Chapter 32: A Returning Plan
Night had fallen, and Diddy along with Dixie already had their boat almost ready to ride it. They knew the danger they were going to be exposed to, but it was their only alternative if they wanted to return home as soon as possible. They couldn't wait to set foot on DK Island again and see all their friends and family again... Much less were they going to wait three long months on another island that, although they had met many acquaintances there, didn't feel at home at all.
Diddy and Dixie were heading back to the animal shelter, as it was going to be dinner time and they had been invited.
"Will we tell the rest of the animals that we are leaving?" Dixie asked as she walked along with Diddy.
"I would like to tell them, but they are sure to stop us."
"You're right, and they are quite a few."
"Or we could secretly tell the circus guys; they're more understanding," Diddy added before pausing. "Not like that grumpy ape."
"'I bet you won't get more than ten meters away from here to the sea,'" Dixie imitated him.
The two began to laugh when referring to Mr. Pinky's attitude; they had decided not to take importance of his opposition.
Minutes later, they arrived at where the other animals were. Everyone was gathered at the table as on previous occasions. Diddy and Dixie went to sit near the circus animals, as they were a little more confident with them than the rest. While they were having dinner, they were also talking.
"How are you doing, little monkeys?" one of the elephants greeted them cheerfully.
"All right," Dixie replied along with Diddy, looking cheerful. "This day has been quiet."
"I see you very excited, huh?" a zebra told them. "Has anything new happened?"
Diddy and Dixie looked at each other smiling and beckoned to each other so they could talk.
"Well, we have something to tell you, but... only you," Diddy said, whispering his last words.
"Don't go telling anyone else this," Dixie added in the same way.
"What about?" one of the tigers asked them curiously. "Are you already a couple?"
"Hey!" one of the gorillas whispered, elbowing the tiger. "Don't be reckless!"
Diddy and Dixie just looked at each other with some shyness, and then laughed while blushing a little at that assumption.
"No, it's not that," Diddy replied. "What happens is that... we're going to our island later," he added, whispering in the last sentence.
Instantly, the animals looked at them in much the same way as when they were told they were going to be taken out of the circus or as if they were a pair of children playing at being explorers.
"What are you talking about?! Are you going to leave?!"
"You're kidding, aren't you?"
"No, seriously, we even have a boat ready," Dixie said. "But don't tell others, or else they'll stop us."
"Hey, but what about hurricanes and whirlpools?!" replied the animals in a low voice.
"I know, but we must return to our island as soon as we can," Diddy added.
"But you're going to get lost or something bad can happen to you, did you go crazy?"
"Don't worry, we've located DK Island," Dixie reaffirmed. "And we didn't see any big waves along the way."
Suddenly, Diddy and Dixie could hear the apes who owned the shelter as if they were greeting someone important. They turned to look at them and saw that someone had arrived whom for the moment they didn't want to see again: Mr. Pinky.
"Oh, no, and now what did that gentleman come for?" asked Diddy quietly.
"I hope he didn't come looking for us," Dixie added, rolling her eyes.
"Yes, there are those two monkeys," the shelter owners were heard in the distance indicating to the teacher.
The apes who owned the shelter pointed to where Diddy and Dixie were, and immediately Mr. Pinky began to head to them. The two became tense as he came walking.
"Oh, no, here he comes! Don't look at him!" Diddy whispered to Dixie. They both turned their gazes away, pretending not to have seen the teacher at all.
"Do you know that male ape?" the circus animals asked them.
"Yes, he was our new teacher at school," Dixie said, her head turned as did Diddy. "Don't look at him either."
Half a minute later, Mr. Pinky had reached where Diddy and Dixie were. Neither of them dared to look at him and kept their gazes to the opposite side, as if they were observing something apart.
"Hey, hello, Mr. Diddy and Miss Dixie," the teacher pronounced. "How are you doing? I need to talk to you."
"Ah, hello, Mr. Pinky, how are you?" replied Diddy and Dixie, pretending they had just seen him.
"Well, first of all, I was going to apologize for the disagreement this afternoon," the teacher said with a seriousness and formality. "And I was also going to ask if you still have your plan to return to DK Island standing."
"Well, not anymore, we've given up trying," Dixie said, turning to wink at Diddy. "Right, Diddy?"
