Forest of Imagination

Seahorseback-Riding

McKenzie led me to the Royal Seahorse Corrals - at least, that was what the sign above the entrance said. It was big, and held about fourteen seahorses. I immediately fell in love with two, and read their name plaques.

The first was named Ruby, and, true to her name, was a deep reddish color. The second was Francois, for some reason....

Plaques:

Ruby, age 2, born Hawker Marine Animal Refuge Center
Breed: Crossed Red Alabaster and Xavier Menagerie

Francois, age 1.5, born wild in Pacific Ocean Kelp Forest
Breed: French Quantum (Purebred)

"Do you like them?" McKenzie asked, petting Ruby delicately. "Ruby's mine, but you can have Francois."

Had she read my mind, like she always does? "Oh, thanks then. By the way, why is he called Francois?" I added, wondering out loud. McKenzie laughed, bubbles coming out of her mouth.

"He's a purebred French Quantum," McKenzie explained when she finally stopped laughing.

"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked.

"Hold on, I'm getting there," McKenzie answered. "In Latin, 'Francois' means 'Frenchman,' while in French, it means 'free man.'" I got it, but there was still one thing I needed to ask.

"But this seahorse, the purebred French Quantum or whatever, isn't a man," I pointed out.

"True, but the head of the corrals insisted because, while childless - and wifeless, unsurprisingly - he always wanted to name his son Francois. When a purebred French Quantum came in, he grabbed the chance immediately," McKenzie explained. "So, the interesting story of Francois the Seahorse."

"You didn't laugh," I pouted.

"Well, no, but believe me, I was laughing SO hard in my head I was, um, insert simile," McKenzie assured me.

"Um, what does 'insert simile' mean?" I asked, confused.

"Sorry, my McKenzie-slang is different from yours, I guess. 'Insert simile' is basically when I don't know what to figuratively compare realistic things too," McKenzie laughed, finally.

"Um, okay," I said, unsure.

We mounted our horses - I mean, seahorses - with the equipment all settled in. McKenzie showed me the correct seahorseback-riding position, me having no experience whatsoever with seahorse- or horseback-riding. Yes, like I obviously proved, I have never gone horseback-riding as a lander.

"Francois is one of our milder seahorses, so he shouldn't give us much trouble," McKenzie told me.

"Phew," I joked. "I was worried there for a moment."

In truth, I was just excited to be riding this majestic golden seahorse. The sun shone through the waters and lit up Francois's lemony-yellow coat to a sparkly golden color. In my opinion, I thought McKenzie should be riding Francois, not bloodred Ruby...not that I was complaining, of course.

"Ruby isn't all bad, though most fall in love with Francois and hate Ruby. You're probably the only one who likes both. Ruby's dark red scales make merpeople freak out and think of blood, but really, I think it's cool that she spews out seafire," McKenzie said lovingly, stroking Ruby tenderly.

"Seafire? And wait - SHE DOES?!" I squealed, but not in a happy-valley girl way. In a scared, what-is-seafire-and-is-it-dangerous-for-a-seahorse-to-be-like-a-seafire-dragon way, if you get what I mean.

"Ha," McKenzie giggled. "Seafire is fire that can burn underwater. I think the Turk landers made it up, and since Red Alabasters breed mostly near the Turkish coast, they developed the ability to breathe it. However, Ruby is a crossed-bred Red Alabaster x Xavier Menagerie, so her seafire breath is weaker and doesn't kill. Naturally, Hawker Estuary royalty forbid ownership of purebred Red Alabasters and labeled them as the most dangerous kind of seahorse."

"Why?" I asked, though it was obvious.

"They breathe seafire. They kill merpeople and landers alike. Thank goodness their bright red scales immediately warn us they're coming. But Ruby is nice, and since she was born in a refuge center doubling as a cross-breeding lab, she doesn't know the ways of her mom yet. I don't even know how the refuge center got their hands on a purebred Red Alabaster without getting burnt," McKenzie shook her head disbelievingly and rather disapprovingly.

"Maybe they did. They just hid it," I shrugged.

"True, that could've happened," McKenzie agreed, but she didn't sound convinced. "Red Alabasters are almost extinct, though. Killed by their merpeople victims in defense. Not that I'm saying it's bad, really, because merpeople had to make a choice: either they die, or the seahorse dies."

It was funny, because I'd never thought that a certain seahorse breed was so epically dangerous it killed merpeople and landers with just one single breath. It was ironic, and it seemed impossible until now.

"Merpeople are willing to kill to save themselves," I said. "Which is one way to put it. Or, merpeople were forced by seahorses to kill them. Either way, I think they both sound worse than it really is."

"A lot of things are like that," McKenzie shrugged, like she had experienced many of those "things."

"Anyway," I changed the topic, "where do you want to ride these seahorses to? I mean, it is seahorseback-riding, right?" McKenzie nodded and pointed ahead, which wasn't very clear.

"Research Center," were the only words she said.

"Oh, man!" I face-palmed. "I didn't know you were a total geek! Please, I'm not in the mood for research."

"You'll live," McKenzie told me.

"Well, what are we reasearching, then? Ruby the Red Alabaster?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You got it," McKenzie grinned.

"You're obsessed," I murmured, but reluctantly obliged. "So, what street is this center on?"

"Ford Road," McKenzie answered, "which is on our left. It's smack dab in the middle, and it's sleek and tall, so you can't miss it." Then, before we turned on Ford Road, I saw a restaurant.

"Bye!" I cried out to McKenzie, steering Francois to the restaurant. OYSTER BAR & RESTAURANT.

Interesting.

"Hey!" McKenzie wailed, trailing after me.

"What?" I laughed.

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A/N: La la la, I'm bored. Okay, so this book is ending soon, like, in two chapters. And one of them is the epilogue.

Which brings me to: Do you guys want a sequel or an epilogue? I hate sequels, so I opting for epilogue. But since I love my readers, I always think first of you and no other.

Huh. Sappy.

--Cam