Zero

Chapter 14: String of Fate

"Did I ever tell you about the time I bit my tío?"

Amity choked on her lemonade.

"Y-You what?"

Luz laughed as Amity sputtered, nearly spilling her drink all over herself. One of their denizen companions, Gizmo the teddy bear, patted Amity comfortingly on the shoulder.

It'd been five days since they'd left the Lucky Cat car. Luz's number had decreased from 105 to 95 while Amity's dropped from 110 to 100. She figured it had to do with their conversation after they'd disembarked from the train ride.

Since then, Luz and Amity had passed through several cars, including the Bubble Car and Carrot Car. They had run into their fair share of dangerous situations and odd mishaps, but for the most part things had gone surprisingly smoothly.

Amity's personal favorite had been the Movie Theater car, where Luz had fallen asleep on her shoulder during a showing of Love Actually. But that wasn't the reason she enjoyed the car. The movie was just really good, plus she'd never seen it before.

And Amity certainly did not cry at the ending (even if she did, Luz would never know).

Now they were in the Picnic Car, populated by friendly stuffed animal denizens. Gizmo had insisted that they join him for lunch. Pokey the giraffe was seated next to Gizmo, snacking on raspberry tarts. They were engaged in conversation as a koala named Max turned his attention to Luz as she launched into an explanation.

"So I think I was around five years old. My mamá dropped me off at my Tío Ramon's house because she had to run to the hospital for an emergency. At first everything was fine. I watched TV while he made dinner for us. But then, my Tía Maria came home. They greeted each other, and I didn't pay them much attention until I started to hear what I thought were screams," Luz rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "My tío was messing around with my tía, tickling her and she was swatting him, telling him to stop between laughs. But I thought she was in trouble. She was calling my name, asking me to help her and I didn't realize she was kidding. So, I stood from the couch and crept up behind them. When his back was turned, I wrapped my arms around my tío and latched on."

Amity gave her an incredulous look.

"You-"

"I bit into his back, and wouldn't let go." Luz chuckled. "Then the screams really started. My tío pushed me off, and I fell to the floor and pretended to be hurt." She stood up and placed a hand to her forehead dramatically. "My leg! My leg!" Luz grinned, and sat back down. "My mamá was not happy when she came to pick me up."

"..."

"And now Tío Ramon has a scar," Luz finished, digging into her peanut butter and jelly sandwich once more, as if she'd just commented on the weather.

Amity blinked.

"I see..."

Once they finished lunch, Gizmo pulled out an exit door key from the picnic basket he'd brought with him and handed it to Luz.

"Thank you for joining us for lunch, and sharing that delightful story." He smiled.

Delightful?

Amity could think of a few other ways to describe Luz's story, but kept her mouth shut.

"Of course! Thanks for the food! It was great!" Luz rubbed her stomach. "I appreciated the lactose-free options."

After bidding goodbye to the denizens, and getting directions to the exit door, Luz and Amity set off. A few minutes into their walk, Amity bent down to tie her shoes, and looked up to see Luz standing on top of a small boulder.