"Ahh, yeah, yes... we won't do that anymore," Diddy added, going with the flow. "We've decided better to stay here until those hurricanes get finished."
"Oh, that's good. Because I had a proposal," the teacher told them before pausing. "I can help you".
"Really?!" exclaimed Diddy and Dixie in unison, before the teacher nodded.
The two kongs changed their faces immediately, looked at each other and now they were surprised at the last words of the teacher, that for a moment all fear of him disappeared and they even became somewhat excited.
"Are you going to take us to DK Island?!"
"Are you going to take the monkeys, Pinky?" asked the apes who owned the shelter, arriving at the conversation. "What about hurricanes?"
"Oh, no, no, I think you misunderstood," Mr. Pinky clarified with a small laugh. "I meant that I can help and take them to live temporarily in one of the pieces of the tree in my house, until the hurricanes get finished."
Diddy and Dixie almost choked on their meals upon hearing that and opened their eyes entirely; they felt as if they had been given a huge illusion and then dropped abruptly.
"I have some empty rooms in the tree of my house where they could stay," the teacher added. "They are isolated rooms, so you can have your own space, don't worry."
"Uhh, Mr. Pinky... you don't have to worry about it," Diddy immediately excused with a forced smile. "We'll be fine here in the shelter."
"Oh, guys, it happens that many animals arrive in this shelter and soon there won't be enough space," the teacher explained. "It's in case you need to be more comfortable with an exclusive space for you."
"Well, it is true," added the shelter owners. "Today some animals have already left, and surely tomorrow more ones will come. But, of course, obviously you can continue to come to visit us, little ones, don't hesitate."
"Besides, you must keep waiting," the teacher added. "To go at this time to DK Island you would need a large and sturdy boat, or else, you could suffer an accident at sea."
"And... since when could we go to your house, mister?" asked Dixie, concealing her disagreement.
"It may be tonight," replied the professor. "And don't worry, you can keep visiting your friends here whenever you want. You'll only have your own sleeping space."
Both Diddy and Dixie looked at each other with sneaky gestures of disagreement, while still keeping in mind their plan to return to DK Island in any way. Meanwhile, the animals continued to talk.
As Diddy and Dixie finished eating, they headed towards a corner of the shelter. Both with the same looks of disagreement for what they had just been told.
"And now what do we do?" Dixie whispered. "I don't want to go to Mr. Pinky's house. I mean, maybe we have better privacy and can sleep better in a house, but I don't want to see the face of that grumpy ape on a daily basis."
"Neither do I," Diddy added in the same way. "Imagine how overbearing he must be in his own home... Oh, and anyway, we can't abandon our plan to return to DK Island either."
"Perhaps that the sea wouldn't be as dangerous as we are told. I think we can go deep to search for DK Island."
Suddenly, Mr. Pinky appeared to them by surprise, so they stopped their conversation immediately.
"How are you doing, kids?" the teacher greeted them again formally. "What do you think of the idea? Or do you prefer to just stay here in this shelter?"
Diddy and Dixie looked at each other with enough doubts in answering, since it was clear... that they wanted neither; both only thought of their plan to return to DK Island no matter what.
"Ahh, well, mister, you'll see…" Diddy replied, wondering what to say. "What if we tell you we're already planning to go to-" he added before Dixie nudged him. "Your house! Uh, I mean... Yes, your house. Uhhh, we decided to go to your house."
"Okay, so you've decided," replied the teacher, smiling serenely. "If so, you can go tonight. I'll show you your space and you see if it seems comfortable."
"Ahh, yes, yes, of course," Dixie replied, going with the flow. "And... so to ask, how is your house? Is it comfortable to sleep?"
"Yes, of course, there is enough room for both of us," said the teacher. "You'll stay in a room for you; it has two hammocks and good ventilation during the day. In such a space you can have better privacy and even security."
"And by chance... Can we also go out whenever we want?" Diddy asked, smiling with his teeth.
"Of course, that's up to you. It's just there so you have your space to stay," the teacher replied smiling, before shifting to a seriousness and raising his gaze up. "Although yes, only be careful with going to dangerous places or making any risky plan."
"Ahhh, okay, so no problem," Diddy replied, keeping a forced smile and making sneaky glances with Dixie. "So, we are leaving with you."
"Okay, guys. So, I'll take you later. Just be ready."
