A Trip to Remember: Part Three

     “It had to rain on my first trip to Mystery Island,” Dellayn said miserably. The pair was standing under the roof of the harbor, staring out into the darkness of the morning. “As if we didn’t get enough snow on Terror Mountain, now we have to deal with rain in paradise. I mean, I love rain, but not on my vacation to an island!”

     So far, their day hadn’t been going well – and it was only late morning! First, they had woken up late. They hadn’t packed the night before like they should have, and by the time they finished, there wasn’t enough time to make a quick trip to the ice caves and grab a scratchcard. What could get worse?

     “Come on,” Shei said, shifting her backpack and changing her attitude. “Let’s make the best of it. We’ll go to the Tiki Tack shop and pick up some souvenirs to take home. Then we’ll find the hotel.”

     “Alright,” Dellayn obliged, bracing herself for the wetness. With a sudden burst of energy, both girls took off running towards the nearest shop. Dellayn couldn’t help but smile as they ran through the pelting rain, wishing it would rain at her home in Faerieland. Too bad it was the clouds!

     It was much drier in the shop, but by then Shei and Dellayn were both soaked to the bone. The rain was really pounding hard. Before entering, they both shook themselves vigorously, trying to get off the loose drops so they didn’t leave puddles inside.

     They had some fun picking out tacky souvenirs, despite the wetness. Shei got a seashell necklace and Dellayn got the matching bracelet. Shei also talked the Gelert into getting twin straw Tiki hats, which each had a big red hibiscus on the side. “It’ll keep the rain off our heads,” Shei mused. “I hope the rain doesn’t squish the flower, though.” She also bought some magnets. “Alyett’s going to go crazy over these,” she announced, rubbing her finger over the smooth magnet back. “She adores all things that stick to anything!”

     Dellayn decided to get a seashell necklace as well, for her sister. “I’m starting to feel slightly bad about not inviting her along,” she confessed quietly. Then, with a smile, added, “But just slightly. Do you think she’ll like this?” she asked, grabbing a pink plastic Tiki toy and holding it up for the Lupe to see.

     “Does she like pink?” Shei asked hesitantly, frowning at the bright color.

     “I don’t know. She likes girly stuff, though.”

     Shei shrugged. “Whatever.”

     Dellayn bought it anyway, as well as an acorn toy for herself, claiming it was, “Absolutely adorable! Won’t Pixie love this?”

     They spent a few more minutes in the shop, leisurely browsing the cheap, touristy items. After making their purchases, Shei suggested the head over to the food shop to pick up an early lunch, because she was getting hungry.

     It was still raining hard outside, so the girls stuffed their new items in their backpacks and took off to Tropical Foods.

     Dellayn glanced around nervously as she looked over the “different” foods. Who ever heard of eitchwoo melon, or harffel fruit? It sounds strange, not exotic, like I thought the food here might be! Although she did spy something that looked quite delicious – a cocoa Juppie. Shei also introduced to her another chocolaty treat: cocolatte fruit.

     “Grab some banans for me, will you?” Shei asked, gently picking up a Roseatte latte and breathing in the fragrance with a smile.

     “What’s a banan?” Dellayn asked, her eyes growing wide at the name.

     “It’s just like a fat banana,” Shei answered. “Tastes the same too. They’re good. Don’t look so worried!”

     Delly did as she was asked, grabbing some lemonade for herself as well.

     Before they left Tropical Foods, Shei talked Dellayn into wearing the straw hats. They ran back out into the rain, towards the hotel, feeling extremely goofy.

     “I can’t believe I actually wore this thing,” Dellayn muttered, ripping it off her head as they entered the hotel, next to the Tiki Tours. “I can’t believe I actually bought this thing! I paid money for some silly hat I’ll never wear again.”

     “Whatever,” Shei said. “Give it to your sister. Come on, let’s go check in. We can at least drop off our stuff, eat lunch, and figure out what to do next.”

     “Welcome to the island hotel,” an island Bruce greeted them. “Are you ready to check into your room?”

     “Yes,” Shei answered, smiling back. “The reservation is under the username Majikel. My name is Tsukushei, and this is Dellayn.”

