The Big Win

by Winter Morgan

  “I guess I can, but when would I go?” Alana asked Wayne.

  “I have a seaplane on the dock that’s ready to go. You ready?” Wayne asked.

  Alana said yes and walked alongside Wayne toward the dock. Tick and Tock were on the seaplane and welcomed her aboard. She looked out the window and watched Furtopia grow smaller as they flew further into the blue skies. The plane ride didn’t take very long and soon they were landing on the sea. Tick opened the door to the plane and helped Alana climb onto the dock.

  “Oranges!” Alana exclaimed as she looked at the lush island filled with orange trees. Alana sprinted from the pier and shook all the orange trees filling her pockets with the juicy fruit. She also gathered all the branches that fell to the ground. Alana wanted to gather as many goods as fast as she could. She sprinted around the island in search of a pond, but the island only had a river. After filling her pockets with oranges and hardwood from the trees and fallen branches, she wondered whether she had gotten all the resources from this desert island. She hoped there would be an inhabitant, like Lars, who would tell her the secrets of the island and what would be best to sell, but there wasn’t.

  Alana pulled out her fishing rod and stood on the island’s beach. She was patient like Bobby advised, but when the sun began to set and she hadn’t gotten a bite, Alana thought she should give up and go home. She didn’t want to be stuck on this island after dark. She had no place to sleep and she was tired. Just when she was about to give up, she felt a tug and reeled it in. Alana was happy to see a sea bass hanging from the hook. She placed the sea bass in her pocket and was about to walk back to the seaplane when she stumbled on a rock.

  Feathers had given her a stone ax and told her to always carry it with her. He said that the stone ax is an invaluable tool for deciphering whether a rock is valuable.

  “You never know what is hidden inside a rock,” Feathers told her when he handed her the ax as a gift.

  She thought about those words as she slammed her stone ax into the rock and saw little slivers of gold.

  “I found gold!” Alana exclaimed, but there was nobody there to hear her. “I found gold!” Alana filled her pockets with gold nuggets. She spotted several more rocks on her journey back to the seaplane, and she stopped to break open each rock with her stone ax.

  “Iron!” Alana yelled.

  Each rock contained valuable nuggets that she could sell to Tick and Tick. The sun had set when Alana entered the seaplane, her pockets heavy with fruit, gold, iron, wood, and branches. She wondered how much she would earn for these finds and she hoped it was enough to buy a home for Bobby and a pool. As the plane approached Furtopia, Alana could see a small light in the dark sky. It looked like a bonfire. Alana couldn’t wait for the plane to land, so she could join her friends beside the fire.

  CHAPTER 9

  CONSTRUCTION

  Alana raced over to the bonfire beside Janey’s house. She wanted to tell them about all the great finds she had discovered on the island, and how she could finally get the pool, but she realized that Lars was there and he couldn’t know about the pool. Alana couldn’t believe there was a time when she was only worried about spilling the beans about the party, and actually avoided Lars because she was afraid that she would accidentally tell him. Now she felt confident that she could keep quiet. In fact, Alana was teeming with confidence, and she felt she had earned it. In one day, she was able to catch a sturgeon for the museum and fill her pockets with gold, enabling her to buy Bobby a nice wooden house and a pool for Lars’s party. She felt invincible until she remembered the fishing competition was two weeks away and she still wasn’t skilled at catching a large quantity of fish in a short amount of time.

  The gang sat around the bonfire singing J. J. Swooner songs. Janey said, “I wish he would come back and perform another concert.”

  “Me too,” Bobby said.

  “I think he may come back one day,” Alana said. “I know when we won the contest, I was told that he does make appearances on islands if they are able to maintain the rating.”

  “How can we make the island prettier?” Janey asked.

  “I went to another island today and picked up oranges and I’m going to plant orange trees around the island. In the morning, I’m also going to buy Bobby a house. I think both of those things will make our island’s rating stay the same or go even higher, so maybe J. J. Swooner will come back in the future,” Alana said. “That would be great,” Janey said. “And don’t forget about the pool!”

