ASK Part 4

Oh, sorry for the inconsistency. I had to change a character’s name. The man is named Liam, not Mikaio.

Caroline’s scream echoed. A little later, she, Daniella, Liam and Rupert came up. I don’t remember a lot of what happened. I was still really shocked. Voices asked if we were okay. Caroline acted all dramatic and everyone looked at us with confused and sorry expressions. Voices jumbled together. I tried to make them all out.

“Are you girls all right?”

“I wonder why the word ‘ask’ was written there,” a high-pitched voice said.

“I don’t know, but I’ll find the killer!”

“Calm down, and have some sense, boy!” a low voice retorted.

“Maybe people live on this island and weren’t happy to find an intruder,” another voice said.

A whimper. “Natives! Oh, Daniella, how dreadful!” The high voice.

“Come and sit down,” someone said, and took my hand and led me to a place where I sat.

“Caroline, you stay with the girls while Daniella, Rupert and I go search the island for natives. We should always have at least three in a group, so no one else winds up dead. And we should check the community pile to see if any knives are missing,” Liam said.

We were near the site of the previous night’s fire, but we sat in the shade of the trees.

 

. I put my arms around both my sisters. I didn’t know what else to do to comfort them when I felt the same way they did. Caroline, my sisters, and I sat silently for a long time. Aunt Lorelei is dead was the only thought that went through my mind.

A twig snapped.

“Oh, my goodness, natives! Natives! They’re going to finish us off!” Caroline exclaimed, throwing her arms into the air.

But a native didn’t appear behind Caroline. Liam came up, followed by Daniella and Rupert.

“No, it’s just us,” Liam said.

“Oh, my goodness, Leo! It’s just you!” Caroline said, gasping, jumping up, and grabbing Liam’s large bicep. “I thought for sure that horrendous native came back for another murder!”

 

Liam rolled his eyes and wrenched her hand from his arm. “From what we can tell, there aren’t natives here,” he said, some of his annoyance with her coming out in his tone.

“What, you mean…?” Caroline said.

“Yes. Someone right here did it.”

I looked around at each person’s face. One of these people killed my aunt? That was even worse than a possessive native killing her.

My sisters and I had survived with these people and we were supposed to be helping each other. How could we do that if we didn’t know who we could trust?

Caroline panted, like she might pass out. “How can we all be safe, Leo?”

“Like I said, always have at least three people present in a group. That way, whoever the murderer is, they won’t take the chance of revealing themself to the third person. And a knife is missing from the community pile.”

“Oh, Leo, it’s so scary! I feel rather faint!” Caroline said, grabbing Liam’s arm again.

“You’ll be fine. And don’t call me Leo. My name is Liam. Anyway,” he said, jerking from Caroline’s grasp. “Is there anything any of us can do for you three right now?” he asked my sisters and me.

“Well, if you want, I could use some help burying my aunt. I don’t want my sisters to see her like that,” I said.

“Of course. We adults can do that. Right, Caroline and Daniella?”

Daniella shrugged, and said, “Yeah, sure.”

“Ugh, do you know how long that would take?” Caroline exclaimed. “That would be so hard!”

“It wouldn’t be hard if you didn’t whine and just dug,” Liam said. “You should come, Caroline. It’ll help toughen you up.”

Caroline looked slightly put out at Liam’s insulting her toughness, but what did she expect? Probably also the fact that Liam had no interest in her, despite her flirtations, upset her. If I was a guy, though, I would have no interest in her either. She was so annoying!

“I could help if you want,” Rupert said.

“No, you stay here. You don’t need to see that again either. You’re only, what, nine?” Liam said, walking backwards in the direction of Aunt Lorelei’s body.

Rupert shrugged and said, “Yeah.”

“Well, I guess we will, to be a help to you in this hard time, Shayne,” Caroline said, making it obvious in her tone that she still didn’t want to. She put her arm around my shoulders, as if she thought that would comfort me.

. I pulled away. She looked at me. “Sunburn,” I said. Also, I didn’t want her touching me.

She ran to join Liam, who turned around and picked up his pace to a fast walk, leaving her. Caroline then tried to converse with Daniella, but Daniella made no motion to talk back. Liam and Daniella were acting really immature. But who would want to talk to a person who irritated the fire out of everyone?

Rupert knelt by the place the fire was the night before. A pile of sticks lay nearby. I guessed someone gathered them last night. He rubbed two sticks together. I rolled my eyes. I doubted he’d actually be able to start a fire.

“I’m making a fire so if any planes pass overhead, they’ll see it and rescue us,” Rupert said.

I couldn’t have cared less about a fire in this sweltering weather, but the idea of planes seeing the fire made sense. I did want to get off this island.To be honest, though, Aunt Lorelei’s death had kind of driven thoughts of getting off the island from my mind.

Actually, Rupert did get a fire started. Then, he joined us. I sat there a while, until I felt like I’d die if I didn’t get water and something to eat.

