I Find Peace in the Rain

            To the Reader;

                        You can call them twins, but they are not twins.

                        They are Joshua Blake and Lucille Fry. Two friends born on the same day. The parents of our protagonists were sure Joshua and Lucille would get married and have kids-but fate-had other plans…

            On July 25^th 2021, the Blakes and the Frys boarded a plane to take a week-long trip to Mexico. They were all excited.

            “I can’t believe we’re going to Mexico!” Joshua exclaimed.
            “To Cancún, to be exact,” Lucille corrected, then she turned to her parents.

“How much longer until we reach arrive?”

“Two more hours, dear,” her mother replied.

 Lucille looked at her watch and sighed. “We’ll get there at 10:04 pm, no

time for anything but sleep!”

            Joshua patted her arm. “It’s all right, Luci, we have all week to explore.”

            Lucille smiled at him. “I guess, you’re right.”

            “Aren’t I always?”
            The two friends laughed.

            When, the two amigos and their parents arrived at the resort in Mexico, they unpacked their bags and hit the mattress.

            The next day, they picked up some Mexican quesadillas for breakfast, and went down to the gulf to do some bird-watching before going to the golf course.

            After Mr. Blake won the game, Mr. Fry suggested they head down to the stables and go trail riding. His wife snapped another picture and turned to her husband.

            “What a great idea, Charles.”

After the ride, Joshua slid off his Palomino and turned to Lucille.

            “Did you enjoy yourself?”

            She winked at him. “Sure did, Josh. Did you?”

            “Sure did, Luci. Want to swim with some dolphins?”
            Lucille’s eyes sparkled. “Let’s do it!”

           

            The next morning, Joshua got up at five am and opened the drawer by his bed. He groped around, where are my sunglasses? His hand soon hit something-no-it wasn’t his sunglasses, it was a slip of paper. He pulled it out, crept out of the room with his flashlight, turned it on, and looked at the paper;

... --- -- . - .... .. -. --. / - .... .- - / .. ... / -.-- --- ..- .-. ... / .. ... / .... .. -.. -.. . -. / ... --- -- . .-- .... . .-. . .-.-.- / .. ..-. / -.-- --- ..- / .-- .- -. - / - --- / ..-. .. -. -.. / .. - --..-- / - .- -.- . / - .... .. ... / -.. .- .-. . / --. --- / -.. --- .-- -. / - --- / - .... . / -... . .- -.-. .... .-.-.- / - .... .. ... / -. . -..- - / -.-. .-.. ..- . / .. ... / .. -. / -.-- --- ..- .-. / .-. . .- -.-. .... .-.-.- / -... -.-- / - .... . / --. ..- .-.. ..-. --..-- / -.-- --- ..- / .-- .. .-.. .-.. / ..-. .. -. -.. --..-- / .- / -.-. .-. . .- - ..- .-. . / .-- .. - .... / -. --- / -- .. -. -.. .-.-.-

            Joshua scratched his head, Morse code. He never had been good with dots and dashes.

            “Josh?”

            Joshua turned as Lucille closed the door to her room and walked up to him;

            “What’s up?”

            He showed her the code, “I was looking for my sunglasses, and I found this code, instead.”

            Lucille’s face lit up. “Maybe it’s a welcome gift from the Mexicans! May I see the code?” Joshua gave it to her. She looked at it for a few minutes, then she read,

“ ‘Something that is yours is hidden somewhere. If you want to find it, take this dare. Go down to the beach, this next clue is in your reach. By the gulf, you will find, a creature with no mind.’ ”

             Joshua raised his eyebrow, “So, the first clue must be at the beach. But what do they mean ‘a creature with no mind’?”

            Lucille tapped her chin, “Hmm…maybe they mean something dead.”

            Joshua looked disgusted, “So we have to dissect something?”
            Lucille laughed quietly, “Not necessarily. Maybe they mean a skeleton.”

            Joshua nodded, “After breakfast, let’s head down to the beach…”

            “…to find the next clue.” She finished for him.

Later, while the parents napped in lunge chairs in the Mexican sun, the two friends took the opportunity to sneak away and look for the next clue.

            A little while later, Joshua came across a lizard-type skeleton, he whistled for Lucille, who came running;

            “You found it!” She cried out when she saw it.

            “And look what’s inside,” Joshua added as he knelt down and pulled out a piece of paper. He stood, and Lucille looked over his shoulder;

++A+++=

Joshua blinked and gave the code a try, “Look, kid. A north thorn tree.”

      Lucille laughed, “Nice try, but no. It says, ‘look under a north thorn tree.’ Notice

how the arrow is pointing under the tree?”
      Joshua blinked again, “Yeah, what’s a Thorn Tree?”
      “I think they mean a cactus.”

 “Where is there a cactus around here?”

            “On the other side of the big lake. After lunch, let’s ask our parents to take us there.”

Joshua nodded in response.

            “Why would you want to go to the other side of the lake?” Mrs. Blake asked at lunchtime.

Joshua and Lucille exchanged looks.

            “To see what’s over there.” Joshua answered.

            Permission was granted, and they all hopped on the tourist bus.

            When they arrived, the parents went down to the waves, while Joshua and Lucille headed north; checking every cactus along the way.

            “Joshua, I found it!”

            Joshua hurried over to her, she showed it to him;

            “It’s blank.”

            Joshua was about to sigh, when he thought of something, “What if it’s written in invisible ink!”

            Both of them looked around, they spotted a female bathhouse, Lucille hurried inside. Minutes later, she returned.

