"I'm hungry," mumbled Mal.
"You're always hungry!" Violette responded.
The two best friends were walking to the mall in preparation for an upcoming school trip. Mal was a fun-loving, sarcastic girl with mid-length; silky, brown hair. She pulled out a pair of sunglasses to cover her hazel eyes from the hot summer sun. Violette laughed as a slight wind blew away the checkered hat from Mal's head; the girls chased after it and the ever clumsy Violette ran directly into a young boy, who had been rollerblading along the sidewalk. Both fell backwards and Violette's face turned instantly to a bright shade of red.
"I…I'm…so sorry!" Violette scrambled to her feet as the blond boy continued on his way.
"Smooth…" Mal said coming up behind with her checkered rimmed hat in place.
"Is it possible for me to be any clumsier?" was Violette's exasperated response.
"Probably," Mal said with a wide grin leading her friend to their original destination. Violette was a slight girl with long curly black hair and brown eyes; her dark features were an odd contrast to her light personality. Whereas Mal was known for her wit, Violette was known for her mind and they were the best of friends.
"Vi, come on focus. Set your mind on the prize."
"And that would be...?" Violette said looking at her friend skeptically.
"British guys, Vi! Come on, get over these little consolation boys and go for the… gold; or whatever! You know what I mean."
Violette grinned, "Your right! I should be happy!"
"Ecstatic!" Mal exclaimed encouraging her friend's positive attitude.
"We're going to England. I mean think about it; the history, the culture, the princes!" Violette said as her cheeks turned rose.
"Ah umm…try not to get ahead of yourself. Can we just get all of this stuff you supposedly 'need', which of course I'm going to have to carry," Mal said as they neared the entrance to the mall, "and for the record; I'm still hungry!"
Three weeks later, the two friends landed in England with their class. Ms. Brownie did a quick head count before leaving the airport and then Violette and Mal stepped out onto English soil.
"Wow, Vio, it's so…English!" Mal awed as they walked ahead.
"Very good Mal, it is English," crooned Violette in a voice as though she was encouraging a small child. Mal elbowed Violette lightly in the ribs and the two began giggling. The class turned the corner after a short walk and Ms. Brownie reported that she was going to go find the bus that would take them to the hotel. Mal and Violette found a stone bench in a nearby garden and sat with their luggage.
"My God, what the hell do you have in here?" Mal asked, astonished of the weight of Violette's bag as she helped to carry it over.
"Nothing but the essentials: clothes, shoes, a few books…and other stuff," Violette finished quickly.
"A few books? No wonder it's heavy!" Mal said pointedly.
"So, for free time what do you want to do first?" asked Violette.
"Double-decker bus!" shouted Mal and she suddenly boarded a parked bus. Violette hastened to follow, but before either realized what happened the bus was moving again.
"Oh no, oh no, oh no!" Violette panicked.
"Oh, just relax Vi! Enjoy the ride!" Mal smiled wickedly putting her feet up on the seat in front of her, with arms crossed behind her head.
"What do you mean, 'just relax!' We haven't even checked into the hotel! We haven't even been here an hour and we're already lost without our lugguage -"
"We have our backpacks…" Mal interrupted.
"We're going to die!" rambled Violette, "Oh no, oh no, oh no…"
Mal responded with her eyebrows raised, "Okay Vi! Listen, I saw Ms. B. board the bus, we're not lost!" Mal pointed to a small woman in the front of the bus with bushy brown hair and a sun hat placed high on her head.
Violette looked at the woman closely and then turned slowly to Mal, "That lady is NOT Ms. Brownie!"
"Sure it is…" Mal got up and walked to the front of the red bus. She looked directly into the woman's face and sat down, after sometime Mal walked back with a cookie in her hand and a pale face.
"Well?" urged Violette.
"Well, we speak English, we'll be fine!" Mal reported triumphantly.
"Oh no, oh no, oh no!"
"Do you want half of the cookie that nice lady gave me?" Mal smiled, "It's British! She called it a biscuit!"
"Oh no, oh no, oh no..," Violette's unrelenting chorus continued as the bus drove on.
An hour later, Mal had fallen asleep leaving Violette in her still panicked state.
"Would you shut up! I'm trying to sleep over here," Mal exclaimed having been woken up for the third time by Violette's mumbling.
"How can you possibly sleep at a time like this?" Violette said looking at her friend incredulously.
"It's pretty easy since I didn't sleep much on the plane. Look, I'm sorry," Violette seemed to calm a bit at this so Mal continued, "I know most people would like to be more prepared for foreign adventures, but why pass up an opportunity like this? C'est la vie, right?"
Violette pointed an accusing finger at Mal, "I'm going to…to…your just so…ARGH!"
"Vi, stop it, your starting to sound like my mother," Violette was starting to turn an interesting shade of red and Mal tired to calm her down. "Okay, chill we'll get off at the next stop." Violette looked skeptical for a minute before settling down.
As Mal promised, they got off at the next stop, "Where the heck are we?" Violette asked looking around.
Mal looked about and whispered, "Umm England…I think."
The girls slowly began to take in their surroundings. There were a handful of weathered buildings, which looked as though spiders and dust mites were the only inhabitants. Cobwebs hung over the doorways and the cobblestone street was deserted.
"What are we going to do?" Violette asked starting to panic again.
Mal let out a big sigh before answering her friend, "Walk?"
"I suppose we could try and find someone or a phone. We can call the number Ms. Brownie gave us for the hotel," suggested Violette.
The girls began walking once more along a worn pathway leading through the old village; suddenly the path swung left and trees began to close in tight about the edges; as they turned the unexpected corner, Violette tripped on a rotting log set in the middle of the path and tumbled over. "Well that's a relief," Mal laughed helping her friend to her feet.
Violette got up, dusting the dirt from her long skirt; she looked at her friend and replied, "How is that a relief?"
"It doesn't matter what the circumstance is, some things never change," Mal teased as Violette scowled at her friend, "I'm going to hit you."
Mal just waved off her friends attempt at a threat, "You better hope your health insurance works here then," Mal tried to look through the trees in front of them, "Do you hear that?"
Violette suddenly thought they could be in real trouble if they were followed, but decided not to voice this opinion to Mal, instead she simply whispered, "Hear what?"
"The little voices in my head!" Mal snapped sarcastically before going to investigate.
"Mal! Mal wait! I'm not following you again! That's gotten me into enough trouble for one day! Mal!" Violette glanced behind her quickly, begging for another option, but seeing none she hurried to catch up with her reckless friend.