The Good Days II: The Search for Glenda - Part Two

The water surrounding the rowboat seemed calm, but it was anything but that. Renaline looked into the water and saw strange shadows moving slowly from beneath the boat.

      "Celia, what colour is the amulet?" Renaline asked.

      Celia gasped. "It's bright red!" the little Usul said.

      "Paddle away from here!" Renaline shouted. "It's too dangerous!"

      Verila took the paddles and paddled away from the area as fast as she could. But she couldn't get away from the area fast enough. A huge Jetsam jumped out of the water and bit Renaline on the arm.

      "Ow! Ow!" Renaline screamed, holding her arm.

      The Jetsam attempted to bite a piece off the rowboat, but Verila paddled away fast enough to get away from it. As she paddled quickly, she could hear the Jetsam yelling "I'll get you next time!"

      "That was a close one," said Celia. The gem on the amulet changed back to green. "Verila, do you happen to have any sort of paper with you?"

      "Paper?" Verila asked. "Well…I guess so." Verila put her paw in her pocket and pulled out a very small book.

      "I read this book when I was a small child," said Verila. "It's quite useless to me now."

      Celia took the book. The Usul was an avid reader, and because she had nothing to read for the past weeks, she opened the book and began to read.

      "The history of Meridell is exceedingly problematical…" Celia read. "Whoa! You read this when you were a small child!? I can't pronounce any of those words!"

      "Not many children can," said Verila. "I was quite intelligent for my age, and I still am."

      "Whatever." Celia tore out the first page of the complicated book and wrapped it around Renaline's arm.

      "Thanks," said Renaline. "It's my turn to paddle tonight, but I can't. Will you take my turn?"

      "Of course," said Celia. "You're my good friend, and I would do anything for you."

     ***

      Night fell upon the ocean. As Celia paddled, Renaline and Verila lay down and stared at the twinkling stars.

      "That's Nokiocerus," said Verila. "It's the star of knowledge. And that one up there is Lakanananafero, the star of know-it-all Yurbles. It's my personal favourite."

      "Are there any good stars up there?" Renaline asked.

      "Good stars?" said Verila. "What do you mean? These are good stars!"

      "I mean, like…wishing stars," said Renaline. "Stars that you make a wish upon, and the wish hopefully comes true."

      "Ah, yes," said Verila. "That big one, straight ahead."

      Renaline stared deeply at the star for a few seconds, then spoke. "I wish that the good days would come again," she whispered.

      "The good days?" Verila asked. "What are the good days?"

      "The good days are the days where wishes come true, and nothing bad ever happens. I had my good days a long time ago. But now, everything is over, and I am stuck in a rowboat in the middle of the ocean."

      "Oh," said Verila. "I hope you get your wish, then."

      "I do too," said Renaline. At that moment, she fell asleep. Verila fell asleep soon after.

     ***

      Renaline awoke that morning to a great shock. The typical feeling of the rowboat rocking back and forth through the waves was gone. As she opened her eves, she saw nothing but sand. Celia had already left the boat and was sitting on the sand, waiting for Renaline and Verila to awaken.

      "Renaline!" Celia shouted. "We're here! We're here! Glenda is on this island somewhere!" She was jumping around, excited.

      "Are you sure that this is really the island we're looking for?" Renaline asked.

      "Yes!" Celia shouted, still acting hyper. "According to the map, this is it!"

      "Ooh, yay!" Renaline shouted, jumping up and down. Together, the high-pitched screaming of Renaline and Celia awoke Verila.

      "Girls," said Verila, "could you please stop screaming like idiots? There's a Mynci creeping up behind you!"

      Renaline and Celia turned their heads around slowly at the same time. They both screamed loudly at the sight of an evil-looking red Mynci behind them.

      "Welcome to the island of Erukalotho, young girls," said the Mynci. "My name is Tiko, and you just happen to be just in time for dinner. Bring in the main course!"

      Two other evil-looking Myncis came out of the trees, carrying a large cage. Inside that cage was none other than Glenda, dressed in a torn white dress.

      "Renaline! Celia!" Glenda shouted in fear. "Get me out of here!"

      "We'll do our best!" Renaline shouted back.

      "Hmm…" said Toki. "What should we have as our side dish? Usul salad? Yurble stew? Or perhaps some roast Grey Faerie?"

      "How about a Mynci burger?" Celia yelled. She ran towards Toki and let out a huge karate kick.

      "Wow, where did you learn to do that?" Renaline asked. "I never knew you coulddo that!"

