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It Does Exist!
September 3, 2006 07:50:56 PM
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the first story in the adventures of Michel and Tracy. I originally posted it on Horse Writers, but it didn't go over too well (at least, it hardly got read), so I'm putting it here. One day, if I can, I shall write more Michel and Tracy adventures. This one is based loosely on Dreamworks' The Road to El Dorado, so, uh . . . enjoy.

~∙~

Chapter One - What's This I Hear About a Fuel Can?

It was a sunny day in the year 2005. A small white plane swooped over the jungles of Central America like a giant bird. Painted on the plane's left side were three stripes, one yellow, one red, and one green. On the right side there were also three stripes, only these were green, blue, and black, and an American flag was painted on the tail. Seated inside the plane were two 18-year-old girls, Michel and Tracy. Michel had shoulder-length blond hair and curious blue-grey eyes, and although she was also a little on the crazy side, she loved travel and adventure. Tracy, who was sitting at the controls on the right side of the plane and was maneuvering the aircraft, had brown hair that was also shoulder-length, and brown eyes. She was very different from her sister, because she preferred to keep her head straight on her shoulders and not let it wander off into the clouds. She also disliked her sister's little bit of silliness, and more often than not told Michel to keep her mouth shut.

Tracy sat there, expertly controlling the plane, and every now and then checked her altimeter, speedometer, and fuel meter. Michel sat in the seat behind the cockpit and pressed her nose to the small window.

"Will you look at this view, Tracy?" she said excitedly.

Tracy rolled her eyes. Michel was always getting excited about the smallest thing. She kept her eyes straight ahead.

"Well, yeah, I would, except you forgot two liiiittle things."

Michel peeled her eyes from the window long enough to raise one eyebrow and look at her older sister.

"Huh? What two things did I forget?"

Tracy growled deep in her throat.

"Well, for one . . . I'M FLYING THIS STUPID PLANE THAT YOU BEGGED DAD TO BUY FOR US, and second, HOW CAN YOU SEE ANYTHING SINCE WE'RE FLYING ABOVE THE CLOUDS?!"

Michel sat back in her seat, her bubble burst.

"Oh, well. Sorry to bother you, Tracy," she mumbled.

Tracy was always yelling at her or saying something that made her sound like some dingbat that had crawled out from under a rock within the past three thousand years.

"You'd think she was Tulio or something," Michel muttered to herself.

"Excuse me?" Tracy exclaimed.

"Oh! Oh, nothing. Nothing at all," Michel replied solemnly.

The two continued their flight in their personal plane in silence. Nothing was heard except for the ticking of the timer Tracy had ingeniously installed to keep track of their flying time. After a while (fifteen or twenty minutes at the least), Tracy glanced over at the fuel meter. She gasped as she watched the arrow moving closer to "zero gallons."

"Uh, Michel?" she said worriedly.

Michel had fallen asleep with her head on the plane's tiny backseat window, and was completely unconscious, so Tracy had to say it again.

"Michel?"

No answer. Tracy snorted and sighed.

"MICHEL!" she shouted.

Michel sat upright, hitting her head on the overhead compartment that Tracy had also ingeniously installed. She rubbed her head and scowled at the hard-as-a-rock compartment.

"Why'd you have to go and yell at me Tracy? I didn't do anything," she said sleepily.

Tracy rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"No . . . YOU didn't do anything," she said, pointing to the fuel meter. "We're almost out of fuel."

Michel was suddenly wide awake.

"Almost out of fuel?!" she cried.

Then, as if on command, she dived back behind her seat, looking for the emergency fuel can. Even if it did not refill the plane's tank, it could be poured into the emergency fuel hole and at least add ten gallons so they could land somewhere.

After about five minutes of digging, Michel's head popped up over the back seat.

"Tracy, problem. I can't find the fuel can."


Chapter Two - The Landing

Tracy's head spun around so fast, Michel was sure it was about to fly off her neck and come whirling toward her like a Frisbee that had gone to the Dark Side.

"CAN'T FIND THE FUEL CAN?!" she screamed.

She sank back into her pilot's seat and started looking around for a landing place.

