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Young Writers Society


The Royalty Rendezvous



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Mon Aug 24, 2020 2:20 pm
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looseleaf says...



"I bet we could just wire it through to the company without converting," Alex explained, "The bank could probably just do it for us."

Alex scrolled through the calendar and selected the first day possible, "It's available any time after 3 pm today, if we wanted to arrive wherever the coordinates lead at, like, 7 pm."
  





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Mon Aug 24, 2020 3:21 pm
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Lib says...



Avery's eyebrows shot up and he instinctively checked the time on the screen. "We have about three and a half hours if we want to get that plane right now," he suggested. After a pause, "Yeah probably take that one."
*insert quirky signature here*
  





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Mon Aug 24, 2020 3:32 pm
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looseleaf says...



Alex selected the booking page for the plane and began going through the process of renting it. After ten minutes of filling in online forms and asking Avery questions about his licence, they were free to go to the airport and complete the final steps.

"We should probably pack first," Alex said, "As we don't know how long we'll be there, or what's there, even, we should just pack a variety of stuff."

Avery nodded and they both went to their separate rooms. Alex decided to take her backpack with her and pack several changes of clothes, her phone and charger, some money, and other random objects. Once she was finished packing her phone, she took her purse, put some other smaller objects in it, and walked back into the living room.
  





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Mon Aug 24, 2020 3:52 pm
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Lib says...



Avery unpacked his backpack and re-packed it with three shirts and trousers, and also made sure to put his pajamas in. He threw in his toothbrush and toothpaste along with his tactical pen that included an LED flashlight. He had bought it only a couple of days before school started up and always carried it everywhere.

He threw in his wallet, phone and charger - which he would later realize wouldn't even have been that useful, only a waste of space - and left his room. "Alex, you ready?" he called out just as she made her way into the living room.
*insert quirky signature here*
  





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Gender: Female
Points: 1992
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Mon Aug 24, 2020 4:09 pm
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looseleaf says...



"Ready as I'll ever be," Alex said. They locked up the doors leading to the balcony and made their way to the front door. Alex quickly made a small detour and grabbed a map out of one of the kitchen drawers. It probably wouldn't help them in the long run, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Alex and Avery took the elevator down to the lobby and hailed a cab. The taxi driver made some small talk, but besides that and Avery preparing the flight plan and occasionally asking Alex questions, the drive was silent. Finally, the taxi pulled into a small hangar on the edge of Cape Town International Airport.
  





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Mon Aug 24, 2020 6:44 pm
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Lib says...



The two got out of the taxi, thanked him, did their payment and walked towards the hanger. Somebody was already waiting for them inside. The kind man directed them towards the seaplane, ushered them inside, and showed them the gears and explained to them how everything worked.

Avery nodded along, understanding every detail, making sure not to miss a word.

"Your license?" the man asked. Avery showed it to him and he approved. "Safe travels!" he called out as he jogged off.

Avery and Alex buckled up in the front seats. Avery sat on the left - the pilot in command always had to sit on the left, no matter what - and Alex sat on the right. He flicked some switches and pressed some buttons so soon enough, they were in the air, headed towards the ocean.

"Check the map or something so we know where we're headed, I'm sorta confused here but I'll continue to go straight," Avery said and chuckled.
*insert quirky signature here*
  





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Mon Aug 24, 2020 8:25 pm
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looseleaf says...



"What do you mean you don't know what you're doing?" Alex said, "You're flying a plane!"

Avery chuckled again. Alex sighed and checked Avery's phone. The man at the hangar had written some notes on a piece of paper about their flight plane and route, so Alex read them first before checking the phone, "You're fine, keep going straight for a couple hours."

And so they did. Alex pulled out her phone and took a few pictures of the breathtaking view and a selfie with Avery. She switched to Netflix after that and set the phone on the dashboard so she could watch a movie she had downloaded for the trip down to Cape Town.

One and a half movies later, an island came in to site. It wasn't a large island, but if Alex had to guess, it was at least ten kilometers wide. From what Alex and Avery could see above the clouds, there were multiple rivers leading to a mountain, which was close to the center of the island.

