I woke up startled and breathing heavily. Despite the cold weather of Atlantica, I was sweating. 'What was that dream?' I thought to myself as I dragged myself out of my bed. I looked at Leo's bed and he wasn't there. I drank some water to get out of my sleep inertia. But my mind kept going back to that dream. 'Was it a message?' I asked myself. 'What are you thinking Lera?' I smirked at my own thought. How could it possibly be a message? That's just bizarre. The chances of something like that happening are downright zero.
"Morning sis!" Leo greeted me as he stepped out of the bathroom.
"Morning Leo. When did you wake?" I asked as I picked up my towel and a new set of clothes to go freshen up.
Leo looked at the clock and said, "At 8:30, I was really excited about what we will be doing today and so I wanted to start my day early. So, how do I look?" Leo asked taking a twirl. He was wearing navy blue track pants with a half-sleeve top.
I smiled and said, "Great if you wanna freeze to death." His expression suddenly changed. Great, why do I keep forgetting I am talking to a 6-year-old? That wasn't the appropriate comment to make to a kid, I slapped my forehead, "I mean... um... Did you pick it out yourself?" I asked trying to sound comforting. Leo just nodded. I walked over to the wardrobe and picked out a pair of jeans, a sleeveless red t-shirt and a jacket. That should keep him warm.
"Here put these on, it's really cold outside and the clothes you have on right now are not gonna help shield you from the harsh weather, okay?" I handed the set of clothes to him and patted his head. Being a big sister is hard, especially when the little one's really fragile to even the slightest degree of scolding and tough words.
We were freshened up and ready by 9:30. We headed out immediately, took our bikes and went on our way. We stopped at a quiet place near the central park to check the tourist map. Neither of us had any interest in going into central park as they are all the same everywhere. We wanted fun and adventure, and Leo wanted them with no scary stuff involved.
"So... Leo, we have a problem, almost every single spot here is a scare show." I said running my finger through the map.
"What do you mean?" Leo asked confused.
I showed him the map and explained, "Termite swamp, some sort of swamp-like place set up to scare people. Skull-coaster, that's a really long roller coaster ride that can scare the wits out of even the bravest, at least that's what the description on the map says. Elixir... Oh, never mind, it's just a perfume shop."
"Why the heck is a perfume shop on a tourist map?" Leo laughed.
I read him the description of the perfume shop, "Come here to know the magic behind the creation of perfume and leave with a magical aura of fragrance on you." I said in a dubbed voice as if it was a commercial. Leo laughed even louder holding his stomach.
"Ooh, this one looks interesting, Coffle house. Wanna go there?" I asked Leo.
"What does it stand for? Coffee and Waffles? I am not hungry Lera, we just had breakfast before we left the hotel." Leo said starting to get tired of choosing. "Next time, let's choose where to go before leaving the hotel, okay?"
"Umm... Actually, Coffle house is the name of a haunted house." I said giggling.
"Oh, come on! Why is everything haunted here?" Leo asked disappointed.
"Leo, it's gonna be fun, it's the perfect opportunity to overcome your fears, don't you think?" I asked. "I will hold you close, we will have fun, you'll see."
"I guess it's worth a try. There isn't anything much here other than horror-themed places." Leo sighed.
"That's the spirit! Come on." I started riding off. I turned back to see Leo following me closely.
I was enjoying the wind and suddenly my dream popped back into my head and I started wondering what it was. Why did I see such a random dream for no reason? Why was I in a cave? Why did my brain make up such a story? Why were there voices whispering my and Leo's name? Weird dream... Such a weird and totally unexpected dream.
"Lera!" Leo called out loudly while panting. "Sis, slow down!"
"Huh?" I suddenly popped back into reality. I put on the brakes and stopped. I looked around to see where we were and my eyes roamed around the street in horror.
"Sis, is this the right way? Can you tell where we are on the map?" Leo asked stopping beside me.
"I... I don't know!" I blurted out. Big mistake, HUGE! I saw Leo's face turn pale.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" Leo shouted. I could see that he was scared and a little angry at me for getting us lost.
"Leo, don't worry. It's a small town. We won't be far. We can find our way around. We just have to ask someone.
"Okay, first, We don't even know if we are still in town, you took several turns. Second, look around you Lera, do you see a single living being here other than trees?" Leo said in a surprisingly more calm tone than that of the scared Leo that I know. He really is growing up fast, isn't he?
He was right. I looked around, on one side of the road, dense forest stretched out for... I don't know how far. On the other side, several tall hills were present. But my eyes landed on a small house that looked really old. 'It's worth a try I guess', I thought as I walked toward the house. We kept our bicycles near the house and we went to the door. I knocked on the door a few times and waited for a response. Leo was clinging to my arm and hid behind me.
"I hope someone's home." Leo said shakily. I nodded and waited.
YOU ARE READING
The Whispering Caves
Short Story6 paths and which one will lead outside? Lera and Leo go exploring around Atlantica on their own because their parents were busy at work on their vacation. They lose their way and in hopes of finding people that could point them the right way, they...