"Michel... Get your butt up here and scout out a landing zone!"

Michel scurried back to her seat and looked around for a place suitable enough to make a crash landing. She pointed out her window at an area she found.

"There!" she said.

"Where?"

"THERE!"

"Oh, there." Tracy finally saw where her sister was pointing.

Michel was pointing at a beautiful clearing below them. The clearing was decorated with dozens of different kinds of edible fruit trees, and the grass was the most perfect green color.

"It looks like the Garden of Eden," Michel whispered in awe.

Tracy scowled as she put down her landing gears.

"Are you nuts? The Garden of Eden hasn't been found, nor will it be. It probably disappeared the same way the Ark of the Covenant did. God sucked it back up to heaven. Either that or He disintegrated it! But it is not, I repeat, NOT the Garden of Eden."

"Yeah, well, okay. Land there anyway," Michel replied, completely ignoring her sister's dialogue on the Garden of Eden.

Slowly, the girls' plane descended from the sky, and with a bump, bounce, and boogie, skidded to a standstill in the mysterious clearing.


Chapter Three - Uhh . . . And Where Are We?

"Nice landing," Michel said sarcastically.

Tracy was climbing out of the cockpit, but she took a moment to throw a scowl at her sister.

"Thanks."

Tracy managed to squeeze herself out of the itty bitty door, and after she straightened her brown corduroy vest, looked around at where they were. The garden was so beautiful that she stared at it in awe. The colors the garden contained were so many and richer than anything she had ever seen. Flowers of crimson, violet, and indigo blossomed in surplus from rich emerald green bushes. Bright yellow and orange butterflies flitted around the garden, and four Texas nine-banded armadillos chased each other around a cone-shaped native bush. While Tracy stood there staring at the garden, Michel dived into the back seat once again in search of the lost fuel can.

"Ah ha ha ha ha! There you are, you scheming scoundrel of a fuel can!" she cried, plucking it out of hiding.

She jumped out the plane and grinned sheepishly.

"Found it."

Tracy gave Michel a disapproving look and pushed her back into the plane.

"Find our map, Michel," she commanded.

"Aye, aye, Captain Crunch!" Michel said, saluting.

She obediently crawled around in the back in dogged search of their Central America atlas. After a few minutes, she stuck her head out of the plane.

"I don't see a map, Trace."

Tracy huffed and crawled into the plane alongside her sister.

"Come on. That stupid map's got to be here somewhere . . ." she muttered.

For several minutes, the two sisters rummaged around in the back of the plane. They found everything under the sun except their map, including Hershey bar wrappers, plastic Coke bottles, and even Michel's prized box of Prismacolor colored pencils.

"My pencils!" Michel exclaimed, hugging them.

Tracy crawled back out of the plane, put her hands on her hips, and glared at her sister.

"Your colored pencils?" she said, one eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, so?"

"You brought your colored pencils?!"

"Yeah. Why?"

"YOU HAD ROOM TO PACK YOUR COLORED PENCILS BUT YOU COULDN'T PACK A MAP?!?"

Michel dug around in the plane a little more, then jumped out and dusted herself off. There was a little grin upon her face.

"What's so funny?" Tracy asked suspiciously.

"Nothing, but if I remember correctly, you were in charge of packing the map," Michel said coolly.

Tracy smacked her forehead with the heel of her hand and started pounding it against the plane. Michel stood by with a smirk of satisfaction on her face until something made her turn around. She gasped and whimpered.

Out from behind a grove of orange trees sneaked a group of Indians. They looked like they had popped right out of one of those ancient Aztec paintings in Michel's well-worn archaeology book. They were being led by a tall, muscular man, who could not have been less than seven feet and two hundred pounds. The men came within five feet of the plane and stopped. Michel gulped and tugged on Tracy, who was still banging her head on the plane. Tracy turned.

"What? Couldn't you see I was . . . Uh, hello . . . who are you?" she said.

The men made no answer, but moved a bit closer to the girls. The big one in front made some grunting sounds, and Michel shrank behind her sister. Tracy stared at them for a minute, then decided what to say to them.

