Follow, Follow

Shop after shop after shop, all the grownups want to do is shop! Ellie sighed in an exaggerated protest , her moms barely even noticed. "Ugh!", she huffed , while rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. This time they noticed. "El, we told you that you could have stayed behind on the ship" , her mama said casually while still examining a pair of handmade wooden earrings. She held the earrings up to her ears and looked in the mirror, then still looking in the mirror she glanced at Ellie, who stood behind her making faces. Turning around to face Ellie she said " There was nothing wrong with the kids club El." Except that it was full of kids, thought Ellie. She herself had just turned twelve, almost a teen, literally a preteen. She shouldn't have to sit in a classroom on the ship with a bunch of kids being baby sat and making colored macaroni necklaces. She wanted to explore, to do her own thing. To do something fun. Coming with Mama and Mom to see the island sounded fun at first, but they had been here an hour so far and all she had seen was a steady row of island souvenir huts. Laying upside down on her bed back at the ship would have been more exciting then this, yet she wasn't even allowed to do that because it " was against the rules of the ship. "What if something happened to you ?" Mom had said with concern. " We wouldn't be able to live with ourselves, El .", Mama had said nodding in agreement with Mom. "You seem to be living just fine." muttered Ellie under her breath. "What was that honey?' said her mom without even looking up from a display of rainbow colored crystals. Before Ellie could answer, her mom called to the shop owner, " Would it be possible to have these woven into a necklace? I've been looking for something that represents all my chakras. I need more alignment." Ellie sighed loudly again. Her mama turned to her and smiled, "I get it kiddo. It's kinda hot and packed in here right? Ok, you can stand outside the hut and get some air. BUT do not move from the entrance way where we can see you. Ok?" Ellie grinned big, it wasn't exactly what she was looking for, but she welcomed even a chance to get out of the shop and get a glimpse of the island. She nodded in agreement and hurried towards the front of the shop. " Stay at the entrance way El !", yelled her mama after her. Ellie burst out of the curtains the shop had fashioned as a door and looked around excitedly. She could feel the warm wind blowing gently across her face, smelling of sea water. She lifted her braids off of her neck, gathering them into a bun and securing them at the top of her head. She closed her eyes and let the breeze cool off her neck and the back of shoulders. The shop had been packed with tourists and she really did need the air. Just then she smelled something sweet, like warm cinnamon buns. She looked down past the rows of shops and her eyes caught the source of the delicious smell, a small street cart stacked with fresh baked pastries. Her stomach rumbled with hunger pains as she watched a small child run up to the cart, hand the old woman a coin and greedily bite into one of the pastries. It had been hours since she ate, Mama had told her to stand outside the store and stay in front of the shop, but the cart was so close and they couldn't be too upset with her if she also surprised them with a snack too. Ellie's stomach growled a third time, taking a deep breath and looking back into the shop to make sure her mom's weren't looking, she took off running towards the cart. Just as she was nearing the cart, the old woman started to push the cart further down the road. Ugh, she thought, apparently the street carts had a lot in common with her local ice cream trucks, it always seemed they drove off just as her and her friends were approaching. She started to run a little quicker, how could the old woman move so quickly with that rickety cart over the cobblestone. "Watch it!", yelled a shop owner after she almost barreled into his linen display, while trying to catch up to the cart that was now swiftly turning the corner. Ellie sped around the corner and then stopped to catch her breathe for a second. The old woman had parked her cart in front of a small shop, she unloaded the last of the pastries from the cart and carried them inside. Groaning, Ellie jogged over to the shop and stared at the door. There were no markings outside, but it had to be a bakery. She went to knock on the door and then paused, but what if it was not. What if she had followed the woman to her home and was now about to awkwardly knock on a strangers door and in a strange country at that. Her stomach gurgled, the workout she just had while chasing after the cart made her even hungrier. She had come all this way she thought, what did she have to lose. Ellie timidly walked up to the front door and tapped three times. Nothing. She listened for sounds of movement, nothing. Holding her breathe she tapped on the door three more times, this time louder. Still nothing. She sighed, she wouldn't have answered the door for a strange sweaty foreign kid either. Oh well, she thought, maybe her moms were done and they could finally go eat. Her moms! Ellie turned around frantically, while she was still "outside the shop", she was definitely not in front of it anymore. She tried to remember how she had gotten there so she could retrace her steps, but many of the shops had started to close up for the day and now the streets looked unfamiliar to her. She sat down outside of the old woman's house and put her face in her hands, her throat begin to burn and she tried to hold back her tears. What if I never see them again? What if they just go back to the ship with out me?? What if the ship leaves me??? She couldn't hold her tears back anymore, she sobbed hard into her hands. "What is this?! What do you think you are doing here with this ruckas?!", a shrill voice yelled from behind her. Ellie jumped up, almost falling over as she whipped around to see who was behind her. To her surprise there was no one behind her but a small pink pig. She looked at the pig, then looked around for the person who had yelled. The pig snorted angrily, " Are you hard of hearing, girl?!" he yelled shrilly. She stumbled in shock and then looked down at the pig. There was no way that a pig was talking to her, she rubbed her eyes, I must be delirious from hunger, she thought. "Um..", she stuttered, "Are you speaking to me?" "Well, you are the only one out her causing a ruckus and waking me from my slumber, are you not?", huffed the pig. Ellie stood there blinking in disbelief, she looked around to see if maybe she was apart of some strange street performance, there was no one else outside except for her and the pig. "Well-", she started, "I guess. I 'm sorry for waking you up." "You should be!", yelled the pig. "It's just, I'm lost.", said said starting to cry again. "No, no, no!", snorted the pig sternly, "No more of that." Ellie sniffled, she still couldn't believe she was talking to a pig, nor that she was about to ask a pig for help. "I came here on a ship", she said pointing off into the distance, "You must have seen it, it's very big. My mom's will be very worried about me. Could you help me?" "I haven't seen a ship.", said the pig. Ellie begun to cry again softly. "Ok, ok! No more of that, I haven't seen a ship...lately, but I do know where they are." sighed the pig. Relieved she dropped to her knees and hugged the pig tightly around its neck. "No, no, no!", he oinked, "Never do that again!" Ellie, stood up and dusted off her jeans, " Sorry Pig, I won't do it again." Rolling his eyes the pig responded, "The name is Emmanuel. You can call me Manny for short." Ellie smiled, "Thank you Manny."