“Anyone know where we can get some water?” I asked. “I’m so thirsty.”

“Earlier this morning, I explored a bit and found a pool of water. I drank some, and I’m still alive,” Rupert said.

“Great. Where is it?” I said.

“Do you think we’ll be safe?” Natalie asked.

“It’s no safer here than anywhere else on this island. Plus, I don’t think any of you guys killed your aunt, and I didn’t, so the murderer isn’t even with us right now. And we’ll be safe in a group, like Liam said. Besides, we need water,” Rupert said. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

Rupert led us through the trees, past where we slept the night before. The shade of the trees made me thankful; the ground didn’t burn my feet so much. After walking a while, we reached a small, round pool about five yards from the base of the mountain. I looked up at the mountain. A dark hole about 90 feet up looked like a cave. Too bad. No way would I climb that high, otherwise, I’d stay in there. I knelt, cupped water in my hands and drank. It was so refreshing, despite its lukewarm temperature. We all drank some.

When we’d finished drinking, we searched for food. Rupert showed us where he found the berries the day before, and we ate enough to fill us up. Rupert said he needed to add wood to his fire, so he gathered up sticks. Then, we went back to the edge of the trees near the fire and sat in the shade. Rupert went and put the sticks on the fire, and then sat next to Ginny.Ginny and Rupert chatted, but Natalie and I didn’t say much. I didn’t feel like talking, still caught up in the fact of Aunt Lorelei’s death. How would Dad and Mom feel? I longed for them and home more than anything.

Natalie put her head on my shoulder and looked up at me. “Shaynie, I want to go home,” she whispered.

I put my arm around her and leaned my head on hers. “I know. So do I.”

A little later, Rupert said, “Hey, guys?”

“Yeah?” we responded.

“I know you’re really upset about your aunt and I hate to bring it up, but I can’t get this really weird thing out of my mind. Next to her body, there was a word made out of sticks. It said ‘ASK’.”

“That’s weird,” I said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ginny said.

“The only thing I can think is that the murderer wants us to ask who it is. But I’m not asking anyone. I don’t want to be killed. But I guess it would be okay, because I would go to Heaven,” Rupert said.

“How do you know you would go to Heaven?” Natalie asked.

I wondered how she managed to link practically everything to the gospel.

“Umm, I think that if you die as a child you go to Heaven. Or it’s if you’re a good enough person.”

“Well, God made the first people perfect, but they did something wrong. Wrong things people do are called sin. We all sin. And sin can’t be around a perfect God,” Natalie said.

“Hey, I’m not that bad a person,” Rupert said.

“But still, you’ve done at least one wrong thing in your life, right?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Well, because God loves us so much, He came to earth as a baby named Jesus, grew up, and let men kill Him to take the punishment for our sins. But because Jesus is God, he came back to life three days later, and now He’s in Heaven.

“So,” Natalie continued, even though Rupert started doodling in the sand with a stick, not paying much attention to her, “if we believe Jesus is God, came to earth, died for our sins, and came back to life, and we trust Him as the only way for our sins to be forgiven, God becomes our Father. Then one day, whether we die, or He comes back to earth, He’ll take those who have trusted Him to Heaven to live there with Him forever. He loves you, Rupert, and He wants to be your Heavenly Father.”

Rupert didn’t respond.

The adults came back a few hours later. It scared me to know for sure that my aunt’s murderer was in our company. Caroline complained that she would die of thirst if she didn’t get water “right this minute!” So we showed the adults the pool. When we got there, Caroline hesitated. I guess she thought there might be something harmful in the water, but her thirst seemed to overcome her fear, because she took some in her hands and drank.

“I want to see the grave,” Natalie said.

“Are you sure that would be a good idea, sweetheart?” Caroline said.

“I want to see it,” Natalie said, a little more firmly. “It’ll help make it real to me.”

“Of course. You girls can come with me,” Liam said.

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to see it. I already knew Aunt Lorelei was dead. I had seen her body with my own eyes. But my sisters hadn’t. They would probably want me there. So, I got up and went with them after Liam. He led us to the place where I had found the body.

The freshly dug dirt had a cross made of sticks sticking out of it.

“The cross was Daniella’s idea. She thought it would be a nice touch,” Liam said. “Do you want me to say some words?”

I shook my head. Words would do no good. He hadn’t even known Aunt Lorelei. What good were words when my heart hurt so much?

Ginny put both arms around me and her head on my shoulder. Natalie hugged me from the other side. They both were crying.

 

I wanted to cry too. But that would mean I was weak, wouldn’t it? I didn’t want Liam to see me cry and I didn’t want my sisters to feel like I was weak.

We stayed there for a while, not saying anything.

Then Natalie said, “Well, at least she’s in Heaven. We’ll see her again.”

“How do you know?” Liam said.