"Uh . . . hello. This your garden? Sorry, we were just looking. We're uh, we're tourists! Tour-ist. W-w-we lost our group. Heh heh. May we go now?"

Suddenly the tall native man shoved his spear in Tracy and Michel's faces. This whole deal was getting weird, and it was starting to turn into the girls' favorite movie (and we all know what that is . . .). Michel squeaked, and Tracy laughed nervously.

"Heh. Spears."

The man motioned with his spear for them to follow him, and he started walking away from the plane. Michel shut and padlocked the plane's door, and she and her sister started following the group of natives. They were led around a huge shrub, and into a giant maze.


Chapter Four - Entering the City

For an hour or more, Michel and Tracy nervously followed the frightening group of men through the winding maze. Sweat trickled down the girls' backs because the sun was so hot that day. Their steps became slower as if they were walking through mud. Michel put her arm around Tracy's neck and sighed a bit too loudly. The natives turned around and looked at them strangely, as if they did not think people would get tired walking around in circles and ninety-degree angles.

"Tracy?" Michel whispered.

"Yeah?" Tracy whispered back.

"Where are we going?"

"In circles."

There was silence for a while, but it was not the good kind of silence. It was an eerie silence. It was one of those silences where even the rustling of the wind through the trees and bushes made your skin prickle. The sisters trudged on, never knowing where they were headed.

"Tracy?" Michel whispered.

"Yeah?" Tracy whispered back.

"I'm bushed. I could collapse."

"I know. I could drink thirty gallons of water. Michel?"

"Yeah?"

"You think we'll die?"

"Of thirst, exhaustion, or execution?"

"Yeah."

Michel paused. She thought for a moment before answering.

"Hmm . . . Well, uh, yes, yes, and, um, yes. Most likely all three, if not the last one."

Tracy groaned.

"I don't want to die. I've got to go home . . . to Chris."

Michel nodded sadly.

"Me neither. I've got Bubba."

Tracy turned and stared at Michel with a look that said "Are you nuts?!".

"Bubba? Who's Bub-- oh."

Chris was Tracy's boyfriend back home in New York. Bubba was Michel's pet name for her boyfriend, Levi. The girls were so engrossed in whispering about their supposed dooms and missing their boyfriends that they forgot to look where they were going. The guide group had stopped, and Michel and Tracy walked right into them. The big man that had first approached them appeared reverent toward something.

"What's going on here?" Tracy asked.

The man pointed with his spear toward the sky. Michel and Tracy leaned their heads waaaaaay waaaaaay back, and looked directly at the sky.

"Hey, I don't see anything . . ." Tracy complained, shading her eyes against the sun.

Michel stood straight up and looked, not directly up, but up and forward from where they stood. She gasped, and tugged on Tracy's corduroy vest.

"Tracyyyy . . ." she whispered in shock, awe, and wonder.

"What's there to look at, it's just sky . . . OH!"

Tracy saw what her sister saw. Looming above them on the horizon were three great pyramid-like temple things. Tracy squinted at them. Those temples looked awfully familiar . . .

The men lead them around a corner, and the sight that met the girls' eyes next was one of undreamed-of splendor. Golden terraces were overflowing with the same flowers, shrubs, and trees that had first greeted the sisters in the garden. The three temples that had loomed above them were so spectacular, for a moment the girls did not breathe. Multitudes of people lined both sides of a huge river. Tracy leaned over to Michel and whispered breathlessly.

"Michel, you wanted to know where we were going?"

"Sure as heck did. Where are we?"

"Right. Look around. You'll know where we are."

Michel did as told and looked around. She studied the enormous temples, the gold, the people . . . Suddenly, the realization of where she was hit her like that boulder from Raiders of the Lost Ark would have if Indy had not been running fast enough. She looked at her sister, her eyes wide with excitement. Could it be . . .?

"El Dorado . . ." they whispered simultaneously, half laughing, half crying.


