Chapter 9

"Alright so any ideas for tomorrow?" Dad asked while we were having our lunch. I had some ideas: Fishing, but we didn't have any equipment and even if dad insisted on fishing as our last activity, the trouble to get the rods and necessities and learn the skills, though dad knew more about it then any one of us, was a hassle.

I looked at mom to see if she thought of anything. She glanced at me and signalled to me to tell dad if I thought of something with her brow. I guess everyone was waiting for me to answer dad's question. It would be funny if I thought of Jonathan, he was still a baby what was he gonna say? Who knows, maybe he understands if I only I had mind reading tendencies. I swallowed the fish fillet that I was chewing during the period of time and looked up at both my parents.

Dad was ready to speak when mom interrupted him.

"Lucinda we know you have some ideas in mind. At least something that's not too tiring is fine, it's going to be the last day."

"And we want to make it worthwhile after this awkward vacation." Dad added on trying to hide some guilt.

Wow so maybe mind reading abilities do exist huh. That was all I could think of after what they just told me. I really couldn't think of anything other than fishing which I really wanted to block from my mind because there was no time for it. I'm sure my parents could see me fighting the urge to get the right ideas out. Besides with all these long activities we still got to pack our stuff. These obviously aren't the answers they're looking for.

"Hmmm, we could have a short picnic with Dave's family tomorrow at noon. I'm afraid we would be in a rush because of our stuff." Mom said.

"Their children are coming over to our side later this afternoon." Dad took out his phone and checked the timing. A sign to hurry up now.

I looked at both my parents dumbfounded. So we're meeting our 'neighbours' today? Sweet, it would've been nice if we had gotten to know them earlier.

"We're meeting-

"Oh right! Yes Lucinda there's a family staying not too far from us too! They're coming over this late afternoon for a while!"

I stared at dad blankly; This was so sudden about time we had something going on here. It's been so dry, overthinking about the lifeless sea right in front of us was giving me frequent headaches to the point I almost came up with conspiracy theories about it. Wait, theories. A thought sparked into my mind. The missing fish. I was going to ask dad about it again but I didn't want to bug him. Bringing up about Lovecraft stories and why it would make sense for there to be a giant sea monster harming this site's ecosystem would sound silly to them. But it made sense and if there's something threatening the wildlife around here, visitors should be warned not to swim in the waters.

The images of those jellyfish swarming the shores in my dream popped up in my mind again. If only there was a way for me to bring this up to them, this case is not something that should be overlooked. I'm not sure if I'll ever get the chance to share my ideas with the organizers at the resort but perhaps I could share it with my mom and dad first, let's see what they've got to say. I believe I was doing this for everyone's safety I don't want anyone to get hurt like last time. Even if it's just a 'small threat'.

"Mom, dad I have something to say about this whole vacation honestly. Something's been bugging me recently and I want to hear what you guys think." I blurted out the words waiting for their concerned expressions to show up.

"Lucinda, I know you're worried about what's been going on. The beach always being quiet and the disappearance of fish. We're leaving soon so don't think too much about it, we're not coming back." Dad reassured me but it wasn't enough because hearing what the guy had said still haunted me.

"It's not like we're going to leave you behind." Dad chuckled.

I know he was trying to cheer me up with these jokes but it's not going to convince me to forget about the whole thing. What have we put ourselves too? Can we even trust the people here they could be hiding something. Whatever they're hiding is lurking in the waters of that beach and they were trying their best not to let anyone find out about it.

"I know I'm probably overthinking about it and I'm sorry for worrying everyone it's just, I've never felt comfortable here because.." I looked at my parents and than back to my food that was almost finished. "Everyday, you rarely colors, it's just gray and murky, if the organizers cared about their resort they'd do something about it."

My parents nodded and than glanced at each other, wanting to hear more from me.

"Yes there are people staying here, but maybe they have the same impression about the place and bring it up? Like what the guy back at the restaurant said, these strange things have been going on for decades and nothing is going to be done about it anytime soon. It seems like the town folks don't think too much of it but we're the ones paying to stay here temporarily, our opinions have to get there. Once we tell them, it's done we don't have to think of the resort anymore, but we're paying for the entire stay. The beach isn't always cleaned either, if someone swims in the waters, what if there's some dangerous object in there? They could get severely injured due to the lack of responsibility of the management. The fish going missing is just inconvenient for everyone who has spent there time there and it happens every now and then."

I said what I had to, it doesn't matter if they don't want to think further about it as long as we know we paid for this, we stayed anyway because it didn't seem bad until the fish incident.

"Good point Lucinda, we are going to bring this up to the receptionist when we check out tomorrow. Seeing the manager is one of our priorities too. We understand how you feel and we're sorry things had to be this way for our vacation."

I nodded in despair. I felt light in my heart after letting out all my frustrations but I couldn't bear with the thought of showing my parents my fears; I felt guilty and they must be thinking I've lost it.

"Try to keep calm and do something you like for the next two days. Maybe read a book! You could do it for the whole day, it's gonna be yours." Mom smiled.

I smiled back with the slight miserable expression shown too.

"Maybe we can start planning where our next vacation is going to be!" Dad exclaimed, startling mom and me.

"And remember to check carefully too!" Mom remarked which took dad aback.

I'm happy to see everything going well now. I hope this is the case and always will be. Jonathan was munching on his food like there was nothing happening. I found it quite adorable but deep down inside, I was hoping he won't start crying from all the noise. Not now Jonathan, I need some peace and quiet to think.