“Because she believes Jesus is the only way to Heaven and that He died for her. Do you believe that, Liam?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I should.”

“Well, I’ll pray for you.”

We left the grave and joined the rest of the group back near the water pool.

-Shayne (and MorganAshley)

 

ASK Part 3

I awoke shivering. My clothes still weren’t dry. I sat up from leaning on Aunt Lorelei’s shoulder and rubbed my sore neck. I wondered why no help came yet. I looked around. Everyone in the life raft was awake, but no one said anything. The many bodies, life rafts, and pieces of the ship dwindled to only a few overnight. I assumed they must have floated away or sank. Off in the distance, to the right of the raft, I could have sworn I saw land.

“Hey, guys, is that land up there?” I said, pointing.

Aunt Lorelei turned to the right and looked where I pointed.

“You know, Shayne, I think you’re right!” She looked around at everyone else. “Guys, does that look like land to you?”

The other people looked.

“I think it is. Let’s paddle toward it,” the blonde lady said.

Using our hands or whatever metal pieces from the ship we found still floating around, we paddled slowly but surely toward land. It took us somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour to reach a beach. Beyond the beach grew a thick forest, and a mountain peeked over the treetops. I got out of the raft and plopped onto the sand. I lay on my back and just rested.

Aunt Lorelei and Natalie thanked God aloud. The rest lay on the sand near me, except the man and the black-haired woman, who pulled the raft far enough onto the beach for it not to get taken away by the tide. Then they collapsed onto the sand with the rest of us. I fell asleep again.

***

When I woke, the sun just peeked over the horizon. The sunset colored the sky orange and purple. I sat up. Everyone else sat around a fire a couple yards away. My skin burned. I guess I got sunburned while lying there. I wished I’d thought of that earlier.

“Aah!” one of the women screamed as I approached.

“What’s wrong?” Aunt Lorelei asked.

I sat down next to Aunt Lorelei as the blonde lady said in the most disgusting, high-pitched, whiny voice I ever heard, “These mosquitoes are just dreadful! I can’t stand bugs! Why are they still attacking me when there’s a fire?”

I already didn’t like her. I couldn’t stand her voice. Maybe that was mean.

“Shayne, you haven’t met everyone yet,” Aunt Lorelei said and motioned to each person as she said their name.

She motioned to the black-haired lady. “This is Daniella.”

Next the blonde lady. “Caroline.”

After her, the man. “This is Liam.”

And finally, the boy. “And this is Rupert.”

“Hi, I’m Shayne,” I said.

“Hi,” the two ladies responded, Caroline still swatting around her face. Mikaio nodded, and Rupert straightened his round glasses, and then waved.

“Here, Shayne, eat some of these,” Aunt Lorelei said, handing me a baseball cap full of berries. I thanked her and put some in my mouth. The idea of eating out of someone else’s sweaty old hat made me cringe, but my hunger overcame that. At least the berries were pretty good.

“Where did you get these?” I asked.

“I found them, and gathered them in my hat. Since I’m a Webelos Cub Scout, I know what kinds of plants are safe to eat. And if there are any animals around here, we can eat them, too,” Rupert said.

“What in the world is a Webe-what?” I asked.

“Webelos Cub Scout. It’s what you are right before you become a Boy Scout. You can’t be an actual Boy Scout till you’re ten. Well, not you, but you know, a boy.”

“Well, good,” said Aunt Lorelei. “With your experience, Rupert, you’ll definitely be a help.”

Rupert smiled a super conceited-looking smile.

“Does anyone have anything to kill animals with?” I asked.

“Well, some things from the crash washed up onto the shore. There are a couple knives,” Aunt Lorelei said. “We put everything in a community pile so everybody can use them if they just happen to need them. Not that a lot of the stuff is super useful.”

“What’s in the pile and where is it?” I asked.

“We put it over next to the life raft,” she said, pointing. “A deflated floaty ring, a few ship pieces, a wooden cutting board, a broken CD case, a bedpost, and three knives with sheaths.”

“Well, I certainly wouldn’t use a knife. I couldn’t dream of killing an animal. That’s so gross and cruel!” Caroline said.

“So, Rupert, do you have any parents?” Aunt Lorelei asked, ignoring Caroline.

“Nope.”

“But what about the woman on the boat with you?” I asked.

“Oh, you mean my foster mom. My real mom died a few months after my seventh birthday. Then I got put into foster care with this awful woman named Miss Queenie. See, she doesn’t let me have or do anything, except Scouts. She only took me on the cruise because I won it in a sweepstakes. I needed a parent or guardian and she wanted to go, but she wouldn’t have taken me unless she had to. She would have made me stay with her mother, Miss Prudence.”

“Is Miss Prudence any better than Miss Queenie?” Ginny asked.

“No! She’s so old and she has twenty cats and she made me memorize all their names and which ones are which, and she calls me ‘sonny boy’ and her house stinks.”

“What are their names?” Natalie asked.