Chapter Five - My Name Is Michel, And I Dance With Armadillos

El Dorado. To think, this mythical city actually existed, and it looked just like the city out of the movie! Tracy's eyes were wide, and her eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets like those eyeballs in the cartoons on Cartoon Network. Michel looked up, left, right, down, and around. There was so much to see, she almost wished she had eyes in the back and sides of her head. As she was looking behind her, she noticed that the four armadillos that had been in the garden were following her!

"Tracy, there're armadillos following me," she said warily.

There was no response. Tracy's eyeballs were still popping out of her head. Michel huffed and looked back to see if the armadillos were still behind her. They were. So, Michel, being the animal lover she was, smiled and stepped to the left. All four armadillos scurried to the left also. Michel took two steps to the right, and the armadillos scurried to the right. Michel stepped up the pace a bit, and the armadillos scurried faster. Michel laughed aloud and soon she and the quartet of armadillos were dancing.

Somehow Tracy managed to suck her eyeballs back into their sockets, and she turned around and stared at her sister. Michel was having a grand ol' time dancing the Texas Two-Step with Texas armadillos. Then she looked up and saw her sister's stone "I-can't-believe-you're-doing-what-you're-doing" face. Michel stopped, and the cute little armadillos ran right into her legs. Tracy crossed her arms sternly.

"Michel, you discover the fabled City of Gold, and the first thing you do is dance with armadillos?!"

Michel's shoulders slumped, and her expression went from exuberant to downcast. Her entourage squeaked sadly.

"Oh, brother," Tracy groaned as she resumed following their guides.

Finally, the girls and their guide group stopped in front of the largest temple. Waiting for them was an elderly man with white hair and gentle brown eyes. He approached Michel and Tracy with outspread arms and a smile upon his face.

"Greetings, my ladies," he said kindly. "Welcome to our fair city. I am Chipotlé, El Dorado's high priest."

Tracy put up her hand in greeting, and Michel smiled a hello. He seemed nice enough to not want to chop them up for supper.

"I'm Tracy, and this is . . ."

Michel cut in before Tracy had a chance to finish her sentence.

" . . . and I'm Michel. Most folks back home just call us TM . . . or TradeMark . . . or . . ."

She wheezed as Tracy elbowed her in the gut. Chipotlé smiled welcomely.

"We have been waiting for you for many, many . . ."

"CHIPOTLÉ!" came a loud shout that echoed throughout the city.

Michel and Tracy looked around to see who had called the high priest's name. Then they saw him.


Chapter Six - Hey, Chief Tostitos! Have You Got Any Salsa?

It was a kid! He could not have been more than twelve or thirteen, but the townspeople bowed with respect for him. Chipotlé turned to face the boy and bowed at the waist.

"Yes, your Most Gracious Chiefness?" he asked humbly.

Michel looked at Tracy with a look of sheer confusion on her face.

"'Your Most Gracious Chiefness'?" she whispered. "That kid's only Levi's brother's age!"

The Boy-Chief ran down the stairs of one of the two smaller temples and bowed before Michel and Tracy as though he were a servant in a king's court. Tracy nodded a slight acknowledgment, and the Chief stood up. Then he turned to Chipotlé.

"Why did you not tell me that the goddesses were coming, High Priest?" he bellowed.

Michel again looked at her sister with confusion.

"Goddesses?" she whispered in shock.

Tracy nodded her head.

"Yes, Michel, we're goddesses now," she growled. "You've watched THAT movie enough . . . You should've known something like this was going to happen! This is all your fault!"

Suddenly the Chief had turned to them and was speaking.

"My ladies," he said. "I am Chief Tostitohadomeahnacko."

"We are . . . uh . . . Tracy and Michel!" Tracy announced, all important-like.

"Welcome to El Dorado, Great Ladies. You will, of course, be staying with us for a very, very, very long time?"

Tracy nodded slightly, but Michel touched her sister's shoulder to get her attention, and shook her head "no." Chipotlé motioned with his hands toward the largest temple.

"My ladies, perhaps you would care to retire to your temple?" he suggested.

Both Tracy and Michel hastily started to agree and say "yes," but Chief Tostitos jumped in.

"Chipotlé, the goddesses must not retire without first knowing who their personal slave is!" he shouted, attempting a grown-up, "I'm-the-boss" sound.

