Chapter 9: The Missing Soldier

"Ah, now this is more like it! No funny talking!" I said happily. A breeze picked up, and then a harsher wind flew in our faces as Dojo dove down for landing. When my friends had finally got the sand, Ma worked her healing magic. It was a sad parting, but I left the blue diamond behind with the family; their precious keepsake. But I have high hopes of finding my dad—or at least some sign of him.

We flew according to the map. Actually, it wasn't a map at all; it was a newspaper article. Since in my dreams the location of my dad's mission is secret, I can't tell you where we are going. (Okay, so I don't know where we're going. My reading skills aren't that good so I left that to the others.) We flew back over the Atlantic Ocean. If we were going to end up back in China, I didn't know.

"Kids, welcome to—" Dojo tried to shout over a loud gust of wind. Apparently there was a miniature dust storm. After that, Dojo didn't say anything else because I guess he thought we heard him. Well, we didn't. Or at least I didn't.

"Hmm, this article is pretty pacific," said Kimiko, "so that means the building is approximately…"

She pulled out a calculator and probably did some mathy-sciencey work. We were in the middle of what seemed to be nowhere, and all Kimiko could do was her geek work?

"… The building should be at least fifty miles away from where we're standing."

Brilliant.

"Maybe if we start walkin' now, we should be… I dunno know, still not close enough?" Clay put in.

"But can't we just take Dojo? It would be a lot quicker!"

Kim snorted. "Yeah right Rai. A flying dragon here would cause even more panic than in New York City! The people who live here believe in spirits and demons. We don't know if a dragon is suppose to be a good sign or not."

"Fine," I said. There was a silence. Clay was first to break it.

"We could just use one o' them tourist buses, righ'?"

--

Before we rode in any buses, we all decided that we should all get some sleep. We went to the nearest hotel nearby. Service there looked first-class, but the person at the front counter recognized me from my awesome band and let us in for free. The problem was convincing her to let Dojo in.

"It's a dragon!" she shrieked in her native tongue. I understood her because back at the circus we had someone who spoke that language. Luckily I pick up things quickly, so I was able to talk to her.

"No," I said, "It's a gecko."

"It's a dragon! I know those scales can't belong to such a reptile!"

"Well, this is a very, uh, special gecko. You see, my buddies here study animals, and they recently discovered this, err, new species…"

The counter lady had the yeah-right look, but she let Dojo stay with us any way.

"Rai, what did ye say to her?" Clay asked.

"Nothing. Just look professional, will you?"

Other than that people started asking my friends about animals, our stay was pretty normal. The rooms were sweet. There was a bed for each of us and for Dojo a cozy little basket. Kimiko looked at a brochure to see if any buses went to the area. It was hard to find one that went there because of all the thieves there, but there were two of them. The earliest one was the next day, so we all went to the pool to chill (though we had convince Omi to not go and do his Water Dragon stuff so the other people wouldn't freak.)

Surprisingly, as much as I was happy to be in luxury, I was still anxious. Maybe I should take a look at the map…. Hmm, excuse me for a sec, I gotta ask Kim for it…

Okay, now what could be on this little article? Humph, I hate reading. Oh well, if it's says something about my dad then I'm willing to make a sacrifice. Ahem—

--

May 12, 1994

THE MISSING SOLDIER

By A. U. H.

As the sun shines brightly on the open waters of the beautiful city of (there was a blotch here.), a tragedy like no other had occurred. What makes it like no other, you ask? Well, just a week ago a highly dedicated soldier from Brazil had gone missing. It seemed that Andre Pedrosa had vanished into thin air.

This was a major loss to all who knew Andre; it was recorded that he was one of the most daring and brave soldier around. Most importantly, the Brazilian man was most important to his family of three children and his wife. "He was very faithful to his family," said Tarquino, a long time friend of Andre. "Though that might be why he's missing. The guy did every difficult task just so he could go home to his family."

Soldiers weren't the only people who had a say in Andre's disappearance. Back in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, the soldier's old show-biz family and friends also mourned of the loss of a great performer. After hearing about her husband, Juanita Pedrosa had made an oath to become the most successful doctor in Brazil, to see to it that no one in her family would go as Andre had. She says: "It was Andre's wish to give our children a happy and healthy lifestyle." Signs of tears showed in her eyes. "I made a promise to help him do that, but now I'm on my own now."

Juanita's three children, oldest Raimundo at age eight and twins Rita and Anita at age four. Upon hearing the news, the children's reaction is no different from anyone other of Andre's friends.

But alas, readers, for reports from residents of the area in the country (What do you know, another blotch!) say that time-to-time someone can see a Portuguese man walk around the old building of 6349, which had recently collapsed due to the series of earthquakes in the area. No one knows for sure whether this man is just a local or Andre Pedrosa himself; one thing is sure is that between the dates of March 20th through April 30th is when this stranger appears to walk around that building all day. Days following that there appear to be no pattern.

So really, what happened to the honored Andre Pedrosa? Is this stranger merely a normal citizen or Andre searching for something? What happed to Andre is a mystery to all. No matter what did happen, friends and family everywhere will honor him.

--

Ah, now I remember! That reporter came to my house that time… and my birthday is in April. Maybe I know that guy who wanders around building 6-something; maybe that guy is my dad. If he is Pa, why does he walk around that building? All this hard thinking is giving me a headache. Well, I can hear my friends calling me. Time to get some Z's.

--

Yawn… Yeah, I know. Long time me no chapter-y and you no read-y. Believe me, deciding what month Rai's birthday is in is harder than you think! Please R&R!