CHAPTER 3

Parken

July 17, 2012

Dear Diary,

Big adventure for one day! You probably wanna know:

I woke up this morning to find that my head was hurting. I guess the wet cardboard and the hard ground gave me head pain. Who knew? I moved out of the box, and out of the alley.

After leaving the alley, I decided I was hungry. Since I didn't have any money, and I wasn't planning on stealing, I decided to beg.

I sat on the curb and just sat. Nobody gave me anything. I didn't understand. How was I supposed to get money?

Then a familiar face stood over me.

"Fanny?" I said. Of course, it was Fanny. She had her hair in a low ponytail. She was wearing a green tank-top, an orange skirt, and brown boots. She smiled at me.

"I'm guessing you're trying to beg," she said with a smile. I nodded. "First of all, you need to entertain the people, like singing. Lastly, you need something for them to put money in, like this rusty old can." She picked up the can and gave it to me. I noticed a $20 bill in the can.

"Wait a minute," I said. "You put this in here, didn't you?"

"Maybe," she said.

"You're not going to report me to King Nigel?" I said as quiet as I could.

"Of course not!" she said. I let out a sigh. "Now, stand up, and sing your heart out! Just don't be offended if people don't put money in the can. Okay?"

"All right," I said. She left, and I sang my heart out! People gave me a lot of money!

Unfortunately, in the middle of one of my songs, two men attacked me saying, "She's the one that King Nigel is giving out big rewards for!" Then everyone started attacking me! I picked up the can, and ran! I ran into a bar. Then I ran into a man in the bar. He looked familiar.

"The Kid?" I asked. He was The Kid. His long hair was in a ponytail. He had a goatee, also known as a nasty. He was wearing a black T-shirt, blue jeans, and black boots. He smiled at me.

"Call me Jeffrey," said he said. So I did. We sat down at a table. He took out a packet from his pocket and opened it. It was full of cigarettes. "Try one."

"No thanks!" I said really fast. "Smoking is-" but then he stuck one in my mouth, and lit it. All of the sudden I felt relaxed. All my stress had worn away. It was a happy feeling, even though I knew it was bad for me.

"So Kuki," he said. That ended the peace.

I stood up from my chair and said, "My name is Jodi! I don't know who this "Kuki" person is, but MY NAME IS JODI!" He smiled. It wasn't the friendly smile I had seen before. It was a "you fell for it" smile.

"You fell for it," he said. He pulled out a walkie-talkie, and said, "The Kid to Numbuh 1, The Kid to Numbuh 1! She's at the bar!"

"My guards have already surrounded it!" said King Nigel. Then the guards attacked the bar! There was such a crowd, that I ran out of there without being noticed, until Jeffrey yelled that I had ran from the crowd.

I ran into a bike store. The guards followed me. I saw a bike I liked and ran over to it. I climbed onto it.

I was about to ride away, when a salesman said, "You need to pay for that!" Then the guards busted through the walls of the store.

"This should be enough, keep it all!" I yelled. I threw the can at the salesman.

"Thank you for shopping at "Bargain Bikes"!" he yelled.

The guards ran after me, but I was too fast for them. I guess they gave up, because I didn't see them on the highway.

A few hours later, I decided to get off the highway. I rode into a city called "Alphabet City".

I was riding through the city, when my bike hit a pothole, and toppled over. I was in pain. I felt my left shoulder. A shock of pain hit me. I winced. By the feel of it, I had skinned her shoulder, and it was bleeding. The blood slowly streamed down my arm. I lay on the road, waiting to leave the earth.

I woke up to find my old friend, Abby Lincoln, by my bedside. Her hair was in a low bun. She was wearing a red tank-top, a blue denim jacket, blue jeans, and hazel cowgirl boots.

"Abby?" I strained to say. She smiled.

"Save your energy," she said. "You're weak from the blood loss last night. "

"How do you know?" I said, weakly.

"I'm a doctor," she said. "I'll be taking care of you for the next few days." I smiled. She smiled back.

"Thanks, Abby," I said.

"Now get some rest while I cook you breakfast," she said, and left my side.

Her dog, Rufus, came in through the door-flap, and handed Abby the newspaper.

"Good boy," said Abby. She looked at the front page, and dropped the egg she was about to cook it. "Oh no."

"Abby?" asked her husband, Hoagie P. Gilligan Jr.! "What's wrong?" He walked over to her. "I'm here, you can tell me." Abby was crying. I saw tears stream down her cheek. She turned to me.

"K-K-Kuki?" she sobbed. I knew this couldn't be good. "K-K-King N-Nigel has k-killed M-M-Mushi! He made the Royal Doctors giveherdeadly disease, Parken, back to her! She die-hi-hide!"

Parken is kinda like turning into a vampire. You become weak, your face becomes white, and eventually, your life is drained out. It had happened to Mushi.

I was beating myself up because it was my fault I hadn't brought her with me. I hit my head, 10 times, against the wall, and flopped onto the bed, crying.

"Girl!" yelled Abby. "It isn't your fault!"

"Yes, it is!" I sobbed. "I-I left her with that-that monster! I could've brought her w-with me-he-he!"

Abby and Hoagie kept me company as I cried.

I'm over it now. I know that she's in a better place now. WHILE I'M IN beep! I can't say OR write a bad word, if you were wondering why I wrote beep.

I'm going to sleep now. I still have 2 days to spend with Dr. Abby before I have to leave. I need my rest. Bye!

From,

Kuki Sanban

A.K.A. Jodi Sanban