Going, Going, Gone

After dinner Polly ended up detouring from the route back to Melonpan and stopping by The Birbalinda to pick up her almighty Island Encyclopedia and map so she could decide where exactly she wanted to head next.

According to her resources, the closest island to Sea-Island 6 was The Second Island, but unfortunately there was not much about it in her book despite the fact her encyclopedia was so heavy she had to use two hands to carry it on a good day. The only thing she was able to glean was that it was supposedly… hairy.

There were a few places Polly planned to visit before she said goodbye to the island. The first was the currency exchange. Now a little wiser about the ways of the world, Polly decided to exchange her coins for a bit of money from each of the twelve islands.

Her favorite currency, once she had them all, was The Third Island’s. It was simply a card that Manager Mantou assured them he put the requested amount of money into. Polly had no idea what kind of island The Third Island had to be for them to use such an interesting form of money, but she was excited to find out when the time arrived. She quite liked the fact there was only one of it and that it wasn’t impossibly hard to keep track of.

The Second Island’s currency looked similar to hair-ties, at least to Polly. Manager Mantou had handed her a bag of colored elastics, and explained the worth of each color with burgundy being the most valuable and black being the least. There were two more, brown and blue, with brown being second most valuable and blue the second least.

Polly planned to visit her next few stops, 'Not Half Bad Food', Yellow and Brown’s store, and Croix’s shop, the morning of her departure. On top of wanting to bid farewell to the kindly owners, she also wanted to pick up some food for her journey, which she would do in The Capital. Her newfound thoughtfulness was surprising even to her.

“Look at me go, planning for the future and all that,” remarked Polly to Fethar.

At the moment she was in her room at Melonpan Motel organizing her belongings. Polly had recently added a trunk with wheels and a handle, what Yellow had referred to as a luggage, to her list of Sea-Island 6 purchases. There was absolutely no way she was going to make twenty trips back and forth from motel to ship to carry all her goods, no siree. Not even money, which could tempt her into a lot of things, could tempt her into that.

“Well I suppose it should be expected that you are learning from these new experiences. I think it would be more concerning were you not.”

“You got me there. Man, I can’t believe I’m really leaving tomorrow, and by myself. Well I guess not really by myself since I’ll have you, but it’ll for sure be a lot quieter without the kiwis around.”

“I will try to be the best company I can in their stead, though I highly doubt that I can compare. I think of myself more as a search engine with personality rather than a companion, in all honesty.”

“Don’t know what a search engine is, but I’m sure you’re better than one. By jove it wasn’t half bad when I just up and left home by myself, but leaving alone this time feels sort of depressing.”

“As I am sure a wise man at some point, some time, somewhere has once said, you cannot miss what you have never had.”

“What do you gain from calling me out like this? Nothing I say, nothing. I mean yeah it was partially my fault I was a loner way back in the way back, but what about it? Absolutely uncalled for, that’s what that was.”

“There would be nothing to call out if you had never been in that situation,” replied Fethar snarkily. “Also it is astounding to me that you are still packing that luggage of yours. Folding clothes is not that hard.”

“You don’t know that because you’ve never folded clothes,” huffed Polly as she attempted to fold a shirt. No matter how hard she tried, the shirt was just not folding itself into a nice, pleasant to look at, perfectly symmetrical, flat square. “Why am I even folding these. I could just shove them all in and let them be wrinkly. Who’s stopping me?”

“Your fear of scrutiny from the judgemental eyes of society.”

Polly frowned, then straightened her mouth, then opened it, then closed it, then frowned again. “Okay, well, maybe. But only just possibly.” She made another pass at folding the shirt. “Fethar, I’m sure you have some handy dandy tricks for folding a shirt. You said it yourself that you’re like a search engine, right? Though I may not know what that is, I know what the word search means so you’ve gotta be able to pull up something.”

“Perhaps I can. I suppose I ought to have mentioned it earlier to save you, at least a bit, from your struggles, but given the fact that you will be travelling, rolling your shirts would be the wiser thing to do.”

“Rolling you say?”

“Indeed. Now, what you must first do is fold that garment into thirds.”

Polly called on the power of her inner tape measure, and folded her shirt into thirds… ish. It was close enough to thirds for her, at least.

“Go on,” she said.

“If you are absolutely certain you are satisfied with how your article of clothing is currently folded, then the following step would be to fold its sleeves over the center.”

“Roger that. And what next?”

“The next order of business would be the actual rolling of the shirt. It is recommended that you start at the collar.”

In no time at all Polly was holding a shirt that could have passed for an uncut roll of sushi had it not been so large and made out of cloth.

“I probs should’ve asked you for help sooner, huh,” commented Polly, looking at her rolled up shirt.

“That tends to be the situation, yet every time you do not. I have long since given up on questioning it.”