  “The pool?” Lars questioned.

  Janey put her hand over her mouth. Alana wanted to joke that the cat was out of the bag, but she didn’t. She just helped Janey by changing the subject. “I think Janey meant pond. She was helping me fish for koi fish in the pond. She wants me to get better at fishing. So does Bobby, and he’s been the best coach. Today he helped me catch a sturgeon,” Alana babbled.

  “A sturgeon! That’s fantastic,” Lars said, and he seemed to forget about the pool.

  “Yes, I donated it to the museum,” Alana said, and then excused herself and went home to rest. It had been a long day and she wanted to wake up early and get started on the construction for the house, and now she knew she had to be extra careful about hiding the construction of the pool.

  Alana climbed into bed and fell asleep within seconds. When she awoke, the sun was peering through her curtains. She got dressed and sprinted toward Tick and Tock’s shop. As she approached the store, she saw Happy walking out of the tailor shop.

  “You’re up early,” Happy remarked.

  “I have to start building Bobby’s home. He has been staying with Janey and he wants to get his own place. Have you been shopping?”

  “I was just doing my morning cardio and I thought I’d stop in and say hi to Avis and Tavis. I did buy a headband. You know how much I like to wear them when I do my daily jogs,” Happy replied. Alana nodded.

  She went into Tick and Tock’s shop and placed the pile of gold nuggets on the counter.

  “How much can I get for this?” she asked.

  “Gold nuggets,” Tick said as he put on a monocle and carefully inspected the gold. “These are very rare and are worth lots of bells.”

  “I also have iron nuggets,” Alana said, as she pulled them from her pockets.

  Tick picked up the iron nuggets. “You really outdid yourself.”

  “And oranges,” Alana said, pulling an orange out and showed it to Tick.

  Tock ran over to Alana. “We have been searching for oranges!”

  “When I leave here, I’m going to plant a bunch of orange trees around Furtopia. I am so excited to drink orange juice again.”

  Alana thought about the breakfasts she used to have before school and how her mother always made fresh squeezed orange juice with their juicer. She thought about September mornings in her house and the chaos of starting the new school year. Everything was different on Furtopia. She didn’t have to go to school here, but there were other responsibilities. She learned how to gather valuable resources, which enabled her to build a home for Bobby and a pool for her friends. Of course, soon it would be the first frost. They didn’t have a long time to enjoy the pool that year.

  When Tick and Tock told Alana she had enough bells to build the house and construct the pool she let out a cheer. She left the shop and sprinted to Janey’s home to tell Bobby that she needed his help choosing the home.

  Bobby was so excited to get his own home that he raced to Tick and Tock’s store. He chose a large wooden home with a big red door. He selected a spot near Janey’s house, right on the water.

  “Do you think we could put a swing in front of the house like you have?” Bobby asked.

  “Yes,” Alana said, “and we can also put a couple of chairs beside the water.”

  Once the house was built, Alana planted some orange and apple trees beside the house. Then Bobby asked Alana if she wanted to practice fishing again. “I can time you and we can see how many fish you catch. I’l
l fish too.”

  Bobby grabbed his fishing rod and Alana took hers out and they both cast their rods into the water.

  “Ready. Set. Go.”

  Three minutes went by when he called out, “Stop!”

  They looked at their buckets and counted the fish. Alana had three and Bobby had seven.

  “Three isn’t bad,” Alana said, and then congratulated Bobby on winning the practice contest.

  “You’re improving, and I can teach you tricks to help you win the contest, but first we have to find a place for the new pool.”

  Alana wondered what tricks Bobby had and how they would help her win the competition.

