The Whispering Caves

Chapter - 2 The Big News

     My whole body shook from pain and I closed my eyes and hugged myself trying to get rid of the weird feeling spreading throughout my body. I heard a laugh, a wicked one and I recognized it the very moment I heard it. 

     CLEOPATRA! That witch! That so-called nasty sister! She nearly knocked the air out of my lungs. Playing frisbee with her comes with a death wish. She gets really aggressive, and god, is she strong. Even her frisbee throws hurt, why did she get such gifts and no heart? 

"Cleo! You could have seriously injured me." I shouted at her after finally regaining my breath.

"Aww... Little Lera can't even take a hit from a frisbee. You poor thing must be so fragile. Should I bring Mommy so she can see if you are hurt? Or do you need a lolly to keep you from crying?" Cleo teased me in her high-pitched voice. I just scowled at her. Saying something back will only provoke her to continue her teasing.

     Cleo just stood there staring at me while chewing her bubblegum, waiting for me to say something. I groaned out of frustration and asked "Who invited you to the game?"

"I don't play with five-year-olds. Mom told me to tell you both that we are going to Atlantica day-after-tomorrow. So you two better start preparing your luggage so you don't forget anything important. That's all, end of the story. That's all she asked me to tell you. So no more questions." Cleo said while checking out her nails.

"Is it gonna be a family trip this time or one of those 'kids drag along during work-trip' trips?" I asked despite Cleo's last comment.

"I thought I told you no more questions..." Cleo scowled at me. "I don't know, maybe a family trip. She didn't say anything about work." Cleo answered and walked away to avoid any other questions from us.

     I gasped in excitement and turned to Leo who was holding the frisbee with a wide grin on his face. "Finally, a family trip after so many years. Mom and Dad finally got time from work I guess." I said excitedly. I heard that Atlantica is always cold, even during summer. It only snows in winter but summers aren't hot but a comfortable temperature of around 20 degrees Celsius. I told Leo to pack some jackets and then I hurried off to pack my own luggage.

     The house was buzzing the next day with all of us talking about Atlantica. Cleo was on her phone telling her friends how she is gonna spend her summer in a cold place, and I and Leo were speaking of all the things we wanna do there. We were sitting around the table and ate our dinner. Mom and Dad were, as usual, busy on their laptops and phone calls as usual on the dinner table. I was searching all the tourist spots in Atlantica and we were making a list of all the places we would like to visit. But we weren't able to find many, and our list only contained two places.

"Mom?" I called out, mom was furiously typing away on her laptop. She looked up at me.

"Yes, honey?" She asked and took a sip from her mango juice.

"Aren't there many tourist spots in Atlantica?" I asked while showing her the very short list we created.

"Yes, but it's not available on the Internet. I will buy you a tourist map once we get there. You will find many interesting places in it." She smiled and went back to her work. I wanted to ask her if this really was a family trip but I stopped myself because she seemed to be in a hurry with her work. Maybe she is trying to complete it today so that she can have a relaxing vacation. I just shrugged and went back to discussing about Atlantica with my brother.

     We finished up the packing before going to bed. We had to wake up at 7 am to catch the 10 am flight to Atlantica. The flight ride is supposed to be short and we might probably arrive at Atlantica by 12 pm. We might be able to go to a few tourist spots tomorrow itself. I was planning everything in my head as I dozed off to sleep excited about the next day.