     “Nice to meet you, girls,” the Bruce said, handing Shei a card. “My name is Lena. Your room is number 18, on the first floor.”

     “Great, thanks!” Shei took the card, glanced around, and started walking down a hallway, Dellayn right behind her.

     The rain was still pounding down on the island. Shei was flopped on her bed, lying on her back and staring out the window. Dellayn was lying on her stomach on her bed, busy doodling on a piece of paper she’d found in her backpack.

     “So, what do you want to do?” Dellayn asked, drawing swirls in the corner of her paper. “We’ve sat here for almost an hour, and I’m out of fajita chips.”

     “I don’t know,” Shei moaned, sipping the last of her now-cold Roseatte latte. “I don’t think the rain is going to stop anytime soon.” She sighed, and then suddenly perked up. “Why didn’t I think of this before? Let’s go to the Trading Post! It’s even inside, so we won’t get wet.”

     “Great!” Dellayn exclaimed, jumping up so fast she nearly fell off the bed. Her pencil went rolling, and she had to scramble after it so it wouldn’t get lost.

     They grabbed their backpacks, put on scarves (the rain made it cold outside), and headed out of the hotel within fifteen minutes. Daring, zealous Shei even plopped on her new island-tourist hat. Dellayn just shook her head.

     “Isn’t it cute?” Shei asked sometime later, pointing to a Christmas Shoyru plushie as Dellayn gawked at a Faerie Queen Doll.

     They hadn’t found anything either of them “couldn’t live without”, but there were some nice things. Shei was right when she had said on the walk over, “You never know what’ll show up at the ever-popular Trading Post.”

     And boy, was it crowded!

     Half an hour later, Dellayn bought a Kacheek Snowglobe. “It’s adorable!” she announced. “And it’ll go good with the snowglobe I bought in Happy Valley. Maybe I should start a collection?” From then on, she began to look around carefully for other globes.

     Shei found a purple scallop shell, which was surprisingly cheap. “Clea will love this,” she said. “She loves the color purple.”

     They left a few hours later, pleased with their purchases. Shei found herself delighted with the grooming items, and managed to get good deals on them as well. Two bars of lavender soap, a Faerieland comb (it was much better than the comb she’d bought at the mystery shop in Happy Valley), white lotus glitter lotion, a blue daisy hair clip for Alyett, and a Tooth Faerie towel for Clea. She had also found plenty of new books to read, which she figured would be a great time-passer for the ferry ride to Meridell.

     Dellayn had found a few other snowglobes that she would’ve loved to add to her growing collection, but they were much too expensive. Shei helped her pick out some interesting new books to buy, such as Inside the Mind of a Lupe, Extraordinary Ice Cream Cookbook, Joy of Fruit, as well as two for her sister – The Lovliest Uni and The Wicked Little Uni, and many others for herself and her owner. She also decided to purchase some lavender soap for her sister, although she wasn’t sure if Chez liked the smell of lavender.

     “I wish it wasn’t raining,” Shei sighed as they left the Trading Post. “I wanted to explore the Lost City of Geraptiku. Oh well – maybe tomorrow.” She glanced behind her, where the “city” was slightly in view.

     Dellayn looked, too. The lost city? It doesn’t look like a city to me. More like an old camp with huts! They passed Techo Mountain, which was taller than one would imagine.

     Shei wanted to visit the Rock Pool and see the Mystery Island petpets, but Dellayn suggested waiting, since it was raining. “They’ve probably all swam to hide under rocks,” Dellayn said.

     Since there was nothing else to do, they went back to the Tiki Tack shop. Shei found a surfboard key ring for her owner, Kela, who liked to surf, and bought a seashell bracelet for her as well. Dellayn bought a bottle of orange sand and a beach ball to play with on the beach – that is, if it ever stopped raining.

     They gave up trying not to get wet and wandered around the island. It was mostly empty, since no one else appeared to be as willing as them to walk in the rain. They had starfish sandwiches from Tropical Foods for dinner – Dellayn had to admit, they were really quite good.

     When they got tired, the two friends returned to the hotel, ready for a good night’s sleep. They were certain the rain would be cleared by the next morning, and too tired to write to their owners about their day.

To be continued...