, right?)
(Yup.)
(And Kelly's heading that direction?)
(Most likely.)
(…Ooooh boy. I can picture her walking towards the Yeerks' HQ or the mental asylum. Hopefully, it's the latter one.)
(I only hope Ax isn't around.)
(Well, we can't let that happen! We got to stop her!)
(And how do you propose we do that? She can't stop her bike!)
"HORAAAAATIO!" Kelly yelled again in anguish.
And the leash slipped from her hand for a second time. Her bike continued zooming one way while Horatio went another, towards Ax's scoop.
Ahead in Kelly's way was a large ditch.
"HORAAATIO!"
She couldn't stop, even if she tried.
"AAAAAAHH!"
I watched her bike fly into the air.
CRASH!
Kelly collided into the ditch. From the sheer force, her backpack incredibly soared away ten feet away as the bike tumbled into the bushes below.
(Marco, go find Ax and warn him that Kelly's nearby!)
A small gray speck below me quickly hurried to the scoop. I flew closer to the ditch to make sure if Kelly was alright. She was partly ok. She slowly got up and massaged her temple as she checked for deep lesions or broken bones. She had none.
"Ow! Ow," she whined from the soreness before noting where her bike was.
(I can't find Ax. But I certainly found the mutt! He's near the scoop!)
(Marco, don't panic. He's a dog. He can't find it.)
(I should panic! The oddball is nearby and that dog is–!) he stopped hissing. (H-Hey! Bad dog! Bad dog! Stop digging!)
A couple of barks could be heard.
"Horatio?" she uttered and began climbing out from the ditch.
Oh no.
"Ow! Ow! Still hurts," Kelly moaned, reaching the top. "Whatever you found, Horatio, it'd better be worth the pain."
What should I do? If she'd head there, she was bound to find Ax's scoop. But Ax does hide the scoop every time he leaves it alone so that none of his things would be visible to anyone walking by. I shouldn't be too worried. Yeah, perhaps, she'd grab her dog and ride off without noticing anything.
I followed Kelly to the scoop. Sure enough, there was no trace of Ax's home anywhere. Horatio was right on top of where it was, scuffing the ground.
"This is what you stopped for? There's nothing here, Horatio," Kelly groaned and took the leash.
Horatio didn't move, not even when his master tugged on leash. He continued digging.
(Oh man! We got to do something!) I heard Marco's thought-speech coming from a hiding spot he stayed, well away from Horatio's jaws. (If Ax comes, then there'll be a whole lot of trouble!)
"Did you find something?"
(ARRRGH! The mutt found something! ? Quick, Tobias! Go in there and stop them!)
(How?)
(I don't know...! S...scare her! Scratch her with your talons! Anything!)
(No way do I want to hurt her! And that dog will surely bite me before I have the chance to frighten her!)
(Oh sure. The hawk becomes a chicken. Brilliant. We are so going to get our secret blown.)
"What on earth?"
Again, I looked at the two and I couldn't help but feel more shaken than I should.
Horatio had dug out a lot of dirt, revealing one of the four walls from Ax's scoop. Underneath the wooden wall showed the corner a black object. Kelly dropped on one knee and examined it. She then clutched its side and brought it out into the light.
I knew what it was. It was Ax's TV!
(We're screwed,) Marco groaned
"They threw a perfectly good TV? That's horrible!"
I was quickly relieved. She must have thought it was some dumpsite.
"How could anyone do that? This is a protected region!" Kelly snapped. "They must have hid trash under this plank of wood."
She balled up her fists and got up.
"The nerve! When Mom hears about this, she'll–Oh," she uttered. Her face changed from anger to gloom. "Right..."
She sighed deeply and turned the other way.
"Let's get out of here, Horatio."
(Yes! Go! And don't ever come back here!) Marco
However, Horatio didn't obey. Instead, he grazed the TV with one paw. If Ax had seen this, he would be devastated to see his possession covered in scratches.
"Horatio, what are you doing?" Kelly asked. "If you're trying to switch it on, you can't. The nearest plug is miles away from-"
Click!
The black screen lit up. Showing was a repeated Nickelodeon cartoon of Rocko's Modern Life.
"...It's on," she gasped. "How is that...?"
She stopped, noting two wires attached to the TV.
(Oh no!) Marco shouted.
Kelly grabbed one and pulled on it. A few inches later, a strange device came out from beneath the wall.
(Oh no! Oh no!)
Kelly began examining the device. However, her baffled face told me she didn't know what it was.
"I have no idea what the heck this is. Do you know, Horatio?"
I knew. It's actually a cable box...with a few new components and functions. Some time ago, Jake brought it over since his dad recently replaced it with a new one. We thought it might give Ax more varieties of shows. But it turned out the box was useless. There's no such thing as free cable.
Then Ax went and tweaked it. And for some reason, he managed to get every single channel, including the Chinese and Spanish channels.
She warily placed it aside, as if it might detonate if she dropped it. She then grabbed the other wire, much thicker than the first, and yanked it out.
(No! Nonononono!)
Despite Marco's plea, Kelly managed to heave out a small portable generator. Now you know how Ax watched television in the woods.
(Eeek!)
(Would you calm down?)
(How can I calm down! ? She's going through Ax's stuff! She'll figure out he's an alien and we're going to be brought to the Yeerks on a silver platter!)
"A portable generator...right here in the woods..." said Kelly, baffled. "Okkkkk, I'm having second thoughts this is a junkpile so let's get out of here, Horatio."
(See? She hasn't figured it out and she's already going.)