Choosing to be the bigger person, which was made a little easier due to the fact Fethar wasn’t really a person to begin with, Polly decided to ignore the hat and continue packing. She was planning to sleep relatively early so she wouldn’t be waving goodbye to the island in the evening. Considering she wasn’t the most seasoned of sailors, that would’ve been risky biz to say the least. Even she had enough sense in her one perpetually exhausted brain cell to know that.

x x x

Without fail, morning came. Thanks to her ever changing sleep schedule, Polly was wide awake at the buttcrack of dawn, and as she watched light fill the sky and turn it from a quiet indigo to a burning orange, she remembered one of her language teachers had talked about dawn symbolizing new beginnings or something like that.

Remembering that reminded Polly of the terrible pain she went through each time she was made to analyze poetry. First there was the issue of her not having a clue of whatever the poets were trying to say most of the time, and second there was the issue of her not caring. She really didn’t. Not at all. It wasn’t that Polly hated poetry, in fact she was actually a huge fan of the craft. What she didn’t like was being forced to search for a poem’s deeper meaning and supporting her findings with textual evidence rather than simply enjoying the poem for what it was and what it had to offer.

Pushing her thoughts about poetry out of her head, Polly popped herself out of bed to get ready so she could hit everything on her to-do list.

“Our last day together, isn’t it,” said Polly to the kiwis. The birds had popped by her room not long after she had freshened up.

“Just for now,” reminded Wiki. “Hopefully we’ll be seeing each other soon.”

“True true.”

“I trust you’re all packed and ready to blast fledge?” asked SAT. “If you’ve forgotten anything ya better not expect us to send it to you.”

“I think I’m good to go. I just need to buy some food from The Capital, and that’s it.”

The colorful bird nodded. Polly already knew she was going to miss the assault on her eyes that SAT’s paint-splattered-looking appearance was.

The four walked to The Capital together to enjoy one last morning of good vibes. Rather than eating at a restaurant, they decided to go the street food route. As they stopped by vendors, Polly picked up some jerky, trail mix, chips, fruits, and of course bread to make sure she’d be able to last until she reached The Second Island.

“I’m going to pop in there real quick,” said Polly to the kiwis when she spotted Yellow and Brown’s store.

“What an interesting place. Don’t mind us if we follow you in,” said Ed.

“Good morning Yellow, Brown,” said Polly as she walked in. “I’m setting sail today so I just thought I’d stop by and say bye. It’s been a real treat getting to know you guys and I’m hoping we can meet again sometime in the future.”

“Oh my dear if you told us earlier that you’d be leaving we’d have done something for you,” gasped Yellow. “But thank you, really, for coming to visit everyday. That was so sweet of you. We’ll be here for a while so if you’re ever coming back to Sea-Island 6, know that our doors are always open for you.”

“Are there any last minute purchases you’d like to make,” chuckled Brown.

“My luggage is already stuffed, so probably not. But I’ll be sure to do a lot of shopping when I come back!”

“Wonderful,” smiled Brown. “Stay safe on your travels dear.”

Polly left feeling a little saddened, but nevertheless excited at the prospect of meeting other just as great people.

“There sure were a lot of stuff in there,” remarked Wiki as the four journeyed to 'Not Half Bad Food'.

“I know right, that place is always packed with goods. And they switch things up all the time too. Sometimes I wonder where everything comes from.”

“You never asked?”

“Uh, I’ve never asked them but I’ve asked myself. It might be a trade secret or something and being nosy isn’t exactly a top-notch trait to have.”

Polly’s goodbye with the owner of 'Not Half Bad Food' was just as bittersweet, and she was soon on her way for her final farewell, the one with Croix.

The shop hadn’t opened yet, it was too early for that, but Croix was there. He looked as solemn as he had the first day they met, but his mouth curved into a croissant of a smile when he saw the group approaching.

“Last day ain’t it fellas.”

“It is, it is.”

“Can’t thank you enough lass for all you’ve done. I’m sure me and your bird buddies will be missing you plenty as soon as you’re gone. It won’t be the same without you around.”

“I’ll miss you guys a lot too. I forgot how nice it could be to stay in one place for a bit, so thanks again Mr. Croix for helping to make my Sea-Island 6 experience such a great one. And Wiki, SAT, and Ed, The Birbalinda will sure be a lot less lively without y’all on it. I look forward to having you guys back on board soon.”

“We’ll miss you lots too,” said Wiki, who actually had watery eyes. “Come back soon alright?”

“Croix’s and our food will have reached new heights by the time you return,” declared Ed, who’s eyes were also glossy. “You would do well to anticipate it.”

“You can count on it.”

“Stay safe fledge,” said SAT gruffly. “Not that I doubt anything will happen to you ‘cause you’ve got Fethar who’s pretty trusty by your side, but you can be a bit half baked at times.”

“Gee thanks, but thanks and I’ll do my best.”

“Let’s have one last grilled cheese fellas,” said Croix who had apparently prepared five grilled cheese sandwiches for the occasion.

They clinked their sandwiches together like champagne glasses and then bit in. It was a good sandwich, a very good sandwich. Polly wondered if she’d be able to find one like it anywhere else.

When she had finished the sandwich, she knew her stay had come to an end. And with that, she was going, going, and gone.