"I'm gunna get a good place to land, 'kay?" he mumbled, concentrating on getting below the clouds. He circled the island once and found a clear place to land. It was mostly calm water so he hoped the landing would be easy and not a mess. Slowly but surely, he pulled back the throttle and started the descent. As the plane neared the water, Avery's hand gripped onto the yoke as he steadied the aircraft. Finally, they hit the water with a small splash, and Avery taxied the plane into the entrance of one of the rivers.

"Woo! That was exciting!" Alex exclaimed. She grabbed her backpack and purse, "So. What now?"

"There should be stakes or something in the back of the plane somewhere so we can peg this thing in place." Avery took his backpack from the back and got out of the plane the same time Alex did. Alex tied the ropes to the plane first, then tossed the free ends to Avery, who placed the stakes into the ground and tied the ropes to them. Alex waded out of the water, joining Avery onshore, and looked around.

"What the hell is this place?" She muttered.
  





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Wed Aug 26, 2020 2:11 pm
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Lib says...



"An island, I'm pretty sure," Avery said, and flashed Alex a grin when she shot him a glare. There were trees all around them, but where they were standing, there was only beach for half a kilometre, and then the woods started.

"I don't like the idea of going into-" Avery gestured towards the wooded area. "-there."

"There really isn't any other option," Alex remarked.

"Okay then. Um, ladies first." Avery cringed at his cowardice and swung his arm towards the woods. "After you." His smile was forced.

Alex shook her head and shrugged, then strode into the thicket of trees. Avery jogged behind her, catching up. It was much darker there with all the trees shading them from the not-too-hot sun. They slowed down to a slower walk and looked around at the variety of trees. None of the trees were like normal ones - they looked like trees that would be in a royal garden or something.

The flowers that sprouted from the ground seemed as if they had recently blossomed and as if someone had been staying here on this island the entire time, taking care of them. Or maybe it was the rain. The thought itself made Avery's spine tingle and his stomach lurch.

There were a couple of critters that scurried out of their way when they passed by but none of them were bigger than a fox at most, which filled Avery with even more anxiety because who knew what other creatures lay ahead?

They walked for what seemed like decades - no, centuries - and finally stumbled upon a clearing. The sun shone through the opening above. There was a small gray cabin dead in the middle. Alex stopped, but Avery walked right in front of the cabin door and peered inside through the little window in the door. Something big and fuzzy brushed past his face.

He screamed.

Alex jumped, holding her hand on her chest and cursed.

Avery jumped back, breathing hard. A tarantula crawled over the door and to the other side of the cabin. He walked backwards to Alex. "Ladies first," he croaked.
*insert quirky signature here*
  





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Wed Aug 26, 2020 4:43 pm
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looseleaf says...



Alex sighed and approached the building. It was only one story tall, but it was at least seven meters wide and five meters long. There was an overgrown path, which led to a small covered porch that could fall down at any moment. The door was right in the center of the front wall and there was one lonely window on both sides of it.

Alex crept up to the door and laid her hand on the doorknob. Before she opened it, she grabbed a piece of broken glass off of the floor and held it in her free hand. Avery walked up behind her with a large stick. Finally, she opened the door and slowly made her way inside.

"Woah," Alex said when she stood in the middle of the room, "This place is awesome!"

"And messy too. My room isn't even as messy as this." Avery scoffed.

Alex rolled her eyes and continued looking around. Everything was covered in a layer of dust and cobwebs. There was a huge wood-burning oven in the corner of the room that had some sitting chairs sitting around it. On the other side of the room, there was a sitting area with a table on one side and a couch on the other.

"Hey Ave," Alex called out as she bent down near the couch.

"Yeah?"

"Were there buttoned couches in the 1800s?"

"What?" He wrinkled his nose.

"Buttoned couches, like the one in my apartment," Alex reached under the left arm under the couch. She felt something paper and ripped it off the couch, making the dust fly off the couch. Alex examined the piece of paper., "1954! This couch is from 1954!"

"So someone's been here in the past seventy years," Avery said, raising his brows.

"Ye-" Alex was cut off by a thud in the other room. Both of them paused and looked at the door. There was another thud. And another. Alex gulped and shakily stood up and tip-toed to the door. Avery clutched a knife from on top of the oven and scampered over to behind Alex.

"On the count of three," Alex whispered. Avery nodded, "One... two... THREE!"

