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

poster next to Jasmine’s bed as well as a bookshelf of fantasy books and movies. Now Jasmine would receive a Narnia poster.

Alyssa sighed at the room decor but formed a small grin. “Wow, nice room.”

“Thanks,” said Jasmine. “So I have some board games, cards, movies, crafts—what do you want to do while you’re here?”

“My uncle’s coming soon,” said Alyssa. “So I don’t think we can watch movies or do crafts.”

“You still want to play cards or games?” asked Jasmine.

“Okay,” said Alyssa.

“What do you have?” asked Hailey.

Jasmine listed the games and cards she had.

“We’ll play Apples to Apples,” Hailey said.

“Okay,” said Jasmine. “Alyssa, does that sound good?”

“Yeah,” said Alyssa.

Jasmine pulled the Apples to Apples box down from the top of her closet. “Oh, wait, that’s for four players.”

But a loud hissing occurred. Alyssa, Hailey, and Jasmine turned to the window as the noise grew louder. Alyssa’s guts twisted. She heard her heart jackhammering.

“You’ll be mine this weekend, Alyssa McCarthy,” a deep French-accented voice said.

Alyssa gasped. The other two turned to her.

“Alyssa, what’s going on?” asked Jasmine.

“Uh . . .”

“It sounds like someone’s coming after you,” Hailey said.

“About that—”

“Alyssa, just tell us what the heck is going on,” said Jasmine.

“All right, someone is coming after me,” said Alyssa. She turned to Hailey. “Remember that guy I told you about after I got that note?”

“The one responsible for—”

“Yes,” said Alyssa. “He’s kind of hunting for me.”

Jasmine and Hailey inhaled.

“I better go tell my mom,” said Jasmine.

Alyssa and Hailey followed Jasmine down the stairs. “Mom, someone’s hunting Alyssa down! I heard his voice in my room!”

The three entered the kitchen, where Mrs. Wilson washed dishes. Mrs. Wilson turned to Jasmine, bending her eyebrows.

“No, I’m serious!” Jasmine squealed. “We all heard the voice in my room and—”

“What voice?” asked Mrs. Wilson.

Jasmine sighed. “There was a voice saying—”

“I didn’t hear any voice, Jasmine,” said Mrs. Wilson.

“There was one,” said Alyssa.

“Yeah, someone said he wanted Alyssa this weekend,” Hailey said.

“I don’t know what you heard, but I didn’t hear anything,” said Mrs. Wilson.

“Mom, how could you have not heard the voice?” shrieked Jasmine.

“There was no voice.” Leon stepped down the stairs.

“How is it that only Jasmine, Hailey, and I heard the voice?” asked Alyssa.

The doorbell rang, and Mrs. Wilson answered it. Uncle Bruce stood outside, holding an umbrella.

“Hey, Bruce,” said Mrs. Wilson.

“Hello,” said Uncle Bruce. He turned to Hailey and Alyssa. “Are you ready to go, girls?”

“Yeah,” said Hailey.

“Uncle Bruce, did you hear a voice say my name?” Alyssa asked. “It was loud, so—”

Uncle Bruce tilted his head. “What are you talking about?”

“You didn’t hear it, either, Mr. Flynn?” asked Jasmine.

“No. All I heard was the radio in my car.”

“Oh my god, how did no one else hear it?” asked Alyssa.

“I don’t know what you heard, Alyssa, but now’s not the time to discuss it,” said Uncle Bruce. “We need to get home safely. In fact, it’ll take us longer since the roads have gotten icy.”

He thanked the Wilsons and led Alyssa and Hailey into his car. Alyssa didn’t understand how the voice could only be heard in Jasmine’s room.

“Uncle Bruce, did you get the note?” Alyssa asked.

“F-from that Simon g-guy?”

“Yes,” said Alyssa.

“Who the heck is he?” Uncle Bruce’s teeth chattered.

“That was the marble figure I talked to. Did you see his note appear?”

“Right when I arrived here. I-I thought I was going to get a heart attack—that paper appearing on the passenger seat? I…”

“Did he at least tell you anything important?” Alyssa asked.

“H-he told me about those incidents, but he also told me about someone hunting for you and the storm harming me in some way.”

“What’s going to happen?” asked Hailey.

“He didn’t say,” said Uncle Bruce. “But . . . I’m really worried. I don’t want anything to happen to me or you two. However, Hailey, you can call your grandparents once we get home. I’ll let you use my cell phone.”

“Thanks, Dad,” said Hailey.

“Your punishment is also over because according to Simon, you weren’t responsible for those incidents. He even proved it to me with a picture of a note. I didn’t recognize the handwriting.” Uncle Bruce sighed. “I’m sorry for not believing you.”

Alyssa nodded and breathed. But her mind returned to what could happen to him tomorrow morning.

 

 

6

 

Last night the house had no power, and it had frozen enough that Alyssa had worn gloves, woolly socks, and a sweatshirt to bed. Waking up, Alyssa found sweat soaking her sweatshirt and feet. The heat must have come back on. Well, Alyssa’s digital clock had lit up, so the power had returned.

Looking out the window, Alyssa saw sleet covering the neighborhood. But the sleet on the street shrank. Had it warmed up? In spite of what Jasmine had said last night about the first day of spring, temperatures could spike or plunge overnight.

The thought of Uncle Bruce and how he’d be harmed struck Alyssa’s mind. Her stomach compressed. She hurried to his room. Cracking the door open, Alyssa gaped at him as he slept. Nothing seemed wrong. But he might reveal to her otherwise once he woke up.

