Allice in Mysterious Land (ON HOLD)

28: Reunited

Auntie Morgan spends the next few minutes reassuring herself that her Oregon 'Oreo' of a husband is the one calling her now. Cold sweat soaks my back at the guilt and shame that begin to bite my insides.

What if Uncle Oregon finds out that I'm using his name to do a crime? And how will Auntie Morgan react if she knows that it's me all this time, instead of her husband?

You must keep going. You don't come this far for nothing.

Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes as I let the surrounding nature to comfort me with its gently rippling river and the music of the awakened crickets. "Aunt—er, Morgan." I cut her rambling short. "How are you?"

She clicks her tongue, and the sound of a fallen item resounds from the other side. Grunting, she answers, "The only good thing about this savage aquarium is that we have our cells. A funny thing I realized when I went to the canteen for breakfast one day was how we were sorted into a section with similar criminal activities." Another fallen item, this time sounding like a metallic clang, echoes. "See, in this section, there are Otniel and Marion, also Mr. Alvaro—Allice's boss..."

"Mr. Alvaro?" I grip my trousers tightly. What brought Mr. Alvaro to the glass prison? "What did he do?"

"Oreo, dear, you don't even remember this guy. He's a pretty grumpy man, though he has a soft spot for our too-innocent-to-be-true nephew..."

"Just tell me, Morgan." My cheeks heat up in an instant. Is that a compliment? She never calls me anything of that kind before, since I first started living together with her and Miro. "I might not remember, but it's good to just... er, hear some stories. Uh, I"—Beezus, it's a miracle if Auntie Morgan hasn't lifted half of her eyebrows yet—"it's been a while since I called you."

Auntie Morgan chuckles, but it can be mistaken as an elephant's snort. "That's too sugary of you, Oreo. You just called me from a public booth yesterday, and you've already felt that it's too long."

Blessed mother of ostriches... I'll be in serious trouble if this goes on. I must confirm my identity near the end of the call to not cause a rift between them. Moreover, both of them are so headstrong against each other whenever they argue.

"But anyway, Allice's boss at Daily Dose occupies the cell next to mine. We talked a bit during breakfast yesterday, and he said he got here because he refused an order. Our monkey of a mayor contacted him—since he was the Advertising Manager—and Jorge wanted to place an ad on Daily Dose of things like... you know, warning the citizens of some underground rebellion movements, or to help the search for Allice..."

I swallow a huge lump down my throat, yet my body feels empty, as if its energy has been sucked dry. Again, I cause more trouble. Though it wasn't the only factor why Mr. Alvaro got jailed, but still... I played a part in it too.

When will people stop sacrificing themselves for me?

"Anyway, can you wait for a minute? There's something I must do." Some static crackles explode from the line. It's like she walks away from the telephone, taking the crackling source along with her. Soon, there's another sound, like an opened bottle cork, followed by a subtle hiss. Her footsteps approach the telephone once more, and with hushed whispers, she says, "This might take a while to spread, but..."

"What did you do?"

After minutes of awkward silence, her voice returns to its normal volume. "That's a Sealer Smoker. It's like an aromatherapy jar, but its smoke can prevent any sounds from getting out of the area. A lot of inmates are smuggling tricky items into the prison, just to annoy the officers... or to do more illegal things. I just bought it this morning."