The Frights of Fiji by Sunayna Prasad (books to read for self improvement .txt) 📕

that the ground seemed close enough that she could jump off him and land safely—not that she would, though.

 

Regulus landed on his front legs onto the sand, followed by his hind legs. He trotted, and Alyssa bumped against him again. He steadied down and stopped. Then he lowered his head onto the sand. Alyssa figured out that he likely wanted her to slide off him. So she did and then noticed words forming on his leg band.

 

I am going to close my eyes for about a minute. Please do not disturb me since I will be sending a signal to Rosaline to let her know that you’re here on Dermand Island.

 

Alyssa looked up and nodded. She sat on the sand and watched Regulus shut his eyes. Would Rosaline comprehend Alyssa, though? If dermaidens didn’t like going to places with civilizations, then how would they understand English? Did they speak their own language—or not talk at all?

A woman sang the tune of “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again” from The Phantom of the Opera, and Alyssa looked up. It seemed to come from the ocean, although Rosaline or any other dermaiden couldn’t possibly sing a showtune. No exposure to developed civilizations must mean no knowledge of any song humans had created—unless dermaidens had the ability to magically absorb them. Anything could happen with enchanted creatures’ skills.

The song grew louder. Alyssa stood up, focusing on the voice. There was still no hint of who sang it. But what human would ever sing and not reveal him or herself while swimming to a deserted island? According to what Isabelle had said yesterday, no wizard could exceed in basic skills, like swimming, more than any ordinary person. That meant the song had to come from a dermaiden. Dermaidens somehow seemed to know how to capture songs from plays and memorize them.

A dolphin fluke lifted itself from the water as the song loudened, but the sound faded. Alyssa didn’t know what Rosaline looked like, so that could either be her or another dermaiden. Alyssa turned to Regulus, whose eyes were now open, and his head turned to the water. If Rosaline hadn’t arrived, then Regulus would still do what he’d done before the voice sang.

The fluke sunk, and the song stopped. A woman poked her head out of the water. She swam closer, and Alyssa observed her. Her platinum-blonde hair flowed about a few inches past the top of her tail. Bubblegum-pink patches covered her cheeks, the edges blending in with her skin. Deep red lips contrasted with her hair and cheeks. Light-blue lemon-shaped spots surrounded her eyes. Her eyelashes looked thick as if she had applied too much mascara. She also wore a strapless bikini top. Alyssa assumed that all those colors on her face didn’t result from make-up since that would wash out in the water.

The dermaiden spoke a strange language in a high soft-spoken voice. Alyssa tilted her head and widened her mouth. The dermaiden sighed and moved her hands around, creating a glass cube filled with bright purple smoke. Then she lifted it up, looking into Alyssa’s eyes.

“You want me to take it?” Alyssa asked.

The lady nodded. Alyssa guessed that she understood English, even if she might not speak it. Alyssa took the cube and watched words spell out on it:

 

My name is Rosaline, and I’m a dermaiden, half human and half dolphin, as Regulus’s band must have told you. I am known for singing, saving people, and taming magical creatures.

I speak Dermese, the dermaiden language, but can understand most languages in the Indo- Pacific. I hope Regulus sent out the message I told him to send you.

 

Alyssa looked up at Rosaline. “He did.” She paused. “How’d you know that Phantom of the Opera song?”

Rosaline spoke her language for about twenty seconds, which caused words to appear in the cube.

 

Dermaidens have special powers to hear and absorb music and intelligence from humans on the land and remember them. They sing songs they know to attract attention from the ones they’re looking for or rescuing. I heard that song a few years ago at a theater in Australia and liked it so much, it was absorbed into my brain, and now I like to sing it.

 

“Cool. So can you get the seaweed to wake my mentors up, please?”

Rosaline spoke. Her translation spelled out into the cube.

 

I can, but I need help from my sister, Penelope. I forgot that my father had decreased my magic skills because I had lied to him a week ago about something. I’ll go get Penelope.

 

Rosaline turned around and dunked her head into the water. As she swam away, she sang the tune of “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Misérables.

About five minutes later, Rosaline returned with Penelope. Penelope’s bangs and shoulder-length black hair formed an arch around her head, which contrasted with her hot-pink lips, coral-colored cheek spots, and green patches surrounding her eyes. Penelope also wore a belly T-shirt. She spoke to Rosaline about something, and out of her mouth came a low voice. Wow! Had Alyssa only seen them at first sight, she would never have thought that they were sisters.

Rosaline received the seaweed from Penelope and spoke to Alyssa as she looked into the cube.

 

Penelope and I are going to knot the seaweed and then tie them together. Then, after we think of the spell, a glitter lamb will form. Glitter lambs have always succeeded at breaking the sleeping spell. The lamb will travel all the way to Yanowic to wake up the marble figure and anyone else sleeping. But first you’ll need to tell us their names, what they look like, and what they’re wearing.

 

Alyssa told Rosaline everything she’d requested. Penelope then smiled and said something, which Alyssa guessed was “Thank you.”

Then Penelope and Rosaline made five knots in the seaweed and tied them together so that they attached. They pulled the plant and shut their eyes. They hummed a random tune, which they softened but loudened every second. Gold glitter rose out of the palms of their hands and circled as they ascended. The specks formed a spiral and widened, creating the shape of a hurricane.