“Watson, Gladys, Elliot Ness, Matilda, Archibald Hammerstein the third, Oscar Schnarfenbergendorf, Ralphie, Jehoshaphat, John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg-”

“Okay, I’ve heard enough,” I said.

“Aren’t they horrible names?”

“Yep!” Ginny and I said at the same time.

“Well, sorry about your mom,” I said. “I  mean, your real mom. I guess you don’t miss Miss Queenie very much.”

The others murmured their regrets.

“Thanks,” Rupert said. “It’s not like Miss Queenie wanted me. She only took me in for the money. Nobody ever wanted me. I’m just a useless orphan.”

“You’re not a useless orphan. And I know someone who really wants you as part of His family,” Natalie said.

“Yeah? Who?” Rupert said, as he crossed his arms.

“God.”

Here she goes again! I thought. Natalie took every available chance to talk about God.

Caroline looked over at Aunt Lorelei and said, “I always love to see religious children. They’re so nice.”

Aunt Lorelei smiled.

“Yeah, that’s nice, but a big invisible guy in the sky doesn’t sound like great family,” Rupert said.

Natalie looked disappointed, but she didn’t push the point.

We sat around the fire, talking about whatever we thought of. I learned that Daniella was a divorced hairstylist who worked at a fancy salon. The hairstylist part explained the blue streak in her hair. Liam was a single businessman who spent all his free time at the gym or surfing at the beach. Caroline said she’d had a husband and son, but they died in a car accident, so she lived alone and taught preschool. After a while, Daniella said, “Well, I’m tired. I’m going to go find a place to sleep.”

“Okay, good night,” Aunt Lorelei said.

“I’m going to go to sleep, too,” Caroline said.

“All right. You three girls find a good place to sleep and I’ll be there in a bit. I want to do something,” Aunt Lorelei said.

“Okay. Good night, Aunt Lorelei,” I said and gave her a hug.

My sisters did the same.

“Well, see you, Rupert,” Ginny said.

“See you guys tomorrow,” Rupert said.

Natalie, Ginny and I waved to Liam, and left to search for a place.

We found a spot under the low hanging branches of some trees and lay down.

Falling asleep took me longer than normal. My sunburn hurt a lot and I couldn’t get comfortable on the rough ground.

I had an awful dream. A blonde girl stood on the witness stand, testifying she saw a lady kill a man and a little boy. Then, the judge pounded her gavel, and sentenced the woman to life in prison. As the police led the woman out, she stopped in front of the girl and glared at her with piercing green eyes.

“I’ll get you one day. You will pay,” the woman whispered so just the girl could hear. The woman continued to glare at the girl as the police took her away. The girl screamed.

I jerked out of sleep. That scream sounded so real. But now, no noises came from the dark. The dream probably just made me think I heard a scream. I dreamed that a lot and it always felt real. My sisters, but not Aunt Lorelei, lay on the ground beside me. I figured she must have decided to sleep somewhere else. Maybe she couldn’t find us. I lay down again and went back to sleep. When I woke up in the morning, Aunt Lorelei still wasn’t there. I got up to search for her. I walked along the beach at the front of the island. The sand burned my feet. The sea had claimed my flip flops the day before. I found no sign of her. I decided to look in the forest. I walked through the forest for a while, looking under trees.

Not finding her, I almost turned back, when red sand caught my eye. It looked like blood stained the sand. I jogged farther into the forest, following the blood trail, and then screamed at what I saw. Aunt Lorelei lay on the ground, bloody slashes covering her body, soaking her clothes. Her eyes were open and glazed over. Tears welled up in my eyes. I dropped to my knees, sobbing into my hands. I couldn’t think straight. Why would someone kill her?

“Shayne!”

“Shayne!”

Natalie and Ginny’s voices surprised me.

Oh no, how can I tell them?

I ran away from the body, not wanting them to see it.

I found both my sisters a little way away.

I tried to compose myself, but I was breathing hard, and I started crying again.

“Guys, oh my goodness, blood,” I panted.

“Oh my word, Shayne, what’s wrong? You look awful. What happened?” Natalie said, putting her hand on my shoulder.

“Dead,” I forced out.

“Who’s dead?” Ginny said.

“Aunt Lorelei.”

“What? Shayne, how?” Natalie said, tears forming in her eyes.

“Found her dead. Blood all over.”

Both my sisters started crying and hugged me. I hugged them, not sure what to do. I felt helpless. We just hugged and cried for a long time.

Then, a thought occurred to me. Someone on this island was a murderer. I didn’t know who it was, but I had to protect my sisters from them.

ASK Part 1!

So, I’m finally posting ASK! Shayne will be narrating from here on. 🙂 Enjoy.

 

“Ginny! Where did you put my shoes?” I yelled as I strode down the hall to her room.

“I put them back in your room,” the younger of my two sisters called back.

