The Misadventures of Emerald

I FORGOT ABOUT PEARL'S BIRTHDAY!

So it was evening. I was sitting back, enjoying my weekend, watching T.V., when suddenly an advertisement popped up. It was a commercial about buying a gift card and sharing with your friends, family, etc. It even advertised birthday gift cards. That's when it hit me: PEARL'S duo birthday party (I say duo because there was a birthday party for both me and Pearl.) was tonight and I COMPLETELY forgot to buy Pearl a present. Considering that we randomly swapped places earlier in the past, I was wondering whether or not Pearl forgot to get me a present too. I wasn't going to take any chances, so I sprung up out of the couch, grabbed my money, and darted outside to look for a present for her.

Keep in mind: It was evening, so going around MineralsBerg looking for a store that was still open wasn't exactly a cakewalk. I must've spent ALL evening looking for an open store. After what felt like 10 million years, I finally found one... well... sort of. As I examined the strange looking building a little closer, I noticed a sign on the front door. I breathed a little sigh of relief as I hoped that this was going to be a generic and normal store rather than an abnormal and weird adventure. On the other hand, what was written on the sign gave me the heebie jeebies. It said, "Hello, welcome to open" That doesn't sound right, does it? I looked around, thinking about going back to look for a different open store, only to find that this store standing in front of me seems to be the only one around.

I didn't know what to do. Should I dare? Is it worth going through this strange store just to get Pearl a present? I peeked through the window, and saw something AMAZING, as if it was MEANT to be Pearl's present. Unfortunately, though, just as I was about to be able to tell what this amazing object was, a wall from above dropped down and covered the windows, and FAST. So fast, that if I hadn't noticed them coming down at me and just stood there, you wouldn't be reading this right now. Thankfully, though, I darted out of the way just as the wall was about to crush me into smithereens, but now I was stuck there pondering: what was that amazing thing I just saw? I looked at the door, expecting it to be covered as well, but to my surprise, the door hasn't changed a bit. I approached it, then it swung open at the speed of light. I read the sign on the door, and then it said, "Come on in! We're closed!"

That was a little suspicious, but things got even MORE suspicious when I entered the store. I turned around, and found that the door was closed. The sign THEN said, "You are now leaving MineralsBerg"

I was confused. According to this sign, I'm leaving my hometown, but how is that possible? Did this store just suddenly grow wheels and escaped town? Who knows, but what I do know is that that sign wasn't kidding around. The walls uncovered the windows, revealing that I was MOVING, as if a certain monster truck was transporting me around 3 different landmarks. I then slapped myself in the face realizing that I forgot about Pearl's birthday again! So I stopped paying attention to where I was and started looking around for that amazing object I saw earlier, but I couldn't find it. I looked and checked everywhere, even the cash register, only to find nothing but particles of dust forming groups. Not knowing what to do next, I looked out the window again trying to see where I was being taken. I was in the middle of the ocean, and I've been there for what felt like HOURS before I passed out from exhaustion.

I later woke up and looked out the windows again, only to find a HUGE whale's fin banging against the windows. The whale itself gave me déjà vu, but then it started talking. "Hey! Emerald! Remember me?"

I then realized that the whale before me was the one whom I saved from sharks long ago. I then said, "Whale! Boy, am I glad you're here!"

The whale gave me a puzzled face. "Emerald...? You might want to speak up. I can see you're talking, but I'm not hearing anything."

I tried again. "I said, 'Whale! Boy, am I glad you're here!'"

The whale approached the mobile store I was in and said, "Still can't hear you, buddy."

"WHALE! BOY, AM I GLAD YOU'RE HERE!"

The whale punched the glass, breaking it. "Repeat that one more time."

The whale's fin got me during the punch, and because of that, I went flinging over to the other side of the room. I then looked to my left and saw a staircase being uncovered, revealing the basement. I was happy, finally having a clue to where that amazing object was, then I said to the whale, "Whale! Boy, am I really glad you're here!"

The whale happily reported, "That one was loud and clear. So, what brings you into this fine ocean again?"

I looked at the staircase again, wondering why it didn't reveal itself until when the whale punched me. I looked around for a bit until I figured out that I had crashed against a hidden button on the wall. If the whale hadn't punched me, I would have never found that button. I responded to the whale. "It's a long story, but basically, I forgot about my friend's birthday, so then I entered this store, to get her a present, but the store started moving!"

The whale then said, "Pearl. That's your friend's name, isn't it?"

"How did you know?"

"It's all in this book."

The whale then pulled out a book, and on the front cover, it read, "The Misadventures of Emerald Story #15: I FORGOT ABOUT PEARL'S BIRTHDAY!"

The whale said, "Personally, Story #11 was my favorite, but I think I'm starting to like this 15th one more."

Curious, I asked, "How did you get that? The 15th one isn't released yet. I still have to write down the story and ship it off to the other cities to publish it."

The whale answered, "You haven't written it yet? That's weird, because more and more words are appearing in this book as we speak. It's as if someone was writing it all for you..."

I redirected my attention towards the staircase again before I lose my mind from all this witchcraft. I then remembered that if it wasn't for the whale punching, I would have never found the button, revealing the staircase. I said, "Thanks, whale! You helped me find a clue on where to go."

"No problem. Good luck down there."

Luck. That's probably going to make a difference as to whether I make it out alive... wait... what am I saying? It's just a basement. It can't be dangerous... right?

To be continued...