Alien Road

Alien Road — page 7 — Fancy rich people don’t rent things They charter them Karl told me there’s even a Jacuzzi onboard And some kind of inflatable slide thing that they can set up if they want to He told me it goes from the top deck down into the ocean I don’t even know what that would look like But I know it sounds awesome Karl doesn’t smile Just stares down miserably at the sand What’s the matter It’s not safe he says What isn’t The boat He shakes his head What then He looks at me his mouth twitching I think he’s deciding whether or not to say Finally he speaks again Do you know how we’re getting to the Caribbean Ridge Awesomely No Karl says waving his hand at me Not awesomely Dangerously 6

Alien Road — page 8 — Dangerous how Don’t you know where we are Using the popsicle stick he draws what looks like the southern tip of Florida in the sand He adds some of the islands of the keys branching off This is where we are Now look here the Bahamas He makes a bunch of dots a little further south of Florida He makes another dot to the left of that Puerto Rico Then a bit to the north he makes another dot Bermuda I’m impressed I definitely didn’t know my geography that well when I was ten Heck I’m thirteen and I still don’t know it that well Okay I say not sure what any of this is supposed to mean Karl scoffs He draws a line from Florida along the Bahamas to Puerto Rico Then another line up to the Bermuda And one more line back to Florida A triangle It’s the Bermuda Triangle Karl whispers 7

Alien Road — page 9 — I can’t help it A laugh bursts out of me I brush the sand off my sketchbook The Bermuda Triangle That’s not real Karl That’s just an urban legend He scowls No it isn’t He jumps to his feet pointing at the sand Do you know how many boats have disappeared in this area Countless I’ve read all about it Okay Karl I say trying to get a hold of my laughter Maybe your dad should hire the coast guard to protect your floating mansion from aliens or ghosts or whatever you think is out there No one knows what’s out there he says That’s why it’s so dangerous I shake my head and go back to my drawing The hood of my Wraith character looks smudged Great I try to rub the smudge out but I only make it worse Dang I’ve been working on this character for two weeks and now I’ve gone and smudged 8

Alien Road — page 10 — it Correction Ash and her angry sand kicking smudged it How am I supposed to fix it now Am I going to have to start all over again Karl stomps his foot Ridge you’re not even listening to me Listening to what I snap I’m sorry Karl but it’s hard for me to feel bad about you and your luxury boat cruise Being afraid to go on a trip like that because of the Bermuda Triangle is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard He doesn’t say anything to that But his chin starts to quiver Now I feel like a real jerk Before I can apologize he takes off running for the house Oh no Did I make him cry I didn’t mean to I was just upset about my drawing I risk a glance over my shoulder and see that Karl’s given up on running It’s not easy to do on sand He struggles bursts of sand flying up behind his flip flops I spot Ash on her way back to the 9

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