            “What’s it say?” Joshua asked.

            “ ‘The man with the peg leg and two sabers’ ”

            Both of them were stumped with this one.

         Joshua relaxed by the shore, the next morning, thinking about the clue:

             The man with the peg leg and two sabers.

            What did it mean?

            “Josh, Josh!”

            Joshua turned as Lucille raced up to him holding the map they received when they first arrived at Cancún.

            “What is it, Luci?”
            She showed him the picture of the lake, “This.”
            Joshua blinked, “What?”
            “See the man’s head. See his peg leg…see his sabers.”

            Joshua squinted at the picture, “Kind of.”

            Lucille grinned and turned to their parents who were just coming out, “We’re going to take some kayaks out to the lake, okay?”

            “Sounds like fun.” Mr. Blake answered.

            “Be back by lunch.” His wife added.

           

            “I found it! Josh cried, “On the buoy!”

            Lucille paddled over to him, he showed it to her;

            “It’s in Spanish.”

His friend took the clue and studied it. A minute later, she read, “ ‘You must have courage to take this leap. Come to Xel Ha Park to solve this feat.’ ”

            “Xel Ha Park? That’s on the other side of the lake. Let’s wait until we have permission.”

            “Our parents never said we couldn’t go over there; they just said be back by lunch.”

            With those words, Lucille started paddling. Joshua sighed and reluctantly followed.

            An hour later, they arrived on the other side, Lucille’s face was flushed, but Joshua assumed it was from excitement.

They wasted no time as they raced towards the park and began to search. Twenty minutes later, they were stumped (again). They met at the sign in front of the park;

            “Where could it be?” Joshua asked.

            Lucille pulled out a brochure and browsed through it, she stopped suddenly and showed him a picture of a cliff;

            “Joshua, look! This cliff is called Cliff of Courage.”

            Joshua’s eyes widened, “ ‘You must have courage to take this leap…’ ”

            “ ‘…come the Xel Ha Park to solve this feat.’ ” Lucille finished.

            They raced away on a hunt to find the courageous cliff.

Joshua frowned as he looked at the next clue, “This is tricky.” He showed it to Lucille:

  ++++-cold+-ro++-ephant=

      Lucille was shocked.

            Joshua took his best guess at it. “Look in plant in front of fire e-no-el. Look in plant in front of fire el.”

            Lucille laughed, “I don’t think it makes sense. Maybe it’s something having to do with fire.”

            “Fire is hot.” Joshua thought out loud.

      Lucille pondered for a moment, “ ‘Look in plant in front of hot el’-hotel!”

      Joshua widened his eyes, “To the kayaks!”

             The parents were walking into the bathhouses when they got back, so Joshua and Lucille snuck over to the front of their hotel and looked inside the plants…

            “Lucille, I found it!”
            Lucille hurried over to him and looked at it:

3/15/14/7/18/1/20/21/12/1/20/9/15/14/19  25/15/21

6/15/18  19/15/12/22/9/14/7  20/8/5  3/12/21/5/19

2/21/20/  4/15/14/’/20  19/20/15/16

12/15/15/11  21/14/4/5/18  20/8/5  16/21/18/16/12/5  20/15/23/12.

            Joshua said the first thing he thought of. “Maybe we have to change all the numbers to letters.”

            Lucille pulled a pencil out of her pocket and decoded it, putting the translated message on the opposite side. It started to drizzle, but they didn’t care. When his friend finished, she read;

            “ ‘Congratulations, you, for solving the clues, but don’t stop now. Look under the purple towel.’ ”

            When she reached the end of the last line, it started to rain harder. Joshua placed his hands over his head to shield the rain;

            “Come on! Let’s get out of this nasty rain!”
            Lucille only sighed, “I find peace in the rain.”

            She dropped the clue and collapsed to the ground.

            “Luci!”

            Joshua knelt to the ground beside her, “Luci!”

            Lucille looked at him and smiled sadly, “I…I love you, Joshua.”

            A great grief filled his heart. He lifted her up in his arms, wet, salty, tears clung to his cheeks;

            “I love you, Lucille.”

            Lucille reached her hand up and stroked his cheek, he held it. Then her head dropped, and she died.

            It was like Joshua’s heart broke in a billion pieces. His floodgates were opened, and he wept openly and continuously.

            After ten minutes or so, he got up and gently carried her body into the hotel and to her room. He placed her on the bed. Next, he raced to her luggage and dug through franticly. He froze when he found a purple towel.

            Slowly, he reached in and opened it. What was in there made him do a double-take…his sunglasses, and a letter addressed to him. He picked it up and read silently:

            Dear Joshua,

                        I didn’t want to tell you before, because I didn’t want to worry you. But I sense we will not be able to fulfill our life-long dream. So I set up this treasure hunt so you could know the truth:

            I have Leukemia.

Here are your sunglasses back. I loved having you for a friend.

                                                                        Always yours,

                                                                           Lucille

  Joshua sank down on the nearest chair, clearly in shock, then he placed his head in his hands, and cried.

To conclude, my dear reader, Joshua, his parents, and Lucille’s parents, went back home to prepare for her funeral.

Joshua planned to commit suicide right after the funeral…but it was the body of Lucille, that made him change his mind.

The day after the funeral of Lucille Fry, Joshua opened a charity to raise money for people with Leukemia.

And this, my patient reader, is where our story ends.

I dedicate this story to my faithful writing companion (may he rest in peace), Empedocles.

                                                                                    Good day.

                                                                                   

                                                                                                                   Song Lee