Dear Adventures and the Mystery Beneath Dimashistan

Chapter 5

Lindsay was the first one to wake up the next morning. She tried to get out of her bean bag but that was a struggle, still groggy with sleep in her eyes she maneuvered herself out of the comfortable seat made out of quicksand. The room wasn't just soundproof it was also light proof. Since there were no windows and the lights were turned off, she had no way of knowing the time.

She fumbled around the floor in search of her phone, it was right beside the bean bag. Lindsay had the habit of always keeping her phone close to her. She was shocked to see that it was already past eight in the morning and appalled at the sight of the room as she turned on her flashlight. Shelly and Danny were still asleep, so she quietly collected all the junk lying on the floor, along with the glasses and the dishes. Piled them neatly and without making a single noise, she exited the room.

Everything in Dimashistan was packaged in biodegradable materials so she did not have to worry about recycling things separately. She stuffed everything inside the dustbin and went into the lounge.

Earthee was sleeping on the sofa, there was no one beside her, just a book on the coffee table. She must have grabbed that from one of the shelves. Even though the curtains were drawn, the room wasn't dark at all.

She went to the dorm room, opened the door quietly and carefully closed it behind her. To her dismay she tripped on a pillow lying on the floor and collided with the ground. As a result, both Eileen and Elinor popped their heads out of their beds. "Sorry, I tripped, nothing serious, you can go back to sleep," Lindsay said apologetically. Eileen sat up and grabbed her phone from her nightstand, she threw off her covers and stood beside her bed. "I can't believe it's eight o clock, how can we waste our days here?" remarked Eileen. "I want to go back to sleep." said Elinor, also getting up. "Go back to sleep then," replied Eileen. "Not possible," she replied getting out of her bed. "We have too much to do today, I have made some changes to the schedule and emailed it to everyone."

"I will check that out after I have taken a shower," Lindsay say. "Yesterday was the crazy. I think I already need a break." Elinor smiled, "I predicted that much so I have dedicated today to all of us, it's a vacation, there's no point of us being here if we are not relaxed by the end of it," she said. "Whatever it is I am all for it," said Eileen while going through her cupboard and deciding what to wear. Lindsay also got her clothes and made her way to the bathroom. Within half an hour all three girls were dressed and, in the kitchen, deciding what they wanted for breakfast. None of them wanted to cook anything, so they ordered pancakes and fruit salad for everyone. They decided it would be a good idea to wake everyone up before the food arrived. They made their way to the game room and turned on all of the lights. "Okay wake up you two, get dressed we have a full day of rest and relaxation planned," Elinor said as she shook Daniella. Eileen was doing the same thing to Shelly, who woke up instantly and looked around her, confused about what was happening. She rubbed her eyes and stretched her arms. She looked at Daniella, who looked just as confused. "What time is it?" she asked. "It will soon be four in the evening, you have wasted an entire day sleeping in Dimashistan, how do you feel about it?" replied Lindsay. That woke them up. They stood up simultaneously, unable to believe that they had wasted the chance to see the dream land in daylight. "I can't believe this," said Shelly. "And rightly so," said Eileen with a smile on her face. "It's not that late, we have a new plan, breakfast is on its way, so you two better get a move on," Elinor laid it down for them and they quickly got out of the game room.

Next, they went to Earthee but she was already awake by the time they got to her. Eileen asked her how she was feeling to which she concisely replied, "I am better now." Which was followed by a smile that almost reached her ears. "Okay, you sure look like you are in high spirits, you were so unresponsive yesterday." Lindsay thought remembering how Earthee spent most of last night sitting in corners, mostly nodding her head, she was actually the first one to doze off. The good thing was that she didn't look pale anymore and her smile was back. Elinor didn't say anything she started at Earthee for a second too long and then Daniella asked about Sammy. "I can't believe that she slept through the ruckus we made in the room, with Lindsay tripping and the rest of us getting ready." Commented Elinor. "She did say she sleeps like a rock. Let's wake her up, before more time is wasted," said Shelly.

The entire band marched into the dorm room. Shelly fetched the portable speaker from her bag and Elinor connected it with her phone. "Why do I feel like I am breaking off the seal on an ancient Japanese temple by opening the curtains," whispered Eileen. "Lets just slip the speaker in and play the song and she'll wake up," Daniella suggested with a snicker. Shelly placed the speaker inside what looked like a sacred temple from the outside and Elinor hit play. The room was filed with Dimash's strong vocals as Olympico played on the small but powerful speaker. The girls looked at each other with excitement in their eyes. Soon the sparkle was gone as there was no response even after the song ended.

"Don't take this personally Earthee but this is giving me yesterday vibes," said Lindsay with a slight hint of worry in her tone. "I am really sorry about yesterday," she replied with her hands to her sides and looking into thin air, her mind seemed to have gone somewhere else. "Oh, this is ridiculous," cried Eileen and pulled open the drapes.

Sammy was sleeping with a pillow over her head, secured in place by placing her arm on top of it. Shelly rolled her eyes and Daniella went up to Sammy and gently shook her. Sammy removed the pillow off her head, sat up, looked around, lied back down, turned towards the wall and covered her head with the blanket.

The girls looked at each other in shock and this was not going to go Sammy's way. Elinor whispered instructions to the girls and started counting. On three the girls shouted Sammy's name in unison, their collective voice was not something you could ignore. "Okay, okay I am up already, enough with the noise," Sammy said while getting out of the bed. She looked around her the girls were laughing and still calling out her name. She looked at Elinor who looked at her with narrowed eyes and asked, "How dare you cover your ears while Dimash was playing?" Sammy scratched the back of her head, looked at the floor, aware of her slip up. She made an O shape with her lips and mouthed the words sorry.

The girls laughed at that after which, Shelly explained to her what their plan for the day was. Sammy reached out under her bed and pulled her suitcase. "Are you not going to unpack this entire trip?" asked Daniella. "I will when we come back," she replied. To which Elinor said, "Yeah, you and me both." And the girls reacted to it by mock snorting in unison. They knew these two girls were master procrastinators, and that their bags are going to remain unpacked till the day they had to leave unless the use up all of its contents. In that case they won't pack it back in until the last second.

Sammy grabbed her stuff and went towards the bathroom her eyes briefly met with Earthee and there was nothing. As if what she saw last night was a fragment of her imagination. Sammy thought about it in the shower. It was highly likely, she had always been good at scaring herself with things that weren't there, but last night she could have sworn that the TV was plugged back in, she noticed it while getting inside the dorm room.

By the time the remaining girls were bathed and dressed, their breakfast had arrived. Sammy went to the lounge and walked past the pool table, while walking towards the kitchen. She briefly glanced at the chord and saw that the TV was unplugged. So, she really had scared herself to madness just because of shadows in the night. Nothing new, she let out a sigh of relief and moved on. Eileen said that she hoped everyone was happy with their choice, the ordered for all of the girls because they needed to save time. They were beyond grateful, it was very thoughtful of them.