Mr. Pinky nodded, before Diddy and Dixie followed suit. While he was already walking away, both only continued with forced smiles, which were fading little by little.
"And now what do we say to him?" Dixie whispered. "How do we tell him we don't even want to be on this island another day?"
"Let's tell him the truth... Or I don't know... Ugh, it's also that if we tell him, he may get angry or give us some speech with his grumpy voice."
"So, what do we do?" Dixie replied quietly. "That is, what about our plan we had?"
"Or let's just go with the flow and go with him to see what his house is like," Diddy said with a shrug. "Now what we have left... Although I think we'll have to tell him the truth along the way. Anyway, being there, we can leave more easily without anyone knowing that we went sailing."
"See you later, little monkeys!" said the shelter animals saying goodbye to Diddy and Dixie from a distance later. "Come back soon!"
"See you later!" replied Diddy and Dixie, although deep down, not wanting to leave there.
Diddy and Dixie showed a disagreement on their faces, as they walked next to Mr. Pinky. Indeed, he was going to take them home to keep them safe during the time they would have to stay on Hurricane Island. But the thought of having to see his face every day only gave them a headache; if they didn't want to see him at school, much less on a daily basis... Not to mention, both of them just wanted and thought about returning to DK Island, even just accompanying him to go with the flow.
"Hey, Mr. Pinky," Diddy said in his way. "You'll have to excuse us, and we thank you for your help with letting us stay in the tree of your house, but... Sorry, we lied to you. Yes, we still plan to return to DK Island right now."
"What are you talking about?" Mr. Pinky exclaimed, looking at them strangely instantly.
"Yes, it's true," Dixie added in the same posture as Diddy. "We were soon going to start our return journey, so you'll have to excuse us."
"Are you serious?!" Pinky said, holding his expression. "How can you leave-"
"Yes! We're going to go," Diddy interrupted. "Really excuse us, mister, but yes, we have our plan in place."
"Hey, kids, but what are you saying?" exclaimed Mr. Pinky, looking at them with shock. "That is, I don't want to discuss this with you anymore, but you know well that there are dangerous hurricanes now!"
"But you don't understand," replied Dixie. "We have been away from DK Island for a week, we need to go home, and everyone could be too worried about us."
"See, I understand that, but you can't sail the sea these days," the teacher reaffirmed.
"But we must go back no matter what!" Diddy replied with a look of pleading. "Everyone could be wondering about us."
"But now you can't sail!" the teacher exclaimed firmly. "The sea is dangerous right now!"
"But we need to go back!" Diddy replied.
"How would you feel if a child of yours was lost and you knew absolutely nothing about him?"
"Ugh! But get it! Just understand that the sea is very dangerous in this season!" exclaimed the teacher, raising his voice.
Diddy and Dixie were quiet, not to mention that they had been a little frightened by Mr. Pinky's tone of voice.
"Hey, excuse my tone, but that's what I'm trying to tell you, kids," the teacher said seriously. "And no, you can't sail at this time, understand."
After a long walk, the teacher along with the two kongs had reached his house; it wasn't that far from the shelter anyway. The house was located in a huge tree with abundant branches, had a very elegant and sophisticated cubic appearance, with a well-formed structure and very refined finishes. Around it had several low and medium plants, among them, crops of bananas and other fruits. Truth be told, it was a pretty and nice house.
"Come up, I'll show you your room."
Diddy and Dixie went up one by one to Mr. Pinky's house. The staircase was in the shape of a snail, which surrounded the trunk of the tree. Much of the house was at the top of the tree with a terrace at the top, while five other empty rooms were in different corners of the tree. A small empty room was in front of them at the same level of the porch where they were.
"Come in, please."
Both entered the room that Mr. Pinky indicated to them. It didn't look bad at all, in fact, it looked like a very cozy and sophisticated room that for a moment made the two little kongs smile.
"There are the hammocks so that you can sleep," the professor pointed out seriously. "Make yourselves comfortable, here you'll be during the wait until you can return to your island. I'll also give you food, by the way, don't worry."
"Okay... Thank you, Mr. Pinky," Diddy and Dixie replied with a forced smile.
"So, we'll stay here," Dixie added in the same way.
"And remember: not going back to DK Island now; it's very dangerous," the teacher warned them, pointing to them and raising his gaze up. "Beware you are going to take that enormous risk of sailing; I tell you seriously."