“They aren’t there,” I said as I entered Ginny’s room and put my hands on my hips. “Why can’t you borrow anything without losing it?”

“What’s all the yelling about?” my other sister, Natalie asked, poking her dark brown head in the doorway.

“Ginny lost my gray Converse. Again,” I said, rolling my eyes at Ginny.

“No, she didn’t. You left them by the front door yesterday.”

Seriously? I forgot that? And of course, Natalie would remind me. She always tried to fix other people’s problems.

“Oops,” I said and passed Natalie to retrieve them.

“You should try to stop yelling at her,” Natalie said, following me down the hall and downstairs. “Most of the time you yell at her, it’s for something you forgot.”

“I’m just a bit stressed, okay? Aunt Lorelei is gonna be here in ten minutes and I’m not even half packed.”

Natalie shrugged and walked away. I rolled my eyes and sighed. Natalie always told me to do something or other, despite my two years seniority.

I went to the front door, picked up my sneakers, and then raced to my room to keep packing. Our dad’s sister, Aunt Lorelei, invited the three of us girls to go on a cruise. Even though I’d anticipated it for weeks, I forgot we were leaving that day. Natalie, the ever-prepared one, packed a week in advance and helped Ginny do the same. She reminded me, but I had other things to do at the time, like message my best friend on Facebook. The doorbell rang just as I zipped my duffle.

Hi, Lorelei!” Mom’s voice echoed up the stairs. I grabbed my duffle and carry-on. As I headed downstairs, I listened to my mom and dad chatting with Aunt Lorelei. The contrast between Dad and Aunt Lorelei’s Texas accents and Mom’s Scottish one made me smile. Though Dad and his sister were both from Texas, their family had moved to California when they were teenagers because of my grandpa’s job. But after my grandparents passed away and Dad met Mom, they decided to stay in California, Dad because of Mom, and Aunt Lorelei because Dad is her only relative.

Both my parents stood by the front door with Aunt Lorelei.

“I saw on the weather channel that the next few days are supposed to be rainy. I hope the gray skies clear up for you,” Mom said.

“Yeah, that would be good,” Aunt Lorelei said. Then when she saw me, she said, “Ah, all packed, I see.”

“Yep, just in time. I forgot it was today,” I said.

“You’ve always been forgetful like that, Shayne,” Dad said as he put his arm around me. “Good thing you’re good lookin’ like your father, or we mighta sold you to the drug cartel.”

Mom giggled as I wrinkled my nose at Dad.

Natalie and Ginny raced down the stairs, suitcases in hand.

“Hi, Aunt Lorelei!” Natalie said, dropping her suitcase and giving Aunt Lorelei a hug.

“Hey, y’all!” Aunt Lorelei said, hugging Natalie. “Let’s go put your stuff in the car, then we’ll come back to say goodbye.”

She led us outside to her shiny aqua blue Camaro and popped the trunk with her fob. We put our luggage inside, and then walked back to the house.

“Have a good time and be safe,” Mom said as she hugged me.

“I’m sure we’ll all have a great time,” Aunt Lorelei said, hugging Dad. If only she’d been right.

After we girls hugged our parents about three times each, we headed for the car.

“I call shotgun!” I yelled and raced to the passenger seat door.

Aunt Lorelei laughed. Once in the car, Aunt Lorelei put on her large sunglasses, turned on the air and cranked up the country music. Aunt Lorelei was cool. Not only could she pull off those shades amazingly with her blonde bob but she wore stylish, expensive clothes, drove a Camaro, my favorite kind of car, and she was taking us on a cruise. I wanted to be just like her.

“We should pray for safety before we leave,” Natalie said.

“Good idea, Nat,” Aunt Lorelei said as she turned the music off. “Go ahead.”

As she prayed, my mind drifted to what we would do on the cruise. Yeah, I accepted Jesus as my Savior at VBS at age seven, but God didn’t matter much to me any more. After seven years, church and Christianity just got old and boring.

After Natalie said, “Amen,” Aunt Lorelei turned the music back on and said, “Okay, let’s do this thing.”

We drove about thirty minutes to the pier. Aunt Lorelei parked, and we got out and unloaded our luggage. Then, we joined the masses of people heading toward the cruise terminal.

“Okay, girls, we’re going to give our luggage to one of these porters over here. They’ll bring it to our rooms,” Aunt Lorelei said.

Aunt Lorelei had enough money that this wasn’t her first cruise. She knew the drill. When we reached the porters, we handed our duffles and suitcases to one of them, but kept our carry-ons with us. We thanked the porter, Aunt Lorelei gave him a tip, and we moved with the rest of the crowd to a building. Inside, we stood in a long line. Once our turn, each of us had to let them search our carry-ons. Then, we had to step through a metal detector. Our earrings set it off, because all of us except Ginny wore them. When the security guards realized that was all, they let us through. Then, Aunt Lorelei handed our passports, her credit card, and some other papers I didn’t pay much attention to, to a uniformed man at a desk to our left. After a few minutes of looking the documents over and doing something on a computer, he said, “All right, ladies, you’re all good. Welcome to the Pacific Mermaid.”

