Disappeared once or twice

7. First of all... No

"Alberto, hurry up already." Luca sighed as he and Giulia barely couldn't wait for their surprise. Alberto already knew what it was since he worked on it himself. He was eager to show them, but at the same time he really liked to tease his friends slightly. Massimo simply grinned at the sight before him, oh to be that young again. 

Finally he was finished, Alberto stood up. So did Giulia and Luca. "You guys aren't forgetting something are you?" They abruptly stopped in their tracks. "Oh the plates! Yes papà we will do them right away." Giulia grabbed the plates and put them in the sink. "No, I didn't mean that. I mean this." Massimo threw keys in Alberto's direction, who suddenly seemed to get what he was trying to tell him. "Now shoosh so I can clean up." 

Once they were outside Alberto was bombarded with questions about what this surprise could be. Was it big or small? What material was used? Could they really benefit from it? 

Alberto ignored them all, steadily walking towards the small port of Porto Rosso. Luca and Giulia were already imagining themselves on a luxe cruise, with a cocktail and a pool on the deck. Alberto lead them even further. To the corner of the harbor, there was a boat. A small one, it had been a fisher boat before Alberto upgraded it. {A/N not the romantic type of boat.}

"This is the surprise! Massimo has bought a new boat for himself and since I help him so now and then, he decided to give this one to me. So I decided to make it a nice place for the three of us. It doesn't reach top speed anymore, but it can sail!" The oldest of the three explained proudly. 

Looks of fascination and admiration were given to him. The once white, standard boat had become an indigo blue color. The small housing in the boat had stayed white, but there were small flowers painted on it in the same color theme as the interior. Inside was a couch, just big enough to fit three people. On the other side was the wheel located. Since it was used to store fish it had a sort of basement. Down there was a small kitchen, and a bed placed. Well, the bed just consisted of a matras to keep it practical. 

"WOW, Alberto this is amazing!" Luca was surprised by what he saw. "Yeah, for real. We'll be able to travel to Colombia in no time." Giulia was equally as excited as her best friend. "Colombia?" Alberto asked. "Yeah, that is the country where Encanto is?" Giulia replied, suddenly not so sure anymore. "I remember someone saying some stuff about Colombia. I just don't remember." Alberto's memories betrayed him for real. 

"It doesn't matter, we'll shortly be there so maybe some of your problems will be solved." Luca winked in Alberto's direction. "Wha- You think I have more problems??" The boy exclaimed semi-offended. "Oh boy. I don't think so, I know so! I could go on and on about-" "Yeah yeah sure." The older sea-monster grinned at Luca as he stuck his tongue out. Eye-contact was made. 

"So..." Giulia interrupted their special moment. "What's the plan?" "Well, we've got about three months of summer vacation. We've spend about a week. And we have to get packing before we can leave, plus I don't know how long this journey will take." Luca pointed out the facts. "We better get going as soon as possible." Alberto added. "Anyone got any paper?" Luca asked. "Here you go." Alberto grabbed some paper from a random cabin and handed eit to Luca. "Thanks.." Their hands touched. 

"What would we need?" The small boys questioned them, as he started writing down the suggestions Alberto and Giulia gave him. 

After a while the made quite the list. They would need canned food, lots of food. Water supplies, a map, entertainment, a route, someone who knew how to sail a small boat and spare clothes along with other stuff they'd use daily. They gave themselves two days to gather it all, Giulia would need to learn how to control a boat and Alberto and Luca would take turns pulling the boat. Since the motor wasn't the best. If they went on day and night at a speed of 60 km/h (37,2 mph) it'd take them... Too long. About 458 days. And some of the travelling wasn't even at sea.

But Alberto didn't do logical math, so they would be waaaaay faster. 

The two days went by quickly, Giulia mastered the skill of boating. Luca and Alberto shopped like crazy, always finding the foods with the latest expiration date. They could survive at least 3 month with the food they had in stock. Clothes had been packed, toiletries too. Blankets and pillows were clean and put on the matras. They stocked up on petrol for the motor, hoping they wouldn't need to use it too often. Luca and Alberto are simply faster than the maximum speed of the boat.

Massimo did have a hard time letting his kids go, especially his daughter. He didn't see Giulia often and now she was leaving him again. He'd never tell her that though, his pride would never allow him. He tried as unnoticeable as possible spend as much time with her before she'd go again.

Alberto also felt a heavy weight on his shoulders, he was a simple man, a boy. He liked a daily routine, seeing the same places over and over again. One of the reasons he didn't want to go to school was that he'd leave his safe heaven. His tower. His only memory of his father. As though he pretended not to care about the man, he still wished to have one. His imaginations of all the things he'd do with a father. He hoped that Bruno was his father, yet at the same time he hoped he wasn't. 

He couldn't stand the idea of being face to face with someone who abandoned him. He guessed this journey would give him some answers, at this point not even caring which questions were to be answered.

They were almost off to a new adventure, exciting and dangerous. Will they stay on track? Or do they stray from their mission?