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For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
While the rest of us were picking up our parachutes, Misty regained consciousness. She was lying on top of Kitty at the moment. “AAAA!!” she screamed, “I killed Kitty! I landed on top of her and she went splat! I killed her!” “Misty,” I said quietly, “Kitty is fine, just get up so she can get up. Remember, she’s a ghost, you can’t kill her.” “Oh, that’s right,” said Misty and she got up. Kitty then got up too. “You’re alive!” yelled Misty, “You didn’t go splat after all, you’re still alive!” “I’m also not deaf Misty,” said Kitty. “Yes, please stop yelling Misty,” said Jennifer, “you might give away our position.”
Misty looked around. “Give away our position to who?” asked Misty, “I doubt there are even any gophers around here.” “I was joking Misty,” she said, sighing, “however, there could be snakes, poisonous snakes.” “SNAKES?!!” screamed Misty as she jumped around. I then put my hand on her shoulder without thinking. “AAAAAA!!!” she screamed. “YAAAAAAA!!!” I yelled, as she flipped me over her shoulder and I landed with a thump. “Stop scaring me like that,” said Misty. “Good thing I’m sort of a ghost,” I said, “or that might hurt.” Jennifer helped me get up and we all went over to the rocky area where Sky was waiting for us.
“Glad I was over here,” said Sky, “you people scream too much.” Steffie was standing behind Sky who was sitting on a rock. “I agree with Auntie Sky,” she said, “too much screaming, it scares me!” She was standing there, arms folded, and frowning at the rest of us. “Hey, a sign!” said Dawn and we all followed her to what looked like a cave. The sign said, “Cave Hotel, Welcome”. “Someone else has a strange sense of humor,” said Angel. The ghosts went inside to check in out and found a large room with wood crates.
The crates were full of items we would need for about a week or so. There was even air mattresses for each of us, except for the ghosts and Misty. “How come we don’t have any mattresses?” asked Misty. “They didn’t expect you girls to come along,” said Brandy. “Lame excuse,” said Misty, “those people need to learn about thinking ahead.” “Where’s your backpack Misty?” asked Ivy. “I didn’t bring it since I wasn’t expecting to come on this trip,” said Misty “I was just strapping on Kitty’s backpack when suddenly we were falling from the sky!” “You should think ahead,” said Macy.
“Very funny,” said Misty, “hey, there’s a big one, someone can share with me.” “The note says it’s for Steve and his daughter,” said Jennifer. “His daughters are not here,” said Misty. “They probably thought Steffie was his daughter,” said Jackie. “But I’m…” began Steffie. “Going to let Jennifer sleep with Steve on the mattress, right Steffie?” asked Friskie. “Oh, right,” she replied, “I thought I going to say something else, or something.” “Um, have any of you ghosts thought about communicating with Kat?” asked Misty. “Yes,” said Jennifer, “Steve and I were just going outside to do that. We will get better reception outside.”
She then grabbed my hand and nearly pulled me out of the cave. “Uh, I already tried to communicate with Kat,” I told Jennifer, “but no answer.” “Yes, I know, same with me,” she said, “but I didn’t want to worry the others. I don’t know why we can’t get through to her, or the other ghosts, we should be able to, it doesn’t make sense. By the way, you are captives to make the team get some criminals out of prison in Mexico, otherwise you will all be killed.” “Well, with you ghosts here, killing us would not be possible,” I said, “so they don’t have to break those men out of prison.”
“Except we can’t tell Kat about that,” said Jennifer, “you were able to call Sky, yet we can’t communicate with Kat, that’s very strange.” “There is another problem,” I told her, “they left us lots of food, but no water. In this place we are going to need a lot of water and I doubt we will find any.” “Yes, very true,” she said, “staying in that cool cave will help, but the others will still need water. We ghosts can go looking around and see if we can find water somewhere close by.” “Only 2 at a time can go looking,” I said, “I don’t trust these people, and without weapons, we need our ghost protectors.”
“Yes, I agree with you about that,” she said, “now, we will have to tell the others about our problems, but I’m sure you will come up with the right way to tell them.” “You went from ‘we’ to ‘you’ rather quickly,” I said, sighing. Just then Sky came out and said there was no water and Steffie was thirsty. “Yes, we know about the lack of water,” I said, “we were just talking about that.” “We ghosts will have to go looking around and see if we can find some,” said Jennifer. “Also, we can’t communicate with any of the ghosts back home,” I said. “Oh, fun,” said Sky, “as Misty will likely say, we’re all gonna die!”
Misty came out just then. “There’s no water Steve,” she said. “We know,” I said, “looks like we might have to forget about drinking for a few days.” “Oh,” she replied, “that’s not so bad.” She turned to go back to the cave, but she stopped and turned around to face us again. “A few days?” she asked. “Only about a week or so,” I said smiling. “We’re all gonna die!” she yelled. “But at least we won’t go splat,” I said, “we’ll just go ‘aaaackkk, glirrrk, thump.” “Good catch Sky,” said Jennifer. “You need to stop making her faint Steve,” said Sky. “It will keep her from getting thirsty and complaining,” I said. “Keep it up Steve,” said Sky as she and Jennifer carried Misty into the cave.
Well, the best way to tell bad news is to just tell it, so, that is what I did. Everyone looked over at Misty as I finished, but she had fainted before and was still “out”. “Auntie Misty still sleeping,” said Steffie, “I wake her up.” Friskie grabbed her quickly. “No, let her sleep,” said Friskie, “if she wakes up, she will scream again.” Steffie looked at her mom. “Maybe better to leave Auntie Misty sleeping,” she said, “she scream a lot.” “Friskie and I will go first to look around for water,” said Jennifer, “then Sky and Kitty can go next.”
Off they went, heading north of our cave. They returned after about an hour, but they found nothing. So, Sky and Kitty went next. “It is terribly hot out there,” said Jennifer, “it will be better for everyone to stay in the cave during late morning and afternoon.” “Yes, I agree,” I said. The ghosts were able to tell us this was the next day after we had been kidnapped. That could mean we had been taken on a long trip, but not necessarily. They may have done it like that to make us think it was a long trip. Still, I don’t remember anything like this in Europe.
Wherever we are, there doesn’t seem to be any people around. That part is good. But, the lack of water is a serious danger for us, it makes me think they are not planning to give us back once our team does what they want. If only we could communicate with Kat and let her know what is happening here. It was Macy who then remembered that we always carry a small amount of emergency water in our backpacks. Only the 5 ghosts brought packs with them, but at least we have a small amount of water.
Friskie gave some to Steffie and soon everyone was sipping a bit of water, except me. Steffie frowned, then she handed me her cup. “I share with you,” she said smiling. I took it from her and thanked her. She would have been hurt if I didn’t accept it. Our four cats had their backpacks too, so they have some emergency water as well. However, this small amount of water won’t last us long…
To Be Continued. ©2026 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 
These criminals are diabolical. No water and no communication. Are they relatives of Toledo and electronically messing with communication and with your perception?
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