- It's blinking close to the border between the States and Canada. – said Clara without taking her eyes off the road.

- So, That's where we are going……. To get into trouble with another country…….- said Carlos full of sarcasm.

- Isn't that exciting?- said Clara thrilled with the idea. – In fact, I have just come up with a plan.

- What do you have in mind? – asked Hector from the rear seat. He had to sit between Luis and Hank to prevent more arguments.

- There's a beach near lake Ontario. It's like 15 miles away from Rochester. There, we can lodge in a quiet place near the border while we plan how to get across.

- How far are we from there?

- Well, we're in the state of Tennessee, so it's like a 12 hour drive.

- What?! – said Hector. – That's really far away.

- We can lodge somewhere at midnight and we'll continue tomorrow.

- Works for me…..- said Carlos leaning back on his seat shutting his eyes.

Clara continued driving but sometimes she couldn't stand the silence. Sometimes she heard Aurora whining.

- We did not introduce formally. I am Clara Smith.

- Nice meeting you. My name is Hector. – said Hector in a friendly way.

- You didn't tell me where you were from. – said Clara glancing for a second on the rear view mirror.

- Well. We all came from Puerto Rico, flying on the back of Lyle.

- What? On the back of the bird that your friend is carrying?

- Yes. But before you came he was like 10 times bigger.

- Wow! How did that happen?

- As far as I know he increased in size when we were surrounded on the beach.

- I see……..You must be really fond of him…….-said Clara in a tone of compassion as she kept her eyes on the road.

- Yes….. – she replied with stuttered speech.

- Don't worry, I am sure he'll get better.

Aurora dried her tears and fixed up her curly blond hair while she continued massaging Lyle's neck with tenderness.

- So, you know Carlos? – asked Aurora with a better spirit.

- Yes. We studied in the same high school in Bogota, but since my father is an American he could afford to pay my career at the University of Tenessee. That's why I am here.

- Did you have to drive a lot to find us?

- It wasn't much. Maybe an hour.

Hours went by, and Hector and Aurora told Clara about the adventure they had had so far.

- …….so the little critter they took away from you in the woods had warned about danger ahead.

- Yes. But, after seeing how Alba defended us back there, I think we are safe from trouble. – added Aurora which made Alba blush and turn her head to pay attention.

- It's midnight……..- said Clara yawning. – There's a lodging place. – I think it's better for them to stay in the car.

- But…… I don't want to leave Lyle here……- answered Aurora.

- Fine…. Then I'll bring a bed sheet from the hotel so you can wrap him and take him in. The others…….. Will they be able to stay calm for the night?

- Yes ma'm – answered Hank and Luis at the same time making them blush in embarrassment.

- Ok. Then it's settled, we'll continue tomorrow morning.

After waking up Carlos, they went inside to check in. Carlos preferred to stay away from the reception desk. He didn't want to call anybody's attention with his "black eye". Aurora waited inside the car for Clara to bring the bed sheet to take Lyle in.

After that, they went to the room and fell on their beds very tired. They slept like they hadn't slept in years.

Hank, Luis and Alba stayed in the car. Luis was a little upset because he had to stay in the middle of the seat. Alba looked out the window attentively into the darkness.

- This is boring…..- protested Hank. – What do we do in the meantime?

- Nothing for now……- answered Alba.

- I know!! – said Luis suddenly. – Why don't we try to sleep like them. Maybe time will pass by faster if we do that.

- Oh yeah!…… And how exactly are we going to do that? – answered Hank mocking Luis.

- Well, simple….. We just close our eyes and put our heads in blank and wait to see what happens.

- It sounds like a good plan…….- said Alba closing her eyes.

All three, were lying motionless with their eyes closed and their minds blanked out. At first, it seemed difficult but then their minds became blurry and they lost consciousness falling into a deep sleep.

Suddenly, they began to see vivid images and they felt they were there.

They could see a palace made of cylindrical clear crystals that met on their tips in the sky which was a bright blue hollow vault. All around, they could see strange looking animals like them staring to the front. Someone ahead was talking.

" This is our defense against humans. – said the thundering voice in the front of the audience. Then their minds skipped to an image where the one who spoke was closer. They couldn't see its face, it was all blurred out.

" This mission is given to you because you are the best for the job" said the voice. Then, many images appeared in front of them at great speed and finally they found themselves staring at an image of a vortex. Way below, lightning could be seen and it felt like a great drop to emptiness.

Finally they felt they fell through the vortex at great speed, plummeting down to the ground and after that a white thunderclap.

Luis opened his eyes. He was sweating and breathing with difficulty.

"What a horrible feeling" he thought noticing through the car window that sun had come up.

But, what shocked him most was that he felt something holding on to his arm very tightly. He looked at his right side and noticed that Alba was embraced very tightly to his arm still squirming with her eyes still shut. Finally she woke up all jumpy meowing loudly. Hank had fallen over to the front of the seat when he woke up.

Alba got herself together and when he noticed what she was doing she snarled and pushed Luis away.

- Hey!!! What's the big idea? – protested Luis.

- Sorry…..- answered Alba blushing all over. – I saw something horrible and it woke me up.

- I saw it too. – said Hank climbing back to the top of the seat. – What the heck was that?

- It must have been a dream. I heard Clara speaking to her friend about them.

- Well….. we're ok now…- said Luis sighing in relief.

Just in that moment, the doors of the car unlocked. Carlos, Aurora, Clara and Hector were coming back. Aurora was still holding Lyle in her arms.

- He's not any better? – asked Luis leaning forward to the side seat.

- No. He's still sick. – sighed Clara getting into the car.

- We have to continue… - said Carlos closing his door.

They waited for Aurora and Hector to get in and they continued their journey.