(Not good enough!)
(Aren't you being overdramatic?) I asked, watching the gray speck jump up and down like a maniac.
"Horatio, let's go," she called out, tugging on the leash.
But Horatio wouldn't move again. Instead, he sat down in front of the TV and watched as one of the characters do.
"Since when did you become interested in cartoons?"
(Great! That mutt likes watching TV. Like Ax. What could be worse?)
He was right. There was no telling if Ax would walk right in, revealing his Andalite self to her. And if one problem would lead to another, then we'd have to figure out what to do. What made it uneasy was the possibility that she...
No, I shouldn't think ahead. But I knew one thing for sure.
Kelly and Horatio had to leave.
A glimpse of something blue had suddenly come into my view. It was far-off, away from the scoop and coming in slowly.
My feather stood on ends.
Ax was heading towards Kelly!
Outside, I'd smile and laugh. But inside...I'm tired. I guess when you keep something in for so long, it starts to wear you down.
Sometimes, I'm confused. Other times, I wish someone could notice there's something wrong about these dreams and tell me I'm not alone. But...I just can't allow anyone to know. I'm afraid of what people would think. And if they do, they would leave me alone...just like the kids back at the orphanage.
So I hid my pain. I made sure no one ever saw it.
But I don't stop there. I always hope that maybe someday, the bad things will turn around and become good. I have always believed in good things, thanks to Mom. When I thought negatively about these dreams, I quickly kept telling myself to think positive. That one day, the dreams would go away and I could sleep peacefully at night.
In the meantime, I tried my best to look on the bright side of things.
There was never a bright side. And eventually, I was getting exhausted from that. I started to think they were here to stay.
One day, I discovered something in the mall. I was at the bookstore, looking for a birthday present for my dad. An author was there too because of her new book, signing autographs.
I stayed at the photography section but stared at her booth.
When she was asked what inspired her to write her book, she answered her dreams were the source of her inspiration. She had to look up their meanings in a dream dictionary before she got the idea for her book.
Apparently, she never had dreams like mine. I found those dictionaries useless. None of books had the meanings behind my dreams. I could never find out what the dreams meant.
I sighed. Unlike me, everyone had nicer dreams.
Then I overheard her say she used to keep a journal beside her bed. Every morning, when she'd wake up, she'd immediately write them down. She told everybody that she was surprised when her husband, a co-author of the same book, had read her journal and said she was special because of that.
Special. I never thought of it that way. I had always thought that I'd be seen as a freak if people found out. But this woman, four times older than me, was something more just by noting down her dreams.
I was motivated to write too.
That day, I bought my first diary from the same store. That was three years ago. By now, I was on my fifth one. When I finished one book, I hid it with the others under a floorboard in my bedroom. It was a very good hiding place. No one was the wiser to find them.
I wrote my dreams down. I didn't leave any detail out. Every time I had a dream, I would write it down the next morning and hide it back under the floor. Sometimes, I'd write how the rest of my day went. Sometimes, I'd draw things that I've seen in my dreams. I'd also draw other things just for the fun of it. Some of the doodles weren't really related to the dreams.
It didn't actually help mellow down my...confusion? Suffering? I wasn't sure what you'd call them. But, writing them down made me feel a bit calmed.
I didn't want to tell anyone about them but I was more confident in writing them. And maybe one day, these diaries would be found by someone.
I wondered if they would start reading them when they discover these books under my floor. Would they understand the dreams better than I do?
If people were to find out about them, would they say I'm special and not a freak?
If so, then could they come and tell me their meanings?
Could they help me not feel empty inside...?
...And lost too?
That's what I hoped for. One day.
Vickie: That's it! Third chapter is up! Hope you all like it! :D
And you must be wondering why on earth there is a portable generator, a flat tv and a cable box when this is supposed to be 1994/5. Actually, I've changed the setting to 2005 and made it modernized.
Thanks to friends in RAF forum, I decided to make it more modern for various reasons: 1) a challenge and 2) a curiosity of how it would be like if Animorphs were in 2000s (mostly on Ax like if he comes across a XBOX 360). So I hope I'm successful in creating a different modern setting to your liking.
But if you think I should stick to 1994-1996 as a traditional Animorphs fanfic, by all means, I can change it. Opinions are helpful no matter what kind so feel free to say if you like or dislike the modern setting. :)
Btw, you might think a flat tv might be impossible if you think about costs but I was thinking that it could be an old model from say, 2003? Still working and now in Ax's possessions. :P
Also, I like to dedicate this chapter to Broken from RAF for helping me brainstorm on the modern parts! Thank you Broken! Hope you enjoy this chp!
Lastly, those creatures mentioned in Kelly's diary, hint: you will see them again. I guarantee. ;)
Well, with that. I'll begin planning Chp 4.
Marco: ARGH! WHY! ? Couldn't you just let that oddball go somewhere else instead of finding Ax's place! ?
Vickie: Hmmmm... Nope. Would make the storyline too easy. :D Besides, she hasn't 'discovered' the big secret...yet. –grins evilly-
Marco: -turns to the audience- SOMEONE! TAKE THIS AUTHOR AWAY FROM US! AAAARGH!
Update Note: I've decided to write it in a way that the time setting is anonymous rather than point at a specific time like 1995 or 2003 so from now on, I'll be fixing some of the things I added. Keep it traditional like the old series. But that's not to say some technologies were just starting. Like bluetooth and such. And hey, I believe there's rumours about how special agents always had the high-tech devices before they come to the public.