We left the building and another worker showed us where to board the cruise ship. Once up the ramp, we walked through a kind of open, roofed hallway on the outside of the ship, then through a hallway inside the ship. After that, we stepped through large glass double doors into the most luxurious, huge place I’ve ever seen. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling and red and gold jacquard carpet covered the floor. Matching red couches sat around the room, most filled with people.

We went to the safety drill so, as the ship staff told us, we would know what to do in the unlikely event of an emergency. Then, we decided to go to the pool. Aunt Lorelei warned us ahead of time to pack our swimsuits in our carry-ons since the ship’s staff would send the rest to our rooms.

As we made our way to the pool, a lady in a floppy sunhat bumped my side with some of her overabundant bags. She acted like she didn’t even notice. I turned to look at her, scowling. She scolded a brown-haired boy about Ginny’s age with more bags to be careful not to break her stuff.

I gave the boy a sympathetic smile, and then kept walking.

The water felt so good. I love swimming. The crowdedness of the pool didn’t stop me from having a good time. My sisters and I went down the five huge waterslides several times. I don’t like heights, but waterslides are the exception. Who can resist the awesomeness of waterslides? Well, Aunt Lorelei can. She said she was too old for that kind of thing. But people older than her went down the waterslides. She just didn’t know what she was missing. While we kept riding the waterslides, Aunt Lorelei sat in one of the chairs around the pool, tanning and chatting with a woman with long blonde hair. Aunt Lorelei waved to me. The woman said something to her, she responded, and the woman waved, too. I waved back. The boat set off while we swam. A few hours later, it started to rain, so we wrapped in our towels and followed Aunt Lorelei to our rooms for showers. One of us would share a room with her, and the other two would have the other room.

“It doesn’t matter to me who goes where,” Aunt Lorelei said.

“Could I share with you, Aunt Lorelei?” Natalie said.

I groaned inside. “Aunt Lorelei, couldn’t I share with you?” I said.

“No, Natalie asked first. There’ll probably be another time when you can share with me,” Aunt Lorelei said.

“Okay,” I said, annoyed. I would rather have shared a room with Aunt Lorelei or even Natalie than Ginny.

Aunt Lorelei gave me the key to our room, and we went in. It had brown carpet, two twin beds, a round window centered on the same wall as the bed headboards, and a large dresser with a mirror. We had to sort the luggage around, because whoever delivered it put it all in our room. Then, we took showers. Both bedrooms had their own bathroom. While Ginny showered, I got my stuff unpacked. Might as well use the dresser, since we’d be in there for a week.

“Can I borrow your brush?” Ginny asked, coming out of the bathroom and rubbing her hair with a towel.

“Didn’t you bring your own?”

“I’m not sure where I packed it.”

“Fine, just don’t lose it,” I said as I grabbed it from my bag and handed it to her.

She brushed her wet red hair straight, braided it, and then handed the brush back.

“Thanks,” she said.

“Yup.”

“Did you leave me any space in the dresser?” Ginny asked.

“No. First come, first served. I’m going to go shower.”

***

After a delicious dinner of steak, loaded baked potatoes, and salad, we went to the concert hall, where a music group performed. The huge place could probably hold at least a thousand people in its soft burgundy seats, and a huge stage stood at the front.

The music wasn’t my type, being country, but Aunt Lorelei loved it. She and Dad only listened to country. After the concert, we went back to Natalie and Aunt Lorelei’s room. We played some Dutch Blitz, about the only thing Ginny and I both liked, because of our determination to beat each other. Stubborn and competitive Scottish blood, I guess.

After that, we headed to bed.

“Shaynie, can I borrow your pink headband tomorrow?” Ginny asked, pulling up her covers.

“Didn’t you pack anything?” I asked as I flipped the light off.

“I don’t have a pink headband and the outfit I’m wearing tomorrow is pink.”

“As a matter of fact, I forgot to bring it.” I sighed as I got into bed. No matter how hard I tried, I always forgot something.

“Did you bring your pink barrettes?”

“No. You lost them five months ago, or had you forgotten? If you always want to borrow my stuff, why don’t you just buy your own? Then, if you lose it, I won’t care.”

Ginny turned toward the wall, and from the way she breathed, I could tell she was trying not to cry.

“Ginny-”

“It’s fine, Shayne,” she cut me off. “I’ll just do something else with my hair tomorrow.” She stayed quiet for a minute, but then she said, “Good night.”

“Good night.” I shouldn’t have exploded on her. After all, she didn’t make money babysitting all the time like I did so she could buy stuff. But she did lose things sometimes. I didn’t want the stuff I put my money into getting lost.

***

“Hey, Shayne, wake up!”

