This is my favourite chapter in the entire story, so I hope you all love it too!

Chapter 12- Fun in the Sun

Fudge's POV

Dear Annabella,

I promised you I would send you a postcard from the Freewheeler Islands. So, here it is! Do you like the picture on it? We actually get views like that here.

I don't really know what to tell you. I've said everything in my emails, but I'm keeping my promise. I probably would've told you by the time you get this card, but today, we're going snorkelling! I'm so excited!

You would love it here. Maybe one day, you can visit. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy my photos and I can't wait to see you in Italy later on in the year.

Love,

Your favourite American cousin.

The snorkelling trip was Aunt Sally's idea. She booked a boat for us and everything. She said it would be a great way for us all to spend time together and she wouldn't really take no for an answer.

She didn't have to twist my arm. I thought it sounded heavenly. I'd only been snorkelling once before (on the Great Barrier Reef when we visited Australia a couple of years ago) and I loved it. Though, I had been a little disappointed not to see any clownfish. I could not wait to try it in the Freewheeler Islands!

"Do you have your swimsuit?" Papà quizzed me when we had five minutes before we had to meet the others in the lobby.

"I'm wearing it underneath", I informed him, gesturing to my blue T-shirt and blue and white shorts. Since I would just be with my family for the whole day, I figured it would be okay to wear shorts. They all know all about my scars. They were there for every single one. They understand.

"Okay. Come here, please. You need sunscreen."

I put my phone down and headed towards Papà. I had just been checking my email to see if Uncle Red had any more Jennyfur updates for me. (He did. He assured me that she was still fine and he sent me a photo of her, receiving cuddles from Uncle Sheriff, making me promise that I would never tell.) When I turned my phone on, I noticed the date: January tenth. We'd been here for a week. By the end of the day, we'd only have a week left. I had done pretty much everything I wanted to do on this vacation, but now, I wanted to do everything one last time before we had to go home.

I wasn't exactly sure about everyone else, but I was having a blast in the Freewheeler Islands. The weather was amazing. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous. The theme parks were awesome! I loved all of the rides. They were so fast! I love going fast! Unfortunately, since the accident, all I've heard is, "Slow down, Fudge", "Take it easy, Fudge", "You can't race anymore, Fudge. It's too dangerous."

Sure enough, as Papà smothered me in sunscreen, he reminded me, "You must promise that you will take it easy today. I do not want a repeat of yesterday."

"I promise, Papà." And I meant it.

"Papà?" I began a few minutes later.

"Yes, Fudge?"

"I got a message from Uncle Topolino last night." Uncle Topolino is actually Papà's uncle, which makes him my great-uncle. "He's been trying to get in touch with you."

Papà made a face. "And I would know that if I still had my phone!" he complained. He sighed. "I will call him later, if you will let me borrow your phone." I nodded and Papà sighed again. "Okay. Let's go.

Now that I was covered in sunscreen, we were out the door, where everyone else was waiting for us.


Most of us were chatting excitedly as we ate breakfast and then headed towards the dock where a boat would take us to the reef to snorkel. The only exceptions were Mater, who was shrieking about the possibility of us getting shipwrecked and stranded on an island far far away where we would never be rescued (which sounded like a pretty cool adventure to me, if it didn't last too long) and Papà. I'm not quite sure why. I figured it was either because he was still mad at Uncle Ramone for what happened at Action World and for throwing his phone in the pool (Uncle Ramone was still talking about how excited he was, to everyone except Papà) or because he doesn't really like boats or the ocean. I had a suspicion that it was both of those factors combined.


Since arriving in the Freewheeler Islands, I had tried to keep my legs covered as much as possible. The Staceys had really embarrassed me, which I guess was the point. Nobody had said anything about my scars after that, but now, on our way to the dock, I almost felt like I were on display. Okay. I don't think that many people even noticed, but I'm pretty sure did receive a couple of stares and I think one or two little kids might have pointed and that was enough to make my face burn.

Papà had told me not to be embarrassed because I had a beautiful body. No disrespect to Papà or anything, but I still can't believe he actually said that! I know he meant well and all, but come on! No fifteen-year-old wants to hear that from her father! Besides, telling someone not to feel embarrassed or scared or whatever doesn't help. It's very easy for someone else to say. Plus, I was still a little miffed that he read my journal without asking. Still, I was trying to let those things go. We were on vacation, after all, and there were plenty of arguments.

Again, I don't want to hurt Papà's feelings, but it kind of made me wish I had a mother. Maybe a mother would be more understanding. I mean, I know I've got Aunt Flo and Aunt Sally, the former of whom has always been very motherly, but the two of them are both gorgeous; I'm not. They wouldn't understand what someone who's not pretty feels like.

Anyway, as we headed to the boat, I tried to hide in the middle of my family.

"Fudge, what are you doing?" Uncle Sarge hissed.