"Slave?!" Michel whispered to Tracy with a hint of fright barely detectable in her tone of voice. "Uh, oh . . . "

The Chief grabbed a young man from the crowd by the wrists and presented him to the sisters as if he were the Ferrari their uncle gave Tracy for her Sweet 16 birthday bash.

"Great Ladies, may I present to you your slave . . . Nellsakeehai!"

"Lame name," Michel thought, rolling her eyes.

"Uh . . ." Tracy said hesitantly.

She and her sister did not even get to give their approval before the kid chief pushed a man twice his age up the temple stairs.

"Nellsakeehai will be at your service morning, noon, and evening, my ladies," he announced. "Now, you may retire you your temple. Chipotlé, show them the way!"

The gentle old high priest quietly led the girls to their temple overlooking El Dorado. Michel easily walked up the steep staircase, while Tracy had some trouble and had to pull herself up one step at a time.

"Told you to go with me on that field trip to Chichen Itza, silly!" Michel whispered, sounding like a smart-aleck.

"Don't rub it in," Tracy panted.

Finally they were at the top of the temple. Chipotlé smiled at them as he pulled a heavy silken curtain back. The scent of cinnamon wafted out to meet them, reminding Michel of Christmas at their grandmother's house.

"Enjoy your temple, my good and fair ladies. This night there will be a great banquet held in your honor, and tomorrow morning the Chief wishes that I give you a proper tribute at the ceynote well," he said.

"Ehh . . . That, uh, won't be necessary, Chipotlé. The . . . uh . . . tribute, I mean," Michel said, almost too quickly.

The high priest looked at her strangely as if to say "No tribute? What is wrong with you goddesses?", but then he nodded.

"Your wish is my command, Lady Michel."

With that, he disappeared down the palace steps. Michel let out the breath she had just then realized she had been holding, and leaned against one of the walls, glad that Chipotlé was gone.


Chapter Seven - Why Is Everything Blue and Green?

As soon as Chipotlé left the extravagant temple, Tracy turned to Michel and crossed her arms angrily.

"What do you mean 'A tribute won't be necessary'?!" she asked, lifting an eyebrow in one of her evil-eye looks.

Michel shrugged.

"You've watched that movie with me enough times to figure out that our "proper tribute" was going to be exactly like, or almost exactly like, the one that Tzekel-Kan tried to give them!"

Tracy looked dumbfounded for a minute, as if she could not believe that Michel could actually process a logical thought! Michel laughed at her sister's strange expression and took her by the arm.

"Let's explore the palace, yeah?" she said.

Tracy nodded, and they entered the heart of the temple. As soon as they saw it, they gasped. It was even more beautiful on the inside than it was on the outside! A golden spiral staircase connected the two levels of the temple. Two golden beds clothed with silk sheets and silk pillows stood on either side of the first floor of the temple. In between them was a crystal-clear reflection pool and a marble fireplace. Tracy immediately flopped lazily onto one of the soft, squishy beds, and sighed contentedly. Michel shook her head and laughed.

"Now this is the life!" Tracy exclaimed happily.

"Are you kidding?" Michel asked. "We haven't even seen the upstairs yet!"

The sisters ran up the circular staircase to the second floor as if they were children racing in for Christmas morning. When they arrived on the second floor, Tracy almost fainted from the shock. It was even more extravagant than the first floor! The two beds were bigger, softer, and the windows were framed with decorative golden shutters. Michel immediately traipsed off to examine carefully the artwork that decorated the golden walls.

"I want to live up here!" Tracy declared, pouncing upon a bed decorated in rich blue sheets. "Michel, you take the downstairs!"

Michel turned.

"Ha, ha, very funny." She paused. "It 'pears to me that we both get to live up here! See this sign? It's got the Aztec word for "lady" on it."

Tracy bounced up to see the sign, and Michel flopped onto the second bed, which was decorated in luxurious emerald green sheets.

"What did that high priest say?" she asked, leaning on her elbow. "Something about some feast somewhere?"

"Tonight. In the city square. In your honor," spoke a moderately deep voice.

