Death Is Unpredictable

“Well, look, lets just try figuring out the riddles.”, Ash says, frowning. “How’d it go again, Alison?”

“Land and water, fill desire. Sea shells, sea shells, he wants more. La la land isn’t what it seems, deep within their land of dreams. Only a mind-reader, could understand this plan.”

“Alright, so … ‘Sea shells, sea shells, he wants more.’”, Eric says, frowning. “I’m guessing that they took a cruise.”

“Why a cruise?”, Roxana asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Simple, ‘he wants more.’ usually means honeymoon. Now, ‘Sea shells’ is probably the name of the ship. Or it could be where it was going, or where it started.”, Eric says, shrugging.

“Alright, then lets go,” Nina says, smiling.

“Yeah, I’ve got a good feeling about this.”

“Does anybody here speak French?”, Roxana asks, irritated slightly.

“I do, a little,” Brendan says, smiling sheepishly. “I always promised my little sister that I’d take her to France someday.”

“See! Now lets go!”, Nina says, already soaring down to the ground, back where they had been just a moment ago. Nina whistles, watching as the dogs float down, sniffing the ground and soon running through the streets of Paris, France, with everyone close behind them.

“Coquillages,” Brendan says, rolling his eyes. “Sea shells,” he says sheepishly.

“Then which boat would he have taken Melody on?”, Nina asks, frowning.

“The riddle was ‘Sea shells, sea shells.’ It said it twice.”, Ash says, smiling.

“Found it!”, Eric yells, smirking as they all ran down.

“Okay, hold on,” Nina says, walking on board with everyone. “Umm, excuse me?”, Nina asks, tapping on a man’s shoulder. “Do you speak English?”

“A little,” he says, smirking. “How can I help you?”

“Where did this boat go last night?”

“Well, that depends. We made many different stops.”

“Which one did a sleeping girl and some boy go on?”

“What did the girl look like?”

“Blonde, around fourteen, tan? She was wearing a giant emerald necklace!”, Ash says, irritated. “Nina, he knows where they went! C’mon!”, and he pulled Nina behind him, toward the others.

“Well?!”, Kevin asks impatiently.

“They went straight toward Spain.”

“Spain?!!”, Dylan and Kevin yell together.

“So, we’re going to Spain?”, Jolie grumbles.

“Lets get going!!”, Kevin, Nina, Ash, and Dylan say together, as everyone floats up onto the cloud.

“We’re heading to Spain.”, Kevin says, looking around. “Anyone know where Alison is?”

“Over there,” Ash says, nodding toward the girl lying on the ground, sleeping.

“She’s less stressed,” Max says, frowning slightly.

“Well, we’re here,” Eric says, looking over the edge of the cloud.

“C’mon! Lets get going, we’re on a roll here!!”, Dylan says, as everyone goes flying down.

“’La la land isn’t what it seems, even in their land of dreams.’”, Ash says, frowning. “La la land?”

“You should know, mind-reader. A little escape, where anything’s possible. The place in the mind where you disconnect from the world.”, Nina says, smiling.

“Yeah, I know. But … what does it mean in Spain?”

“Umm, it means the same in English.”, Max says, frowning. “But, I think, if my memory’s correct, that there was a boat called the ‘La La.’”

“Great!”, Dylan says, smiling.

“But it never sailed.”

“Great.”

“’La la land isn’t what it seems, in their land of dreams.’”, Ash repeats.

“La tierra de la que no es lo que parece, en su tierra de los sueños.”, Max says sheepishly. “That’s how you say the riddle in Spanish.”

“La tierra? Wasn’t there a boat called that at one point?”, Roxana says, frowning. “Yeah, it set sail around the time I died …”

“La Tierra sank,” Max says, rolling his eyes.

“Where?”, Ash asks, looking between the two. Max had been born in Mexico, but spent some time in Spain. Roxana visited Spain for many summers.

“Down near the Bermuda Triangle.”, Max says, shrugging.

“In their land of dreams?”, Ash thinks out loud. “Dylan, did Melody ever dream of the Bermuda Triangle?”

“Only in her nightmares. She dreamt of it a lot. And it would always freak her out really bad.”, Dylan says, shrugging. “She told me that she’d see herself screaming, but nobody could hear her. And about she saw death all around her.”

“Great. And we’ve figured out our second riddle. Lets wake Alison up to get the third.”, Ash says, smirking as they all soar up to the silvery cloud.