I didn't know what to say or do. I'd always been a little afraid of Uncle Sarge, now even more so after watching him have a meltdown over the mess in the room he'd been sharing with Uncle Fillmore. Besides, I didn't think he'd understand.

Papà placed me up on his roof. "There!" he whispered. "Now, no one can see."

Uncle Sarge must've realised because his question sounded downright disapproving. "What good is that gonna do her? Fudge needs to learn how to solve this problem for herself."

Papà pretended not to hear. So did I. We all know that Uncle Sarge doesn't like the way Papà raises me. He's always saying that he "coddles" me too much. Papà told me once that we should just ignore him. Uncle Sarge never had children, so he doesn't know what he's talking about.

I couldn't see Uncle Sarge, but I guess he wasn't very happy because I heard Uncle Fillmore whisper, "Let it go, man."

"That's right", Aunt Sally agreed as we arrived at the dock. A small white boat with the Freewheeler Islands flag on each side (a wheel and three greyish-blue stars on a field of royal purple) and a glass bottom was waiting for us. "This is gonna be fun."


And it was. The boat ride was very nice and relaxing. Our boat, who had introduced himself as José, pointed out some things for us to see like local fish or coral in the water or an island with a particularly interesting story. He spoke in an accent so thick, I could barely understand him.

About halfway to the reef, I noticed that Papà looked a little nervous and even kind of sick.

"Are you okay, Papà?" I questioned worriedly.

He nodded. "I am fine, angel", he assured me.

"(We are not going to be on this boat for several months)", Babbo reminded him. "(And the water is much calmer. You can relax.)"

Papà nodded in agreement, but I think he was still a little uneasy.


It took about forty-five minutes to get to the reef. Throughout the journey, the islands got smaller and further apart. Now, there was a tiny island in the distance and no other land in sight. It was pretty cool. The water looked inviting too. It was a beautiful, clear blue colour and looked very nice and cool.

I could barely contain my excitement as we all got into our snorkelling gear.

"D'you think we is gonna see sharks here?" Mater quizzed us worriedly. He was the only one who hadn't put a snorkelling mask on yet.

"I doubt it", José told him. "I have not once seen a shark around here. They don't go near the reefs."

Mater looked deep in thought. I think he was trying to come up with another excuse to not go in the water. He proved me right when the next words out of his mouth were, "How long's it been since we done had breakfast? Y'all gotta wait one hour before goin' swimmin'."

"That's just a myth, man!" Uncle Ramone informed him.

Uncle Fillmore shook his front, needing a second to get the rubber tube out of his mouth before throwing his two cents in. "I believe it."

"Well, it's been more than an hour since we ate, honey", Aunt Flo assured him.

"Maybe Mater should stay here for now", Lightning suggested. "If he feels like it, he can join us later."

Aunt Sally seemed disappointed, but she knew that it would be mad to force Mater in. We all know that he can't swim and that he's scared of water. So, she just nodded. (I was surprised that we got him on the boat at all.)

By then, I was in my swimsuit and had my mask on. I was just pulling the flippers on my feet, sat on the edge of the boat.

"Last one in is a burned-out spark plug!" I hollered just as I leaned way back, letting myself tumble off the boat and directly into the water.

I felt a little shock when I first made contact with the cold water, but once I'd gotten used to it, I laughed in delight. This was perfect. Absolutely perfect. I'm not the world's greatest swimmer; I mostly just doggy-paddle or swim on my back. Plus, I don't really like it when my feet can't touch the bottom. Despite all that, I do love the water and it felt so good now! On top of that, we could not have better weather for snorkelling. The sun was shining and there was not one single cloud in the brilliant blue sky.

Lightning and Uncle Ramone grinned and didn't hesitate to jump in after me. Babbo, Aunt Flo and Aunt Sally were quick to follow them. Uncle Sarge and Uncle Fillmore joined us more calmly, at a much slower pace. Papà didn't look much more thrilled than Mater, but slowly and cautiously, he climbed off the boat and into the water. With each entry, I couldn't help laughing as I got splashed. Only not everyone was as happy as I was.

"This water is not much warmer than the weather in Radiator Springs", Papà complained.

"Well, it's a pretty warm day", I pointed out. "It's great to cool off, isn't it?"

Papà didn't answer.

"Be careful y'all don't get eaten by sharks!" Mater hollered from the boat.

I kind of wished he'd just leave us alone and let us enjoy snorkelling even if he didn't want to. He should be grateful we didn't force him into the water.

Pretty soon, all of us were swimming around, dipping under the water occasionally.

"Look at this!" Aunt Sally cried.

We all tried to make our way over to her and when I got there, I was glad I did. Under the water, it looked like a rainbow. Blue, green, yellow and silver fish were darting in all directions before disappearing into the pink and purple coral. Pink and orange starfish lay stretched out on the rocks. Vibrant green seaweed swirled around. I thought I could even see a couple of golden seahorses.