Having said all that, the professor withdrew from the room and left the two of them alone. Then, he went up to his other section of the house. For their part, Diddy and Dixie were quiet for a few seconds as they put on their disgusted faces again. Then, they both began to observe the room where they were.
"Hey, this place isn't bad," Diddy said, watching every corner of the room. "It looks comfortable to be able to sleep well."
"Yes, and besides, there are no more animals with lion snoring," Dixie added with small laughs.
"Although... who said we were going to sleep?" Diddy said firmly, to which Dixie got the idea.
"But how do we get out of here now? The door and large windows are closed."
"There's a small window up there," Diddy pointed in an upward direction. "We have to see how to go up."
Diddy and Dixie, still keeping their return plan standing, waited several minutes until no footsteps were heard in Mr. Pinky's house before they could leave. They took several random things in the room and stacked them towards the wall where there was a high window, to which they climbed. Dixie climbed up first, giving a boost with the help of her hair, and then helped Diddy up. Due to their short sizes, it was not difficult for them to pass through it. Finally, they were out of the house, ready to leave.
"We must go down quietly, otherwise Mr. Pinky will wake up," Dixie whispered.
"Let's go for those trees," Diddy said. "There he won't be able to see us."
The two climbed down quite stealthily from the tree, trying not to make any noise at all. When they arrived, they crawled through some bushes nearby, looking up every moment to make sure that Mr. Pinky had not discovered them. Being a little further away from the house, they began to run at speed in the middle of the trees, and headed towards the beach.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Pinky, but we have to go," Diddy said, turning to look at the house for the last time in the distance.
"Do you think he saw us?" Dixie questioned.
"I don't think so, and he's not going to find out," Diddy reaffirmed, smiling confidently.
Upon reaching the beach, Diddy and Dixie headed back to where the boat was. It was late at night and it was almost all dark, but with DK Island seemingly located, they felt more confident that they could start with the return from that very moment.
Before the boat set sail, the two went to pick up a few bananas to eat on the trip, as it was clear that it would be too extensive.
When they had everything ready, they began to push the boat towards the sea. It was a bit hard, but later they succeeded and then got into the boat to start paddling out to sea, fighting the waves. Minutes later, the waves stopped and, finally, they were sailing normally through the sea, watching now as Hurricane Island was moving farther and farther from their sight.
"We did it!" Dixie exclaimed with joy, hugging Diddy.
"Finally we're going home!" said Diddy, hugging her also with emotion.
"By the way, what will everyone say when they see that we are gone?"
"Don't worry, we did warn the circus animals that we were going to leave, so they will assume it. And now... we're going home at last!"
Finally, the pair of kongs had managed to continue their journey back to DK Island, just as they had planned... and hidden from Mr. Pinky and the rest of the animals, of course. Both of them finally felt calm and, in turn, were eager to reach DK Island. After several minutes of paddling, they were already sailing somewhat away from that Hurricane Island.
"Wait a minute," Dixie said, staring straight ahead, before making a gesture of surprise. "That's not DK Island."
"What? Don't say that, please," said Diddy, also observing that silhouette that was marked as 'DK Island'.
After a few more minutes of observation, they realized that that silhouette, indeed... it wasn't DK Island. It was just a giant rock that, looking at it a little closer, had a particular shape that seemed like Donkey Kong's head. Nor was it seen to have been as far from Hurricane Island as it looked.
"Ugh, it was just a rock!" Diddy complained in frustration. "What do we do now? Will we go back or what?"
"I don't think so, we can keep searching for DK Island since we're here," Dixie replied before starting to rub her arms and tremble. "Aren't you cold, by the way?"
"I was going to tell you the same thing," Diddy replied, beginning to tremble as well. "Oh, no... isn't that what I think it is?"
Suddenly, a cold winding wind was beginning to pronounce itself in the air, which, a few minutes later, was accompanied by raindrops that began to fall in increasing quantities.
"You know what? We better go back," Dixie said, still shivering from the cold and feeling somewhat uncomfortable with the environment. "This is getting a little ugly."