  CHAPTER 10

  TIME TRAVEL

  Alana practiced with Bobby for the next few days, but he never mentioned the tricks again, and she didn’t bring it up. There were a few times when Bobby would tell Alana about various bait and the best way to angle your rod to catch more fish, but she didn’t think this was what he meant when he said tricks. When he brought up the tricks, he seemed to infer that there was a secret way to win the competition. Alana was curious to hear it, but she wasn’t as focused on winning anymore. She just didn’t want to come in last.

  One sunny morning, with a week to go before the fishing contest, Tick alerted Alana that the pool was in stock and ready to be built. Alana asked Janey where it should go and how they might go about hiding it from Lars until the day of the party, which was a little more than a week away.

  “Easy,” Janey said. “I won’t invite Lars over to my house. I’ll just find an excuse to always be on your side of the island. I will also make sure he doesn’t visit Bobby. Besides that, there’s no reason to go over to my side of the island. The only other resident who comes here is Happy, and that’s because she does her cardio. Bobby also jogs around here, but again, that doesn’t matter because he lives here. This side of the island is very quiet. If you place the pool by the edge of the island, by the small garden I planted, I will make sure Lars doesn’t see it.”

  Bobby helped Alana with the pool’s construction, and when it was done, they both jumped in and went for a swim.

  “This is so nice,” Bobby said. “Now I have a spot to do laps. I do like swimming in the sea, but it’s not for lap swimming. I’m so glad we have this pool.”

  Alana looked at the area surrounding the pool. It was just a grassy meadow, and she thought it would be nice if they created a patio with lounge chairs and tables. “I think we should build a fence around this area and then create a space for chairs and tables.”

  “That’s a great idea,” Bobby said, and then he swam another lap.

  “The only problem is I don’t know if I’ll have enough time to build the patio and train for the competition.”

  Bobby stepped out of the pool and said, “I have a trick I can teach you that can help you win the competition and you won’t have to practice anymore.”

  “I can win and I don’t have to practice?” Alana asked suspiciously. “I don’t think I trust this trick.”

  Bobby ignored Alana’s question and asked, “Have you ever traveled backward or forward in time?”

  “No,” Alana replied with a perplexed expression. “That isn’t possible.”

  “It is, and people do it all the time.”

  “Really? Why?” Alana asked.

  “Sometimes someone can’t wait for a holiday like Christmas or their birthday, so they move their calendar ahead to that day, so they can either celebrate it sooner or relive it if it happened already.”

  “I never did something like that, and I never wanted to. If you can just travel through time whenever you like, you’ll have nothing to wait for. I know I’m not the most patient person, but I love having something to look forward to, and I think time travel would ruin that part of the fun.”

  “I understand your point, but the way we will use time travel will be a bit different. Can we try it first and then you can make up your mind?” Bobby asked.

  “How? What time period are we going to travel to?”

  Bobby replied, “To the future. Since you’ve never seen a fishing tournament, we can watch the one happening here next week and you can see everything that happens, so you feel prepared.”

  This seemed very logical to Alana and she agreed. “What a good idea. Let’s go.”

  “I can’t go with you,” Bobby explained. “Only the island manager can time travel, but I can show you how to do it. Get your calendar and change the date.”

  She went to her calendar and changed the date to the day of the fishing tournament and within seconds she was standing in future Furtopia, on the day of the competition. Alana was surprised at the beautiful patio and ornate wooden fence surrounding the pool. Orange trees had sprouted around the outside of the fence. Alana could hear voices in the distance and a loudspeaker. She realized the competition must be happening at that moment, so she sprinted over to the water and hid behind a tree. She watched everyone take part in the fishing tournament. She even watched herself cast a rod into the water.

  The timer went off and the gang pulled their rods from the water as a beaver named D. J. collected their buckets and counted their fish. Before they declared a winner, she pulled out her calendar and changed the date back. She didn’t want to know who won the contest. In an instant she was standing by the pool, but Bobby wasn’t there.

  “Bobby?” Alana called out, but there was no answer. She sprinted to Janey’s house, but she wasn’t home either.