Michel jumped straight off her bed. She looked at Tracy, who shrugged confusedly.

"W-who said that?" Tracy demanded.

"Me."


Chapter Eight - Nellsakeehai

"Me . . . who?" Tracy asked, somewhat timidly.

"Me-me."

"Is that like moo-moo?" Michel asked.

The mysterious voice chuckled, and from behind an embellished pillar stepped a tall, handsome, dark man dressed in a blue and gold Aztec outfit. Michel jumped nervously, and dived behind her bed to hide. The man laughed.

"Some goddesses we El Doradoians have," he said sarcastically.

Michel poked her head up over her bed and stood up. She dusted herself off and cleared her throat diplomatically.

"So, uh, who are you?" Tracy asked nonchalantly.

"Nellsakeehai, your 'personal slave', remember?" he said.

"Oh," Michel said sheepishly, then remembered who she was expected to be. "Oh, uh, I mean, you've finally arrived!"

Nellsakeehai laughed, but it was almost one of those "Mu-ahahahahahaha" laughs.

"I was here the whole time, and I've figured you out."

"How do you mean?" Tracy asked him, lifting an eyebrow suspiciously.

"You're not goddesses," he said with a knowing grin.

"We're not?" Michel asked.

"If you were goddesses, you wouldn't have turned away tomorrow's tribute, and you wouldn't have tried to live downstairs."

"Oh," Michel and Tracy said together.

Nellsakeehai shook his head and rolled his eyes as he came further out into the room.

"You two are going to need some serious help," he said.

"We don't need anybody's help," Tracy replied sternly.

Nellsakeehai laughed.

"Would you cut the laughing?" Michel said, slightly annoyed.

Their slave crossed his arms and leaned up against a wall.

"You two definitely need help. I'm not stupid, and I'm not blind. You two are about as far away from being goddesses as I am from being a golden plate. How about I help you out?"

"No, don't think so!" Tracy exclaimed.

"Okay, then." Nellsakeehai said sarcastically, walking down the stairs to go to the first floor. "Anyway, I'm sure you've taken some sort of class on all the rituals we observe, and you, of course, know everything there is to know about cursing and blessing the city, oh, and I almost forgot. You couldn't possibly not know about Xibalba!"

"Umm . . ." Michel said, nervously twirling her hair around her fingers.

"Like you said," Nellsakeehai continued. "You don't need any help! Of course!"

"Right, we don't need any help," Tracy repeated.

"Well, then, since you don't need any help . . . See you at the execution."

Michel looked at Tracy with wide, frightened eyes.

"Execution?!" she gasped. "Uh, oh . . ."

Tracy was thinking the exact same thing, so she flew down the stairs and caught up with Nellsakeehai.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" she said, running around in front of him. "Maybe we do need a little help."

Nellsakeehai smiled, and stuck out his hand.

"Then it's a deal?" he asked. "I help you pass off as goddesses, and you get me out of here in your big white bird. I don't care where you take me, just get me out of here."

Tracy hesitated for a moment, then shook the native's hand.

"That's a deal," she answered.

Michel came running down the spiral steps, and ran up to Tracy and Nellsakeehai.

"So what exactly are we supposed to wear to this feast dealy?" she asked, motioning to her American clothes. "We can't get away with this."

Nellsakeehai ran around a corner into a room and brought out two dresses.

"You'll wear these, and you'll call me Nell," he said. "Put 'em on, ladies!"

Michel and Tracy started back up the stairs to go to their room and change. They turned around, and noticed that Nell was following them.

"Uh . . . Nell?" Tracy said uneasily.

"Yes?" he replied, then it suddenly clicked that women like to change by themselves where absolutely no one is watching. "Oh! Oh, okay."

He ran back down the stairs and out the temple door.

"Be in the city square in ten minutes!" he called as he left them to themselves.

"Whatever," Tracy responded, and she and her sister began to change into their Aztec selves.


Chapter Nine - If They Called It "Nell Dorado", People Would Laugh

"Maybe they should call this place 'Nell Dorado'," Michel giggled as she pulled on a sleeveless, silken, mid-calf length green gown trimmed with gold lace.