I opened my eyes to find Ginny’s hazel ones inches from my face.

“Dude, Ginny! Personal space!” I said, pushing her away and sitting up.

“I tried to wake you up, but nothing works except yelling in your face. Anyway, Aunt Lorelei says to get up because breakfast is in half an hour.”

“Okay.”

I got up and got ready, and then we headed to the dining hall.

After breakfast, Aunt Lorelei made us play shuffleboard. I thought only old people liked it, but it wasn’t too bad. After that, we headed for the arcade, Natalie’s choice. Suddenly the ship lurched and threw us forward and against a wall. My scream joined the screams of others.

A yell of, “We’re sinking!” echoed through the ship.

The four of us grabbed each others’ hands. The ship lurched again, causing us to let go of each other and bang into the walls.

“God, protect us,” Aunt Lorelei prayed out loud.

A man over a loudspeaker said, “Everyone please remain calm. The engine of the ship has malfunctioned in such a way that the ship can no longer sail. It’s storming, and this has already caused damage to the ship because the ocean floor is very rocky. Everyone please stay calm and come to the main deck for evacuation. Be advised that it is raining, so be careful to follow the instructions of the ship staff.”

“That’s really weird. Cruise ships don’t tend to get problems like that. Come on, girls,” Aunt Lorelei said, moving ahead and leading us down the hall to the main deck.

It was hard to walk, because the ship kept swaying. Some people tried to comfort small children who cried, but they looked just as worried and scared as the children. I couldn’t help being scared myself.

“Girls, don’t worry. We’ll get in a life raft and everything will be fine,” Aunt Lorelei said.

The ship’s crew distributed life jackets to the passengers and gave instructions as to how to enter the life rafts. At our turn, they gave us life jackets. As we put them on, they told us to jump into the chute one by one, and get out of the way of the chute right away. They said not to leave the life raft and to remain calm because help would arrive soon. They also warned us that since it was raining, we should huddle together for warmth. We went down the chute and found seats in the life raft amongst some twenty other passengers. I noticed that boy and his rude mother I saw earlier sitting in one corner of the life raft. Icy rain fell on us. Wind rocked the raft and blew straight through my clothes. Ginny huddled against me, digging her chin into my shoulder. I elbowed her.

“Personal space,” I said.

Ginny stopped leaning on me, and leaned against Natalie on her other side. I hoped help would come soon.

Aaaand, that’s the end of part 1! What do you think? This was the longest part, but I hope there were enough pictures to keep your interest.

-Shayne (And MorganAshley)

Doll Comparisons: Blondes!

Here are all my blondes! Left to right, Jaicee (MyAG 56), Maridelle (Caroline), Johnnie Ray (Custom Nicki) Lorie (Kit) and Shayne (MyAG 24).

They all have different eye colors. They way WordPress is now, I think you have to hover over the pictures to see the words I put for them.

Jaicee’s eyes are the normal blue, pinwheel blue.

Maridelle’s eyes are light aquamarine, kind of sea green.

Johnnie Ray’s eyes were swapped to gray from their original pinwheel blue so she would look more like me.

Lorie has dark blue eyes.

And Shayne has pinwheel brown eyes. 

I’m pretty sure Jaicee and Lorie have the same shade of blonde hair.

Maridelle’s is a lot lighter. More of a white blonde.

Shayne’s hair is darker. More golden.

And Johnnie Ray’s hair is what AG calls caramel. It’s an interesting color, because depending on the light, it could be called blonde or brown and occasionally appears to have a red tint. It’s pretty much a light brown with a lot of blonde highlights. ( I put her with the blondes because although my hair has gotten darker, I still consider myself a blonde.)

Four of my five blondes have freckles. All but Maridelle.

Another pic of my freckled blondes, because they’re cute. 🙂

Here you can clearly see all the brown in Johnnie Ray’s hair.

My two dolls who are most like me in personality!

Jaicee and Johnnie Ray have the curliest hair. Maridelle’s was probably curlier once. (Poor first curly doll!) Shayne’s hair has a nice have to it, and Lorie’s is straight, but curves in on the ends.

Shayne is to only one with line eyebrows.

All the rest have feathered eyebrows like so.

Final shot to compare all hair shades!

And now for some bonus pics!

Aren’t they so sweet? Shayne looks so loving. ❤

Blondie power!

I hope you all enjoyed! I love my blondies so much! They’re so cute!

-MorganAshley

 

Doll Christmas Outfits

Hey! I actually managed to get my dolls dressed for Christmas the day after Christmas. Some are fancy and some are more comfy. I didn’t have enough to do all in the same kind of clothing.

Alissa

Maridelle

Kendra

Johnnie Ray

Carli

Helena

Lorie

I based Lorie’s outfit on the adorable hat my brother Nathan got me for Christmas.

