Sorry for the long delay. I was taking a break and updating my fanfics. :)
*.*.*
Pluto barked the moment he saw Frodo approach. The significant wag of his black tail meant that he was happy, but it also gave the hobbit a clue that this dog wasn't going to hurt him. Frodo panted, sweat beading down his face. It wasn't even noon and already he was hot! How did that happen?
"Rolf!" Pluto said, leaping on top of the gentle-hobbit and licking him against the side of his face, before rushing off towards Mickey in playful spirits.
"Ahh! Yuck!" Frodo grimaced, wiping the dog drool off his cheek. He shook his head at the yellow dog, glad he was gone. "I don't like dogs." He stood up, finding his way over to the ice cream stand. There on the silver ledge was a note with a message inside:
When you find Atlanta, you know you're home.
- Rhett Butler
"Who?" Frodo asked, confused. What was Atlanta? What did it have to do with Walt Disney World, let alone Boardwalk? He looked up again in angst. Maybe coming here was a bad idea.
"Oi!" The ice cream man with short black hair and donned in a chef's apron and clothes told the hobbit, "You can keep that note, you know."
"What? I can?" Frodo asked, confused.
"Yeah! This is your quest!" The ice cream man returned to his duty, handing out ice cream to the children and adults.
Frodo grinned. This man had a point… and yet, he was also ignoring him. Frodo sighed. It was just as well that people ignored him… wait. What was he saying? What was he doing? He never wanted to be ignored! So, what did the note mean anyway?
Maybe he could ask this man for a clue—
"Excuse me," Frodo got the man's attention, "this note says something about Atlanta, although I'm not sure what it means. Can I get a clue?"
"Ah! Yes," the ice cream man said in awe, "well, when you see the nearest picture, inside the grand Boardwalk inn, then you'll know where the next clue is."
Wow! Frodo was stunned. The next clue had to be the first picture by the door. Yes! That had to be it. He looked again at the man, only to find that he was too busy with his ice cream to notice. Frodo sighed again, knowing he was on his own.
"Thank you," Frodo said anyway.
"If you find the next clue, make sure to stop by the ice cream parlor!" The man said, delighted.
"I will," Frodo said with a smile, before departing down the wood-planked boardwalk.
.
Frodo made his way into the Boardwalk Inn lobby. It was so huge, complete with a chandelier of seahorses. Literal seahorses. He smiled at the details. The people who designed this place must have known what they were doing, he thought with great intrigue. He looked around, before finding a painting with lights and people walking to and fro in dresses and tuxedos, quite different from what he saw outdoors and in the inn.
The hobbit turned his gaze towards the wall. There was a note nestled behind the picture with his name on it, too. He pulled it out, just as one of the bellhops arrived with a cart filled with suitcases.
"Oh! Are you Frodo?" The bellhop asked. Frodo nodded, wondering when he could open the note. "Oh, that's good! Whoever put that note back there knows what they are doing!"
"Do you know who this Rhett Butler is? I found a note with his name on it," Frodo asked in turn.
"I don't know." The bellhop shook his head. "Some guy in a hood was walking by. But you didn't hear that from me." The bellhop moved the cart down the hallway. "Enjoy your day!"
"Right!" Frodo said, opening the note and reading the fine handwriting:
When you discover the whereabouts of the hooded man,
you'll know you're close.
-Mickey Mouse
"Yeah, well, if I can find him." Frodo chuckled. Wait. There were smudges and mysterious writing on the back of the note that read: Rhett Butler. "Things are suspicious! I love a good mystery!"
"I bet you do," said a masculine voice behind the hobbit.
Frodo spun around, just long enough for the man to kick him in the heel. The force of the blow sent Frodo flying, landing on his rear on the carpeted floor. He ached, wishing this stuff didn't happen to him.
By the time he looked up again, the hooded man was on the move.
*.*.*
Thanks for reading. :)
References:
Rhett Butler is from Margaret Mitchell's book Gone with the Wind.
