Back On The Road

They landed a pretty cheap bed that night in a local spot, though woke with severe back pain and the smell of golf grass staining their skin. After showering they both got back to walking- vowing not to take any chances with another ride, even if what happened last time was of little fault to the actual driver that picked them up. No, the two weren’t having that- Frankie wasn’t, at least. Katie had no issue with the idea of hitching another ride if it meant less time to fulfil her goals, but was perfectly fine walking to at least preview a few parks on the way there.

And that she did. Contructagon City was monumentally impressive with its entirely building block-based architecture, and certainly nostalgic for the both of them who’d grown up with the toy it was based after. There were a lot of places with terrain coasters, notably a few where you couldn’t even see the whole thing because they’d planted new forests for it to run through. After another nightly stop at an even worse hotel, they both found themselves honestly pretty interested in another one of the more specialized parks they went through, a sprawling, outdoor go-kart race center called Velocity that had about as many entire racetracks as a normal park had attractions. Even Frankie secretly hoped that, if one day, she wasn’t so bothered by how loud it was, or how many people were there, maybe she’d get to race Katie on one of its many courses.

For now though, she told herself- what she needed was a detox. And that’s why she was gonna set out to sea. If she could get just one moment of silence and solitude in this place other than blasting into the abyss of space, surely she’d then finally be able to appreciate the loud side of the world everyone else seemed to love so much... at least a little bit.

The road they found themselves on late that day, December 18th, 2012 NGP- was long, straight, and walled-in on both sides by a myriad of coasters. They didn’t know what park they were currently in, and hadn’t checked in some time how much further they had to hike. In that moment, the two of them were just talking.

"If Mom and Dad do get back... b-before we're done, I mean... what do we do then?" Asked Frankie to her sister.

"Bring them along, of course! And I'm sure they will." She giggled. "Get back, that is. And I think it's pretty likely that they will show up before we're done. I mean, this is a big journey, right?"

"Right..."

"We're not done until we've seen every inch of the Earth, and after that, we'll head to the moon."

"Will you be satisfied then?"

“I feel like we’re in Kansas. Are we in Kansas?”

Frankie checked her phone.

“We’re in Kansas.”

“Your hair looks great, by the way.”

At the expense of losing her head’s resemblance to the color of Percy Phytoplankton- (yes, that is why she dyed it in the first place) Frankie had taken the precaution going into this place her old enemy Coaster Bozo was certain to be by simply re-dying her hair a new, blonde shade. Out in the daylight, it was clear for her to see- to Katie, the look fit her sister more than her natural brown tone. Maybe not quite as stylish as the mint she’d gotten used to, but it was pretty.

“Uh... thanks. But remember, this is just for our own safety.”

“Think I should do something with mine?”

“No, yours is fine. I just don’t want the strong impression of mine to give us away immediately if we cross paths with that guy. Trust me, I wouldn’t have dyed my own such a boring color if I didn’t have to. Would’ve rather gone with blue or something.”

“Why, ‘cause it reminds you of Umi?”

“She had dark hair.”

“You’re impossible to tease.”

The remainder of the journey was long and rife with confusion. Katie begged to stop at a clothing store, but Frankie completely disallowed it until she explained that they needed outfits to wear while they did laundry that weren’t swimsuits. After some time wasted, the two both ended up with only a single new outfit- along with some underwear and also socks, for the one shoe-wearer of the group. Frankie was resistant to buying real footwear at this point. She said the price wasn’t worth it. Katie reminded her that a good pair of kicks would’ve come in handy in their last chase, but she wasn’t having it. She retracted her point in the end, just happy with the jeans and loose off-shoulder shirt she’d bought. Frankie essentially just got a copy of the same outfit she always wore. Black shorts this time, not blue, but she was pretty dissatisfied with the shirt she bought to pair with it.

“Coaster Queen” it read in stark red text on an all-black background. Frankie told herself she’d turn it into another Percy shirt one day.

They argued their way through a restaurant menu and again looking for hotels that night. They got lost on the 19th, finding themselves in a waterpark laid out so poorly it made the two of them realize just how important good park design was in a place like Makoasis. They didn’t know how good they had it back there.

Just after lunch that day, they were venturing forward again. In a big city park full of balloons that Frankie didn’t bother to learn the name of, the two were tired, discouraged, and hadn’t checked the directions in a few hours.

“We will… uh.” Katie hated to be the pessimist. “Get there on time, right? I... know you said not to, but I’m beginning to worry.”

“Yeah… uh…” Frankie took her phone out of her pocket again. The new shorts were comfortable, but she refused to wear the shirt unless she absolutely had to.

“Where are we?”

Frankie grinned.

“We’re in Agra, dude.”

“Already?!”

“Only a few more miles to go. Come on, Katie!”

Katie was happy to see her little sister burst into a sprint at the drop of a hat, just like she did on the first day they began their journey.

She rushed after her, the two of them speeding towards Kidneyland like raging bees.