Black Numos Island by Maggie Morris, Alaina Fulkerson (best motivational books for students .TXT) 📕

“I have a cave. And, I know where to find edible berries.”

“I thought you only toured this island!” Mara raged with disbelief.

“Well, I kind of have been stranded on this island before. It was a SUPER weird coincidence,” Steve replied. Chris noticed Steve looked a little nervous, and was shifting his feet.

What is this man up to? Chris thought suspiciously.

Sam gulped, worrying about how much trouble he was going to be in. He rushed to Emily’s room, running frantically.

“Ems’ please don’t be mad! I forgot!” Sam tried.

“This is the last straw!!!” Screamed Emily. “I was able to fix your last mistake, but you just had to amuse yourself!” Emily was crying now. Sam gulped.

“Emily, it was funny at the time, but I really did forget!”

“Well, maybe you should’ve remembered!” Emily shoved Sam out her open door and slapped him.

“Just leave me alone!” She screamed. Emily turned her back on her brother Sam. Sam knew that what he did was really bad, because Emily was almost never violent. He rushed to his room. He sat on the bed, racking his brain, trying to think of how he could fix his mistake. Why, oh why didn’t I take down the Trixie the Clown picture last night?! Sam thought. He didn’t notice Luke sitting at the computer until he spoke.

“What'd ya do this time?” Luke sighed.

“None of your beeswax!” Sam glared at his twin. Generally, the siblings never fought, but apparently they couldn’t do so without their parents home. Luke perked up suddenly.

“I got an email!” He opened it up, his eyebrows raising.

“Tell Sam that I am giving him the silent treatment. From, Emily,” Luke read aloud.

“Okay, Sam, Em’ is giving you the silent treatment,” Luke said annoyingly.

“I heard!” Sam said, rolling his eyes.

Later that evening, the news came on. Emily was still mad at Sam, but she was also a little bit worried that her parents hadn't called yet. But Emily knew they would soon. They were probably just getting unpacked first. So, to buy time, she decided to watch the news. She did this every day, as she always liked to be informed of what was happening worldwide. So, she turned on the TV and flipped channels until she got to Fox 4 News. A lady with was speaking into her bulky microphone.

“We have breaking news; there has been a report of a plane crash. Officials say that this plane was going to Italy when it unexpectedly crashed. The plane was scheduled to leave at 11:00 AM on Saturday and arrive at 3:40 PM the next day. There are NO known survivors of this crash yet, but tomorrow morning a search crew is heading out to where the scientists think the plane crashed. The airport is shutting down all flights until then. The search crew will take off at the MZ airport. We will let you know the details as we get them. Now, back to you with the weather, Gary."

Emily was shocked; that was the flight that her parents had been on! Without thinking twice, she rushed to her room and started packing. She shoved a camera, cans of food (and a can opener), clothes to last her for over a week, a toothbrush, toothpaste, all of her money, and her favorite stuffed animal, Hippo. Then, she ran to the boys' room and informed them about what had happened. Emily was too scared to give Sam the silent treatment, at least for the time being. As soon as her brothers realized what she wanted to do, they started packing like crazy.

When they were all ready to go, they headed to the kitchen. They were lucky Ann was in the living room snoring loudly. Quietly Sam, Luke, and Emily snuck out. Once they were safely outside, Emily hailed a cab.

"MZ airport now!" She ordered, handing him a twenty-dollar-bill. The driver looked uncertain.

"Do your parents know about this?" He asked.

"Of course they do! What type of fool are you! I mean, seriously! What kid would hail a taxi without permission from their parents?” Emily lied very convincingly.

Luke was quietly trying to sneak an air freshener out of his pack when the driver looked his way.

Luke shyly said, "Would you like pine, tropic, or pineapple? I would recommend tropic." After all, he didn’t want the man to think that he was doing something behind his back. The cab driver looked relieved.

"Well then, tropic, please." Luke dug the tropic air freshener out of his pack and squirted some into the air. "Now it smells much better!" The driver nodded in agreement.

“You can have the bottle,” Luke offered kindly. “Use it every other day or else…” The driver and Luke continued talking about air fresheners throughout the drive until there was nothing else left to stay. Then, they drove in silence to the airport.