Alex and Avery barged into the other room and brandished their knife and glass. A raccoon appeared out of a pile of books on the floor, let out a high pitched screech, and ran out fo the window. Alex and Avery both sighed and began searching this room.

It was an office with a large desk on one side of the room and a double bed under the window on the other side. The wall farthest from the door was covered in bookshelves. The only thing similar between the two rooms was that everything was covered in dust.

Avery wandered over to the desk while Alex searched the shelves. It was covered in papers. Some were strewn about all over the floor, but some were neatly piled up onto the desk. It looked as someone had gathered up some of the documents and left in a hurry. He began sifting through them.

"Look," Alex held up an early copy of The Catcher in the Rye, "Published in 1951."

"Oh, that was a good book," Avery commented. He had come to the last piece of paper in the pile. But it wasn't an ordinary piece of paper, "This looks like a... map?"
  





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Thu Aug 27, 2020 8:26 pm
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Lib says...



Avery squinted at the map. '1912' was written in fancy handwriting on the bottom left corner of the paper.

It looked a lot like the island had looked like from up in the plane. It also looked somewhat like the symbol carved into the library. Actually, that's exactly what it looked like, but with more details. The three lines were the rivers. The circle in the middle was the mountain that was close to the center of the symbol, and the rest was trees and clearings.

There was a small red X in the north-west part of the island - Avery assumed it was the cabin they were in right that moment.

There was another much bigger X on one of the rivers. Beside it, in the same handwriting, was 'Underwater Alcove'. Avery's eyebrows shot up. "Alex, hey, check this out."
*insert quirky signature here*
  





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Fri Aug 28, 2020 6:43 pm
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looseleaf says...



Alex put the book she was holding back and walked over to Avery, "Woah... That's awesome."

"Yeah, that's cool and all that, but look at this-" Avery pointed at where the Alcove supposedly was.

"I didn't see that," Alex said. She traced the words with her finger, then pointed at the river, "Is that the one we tied the plane in?"

"Um, I don't think so, because we tied the plane close to this cabin and this river looks to be much farther away." He showed her the little red X that he had assumed was the cabin.

"If that's true, then," Alex's finger traced the side of the island, "That would be the second river to the le- right of the one we parked in."

Alex and Avery thought in silence for a moment, then Alex continued, "We should go and find it! See what's so important about an underwater cave."

"How are we going to get down there?" he asked.

"Didn't we bring goggles and snorkels? There's got to be some in the plane somewhere," Alex replied, "It's no scuba gear, but it would work."

"Right, we'll see."
  





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Sat Aug 29, 2020 4:16 pm
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Lib says...



Avery and Alex hiked back to the river, passing the various trees and critters. They made their way back in the plane, wadding through the icy cold river, their pants above their knees.

Avery let out a huge sigh when they were both inside the plane. “Gosh,” he said. “Where would the scuba gear be?” He looked at Alex cluelessly, hoping for an answer, because he wasn’t that familiar with planes.
*insert quirky signature here*
  





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Mon Aug 31, 2020 1:01 am
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looseleaf says...



"Probably in the back somewhere," Alex replied, crawling past the chairs and into the back of the plane. The owners had taken the back two rows of chairs out to make room for an extra fuel tank and storage. Alex looked under the bags, manuals, and random things that came with the plane.

"A-ha!" She exclaimed, holding up two rather old pairs of goggles and snorkels, "Found them!"

She tossed one set to Avery, "Did you bring your swimsuit?"
  





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Tue Sep 22, 2020 2:42 am
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Lib says...



Avery pursed his lips when he caught the goggles and snorkel. "I have shorts?" he said, making it sound like more of a question.

"I think I left it back in the cabin." He grimaced at the thought of walking back through the thick jungle. He hoped out of the plane and with a splash! landed in the water.

"I'll go get it real quick, do you have your stuff?" he asked and ran his hands through his fuzzy-because-of-the-humidity hair.
*insert quirky signature here*
  





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142 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 1992
Reviews: 142
Wed Oct 07, 2020 9:49 pm
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looseleaf says...



"I have my things," Alex held up the bag of clothes that she had left in the plane. Her swimsuit was in there somewhere, "I'll get changed while you run back."
  








Life’s disappointments are harder to take if you don’t know any swear words.
— Bill Watterson