Before the words left her mouth, Manny took off down one of the cobblestone roads. "Wait! Wait for me!", she yelled, her legs still sore from chasing the sweets cart earlier. Without slowing, Manny yelled back, "The ships will be leaving soon! I am sure your big ship too!" Ellie groaned, " Oh no!", she could not miss the ship. Her mom's would never let that happen, but what if they were also lost and looking for her, then SHE would need to be the one to stop the ship from leaving. She really hoped that they wouldn't be angry with her when she saw them, if she saw them again. Tears started to swell up in her eyes again, no, she thought, I need to stay focused. Mom would say to channel all of her energy into what she desired most. "Where ever your energy is pulled towards, then so too will you be pulled." Right now what she desired most was to see and hug her mom's. She'd even go to the kid's club, if they ever let her out of the room again. She shook her head, focusing on Manny, he was so far ahead, all she could see was his little pink tail darting in the distance. She took a deep inhale, gritted her teeth and started to run harder towards him. Finally catching up with him, she yelled "How much further?" Not turning around, Manny yelled, "Just this road and another over." She could do it she thought, pumping her legs faster. Just then she heard a large horn blaring nearby, it was the warning call for the ship. "No!", she yelled out, "I'm here!" "This way!" , yelled Manny, " There is a shortcut." He turned into an allyway. Ellie stopped, confused, "This is a dead end.." "No", she yelled while scampering up onto a tiled roof, "This will take you straight to the ships. It is a short cut!' She was unsure, but she didn't have time to hesitate, she climbed up onto the roof and begun to look around. "The ship!", she yelled pointing. She could see her mom's on the ramp to the ship speaking frantically to an official. The official was shaking his head back and forth, while pointing to his watch. He was waving them towards the ramp exit, but Mama made a signal that they would not be moving. Ellie began to yell, "Mom!! Mama!! I'm here, I'm coming! " but she was too far and her voice just carried in the wind. "See there, run along there and it will take you straight to the ramp!" , yelled Manny pointing to a walkway below where they were standing. She jumped down onto the walkway and ran blindly towards the ramp, yelling and screaming at the top of her lungs. "I'm here! Don't leave me!" She could hear the official now yelling at Mama that they would need to move off of the ramp, they were delaying the schedule. "I could care less about your schedule! Our daughter is out there, lost, I demand you send a crew to search for her!" Tears streaming down her face Ellie full speed towards the ramp, her arms waving, her voice hoarse. Then she bumped into something, falling on the floor. She wiped her eyes, looking around, the official was under her holding his elbow and scowling. "El!", yelled Mama hoisting her up from the ground and wrapping her arms tightly around her. "This is our daughter." said Mom tearfully to the official, who just nodded and continued to hold his arm. Mom walked over, looking at Ellie, her face covered in mascara lines, her curly hair standing up all over her head. "Don't ever do that again.", she said weakly before joining Mama in hugging her. The official picked himself up off the ground, "Ok, NOW can you please move off of the ramp??" Mom and mama nodded, holding her up between them. As they started walking, Ellie suddenly stopped and turned around. " I need to thank Manny!" "Manny?!" her mom's said in unison. "Yea, Manny.", she said running to the edge of the ramp. She peered over and looked into the streets, she didn't see him anywhere. He wasn't on the ramp, on the roofs or on the streets. As quickly as he had come, he was gone. "El, who is Manny??", her mom's demanded. She thought for a second, had she dreamed him? Even if she hadn't, would anyone believe that she had met a talking pig. She turned slowly, "Just someone who helped me when I was lost", she said. They continued to walk up the ramp onto the ship. Once they were on, the ship's final horn blew and the ramp started to wind back up. Right before it closed securely, the official stopped and did a double take. He had sworn that he saw what looked like a bright pink pig's tail dart from the ramp onto the ship. "I must seriously be concussed", he muttered before walking to the ships' infirmary.