They continued driving for awhile, until they reached the airport. Emily stomped her foot when she saw that it had already been closed. Then, she sighed, handed over another twenty, and then ordered the cabbie to take them to the Denver Airport.

After walking around the island a couple of times, (Steve had gotten lost two times) the trio stood in front of a mountain. A little hole was barely visible through all the undergrowth that was covering it up. The opening was probably large enough for a kid to walk through, and a grown-up to crawl through. Steve crawled right in, having to turn sideways to get his large shoulders through, with Chris following. Mara was the only one who hesitated.

“Are you sure there aren't any snakes or poisonous bugs?”

Chris popped his head back out and with a frustrated look on his face he muttered, “Girls!”

“Of course there are no bugs or snakes! Steve wouldn’t be going in here if there were,” Chris replied certainly. The truth was he wasn’t so sure.

The he added, “You need to check this out, honey! It’s like any explorer’s dream in here!”

Mara was starting to trust Steve, so she crawled in, too. As she stood up, dusting herself off, Mara gasped. Inside was a huge room, with a dome-shaped ceiling, and little storage spaces scraped out in the walls.

“Did you make this?” Mara didn’t get a response. Instead of repeating her question, she glared at Steve for not responding, (who did not notice) and studied the rest of the room. The walls had what looked like blood red paint on it, and they added a pop of color to the gray floor. To top it all off, there was bamboo furniture, and unlit torches attached to the wall. When she saw a large knife on the table, Mara said nothing, though it made her a little weary to think that she and her husband were with a man who they had just met that left knives lying around on tables.

While Chris said, "I guess you have been here before!" Mara went over and sat on one of the bamboo chairs. They were surprisingly sturdy!

“Would you like me to show you to your beds?” Steve asked. “I would say rooms, but as you can see there is only one big open room.” Steve then guided them over to a set of queen sized beds.

“I made them,” he said with a hint of pride in his voice. “Do you like them?”

“I love them!” Mara gushed. She went over and and touched the mattress that sat on the bamboo frame.

“They’re soft, too!” Mara added. Steve walked over and peered into one of the storage spaces in the walls.

“I’m all out of blueberries!” Steve said sadly. Then he brightened.

“Oh, well! You guys can help me pick some!” Just then, Chris’s stomach grumbled.

“I think your stomach wants you to!” Steve joked. Mara, Chris, and Steve burst out laughing. Suddenly, Mara stopped.

“What’s wrong, sweetie?” Chris asked.

“Nothing, just I felt bad that we are here laughing, when all those other people are dead now,” Mara replied half-heartedly.

“It’s not your fault Mara!” Steve exclaimed. “Now, let’s go pick some berries!”

Once they were at the airport the driver started itching his head very violently. Sam thought his hair looked a little lopsided, but he wasn’t one to judge people. Suddenly, with one quick move, the driver pulled off his hair that was apparently a wig.

"Never trust a stranger!" he snarled. Emily screamed as the man pulled out a knife and pressed it to her chest. Luke opened the door and started to run, with Sam close behind. But, Emily stood frozen with fear.

“You aren’t going to get away!”

The driver started groping for his own gun but had no luck. Sam stopped, pulled a A60 pistol out of his side pocket, and waved it back and forth it tauntingly.

“That’s my gun!” The driver said, eyes flickering nervously from Sam to his gun.

“Well, maybe you shouldn’t have left it in the shotgun seat, where anyone could see it!”

The man growled and pushed the knife closer to Emily chest, just enough so with a flick of his wrist, the driver could split her skin.

Sam whispered, "Don't move, or I pull the trigger." Even though Sam’s hand was shaking very hard, the driver had a worried expression on his face. Sam turned to Emily.

"Catch up with Luke and get as far away as possible from here!" The man moved forward to try and stop her, but Emily had already opened the door and began sliding out of the taxi. Sam saw the driver smirk and put something small up to his lips. He breathed roughly into the tube and something thin flew out.

Sam knew right then and there that it was poisoned. As if to prove. His theory Emily let out a short piercing scream as the dart came in contact with her skin.