GG | ✔️

2. Mahogany-red

"We did it! Kitty! We did it!" Una's palm descended upon Duo's paw.

"Compose yourself. I do not do high-fives. How peasant-like. Rule number one: you wish us to get along? Don't you. Ever. Call me. Kitty."

"Silly billy. You are a kitty."

"I'll have you know I'm an adult, in cat years."

"Fine!" Una crossed her arms. "I shall just call you Duo. So there!"

"Much appreciated." Duo cleared his throat.

Una looked away with a frown and busied herself with locking the bicycle.

Duo's scruffy tail brushed up against her leg. "Hey, kid. Quick thinking back there."

A chick of a smile hatched from the eggshell of Una's indignation.

"Thank you, Duo. The Screecher was so creepy. Why do petals change my world? Who put these clues on them?"

"When one cannot comprehend the because behind the circumstances, one is sometimes to accept them and... Mmm. Play along." Duo did a little tap-dance on his hind paws.

"Follow the petals to get to Paz," Una muttered the mantra.

"Exactly. Now, we'd better keep them secure, shall we?"

"You're right. Wait. I have just the thing." Una produced a shell-covered jewelry box from her backpack. "Paz and I decorated it. Mommy said if we both pressed our ears hard on it, we'd be able to hear the song of the sea. We never got the chance to try." Una's voice snapped like a twig.

Duo kneaded her bushy hair with his paws. The gesture provided a small measure of solace for Una.

"Duo! You look like a fake raccoon fur cap! Get down! I can't carry you."

"No can do. a) I'm woozy from all that bike-basketing. b) I feel safe up here. c) Your hair looks more fashionable now. Where are we off to, next?"

"To the movie theater! The smell of popcorn was an obvious clue!" Una jumped up, which made Duo sway on her head like a jack-in-a-box.

"Glad you didn't require assistance for untangling this one. I would've guessed the petal is talking about the kitchen."

"You helped me solve the first one! Oh. What do I do with this diploma?"

"The petal is what matters. What good is a diploma? A piece of paper doesn't bear witness to the knowledge within you. Toss it away somewhere."

Una hurled a burrito-shaped paper roll into the nearby bushes. Then she crept away from the crime scene.

"What now? I don't know how to get to the cinema on my own," Una wondered.

"Inquire about it, then. It's not a shame to admit ignorance. I see a policeman around the corner."

"He might know!" Una hopscotched across the road, being extra careful not to step on the white stripes of the zebra crossing.

It was a Very Tall Policeman was so tall that Una could only see him up to his spindly knees in an ultramarine uniform.

His body, shoulders, neck and head ended in the clouds.

"Oh my. He is mighty high up. However shall I address him?"

"Shout. People always notice loud-mouths first," Duo instructed.

"SIR! HOW CAN I GET TO THE CINEMA?" Una's mousy voice scurried up his trouser leg.

The Very Tall Policeman's body leaned towards her.

Several droplets fell from his raincloud-soaked hair.