Natalie

Georgiana

You can’t see very well, but she’s wearing the new Felicity shoes my brother got me. I had lost one of mine a long time ago and kept the other in the hopes that one day I’d fine the other one, but Nathan got me a new pair! Thanks, buddy!

Chental

Ciara

Ginerva

Chaitali

Jaicelynn

Toby

Shayne

Bella

She’s wearing the last present for my dolls that Nathan got me, new purple glasses! I put them on a few dolls, but when I put them on Bella, I was like, “They are so hers!”

Aren’t they cute? I’ll have to do a photoshoot with her soon so her profile pic can have her in her glasses.

I hope you enjoyed. Which outfit is your favorite? Did you all have a good Christmas? Any new additions to your AG collections?

-MorganAshley

 

Profile Pictures!

Hey, guys! As you may have noticed, some of the photos on my blog became little black x’s, including the profile pics on the Meet My Dolls page. This is because I had to delete photos from my WordPress to make room for more. Hence, a bunch of the dolls’ profile pics were deleted. But I took some pics yesterday, and now all my dolls have a profile picture again! I’m pretty happy with most of them. I might re-do Toby’s and Johnnie Ray’s. Anyway, check them out if you so desire. I hope you like them! I also changed my little profile picture.

-Morgan

Contest Results

‘Sup, girls? Happy Sunday. Here are the results for a few of the contests that have been done on here. The winning caption for “What’s Going On?” is

Emma’s!

Natalie: LORIE?! WHAT THE HECK?! WHY ARE YOU OUT HERE IN SHORTS AND A TANK TOP!?
Lorie: *teeth chatter* well, I was try-trying to prove th-that I-I was *chatter* like Elsa and that-that the cold didn’t bother me but-but… I’m not like her apparently…cause, I can’t feel my toes…

Congrats, Emma!

The winner for “Who Looks Better?” is Kendra!

I think they both looked great, but Kendra won.

Here are the names you can vote on for “Name That Doll.”

1. Emma

2. Lily Luna

3. Georgie

4. August

5. Ginny

Have fun voting!

-Morgan

Happy Easter!

Hey, people! I’m back! I had a great trip, and I’m glad to be back. I have some news for y’all.

I got a new doll! Yeah, I know, I just got four. I’m not usually this spoiled. I had a babysitting job, so I already had some money, and I found this Nicki doll on eBay for $72 because her hair has been chopped and the seller didn’t know what they had, which was lucky for me.

I got Nicki to look like me, because our hair is practically the same color. I don’t care for her haircut, but we’re going to AGP Tysons Corner on Thursday and my Mommom is lending me the money to get her a new head!

A kinda blurry close-up of her face. I have named her Meghann Ariana, the MA after myself (Morgan Ashley), and the Ariana I got from Ariana Dumbledore.

I also dressed all the dolls up for Easter. They all want to wish you a Happy Resurrection Day! “He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” -Matthew 28:6

Here are close-ups of everyone. Left to right, Bella, Alissa, Toby, Caroline, Georgie, and part of Kendra’s head.

Georgie, Kendra, Ciara, Helena, Chental, Jaicee, and half of Natalie.

Part of Chental, Jaicee, Natalie, Meghann, Carli, Shayne, Chai.

Half of Carli, Shayne, Chai, Ginny, and Lorie.

They’re excited we’re back and that they have a new sister. I’ll post pics from the trip when I have some more time. Got to get to bed. The trip was pretty tiring, (I had a nice long nap today), and I have school tomorrow.

Bye, Morgan

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

Dia Duit, everyone! (According to Google, that’s “hello” in Irish.) I like this holiday because I’m obsessed with Irish people and redheads! ❤ Anyway, Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! Georgie and Alissa dressed up in green for you guys.

I got the idea for Georgie’s hairstyle from Doll Diaries. Only I did mine with a side ponytail. I think both ways look cute.

Oh, and here are 2 captions to vote on for the What’s Going On?

Natalie: LORIE?! WHAT THE HECK?! WHY ARE YOU OUT HERE IN SHORTS AND A TANK TOP!?
Lorie: *teeth chatter* well, I was try-trying to prove th-that I-I was *chatter* like Elsa and that-that the cold didn’t bother me but-but… I’m not like her apparently…cause, I can’t feel my toes…
-Emma-

Natalie: Why in the world are you wearing shorts in the middle of winter?
Lorie: Well why not?
Natalie:First of all it is -10 out here and those shorts were so last Summer!
Lorie:Did you know that your hat is last Fall?
Natalie:Why did I even bring this up?

-Nikki-

Vote for which caption you like better below.

-Morgan

Contest Results

Hey, girls! Here are the contest results from last month.

The winner of the Who Looks Better is…

Lorie! She won by five votes.

The winner of the School Uniform Contest is…

Carli! Congrats to M&M for dressing her.

The winning name for the Name That Doll is…

Abigail! I like this name a lot, and it fits really well for her.

Well, that’s all for now!

-Morgan