I decided to do some people watching while mom and dad were discussing about the ideal destination for our next family vacation. Everything was so lively, I miss seeing settings like this. It was totally different from the resort's. It feels good being among the face of the crowd again, you don't feel entirely isolated from society.

"Shall we go on a Cruise?"

My eyes widened at dad's sudden statement, I was not expecting that. A cruise? Dad why another vacation with the ocean? Somewhere on land pretty please.

"Oh another trip to sea! We're already having one, how about camping dear?" That response from mom saved me. I couldn't thank her enough.

"Great idea mom."

The only thing that ticked me off from camping in general, were the lack of supplies to keep one clean and fresh for the next day, otherwise I'd go for a long nature walk than stay at a deserted sea area.

"We'll figure this out soon enough." Dad said scratching his chin.

At least we agreed on something different.

 ~~~

In front of me was a boy around my age along with his little brother. They seemed genuinely fine to hangout with, just a little monotone sometimes. So there we were just scanning each other while our parents were chatting happily away from the beach. I waited for one of the boys or at least the older one to start talking. It's been a while since I talked to other people in public, the whole vacation revolved around me and my parents and Jonathan more. I can just imagine what it would be like once I'm back to school, I hope this week of being away from civilization won't affect my social skills in the long run. It would be great if I could meet up with one of my friends after this vacation, I miss everyone already, this vacation feels long and it's not like this is even our last day. It's the second last day and we still had another one tomorrow.

"Hello my name is Tony and this is my little brother Timothy." The boy suddenly spoke.

"Nice to meet you guys! I'm Lucinda."

"Have you been to the far end of this beach?" Tony asked.

I've never really explored the beach much. Most of the time it was just us, there were other people too sometimes but the silence that filled the air made me uncomfortable to spend more time here. In fact, my parents already warned me not to go further. I wasn't surprised if Tony and Timothy had already explored the whole beach out of curiosity, they do seem like those kids who would wander off during a trip at first glance. It would be safer to explore the beach more since I'm not alone but my parents might not be OK with that. Tony might be warning me of something though, which I wouldn't be surprised, the young ones are always the most observant in situations like this.

"No I haven't."

"There's nothing much here. Sometimes you can find belongings washed ashore. Let's see what else we can find today."

I just stared at him thinking, is this really a good idea? Maybe we should tell our parents first? When I looked back at where our parents were they seemed occupied in their conversations.

"Last one there's a rotten egg!"

I turned around and saw Tony and Timothy sprinting away.

Fine I thought.

We stood in front of the waves, looking at the view. Like any other day, the sea was lifeless, even the sky was an all long gray. I've never stood this close to the waters of this shore, and I vowed to never do this since the incident that happened years ago. This, takes the cake for reminding me of how mysterious and eerie the ocean can get. Tony and Timothy seemed calm, they were unaware of how terrified I was now. All that crossed my mind was: Why bring me here, why are we so close to sea. It was like watching a movie and being introduced to that one scene where the characters observe their surroundings which is either a beauty or a field of despair. I faced the sky and noticed the dark clouds coming towards us. A storm was coming.

"Look at the color of the water, it's not even blue like how it's supposed to be. Can you believe it Lucinda? An ocean that's not blue?"

It seems like we shared the same sentiment about the atmosphere, which made me feel better since I wasn't the only one who felt uncomfortable here.

"Come on! There's more to see here! Timothy and I found some clams!" With that Tony scurried off to the muddy sand and started searching for the clams he was talking about. Timothy followed after, skipping along the sand like it was nothing.

"Wait for me!" I called out to them.

Tony told me about the live clams and air bubbles coming out of some of the holes in the sand. Holes in sands normally indicates a habitat to some clams, they would dig a hole and bury themselves in. Tony was really enthusiastic about the whole topic on aquatic life, I envied him, because despite the situation at the resort, he held on to his bravery and spirit, which is something I wish I had during my time here. Digging the sand with a stick, Timothy too seemed to have the thrill of exploring here, I wish we could all spend more time together.

"The clams have gone home." Timothy said.

"They must have left, are there any holes left?"

"No they disappeared."

"Maybe they're hiding somewhere? There a few rocks by the shore too." I said.

Tony and Timothy looked at each other and nodded.

"That makes sense, maybe the waves are too strong now."

"Let's go back!"

"No wait! Do you see something over there!"

All three of us turned around and saw a small boat parked a few metres from the water. A boat? Here? I didn't see it the last time.

Before I could say anything Tony and Timothy ran towards the boat. I had no other choice but to join them in their fascinating adventures, at the same time I feared for their safety and how our parents are going to feel when they find out we snuck away from them.

I hurried after them for the second time and stopped in front of a small boat. I couldn't tell if it was still being used, looked to be in good shape. There was no one else here, the owner wouldn't leave it behind would they?

"Let's find some treasure!" Tony exclaimed as he studied the boat for any rare findings.

"Guys I don't think it's a good idea to get on the boat."

"Barnacles! There could be barnacles!" Timothy yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Or traps and other dangerous creatures." I silently said to myself.

Tony stopped in his tracks and stared into space. I was hoping he wasn't thinking of a plan to hop on the boat and set sail for the seven seas.

"It's getting late guys." He spoke.

"I think it's time we head back."

"Agreed."

So all three of us left the boat and walked back to the resort where our parents were still chatting with one another. Mom had mentioned something about a picnic earlier at the restaurant. The idea sounds pretty neat, in fact I'm looking forward to that; spending time with my new friends even if it's the last time. Another way to brighten up my day again.