The Children of Tain, Briquen City of the Mist book #1

I go to the Fair - Part 6

Six

I go to the Fair

     The airport can really be annoying. It was bad enough that you have to add at least two hours to any flight just to check in, but then our flight was also delayed an hour. So our four-and-a-half hour flight from San Antonio, Texas, to San Juan, Puerto Rico, felt like it took seven and a half hours.

     To top it off, my father wanted to bring a beautifully handcrafted small wooden briefcase as a carry-on, which of course he wasn't allowed to bring because of its contents. Even though my father tried to explain—flat out lied, if you ask me—that the briefcase and its contents were rare collector's items and for show only, he was still not allowed to take it as a carry-on.

     In the wooden briefcase, there were two Tain swords, both expandable, and three dagger-type knives, all in their neat slots. In the end, my dad had no choice but to put the wooden briefcase with the rest of the boxes that were being shipped to us.

     When we got our tickets, I, acting like a small child, called dibs on the window seat. I would later regret that decision. I got the window seat all right, and the five-year-old who sat behind it. That little brat kept kicking the back of my seat, yelling and screaming the whole time. When he finally fell asleep, the pilot announced over the intercom, "Folks, we'll be landing in San Juan within twenty minutes. I hope you enjoyed the flight. And once again, thank you for flying with us."

     And that is my story so far and leads us to today. As we un-boarded the plane, I did not know what to expect. But then again, what could I expect? We were still at the airport, not Briquen. But we had to be close, right?

     I jumped as my mother screamed gleefully, "EEEhh, Mya, over here! How are you?"

     I have to admit, I was excited to see Mya myself. It had been close to a year since we last saw her. My dad and I got all of our luggage and confirmed with the clerk where the rest of the packages were to be delivered. We then got on Mya's car, a hunter-green Kia Sorento, which surprised me because I always pegged her to be more of a sports car type.

     We went out for a late lunch and drove toward Briquen. Thank God for air-conditioning because it was hot, and the drive took over three hours just to get to the base of the mountain. We were heading toward El Yunque National Forest, a valley surrounded by mountains, waterfalls, and of course, mist.

     At that moment I remembered a particular bedtime story my father told me once years ago. It was the first time he told me about the city of Briquen—a city in plain sight hidden in mist on an enchanted island. Looking back, it was kind of obvious. As far as I know, Puerto Rico is the only island in the world referred to as the Island of Enchantment, and the valley where El Yunque is located is covered by mist.

     My father had also told me many stories about the valley itself, like the name Yunque came from the Indian spirit Yuquiyu, which means "forest of clouds." I looked it up on the internet once and found lots of cool pictures and information about its wildlife. Although I was not surprised, I could not find anything about an ancient civilization of empowered beings living smack in the center of it.

     The ride was so long and boring it was hard not to think about things. Fine, I'll admit it. I was thinking about Linda Malnati. It really sucked. After having a crush on her for four years, I finally got her to like me, or at least notice me. I mean, we even went to the prom together. And just because of a little werewolf incident, in which, by the way, I saved her life, but of course she freaked out because that was not how she remembered it.