Friendship of a Blue Jay

Chapter 12: Thoughts and being Thoughtless

A daydreaming Mia abruptly rolled out of bed and looked around. Her room was an utter mess. The bed had not been made for days now, things were still in weird positions and wrong places from her fit against her mother almost three weeks ago, and broken pencils covered her desk along with a half empty cup of soda.

She glanced around once again; shrugging it off, it was no time to clean. Then again that's what she said about a snack the day before, and she had seen how it had worked out. So she went around the room dusting things with an old slipper putting stuff away and folding. As she was putting a pair of pajama pants into her dresser she saw a sparkly object. She tugged at it, waiting while the long chain appeared slowly from the side of the drawer.

It was a necklace, but not only a necklace; it was one of the fish´s pearls. She peered inside, trying to get a glimpse of something else but could only see black. She let out an exaggerated sigh while retrieving the book.

Once she opened it, there was the same massive amount of blacked out pages, which in reality looked like a pen had burst and the ink made strange patterns all over a bunch of pages. The first task was no longer there, put one the same page was a different one.

"Mia, beloved daughter, I am glad you have completed the first task!

“On to the next."

She flipped the page in a hurry to see what she would have to do.

"In the forest of the labyrinth lays the Creek of the Fish, as you know. If you follow the creek downstream more, it will begin to become deeper and wider. You will find a rotted wooden boat, which only you can sit in. Otherwise it will sink. As you go more and more north you will encounter a giant waterfall.

In the cave under the waterfall lives an evil fox. He thrives on children's lost dreams and hopes. This task is really two tasks in one. One not to get lost and the other to defeat the fox. This task must be completed by the next morning you read this"

That was it? There was no more help?! The first task told her exactly what to do. She flipped pages worriedly, looking for something. Anything. How was she supposed to defeat the fox? She was not strong, she had no weapons.

The more she turned pages she found on the very last on were quotes that were supposed to encourage her.

Curiosity killed the cat, but playing back killed the fox

-King of the Underworld

She looked down at it, a bit settled. She remembered from many fairy tales and books: Foxes are cunning. But if you know what they are up to, you can be cunning also. All she had to do was trick the fox...but trick him into what exactly? The quote helped, but not enough for her to understand any better.

Putting on her new necklace, that instead of having a price tag said: Dearest Blu, she grabbed a pair of thin winter gloves. Although it was warm outside she knew that paddling a canoe can bruise her hands, and she didn't need Ms. Smith mad when she finally found the nice side to herself.

She walked straight out of the her bedroom door to find Johnna and Thomas watching TV while eating breakfast, and Mia looked genuinely hurt. How could they just waste a beautiful day like this watching TV or staying inside? Of course she could not invite them with her; she would never be princesses of Aba.

With a last glance at her siblings she left and digged around in her purse. Satisfied she tied the quote her from her father on the chain for the necklace.

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The creek was calm and charming today. It was a clear robins blue egg color, unlike the day Mia almost drowned which was a nasty green color. Birds were singing, a blue one, a green one, and a red one. Maybe Blu and her friends. Spanish moss hanged from tall trees in an elegant matter. Little white flowers grew near a patch of bright green moss.