  Alana was walking toward the bridge to go to the center of town when she spotted Lars coming over it.

  “Where are you going?” Alana asked nervously. She wanted Lars to avoid that side of the island because she didn’t want him to discover the new pool.

  “Alana!” Lars exclaimed. “Where have you been? I was looking for you.”

  “I was just practicing fishing with Bobby.”

  “Nobody has seen Bobby either,” Lars said.

  “We need to find him. It’s strange because I was just fishing with him and he suggested that I . . . ” Alana stopped herself. She didn’t want to tell Lars about the time traveling because watching the tournament gave her an unfair advantage. Although she didn’t stick around to hear who was declared the winner, she saw who caught the most fish. Alana figured if she was positioned where that player had been, she might be able to catch the most fish.

  “What did he suggest?” Lars asked.

  “Oh nothing,” Alana replied. “I forget. It was about fishing.”

  “Let me know if you remember, because it might give us a clue to where he is,” Lars said.

  Alana still had to stop Lars from walking over the bridge to the other side of the island. “Do you want to come over for some orange juice?” Alana asked Lars. “I made fresh squeezed orange juice this morning.”

  “That sounds great,” Lars said.

  “Good, let’s go now,” Alana said, hoping the orange juice was still in her refrigerator. She worried that this one trip into the future had left a devastating impact on the past.

  As they walked toward her house, Carl sauntered by. “Alana, you’re back,” Carl remarked. “There were rumors that you were eaten by a shark when you were practicing for the competition.”

  “Nope, I’m here,” Alana said with a giggle.

  “Have you seen Bobby?” Carl asked.

  Alana said, “I was just with him, but he seems to have disappeared. I can find him.” Alana hoped she would.

  CHAPTER 11

  LOST AND FOUND

  Alana did find Bobby, but it took all day. She found him sitting on the beach eating a coconut.

  “What happened to you?” Alana asked.

  “What happened to you?” Bobby responded.

  “I went to the future like you suggested, you know that.” Alana was annoyed.

  “Right! Of course,” Bobby said. “Did it help?”

  “I guess so. I felt a lot of guilt because it seemed like I was cheating, so I left before they decl
ared the winner.”

  “The minute you left I regretted suggesting it,” Bobby confessed. “I have been on the beach hoping you’d return safely and that traveling to the future wouldn’t have a negative impact on you and the island.”

  “What? I didn’t know time travel was bad. Then why did you tell me to travel to the future and watch the competition?” Alana asked.

  “I thought it would lessen the pre-contest jitters, but I knew it was a bad idea. I was upset with myself and so I went off to figure out why I’d suggest time travel to you. I should have warned you that time travel isn’t the greatest idea. If you travel too far ahead, Furtopia could suffer. If you decide to see what the island is like in a year, you might find it overrun with weeds. We aren’t really meant to time travel, and I should have never suggested it,” explained Bobby.

  “Thanks for warning me, but I don’t think I’m going to do it again. It made me feel yucky. It was so strange to hide and watch the contest. I’d much rather spend my time practicing than finding tricks to win. I think I should become a better fisherman.”

  “What did you see?”

  “I just watched how it was set up and I saw D. J. the beaver. I didn’t stick around to see who won.”

  “Did you get a glimpse into the buckets to see who was catching the most fish?”

  Alana replied, “It seemed like everyone was catching fish, even me.”

  “Then, you have nothing to worry about,” said Bobby.

  “I know that we have a lot of work ahead of us. When I was transported to the future, I saw the patio beside the pool, and it was really nice. I know that is going to take a long time to build.”

  “Well, let’s get that out of the way. We can go see Tick and Tock and purchase all the items you saw in the future,” Bobby suggested.

  They were steps from Tick and Tock’s shop when Happy called out to them. She stood outside the tailor shop holding a T-shirt and pants. “Hi,” Happy said. She looked down at the shirt and pants. “I just bought these. Aren’t they nice?”