Young Writers Society

Strawberry quickly grabbed the map and hid it under her hair leaves. Then she looked out the window of the door, and seeing that the coast was clear, she dashed out the door, and towards the main entrance. She wondered if Asparagus was okay.

When she got outside, she saw Root Beer and Tomato standing near Brocolli and Asparagus, and Asparagus was looking a little weary, lying on the ground.

Root Beer examined the mold. “What other symptoms do you have?” Root Beer scribbled busily on a notepad made of sugar paper, a frown creasing his face.

Broccoli caught sight of Strawberry, and his eyes narrowed. “Didn’t you two go into the building together-“

Quickly, Tomato activated her power and concentrated on Asparagus. A hint of red came into Asparagus’s skin.

“Oh dear. Red skin?” Root Beer took notes. Broccoli looked at Asparagus in alarm.

Strawberry breathed a sigh of relief that Tomato saved her from Broccoli's questioning. She had a plan on what she would say if that question was asked, but she wasn't sure if she would be believed completely.

"I have never seen anything like this in all my years," Root Beer said. "I'll have to take you to Lentils, he's a specialist in rare things like this. I'll drive you there in my car. C'mon, let's go. Apple and Raspberry, you two can go. Broccoli, you'll have to stay here while I take Aspargus to Lentils, someone needs to guard the building."

Root Beer helped the partly unconscious Asparagus up, and carried him to his car.

Broccoli looked on worriedly as Root Beer and Asparagus drove away.

Tomato cleared her throat. "I hope your friend gets better soon. I suppose this isn't the best day for an interview, is it?"

Broccoli blinked at her. "Oh, yes, you two should go." Slowly, he returned to his guard stance in front of the door.

Tomato nodded at Strawberry and started walking away, keeping her pace normal despite her curiosity at whether Strawberry had been successful in getting the map or not.

Strawberry walked into the driver’s seat of the car as calmly as she could, and not until Broccoli disappeared from the side mirror did Strawberry start to speak.

“I have great news,” she told Tomato. “I got the map! It was just lying conveniently on the table! Hopefully no one will notice it’s gone."

Tomato's eyes sparkled. "Perfect!" She lowered her voice. "So, does it say where the Book of Super Food is? Will we have to go on an epic quest?"

She started planning the supplies she'd have to bring. Food, water, clothes, a heavy book to either read or whack enemies over the head with...

Strawberry actually hadn't inspected the map until then. She looked at it. She saw the starting point was labelled "New Pork City," AKA the location of the Bacon Tower. A picture of the Bacon tower was next to it. Then there was a short paragraph there too, probably a clue. She didn't read it because she was driving, but when there was a red, light, she continued to inspect the map.

There was a dotted line following a path, and along the path were more landmarks. The path followed into a forest, and apparently a secret place in the forest was where the book was. She told Tomato what she saw.

"Okay." Tomato reached over to pluck the map out of Strawberry's hands. "My bad for asking you that; you should probably focus on driving before we get into a snack-cident. Hmm..." Tomato traced the route in more detail.

"From New Pork City, looks like we can drive about halfway to the city of Bostonigiri before veering off into the wilderness. There's places like the String Cheese Swamp and Meat Mountain, and finally, like you said, the path ends in the middle of a forest." Tomato revised her packing list. "Looks like we're going on a camping trip!"

"We should each go home and pack our things so we'll be prepared. It's important we pack the right things, so we won't get there and not know what to do. And we need to find out how we'll get there. Should we drive? Or take the Grain Train?" Strawberry asked, turning on the left watermelon indicator.

"Probably the Grain Train. I don't want to have to leave the car in the middle of a forest." Tomato shuddered, thinking of all the horrors that could befall a poor defenseless car (wild green-tures nibbling on it! pie-derwebs!).

"Should we leave in the morning? It's a long drive, and it's better to get there in the daylight. Plus we'll get more time to pack. Also I have to ask Blueberry to water my flowers while I'm gone." Strawberry told Tomato, just as she pulled over in front of their apartment building. She unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car.

"Sounds good." Tomato followed Strawberry into the apartment building and they took the melonvator to the third floor. The green doors of the melonvator opened with a cheerful ding, revealing the familiar beige hallway.

In their apartment, Tomato quickly shoved some clothes, food, etc. into a large backpack.

Meanwhile, Strawberry gathered her clothes into a pile as well as some adventure equipment that she had. Among other things, she retrieved her binoculars, flare, whistle, survival book, and guide to trees. (Who knew, maybe it could be an educational trip as well, tree-wise) She also grabbed her lucky charm necklace that she sometimes brought with her when going on long trips.

Tomato shoved some final items into her pack, including waterbottles and some fertilizer. She stood there for a moment, debating with herself, then quickly threw in her mini tomato timer/alarm.

"Alright, Strawberry! Ready to go and get some better powers?" Tomato flushed with determination and excitement. Her face was a little like this: >:D

Strawberry heard Tomato’s voice as she just finished packing her things into her backpack. She grabbed her chopping board computer. "Yup, I'm ready! let's book the tickets for the Grain Train though!"

Strawberry walked out of her room and into the dining room, and sat down in front of her computer and typed in "graintrain.gov" into the Foodgle™ search engine. Once the website opened, she searched up a train going from their closest train station to New Pork City. It was a three and a half hour train ride. Not too bad, but could be better. Two tickets would cost 100 rice paper dollars. If they split it, it wouldn't be so bad.

"Hey Tomato," Strawberry said, "what do you think of this?"