Magnoliophyta

9. LAND OF BURNING STONES

" 'Land of burning stones' are you sure this place actually exists cause it sounds pretty made-up to me", I complained.

"Of course this place exists!, why would the great scholars of Magnoliophyta write random words in a scroll and hide it from the world !  They were not crazy... were they?" said Jared.

"No! they were not. They were learned men who put together their knowledge to help us defeat Nero. Also, I am pretty sure that's a place. All we have to do is find it. Piece of cake!"

"Sure!" Jared and I said in unified sarcasm.

We were at the bistro and the sun was smiling down at us shifting it's rays and brightening up everything. We had a good long rest after the previous day's tedious scroll searching and now we were trying to figure out what the scroll actually meant. Obviously, we were munching on flakes while having the discussion because flakes were my new obsession!

I realised that Jared was staring at me with his mouth hung open and his eyes wide open.

"What!, Is the answer to the scroll written on my face?" I asked, trying to keep my expression serious.

" What! No! It's just you just ate your sixth flake in a row and..."

" And what!"

" And... that's so cool, we must have a 'how many flakes can you eat at a time' competition sometime!"

" Oh!... yeah sure"

" Guys, don't you think that we are diverting from the topic a little bit... completely!" said Lil.

"Oh, okay we will shut up and think about the scroll" I said in a reassuring tone.

We all gave our inputs and ideas as to what the scroll meant but most of those ideas were so bizzare and dumb that we had to cancel them out right away. This went on for quite some time until we got fed up and stopped in complete frustration. 

"Maybe we should take a break so that our minds could reboot and give us more sensible solutions!" said Lil. We all agreed immediately and made our way back to our flottages.

I loved the weather as I walked back to my flottage. The sun was bright and cheerful, warming me from top to toe. As the warmth and joy spread through me, I marvelled at what light could do as it played and skittered around brightening the flottages and the pavement, making them glisten and shimmer in sparkling light. After revelling in the beauty of the light, it suddenly clicked. The pieces of the puzzle fit perfectly in my mind. I had deciphered the clue and couldn't wait to tell the others! I ran back to Lil's flottage - barged into her living room - grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her along to Jared's flottage. 

The next few minutes were a blur and the next thing I knew, we were sitting in Jared's flottage around the crackling fire with a cup of vanilla scented tea in our hands.

"What's the matter! you dragged me like garbage till here so you better explain your actions or face the consequences!" Lil smiled with a glint of mischief in her eyes.

"Yeah please explain! one second I was lying on the couch and relaxing after a busy day and the  next second I am here with you shouting and jumping with excitement!" added Jared.

I took a minute to calm myself down and let my jumping senses come to a rest. I took a deep breath and let it out with a heavy sigh.

" Okay, you both are here because I found out what the scroll meant and I thought you would want to know"

"whoa really!" exclaimed Lil.

" That's amazing! now don't keep us in suspense, spit it out!" said Jared with a look of awe and admiration on his face.