Friday Morning

The sun had come up at the shore of the lake. The sky was overcast and the cold was intense. Carlos came back from jogging after a few minutes to seek the warmth of the cabin.

- You are back…- said Clara from the kitchen. She was fixing breakfast.

- It's hell cold out there. – said Carlos shaking on his feet.

- I left the overcoats I took out from the car at the living room. Didn't you notice?

- No I didn't. – said Carlos walking to the kitchen. – Do you need help?

- No. I'm ok. But you can help me call the others for breakfast.

- Ok. I'll call them.

Hector had already dressed up and Hank was following him everywhere. Aurora woke up noticing that Lyle was much better. When Carlos came into the room they were talking.

- Well….I see you can stand up again. – said Carlos with a smile on his face.

- Yes. I feel a lot better. – replied Lyle extending his wings.

- Can you fly?

Lyle tried to lift from the ground, but it was no use. He was still in pain.

- Don't get discouraged. I'm sure you'll be able to fly again in no time. – said Carlos cheering up the creature.

From the kitchen Clara called everybody.

- Everyone……Breakfast is ready!!

Everybody sat at the table and began to eat. When they tasted the coffee everybody gestured in disgust.

- Ughhhhh……this thing lacks sugar……- said Carlos sticking out his tongue in disapproval.

- I know…..- said Clara sighing. –It's because we ran out of sugar.

- Wait….- said Hector raising from his chair. – I'll go to the manager's cabin to see if he can lend some.

- I'll go!! – said Aurora happily skipping toward the front door.

Aurora put an overcoat and went uphill to the manager's cabin.

She was approaching very cheerfully to the door when she heard voices whispering inside the cabin. Aurora didn't want to break into a conversation so she decided to wait outside.

- Yes sir…… - said the man that had checked them in the previous day. – They looked very suspicious when they came in here, but I couldn't remember why until I watched the news this morning.

- The news about those abducted kids in Puerto Rico?

- Yes. I figured that those two that came in yesterday had something to with it.

- So. What did you do?

- I called the police a couple of minutes ago……- said the man taking another sip from his coffee cup.

Close to the cabin Luis and Alba were talking. They were finishing the conversation from last evening.

- It was nice to speak with you yesterday. – said Alba blushing slightly on her cheeks next to where her whiskers came out.

- It's happening again. – said Luis looking at Alba's forehead.

- What?

- A red tint shows on your face.

- Is it very visible? – asked Alba nervously.

- Well, you're as white as milk, so yes it shows a lot.

- I don't know what's this about!! I feel nervous sometimes talking to you. –replied Alba turning her back on him.

Luis remembered what had Carlos told him back in Bogota.

"When you find someone you care about, you act different than usual. Then again. There are many kinds of love…."

- Is it love?…..- asked Luis feeling uncomfortable.

- I heard Clara talking about that. She said it was wonderful.

- I also learnt something about it. – replied Luis burying his right toe on the ground twisting it around. Now, he was blushing.

- Yes? And what was it?

Luis moved his head closer to Alba's as he had seen on TV. However, Alba felt uncomfortable and paced a few steps back.

- What are you doing?….- she asked with a weird looking face.

- Well….. It's that I……..

Just in that moment Aurora raced past them into the house. Then before Luis and Alba's impressed faces, everybody came out of the cabin in an instant.

- Get on the car! – commanded Clara.

Just like that, they were all aboard. Carelessly Clara drove the car out of the ravine like space and drove out of the lodging place. Minutes later, everybody was settled down inside the car.

- Are you sure about what you heard? - asked Carlos to Aurora.

- Yes. I swear it's true.

- We still haven't come up with a way to get across. – explained Clara as she checked her rear view mirror for police cars.

- I doesn't seem that we are being followed. – said Hector looking back through the rear windshield of the car.

Luis closed his eyes and listed attentively. His ears became vertical. He could perceive faint noises far away. They were sirens.

- Floor it!!! – he said suddenly scaring everybody out of their skin.

As if it were a conditioned reflex, Clara floored the gas pedal. A few minutes later, Hector could see that multiple revolving lights were closing in.

- Yes, it's the police. – cried Hector.

- What do we do now? – said Clara driving anxiously.

- Let's go to the shore. – said Lyle. – I can try to fly away again.

- Let's hope this works. – said Clara driving off road toward the beach and a wooden dock.

She stopped the car a few feet away from the dock. Everybody got off and ran to the edge. Lyle tried to flap his wings, but it was no use, he couldn't even rise his feet from the ground despite he was of normal size.

The patrol cars were pulling over at the beach entrance to the dock.

- What now? – asked Carlos desperate.

- Leave it to me…..- said Hank throwing himself into the cold water.

Seconds later, the same animal they had seen in the coasts of Miami showed up again emerging from the water.

- Get on. Quick!

Everybody struggled to get on Hank's back, but finally when the officers got to the shore they were drifting on the water far away.

- They are getting away! – said the chubby police officer with a mustache, stepping down of his patrol car. – Put the Canadian Police on the Line!! – he yelled afterwards.

- Something is interfering with the radio. – replied the police officer who was trying to call.

- Then, let's get back to the station and try to call them from there. – answered the chief of police placing his heavy body back into the patrol car.