Alyssa opened her mouth as Penelope and Rosaline lowered their hands, making the glitter rain out of its shape. But it stopped in the air, sticking together and forming another shape. A snout, sheep-like ears, short tail, and cloven hooves revealed to Alyssa that the glitter produced the lamb. The creation opened its mouth and let out a baa.

“Wow,” whispered Alyssa.

Penelope spoke to the lamb in Dermese, and it galloped into the air, releasing specks along its path. It ran farther away, and Penelope and Rosaline turned back to Alyssa and said something to her. Alyssa looked into the cube, staring at the sentences produced.

 

When the lamb arrives at Yanowic, it’ll explode into glitter. That glitter will break the sleeping spell cast on those under it and wake them up.

 

Alyssa nodded and looked into the cube. Penelope’s words faded, and Rosaline’s words replaced them.

 

Regulus can now take you back to Yanowic. I’m afraid I must go since I promised Penelope that I’d do something with her.

 

Alyssa looked up at Rosaline. “That’s fine. Thanks, guys.”

Rosaline and Penelope waved and turned back to the ocean. They dove underwater and swam away. Alyssa turned to Regulus, who lowered his head. She climbed onto him, and he prepared to take off back to Yanowic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11

 

Now back on Yanowic, Alyssa slid off Regulus’s back and turned to the glitter lamb. She smiled as she watched it gallop toward her mentors. But something hard hit her on the back, and she jerked forward. She turned around. Regulus’s leg band formed words.

 

      I am going to go now. Goodbye and good luck.

 

“Bye,” said Alyssa. “Thank you.”

Regulus flapped and lifted himself up into the air.

Alyssa gazed at him until the lamb made its high baa sound again. It exploded into specks, which sprinkled onto Mathias, Simon, and Isabelle. Not only that—the wounds they’d received from the dingo shrank and vanished. All three yawned and stretched. They lifted themselves up and turned to Alyssa.

“Blimey, Alyssa, you’re all right,” said Simon.

“What have you been doing this whole time?” Mathias asked.

“You really want to know?” Alyssa asked.

“Yes, of course,” said Mathias.

Alyssa told them everything from the time Regulus had killed the dingo to when he had brought her back here. Isabelle and Mathias looked at Simon.

“How’d you know that dermaiden?” asked Isabelle.

“I didn’t,” said Simon. “Sending out messages to strangers during danger is just an instinct in marble figures.”

“Well, we all ought to thank Simon for this,” said Mathias.

Everyone thanked him and walked back to where Isabelle had dropped her stuff. Nothing had been damaged, so she picked up the supplies and led Alyssa into her tube.

“I’ll meet you at the dark magic center, Mathias,” said Isabelle as Mathias hopped into his tube.

 

Now outside the dark magic center, Isabelle and Mathias led Alyssa and Simon to a tree.

“I’m going to give you guys invisibility ponchos and make you air screens to watch us,” said Isabelle.

“Isabelle, I was thinking that they should watch us from inside,” said Mathias.

“Mathias, it’s too dangerous, especially for Alyssa,” said Isabelle.

“But she and Simon would be wearing the ponchos,” Mathias said.

“This is much safer, though.” Isabelle pointed her wand at Alyssa and let an air bubble out, which expanded to the size of Simon’s tablet. Then she did the same thing to Simon and then gave him and Alyssa ponchos. “Put these on and don’t make any sounds.”

Alyssa and Simon nodded.

“But then how do we hear what you’re doing?” Alyssa asked.

“I’m creating wireless earbuds,” Isabelle directed her wand into her palm. She made the buds and handed a pair each to Simon and Alyssa. “You’ll also be able to see both of us after we separate.”

“How?” asked Alyssa.

“The screen will divide,” said Isabelle.

Alyssa nodded.

“Good luck,” whispered Simon.

Isabelle and Mathias disappeared. Alyssa pulled her poncho on and gasped since her body could no longer be seen. But she put on the hood and zipped it to hide her face. She sat back down and put in her earbuds. She saw only Isabelle on her screen, wearing her poncho and leaning against the main hallway wall. Mathias probably did the same thing.

“David, how could you forget about the dingo I hooked up to the computer?” asked a woman with a Southern American accent.

“Relax, Clarissa,” said David as he and Clarissa walked down the main hallway.

“You didn’t even find another creature,” she said.

“I did, but it ran away too fast.”

Isabelle stuck her wand out and whipped it around. The same orange sand that had knocked out Hailey and Uncle Bruce swirled and knocked out Clarissa. Mathias repeated the same to David. Isabelle knelt by Clarissa and stuck her hand out to rub the skin with a rubbing stick. The stick turned the orange tip dark blue. She and Mathias rubbed the couple’s skin and then kicked the two, took off their ponchos, and covered them.

Alyssa’s heart palpitated as Isabelle and Mathias stood in the middle of the hallway—visible. What if someone caught them? Especially—Master Beau? They seemed fine now, but that could change any moment.

Isabelle pulled out two tiny paper cups and poured some of the Impersonaide potion in hers and Mathias’s. Then the two stuck