The two of them took the oars again and tried to turn around to return to the island. When suddenly, there was not only rain and cold air current, but also, waves began to collide with each other, causing the boat to begin to wobble. Diddy and Dixie recalled that the same phenomenon happened when the storm swept them to Hurricane Island. The two continued to paddle desperately back towards the island, but unfortunately, each wave that lifted them made it more difficult for them to try.
"Oh, not again! I think Mr. Pinky had reaso-" exclaimed Diddy as the water splashed in his face unprepared.
"Come on, we just have to get ther-" Dixie added as a wave swept over the boat and soaked them both.
The sea was getting wilder that they couldn't even speak well because the water passed over them and wet them continuously. Suddenly, a wave hit them hard along with the boat and, later, both were totally expelled and submerged in the water. The rushing tide sucked them out of their limbs, making it harder for them to swim in sync.
"DIXIE! OVER HERE!"
Diddy and Dixie held hands and screamed loudly and desperately, while ingesting big amounts of salt water while being mercilessly swept away by the sea. But the tension increased when a stronger wave pushed them in a direction where, a few meters away, was a rock of considerable size. The kongs tried to get as far away as they could to avoid crashing into the rock, but to no avail.
Suddenly, a stronger wave was approaching them and was heading towards the rock. Both were still trying to get out of that area, but a wave that had arrived before, submerged them completely. By that point, the two were already tired and fearing for their lives.
When suddenly, they felt a hand that didn't belong to either of them, taking them by the limbs with force, in turn that they could barely see underwater a silhouette holding them both. They came to the surface of the water, their eyes cloudy and the waves still passing over them. A minute later, they noticed that they were approaching the shores of the beach.
Being closer, the aggressive movement of the waves began to decrease drastically until it had finally calmed down. When Diddy and Dixie had regained their normal eyesight, they turned to look at who was carrying them loaded: it was none other than Mr. Pinky. On the one hand, they were too happy that he saved their lives, but on the other hand... they were already waiting for his reproaches which he was surely about to give them.
Finally, Mr. Pinky had reached dry land, along with Diddy and Dixie in his arms. He then placed them back in the sand. He waited for them to make a full recovery, then folded his arms and gave them the sternest look he had ever shown. Diddy and Dixie just looked at him for a few seconds without saying anything; they stood still as they smiled forcibly at him... Now the teacher would be very upset.
"H-hi... Mr. Pinky," Dixie stammered. "T-thanks for... save us."
"Yes, you are... an excellent swimmer!" Diddy continued with a forced smile. "Were you ever a champion in swimming?"
"You don't understand!" exclaimed the teacher, raising his voice sternly and immediately frightening them. "Did you go crazy?! I was very clear in telling you that the sea at this season is DANGEROUS! It has been repeated to you a few times and yet you continue to ignore it!"
Diddy and Dixie clung to each other while having a fearful look towards Mr. Pinky.
"Oh! Okay, Mr. Pinky... We're sorry, really," Diddy said in a tone of regret. "We just wanted to go home, we don't want to be here, you don't know how much we want to go back to DK Island."
"Well, if you really wanted to be on your island, to begin with: Mr. Diddy wouldn't have gone out that night!" the teacher pointed to Diddy.
"But you can't tell him that!" exclaimed Dixie in defense. "He was not to blame for those tamers capturing him!"
"But he could have avoided it! And besides, you, Miss Dixie, wouldn't be here either!"
"So what?! I'm already here and I can't do anything else!" Dixie replied. "Anyway, it's true! We really want to go back to DK Island!"
"But now you can't! And now that you are here, you have to stay until the hurricanes pass! If what just happened to you happened to you a few meters from here, imagine what could happen to you offshore!"
"Yes, we already noticed! Just excuse us, it won't happen again," Diddy replied, trying to defuse the tension.
"I thought you would understand, but you turned out to be stubborn kids!" Mr. Pinky shouted angrily.
"Hey! Don't yell at us! We're not babies!" exclaimed Diddy, pointing to him and imposing his stance.
"Not even your children!" added Dixie in the same tone. "Better calm down and talk to us well!"
"This discussion is over! Now go back to the house, please!" he ordered them firmly before holding the two of them by the hands as if they were a pair of punished students. "It's very dangerous for you to go sailing like that in this storm!"
Mr. Pinky, with a wrinkled face of anger, carried Diddy and Dixie by the hands at a fast pace, while they walked very reluctantly and tried to keep up with his steps...