Alyssa headed into the bathroom to do her routine and came back to Uncle Bruce’s room. Her heart tap-danced against her chest. Chills rushed through her veins.

Uncle Bruce stretched and yawned. He looked at Alyssa and smiled. “Hi. Who are you?”

Alyssa gasped and ran out of Uncle Bruce’s room. She banged on Hailey’s door. “Hailey, get out here! Something bad has happened to your dad!”

“What?” Hailey opened the door.

“I . . . I think he lost his memory!” cried Alyssa.

“You think?” Hailey arched her eyebrows.

“No, sorry! He definitely lost his memory! He doesn’t remember who I am!”

“Oh my god!” yelped Hailey.

Alyssa led her to Uncle Bruce’s room. He still sat under the covers of his bed and grinned.

“I still haven’t gotten your name,” Uncle Bruce said to Alyssa.

“I’m Alyssa—your niece!”

“Who’s the girl next to you?”

“Hailey—your daughter!”

“Okay, now who am I?”

“You’re Bruce Flynn!” cried Hailey.

“Where am I?”

“Your room!” exclaimed Alyssa.

“Alyssa, we shouldn’t just be answering his questions!” screeched Hailey. “We should call my grandparents!”

Alyssa followed her down the stairs.

“Why didn’t you tell me my dad was going to lose his memory?” squealed Hailey.

“I didn’t know! But isn’t that why you’re going to call your grandparents?”

“That’s not the point, Alyssa!” growled Hailey. “You should’ve asked the marble figure!”

“He didn’t know either!” Alyssa noticed tears flooding Hailey’s eyes. “Hailey, please don’t cry about this.”

“Why?” choked Hailey. “I . . . I can’t stand my dad like this.” The tears streamed down her freckled cheeks.

“But you’re going to call your grandparents,” Alyssa said.

“You know what? You call them.” Hailey wept.

Alyssa sighed and walked toward the phone. “Hailey, do you want to go wash your face?”

Hailey shook her head. “I’ll watch you.”

Alyssa took out the phonebook and looked up Hailey’s grandparents’ number. Then she dialed it and held the phone to her ear.

“Hello?” answered Donald, Hailey’s grandpa. He’d invited Alyssa to call him that since she hadn’t known what to address him as when she’d first met him several years ago.

“Hey, Donald, it’s Alyssa.”

Silence occurred for a few seconds. Donald said, “I haven’t heard from you in a long time. What’s been going on?”

“It’s a long story. Listen, something just happened to Uncle Bruce, and we need your help.”

“What happened?”

“He lost his memory.”

Donald gasped. “H-how? Did he get into a bad car accident, or did something hit him on the head?”

“Neither.”

“Then what wiped his memory?”

“Um . . . if I tell you, it may sound completely ridiculous.”

“Just tell me.”

“Okay—it was magic.”

There was a pause. “Alyssa, don’t say things like that. You sound stupid.”

“But that’s what it was. Nothing else could’ve wiped his memory overnight.”

Donald sighed. “Okay.”

“Anyway, can you and Kathleen come over, please?”

“Yes, but we can’t come over now.”

“Why not?”

“We went to Dover yesterday, and we’re stuck in horrible traffic there, so we won’t be able to come over for at least another three hours.”

“Three hours?!”

“I’m sorry. But there’s nothing I can do about it. If I could speed up traffic, I would.”

Alyssa exhaled. “Fine. See you then.” She hung up.

Hailey smeared the tears off her face and sniffled. Alyssa put her hand on her shoulder.

“Hailey, your grandparents are coming.”

“Not for another three hours, though,” croaked Hailey. “What are we going to do?”

Alyssa took her hand off Hailey’s shoulder and stared into space. She couldn’t send him to a special home for people who had brain or mental health issues now. That would probably take a while. She didn’t know how many functions he’d lost nor did she have enough experience to take care of people with lower maturity levels or memory loss. She’d never even babysat, and she barely had any experience with babies and small children.

“We’re going to have to wait until your grandparents come,” said Alyssa. But she paused. “Wait—let’s look up some ideas for what to do with your dad.”

“But the study door’s still locked,” Hailey said. “I saw a combination lock on it last night.”

“We’ll take his phone,” Alyssa said. “It has Internet.”

The girls headed back upstairs and creaked Uncle Bruce’s door open. He slept again.

“All right, I’ll take his phone,” whispered Hailey.

She tiptoed into his bedroom and aimed for his nightstand. The phone rested in its charger. She took it out and walked back toward Alyssa. Alyssa shut the door, and Hailey pressed the browser icon.

But the telephone ringing distracted Alyssa and Hailey. The girls raced each other down the stairs to answer it.

Alyssa picked it up. “Hello?”

“Hi, Alyssa,” said Madison.

“Do you have power?”

“Yes. How do you still have phone cable?”

“Um . . . maybe Orion Street still has it. I don’t know.”

“Lucky. So are you able to come over today?”

“Uh . . . I don’t know. Something happened to my uncle.”

“What?”

“He lost his memory.”

“What the heck?! How?!”

“It’s complicated. But I don’t know what to do with him.”

“Come over and talk to my parents.”

“Why can’t I just—”

“They’re making breakfast. My parents don’t like having long conversations on the phone during meals.”

“Let me ask Hailey.” Alyssa turned to her. “Madison’s inviting me over for breakfast.”

“You’re going to go?” asked Hailey.

“Madison said that her parents