      "Are you kidding?" said Celia as she attacked Toki and the other two Myncis. "I practically learned how to do this before I could walk! Why don't you help out, Renaline?"

      "I can't!" said Renaline. "I know nothing about self-defense! Plus, my arm is still sore!"

      "Oh well, get Verila to help!" said Celia, still kicking and punching and being extremely non-successful.

      "Verila, can you give us a hand here?" Renaline asked.

      "Well, I guess I could," said Verila. She held the amulet in her paw (which was bright red) and ran towards the Myncis.

      "What do I do now?" Verila asked, trembling.

      "I don't know!" said Celia, who was becoming exhausted but would not give up. "Whack them in the face! Throw the amulet at them! Whatever!"

      Verila was considering throwing the amulet. She knew that it did no good from her battle experience, but it was worth a try. She threw the amulet as hard as she could towards Toki and the other two Myncis.

      KABOOM!

      The amulet exploded in a gigantic puff of red smoke. When the smoke cleared away, you could see the three Myncis lying on the ground.

      "Oh yeah, woo-hoo!" Renaline, Celia, and Verila shouted, slapping each other's hands. The magic that locked Glenda's cage faded, and the cage burst open. Glenda was thrilled to run free again.

      "Oh, Renaline! Oh, Celia! I am so glad to see you two again!" Glenda hugged both of them at once. Then, she noticed Verila. "Who have we here?" she asked.

      "I am Verila," said the Yurble. "I come from Meridell. I was drowning, but these two girls rescued me."

      "Good job, girls," said Glenda. "We must get back to the mansion. And how about on the way, we take Verila back to Meridell?"

      "Good idea, Glenda," said Renaline. "I'll get in the rowboat, and-"

      Renaline turned around, and realized that the rowboat had floated away with the tide.

      "Oh, no!" said Celia. "It's gone! What do we do now?"

      "Let Verila think of a solution," said Renaline. "She's the smartest out of all of us."

      "Hmm…" Verila sat by a tree and began to think. A minute later, she jumped up. "Eureka!"

      "What is it?" Celia asked.

      "We write 'S.O.S.' in the sand! Someone will come and save us!" said Verila.

      "Great idea," said Celia. Why didn't we think of that?" Celia, Renaline and Glenda had just realized how stupid they really were.

      "I'll write it in the sand with my hooves," said Glenda. The Uni proceeded to a large area of sand and wrote "SOS" in big, messy letters.

      "The sun is setting, and I haven't had a good night's sleep in days," said Glenda. "Why don't we all get some rest before we get rescued?"

      "Good idea," said Renaline. She, Glenda, Celia and Verila all laid down in the sand and dreamt sweet dreams of home.

     ***

      As the sun rose the next morning, an Eyrie with a cart attached to his back landed on the island of Erukalotho. He saw the four friends sleeping, and figured that these were the ones that needed help.

      "Wake up, you sleepyheads!" the Eyrie shouted. Renaline, Celia, Verila and Glenda all woke up and saw the Eyrie.

      "Have you come to rescue us?" Renaline asked.

      "I sure have!" said the Eyrie. "Where are you going?"

      "I'm going to Meridell," said Verila. "These three are headed for some mansion somewhere."

      "The mansion is in Neopia Central," said Glenda. "133233 Winding Wood Drive. Do you happen to know where that is?"

      "Oh, that place!" said the Eyrie. "Everyone on board!"

      Renaline and the other climbed into the Eyrie's cart, and the Eyrie took off. From the cart, they could see everything from Mystery Island to the Lost Desert. The cart eventually landed on the coastline of Meridell, where Verila was found.

      "Welcome back home!" said the Eyrie as Verila climbed out of the cart. The very first figure she saw was none other than Kayla herself.

      "Verila!" Kayla shouted, hugging her sister.

      "Kayla!" Verila shouted back.

      "Did you find my amulet?" Kayla asked.

      "Well…yes and no," said Verila. "I destroyed it, but it was to save those three girls in the cart and myself."

      "Good for you, Verila!" said Kayla. "You saved some lives! That is something that only a true Meridell warrior would do. Come on, let's go home."

      "Bye, Verila!" Renaline, Celia and Glenda shouted as Verila and Kayla walked away.

      "Next stop, Neopia Central!" said the Eyrie. He took off again, and soon Renaline, Glenda and Celia were back at the mansion.

      "Thank you, Mr. Eyrie!" said Renaline as she walked into the mansion with Celia and Glenda.

      As the Eyrie flew away, Renaline and Celia hugged Glenda multiple times, glad that she was finally found.

The End