"Oh, wow!" I heard Lightning exclaim.

"Far out, man! I'm feelin' a lot of love, a lot of life", Uncle Fillmore remarked.

"I hate to admit it, but for once, I have to agree with you, hippie", Uncle Sarge conceded.

"Awesome!" I declared.

"E bellissima!" Papà cried excitedly from behind me. "(Fudgie, do you see?!)"

Well, at least he'd found something to be excited about and wasn't going to complain all day.

Fortunately, Uncle Ramone had brought along his waterproof camera and was snapping pictures of everything we saw. Even though painting is his favourite, especially painting cars, Uncle Ramone is extremely talented at just about every art form, including photography. He kept gazing under the surface, searching for something worthy of photograph.

"Look!" he shouted abruptly. "Turtles!"

"Turtles?!" we all echoed, ecstatic. "Where?!"

"Over here!"

Sure enough, dunking my face into the water, I could see two enormous turtles swimming past a couple of rocks.

"This is amazing!" I proclaimed.

I felt a tyre squeeze my hand. It was Papà.

"It is, isn't it?" he agreed, smiling.

I smiled back, glad to see him loosen up a little, instead of worrying about me or the cold or the fact that we were going on a boat.

"You are not tired, are you?" he quizzed me worriedly.

Okay, maybe he wasn't completely stress free, but for Papà, that was nothing.

"Nope", I assured him. "I could do this all day."

"Fudge! Luigi!" I heard Babbo call, waving to Papà and me.

"I wanna get a group shot!" Uncle Ramone explained, trying to round everyone up.

Papà and I swam over and let Uncle Ramone get a picture of all of us smiling and waving at the camera.

"Hey, Mater!" Uncle Ramone shouted in the direction of the boat, who had moved back a little to give us some space, but wasn't too far away. "C'mere, man!"

"No!" Mater yelled back. I noticed that he'd tried on a snorkelling mask, even though he refused to snorkel. "I ain't gettin' in the water!"

"Mater!" Aunt Sally swam over to him. "There's nothing to be afraid of! Just get in long enough for one picture. Just one. Then you can get back on the boat."

Mater shook his front adamantly. "I can't!"

"I'll help you, buddy!" Lightning offered, holding out his tyre.

"No you won't, 'cause I ain't goin' in!"

"C'mon, buddy!" Lightning pleaded. "For me?"

Mater hesitated for a moment.

"Just one picture?" he asked finally.

"Just one", Lightning and Aunt Sally echoed in unison.

"All right", he agreed very reluctantly. "I'd do anythin' fer my best buddy."

Still, he appeared to be stalling as he made his way towards the edge of the boat and down the ramp very slowly. At last, though, he got to the end of the ramp and had no choice but to plunge into the water. Lightning held onto his tyre the whole time as they made their way to join the rest of us.

"Yay, Mater!" we all cheered as he came over to us. We didn't want to sound too patronising, but we were proud of him.

"Dad-gum!" Mater cried. "Look at all them fish!"

"You see? That's what you've been missing", Uncle Sarge informed him.

"All right. I promise this'll only take a second", Uncle Ramone assured Mater, setting up his camera.

"Hey, what's that?!" I cried suddenly.

Everyone jerked in the direction I was pointing. It looked like a couple of fins coming closer.

"Sharks!" Mater yelped.

Then the fins leapt out of the water. They weren't sharks at all.

"Dolphins!" we all exclaimed excitedly. "Oh, wow! Amazing!"

"Ramone, baby! See you can get some dolphins in the shot!" Aunt Flo requested.

"All right! I think I got 'em!" Uncle Ramone declared. "Quick! Before they leave!"

We all crowded around and smiled for the camera. I didn't see it until later that evening, but the photo was incredible! Uncle Ramone had timed it perfectly with the dolphins leaping gracefully in the background. I wasn't sure if that had been luck or skill, but either way, it was awesome. Additionally, from the picture, you'd think that even Mater was having a good time.

As suddenly as the camera clicked, Mater made a dash back to the boat.

To my amazement, the dolphins came right up to us! I could not believe that I was seeing these beautiful creatures up close. We could touch them, but at first, I didn't want to do that. I didn't want to hurt them, but one accidentally brushed past me and I couldn't resist feeling its rubbery side. I had the biggest smile on my face, my cheeks hurt.


I think we all ended up losing track of time. We almost forgot to take a break for lunch. In fact, I think we would have if Mater hadn't yelled at us, "Hey! Someone's phone is ringin'!"

Papà gasped. "Fudgie! Your medication! I think we need to have lunch now!"

So, reluctantly, we climbed back on board the boat. We had a picnic up on the deck of the boat, watching the fish swim under the glass bottom.

