Pen To Paper

Chapter 11: Isolate Island

"Well, we don't have a home, so where are we supposed to go?" Ivy asked, kicking a rock around. "Want me to fly up and look around?" Molten asked. "That would be great!" Neo said. Molten let Skeli down to rest beside a tree and glided above the treeline. "Oh, wow! We're so close to the beach!" he shouted. "Hey look, there's an island up ahead! Let's go there!" He flew back down and pointed west. They moved in that direction. After about twenty minutes of walking, they arrived at the shore. "Looks like we have to swim," Ranger concluded. Neo drew back. "Nuh uh, no way Jose! I'm not swimming with one hand, buddy boy!" He shuddered. 

"Maybe we can make a boat?" Molten suggested. They looked around for supplies. On the dock, an old man was just getting out of a dinky fishing boat. "Excuse me, can we use your boat?" Ranger asked. The man smiled "Why of course! I was plannin' to get rid o' the old girl anyways." They got in and Molten pushed them off the docks. Catching the wind, that took a smooth ride out to the island. It was rather small but had a massive volcano in the center. "Molten, do you think you could plug up the volcano?" Ivy asked. Molten flew up to the mouth of the volcano and fired streams of lava into it. It filled the volcano until it became a smooth, rock hard surface. 

"We could totally build a house here!" Ranger exclaimed. "Where on Earth would we get enough wood for that?" Neo asked. Ivy smiled and climbed the mountain. With a flick of her wrist, she produced piles of lumber, ready to be nailed. She spat on her hands and made tree sap with them. She stuck the wooden boards together, one by one. She created the frame of the house in less than five minutes. "That was awesome!" Molten said in awe. "I've built tons of houses like this before, just like the tree houses," she nodded off to Neo and Skeli.  "I can't make beds, though." She looked at the sky, which was turning orange. "Looks like we're sleeping on the floor tonight." She suggested. They curled up on the wood floor together around Molten, who they used as a heat source. Neo straightened out, allowing Skeli to prop up his leg. It was a cold and uncomfortable night, but it was nice to be together. 

When the morning came, Ivy planted the money tree outside the house. "I'm surprised that it's still alive," Neo said, yawning. She pulled a large number of dollars from the branches. "Let's go get furniture...again." She groaned. "Someone has to stay and watch Skeli," Ranger said. Molten shrugged. "As long as he's asleep, I'll stay." The rest headed for the boat while Molten and Skeli stayed behind. Skeli was curled up in the window space, getting warmed by the sun.  Molten practiced turning lava to stone in the meanwhile. He eventually built up the walls of the house, trying not to burn the wood. The band-aid on Skeli's eye fell off, and Molten saw that his eye was pitch black. 

A few hours later, they came back on the boat, which was followed by a much larger boat, full of furniture. "Holy whoa!" he exclaimed, rushing down to the sea. "Look! We got a team of workers!" Ivy said happily. When the boat reached the shore, a team of Bulldogs walked off, carrying loads of furniture in their arms. They moved everything into the house along with painting the walls yellow and adding a deep red carpet. They put glass in the windows and added a front door. After thirty minutes, they left with a huge tip from Ivy. 

Skeli rolled down the hallway and into one of the rooms. It was painted yellow with black carpet. "Mine," he said, burying his face in the bedsheets. "We already planned our rooms, and that one's yours," Neo told him. Ivy went to the green room, Ranger to the pink, and Molten to the Orange. "Where's your room, Neo?" Skeli asked since all the rooms were filled.  Neo pointed to a staircase in the living room. "Down there," he said. "It's my super scientific secret lab." Ranger peered down the staircase. "Or...because bunnies burrow underground," she explained. Neo slumped his shoulders. "Probably."

"I also got this," Neo said, opening a plastic bag in his pocket. He pulled a white fabric square and handed it to Skeli. "It's a patch for your eye," he told him. Skeli, after fumbling with it for a second or two, put it around his head and covered the black hole in his face. "Arr, matey!" Ranger giggled. "Aw, no! I'm a pirate!" Skeli moaned. "Well," Molten said, stretching. "I'm gonna hit the hay." Neo looked at him, confused. "It's three in the afternoon!" he complained. "I'm just going in for a nap," he said, closing the door.