Unnatural Multiverse Book 6

The headless hippocampus rider

That same day after supper, Mom offered me a deal. "I need you and your friend to do me a favor this weekend. You have to look after Linus for one day. But the other day, you're free to bicycle on your own." She told me. "Deal." I replied. We both shook hands. I asked Mom about what day of the weekend that I should look after Linus. She replied to me that it was up to me and Nixie. I don't think hanging around Linus was so much of a problem anymore. In fact, on Thursday evening after supper, that's when I told Mom about my plan. "Is it okay after school, that Nixie and I take Linus windsurfing tomorrow after school? We could also take him to the beach on Sunday too." I offered. "That's better than nothing. And of course I can let him do some windsurfing with Nixie and you." Mom permitted. I had a smile form on my face. Mom had my swimsuit, and Linus' swimsuit packed into the same backpack. We then went to school as we normally do for any school day.

Nixie and Mrs. Oceania came to school two seconds after we arrived. Nixie told me that she couldn't wait for after school. She thought it would be fun to hang out with Linus again. Before school started, I looked over at Leander. He was leaning on the fence dividing the bicycle parking lot with the alleyway nearby. Nixie went to talk with Linus. The only expression that Leander had on his face was a normal expression. He felt alright by simply standing there. The other school staff and students arrived soon after. Leander only talked with his peers for only a few seconds. Then school started. I went into the middle school with Nixie. Linus went to his school building. Leander did the same as well. The day went by like normal. We played a different sport during each recess. After going through the day, the school bell rang. Everybody came outside. That's when I came to find Linus. Nixie and I took him to the middle school. We changed into our swimsuits inside the school. Mom also gave us lifejackets. Then she took Leander for a ride. After changing into our swimsuits, we walked all the way to the beach. We pushed our bicycles along too. Mrs. Oceania was watching how things were going from the beach. The lifeguard was on duty. There were a few people swimming. That's when I rented one of the windsurf boards. Nixie had Linus standing next to her. When we pushed off, the wind got caught in the sail. We were sailing nicely on the water. Though something managed to catch my eye. I thought I saw something riding a horse underwater. I thought that it must be my imagination playing tricks on me. We had a great time at the beach. "Wee!" Linus said as we sailed along. "I'm scared that we might fall in the water." He also professed.

"Just do what I am doing Linus. You're going to be just fine. We just let the wind take care of everything else." Nixie informed him. After finishing windsurfing, we brought the windsurf board back. Linus smiled at Nixie while we pedaled home. Then the neighbors continued home and said bye to us. "How was the windsurfing Linus?" Mom queried. "It was great Mom. Leo and Nixie showed me how you would windsurf on one of those boards." Linus responded. The only thing that Leander did was helping Mom prepare the supper. The supper for tonight was some poke. I could see that Leander had a normal expression on his face. "I'm glad that you brought Linus with you Leo. I finished doing plenty of things with Leander. And I'm sure that we have figured out some problems." Mom adduced. I don't know what Mom might be talking about then. That's when I thought about tomorrow. It's my only chance to be free for that day. I thought for a while. "Linus, Leo told me that you will be spending time with Nixie at the beach on Sunday. How does that sound?" Mom announced. I looked over at Linus. I finish a bit of my salad when the subject came up. "Really?" Linus pumped. I nodded my head and slightly grinned. That was when Leander looked at Mom. "Leander. Don't take offense to that. We can take you to the beach one these days. But for now, you can talk about your future with me. That's something important. Leo is just helping us with looking after Linus." Mom assured him. Leander seemed to have toned down. That night, we all slept peacefully. The next morning, I got up ten minutes before eight. I made my breakfast and was sure to wait for Mom to wake up. "Morning Mom." I said as she walked down the hallway from her bedroom. "Morning. So are you're planning to go somewhere?" Mom interrogated. "I'm just going out for a regular bike ride, around the island that is." I explained. "That sounds wonderful. But you better get here in the afternoon. The weather report yesterday suggested that there's going to be some rain in the afternoon." Mom implied. "Not to worry. I can hide under a tree is it does rain." I defended myself.