Then it was back in the water (except for Mater, of course). Uncle Fillmore had brought a guidebook to help us identity the fish and other marine life we saw. Mater held onto the book and called out names and descriptions. It became kind of a game to find as many of them as we could. Freewheeler flyers would occasionally circle above us in search of food before retreating to the national parks where they lived. Once or twice, a helicopter came past, but apart from that, it almost felt like my family and I were the only people in the whole world.

I forgot about all of my problems. I forgot about the girls who teased me about my scars. I forgot that Papà and Uncle Ramone were still mad at each other. I forgot about having to take it easy and everyone, especially Papà, worrying about me too much. I just relaxed and enjoyed the most perfect day out.


Finally, at around four-thirty, we had to return to the resort. Reluctantly, we all piled back into the boat. As Lightning helped me up on board, I noticed him looking at me funny.

"What?" I questioned, puzzled.

"Oh, my God! Fudge, your face!" he exclaimed.

Before I could ask what he meant, Uncle Ramone was looking at me too.

"You are so sunburned, chica!" he declared.

"Your face is the colour of my paint!" Lightning added.

Now that he mentioned it, my face was a little sore. I'd just been too excited by the snorkelling that I hadn't paid much attention to it.

Papà and Babbo made a beeline for me. The former was already shaking his hood in disapproval.

"When was the last time you put sunscreen on?!" he demanded.

"This morning", I admitted sheepishly.

"Fudge!" he groaned.

"(It is not her fault)", Babbo jumped to my defence. "(I think we all lost track of time today. Anyway, I think she has learned her lesson. A very painful lesson.)"

Uncle Sarge wasn't happy either. "Fudge, you ought to be more responsible. Why do you think your father coddles you too much?"

I sighed. What an end to such a wonderful day!


It turned out that the day wasn't quite over yet. When we got off the boat, the first people I saw were the Staceys. They were just sat on the beach near the dock, starting at their phones... but not for long.

"O. M. G!" Stacey J gawked, saying each letter very slowly. "Look at the scar girl!"

They all looked.

"Now, she really does look like she's been in a fire!" Stacey W remarked, which they all seemed to find hysterical.

"What a bunch of idiots!" I groaned.

I thought I saw that yellow Porsche I'd seen around roll her eyes.

Papà glared at them. "Do you think it's funny to make fun of my daughter?!" he snapped. "I can't say I see the joke! Do you not have anything better to do than be nasty?!"

Stacey B looked at him as if he were a cockroach. "You can't talk to us like that, you disgusting old man!"

Stacey M nodded in agreement. "My daddy's a lawyer!"

"So's mine!" Stacey J added.

"And mine!" Stacey W put in.

"Mine too!" Stacey B concluded. "They could ruin your life!"

"So, we don't have a problem here, do we?" Stacey W smiled sweetly and a little too innocently.

Papà didn't seem fazed by their behaviour. "You leave my daughter alone and there is no problem." He led me away. Babbo gave them a pretty cold look before following us.

Everyone else had overheard what happened. Plus, they knew it was they who made fun of me the first time.

"You can't tell me you care what they think!" Aunt Flo cried.

"I don't!" And I really didn't. They were just a bunch of airheads who had nothing nice to say about anybody. Of course they wouldn't have a nice opinion of me and I took that with a grain of salt. "I care about everyone else thinking the same thing!"

"If anyone thinks the same thing, then they are just as shallow as the Staceys are." Aunt Sally shook her hood in disbelief. "Honestly! You'd think they'd never heard of sunburn before!"

Everyone agreed that the Staceys were just nasty and I shouldn't listen to them or anybody who agreed with them. That made me feel a little better, but not enough to forget about how embarrassed I was about my scars. And now, my sunburn.


I didn't see the full extent of the damage until I was in the bathroom, about to have a shower. On the boat, I had hardly been able to keep my eyes open. I'd been so excited about the snorkelling trip that I'd skipped my nap that afternoon. I hadn't even realised until we were on our way back to the resort and now, exhaustion had caught up to me. However, when I saw my face, my eyes popped wide open.

"Oh, my God!" I couldn't help exclaiming out loud.

It was not pretty. My face was as red as a lobster. My arms and legs were burnt too, but my face was the worst of it. When I got in the shower, the water hurt my head because I was burnt on the top of my head as well. I must've used up nearly an entire bottle of aloe vera that night.

Babbo was right. This was one very painful lesson!

Interesting coincidence: I wrote the part with the dolphins while sat down after having my COVID vaccine. Once I'd finished that part, I just happened to look up and, believe it or not, there were dolphins on the huge screen at the front of the room!

Yeah, I actually have been snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef and didn't see any clownfish, but I saw some Dorys and a turtle, so that was good.

I'm gonna put this story on hiatus for a while because I'm working on a Christmas special, but I hope you'll return when I post a new chapter!

Please review! :)