"Yeah. He's soooo cute . . . WAIT A MINUTE! Are you crazy?"

"Am I?" Michel replied as she was brought back from her daydreaming.

"Yes!" her sister answered. "I mean, how can you even think about Nell, you unfaithful little slob! Think of Levi!"

"Oooh, Levi . . .my wittle Bubbly-Wubbly-Boo . . ." Michel cooed.

"Oh brother, not the 'Bubbly-Wubbly-Boo' thing . . ." Tracy groaned.

Michel turned and looked at Tracy.

"I don't need another boyfriend, right, Tracy? Besides, you think the boys will come and look for us?"

"Maybe," Tracy said hopefully, and slipped into a bright blue two-piece gown.

The top was basically a tube top with beaded fringe dangling from the bottom of it. The bottom was a wraparound skirt trimmed in the same beaded fringe. It was a little bit shorter than Michel's gown and stopped just above Tracy's knees.

"Why is everything I get blue?" Tracy asked suspiciously, looking into her mirror and adjusting her top.

"I dunno," Michel answered. "Why is everything I get green? Luckily, I like green, and it goes with my eyes."

"Your eyes?" Tracy laughed as she played with different hairstyles. "Green goes better with that milk you had for breakfast."

Michel walked over to the mirror and started fiddling with her hair. She gently pinched her cheeks to give them some color, and plucked a bright red flower out of a vase and stuck it in her hair. Tracy combed her hair out with a nearby golden comb, and finally decided to leave it out of the ponytail it had been in.

"Woah, Michel, you look awesome!" she gasped, looking Michel over.

Michel spun around in circles, modeling the dress. The skirt twirled out around her, and when she stopped, it fell gracefully back around her legs.

"You really think so?"

"Do I really think so? You're the one that looks good. I look stupid!" Tracy replied, trying to keep her tube top from sliding down.

"You do well in two pieces, Trace," Michel said, taking her by the arm and leading her out the door.

"But we can't go yet!" Tracy protested. "We don't know what to do, how to act, anything!"

Michel laughed and led her out the door.

"In the words of a great Dreamworks character . . . 'Tulio, relax. All you have to do is smile, act godly, and follow my lead!'." She paused. "That goes for you too, Tracy."

Tracy laughed nervously, and the next thing she knew, they had left the temple and were being stared at by the entire city of El Dorado.


Chapter Ten - Where Have I Seen This Before?

"Easy, Trace," Michel whispered. "Don't worry about a thing!"

"Easy for you to say," Tracy growled. "You're the optimist here."

The two girls linked arms and started down the long staircase. When they reached the bottom, somebody let out a wild whoop and music blared throughout the city. "Let's get it started in here, let's get it started in here . . ." bumped the song. Michel and Tracy stared at each other.

"Huh?!" they said simultaneously.

They looked through the crowd and saw a skinny native boy working a turntable to death. The girls shrugged and began dancing with the people. Pretty soon a fat lady walked over to Tracy and, bowing, offered her a glass of something.

Tracy accepted it, and after sniffing at it, said, "Well, it smells good!"

Then she took a big gulp of it.

"It tastes good too!" she grinned, and polished off the glass in two seconds.

Michel took a sip out of the glass she had been given, and immediately choked on the liquid.

"Gaah!" she exclaimed, setting the cup down where it could be "accidentally" knocked over. "Tracy, that stuff's gotta be alcoholic!"

But Tracy did not hear her. She had already set off for the punchbowl, and was now jiving around with some weird guy wearing a purple mohawk. Michel sighed. She could see where this was going, so she slipped off into the crowd to make small talk with the locals.

Within five minutes, Tracy was drunk, and Michel had found out that a nice young lady named Cassie had two brothers, two sisters, three cousins, five nephews and eight nieces, a dozen dogs, that her father was a Spanish pirate, her mother was a half-Aztec, half-Mayan princess, and that she had a big crush on Nellsakeehai.

"You can have him, girl," Michel wanted to say, but she held her tongue.

The night passed slowly for Michel, who bade her time by smiling and kissing the locals' babies. But on the other hand, the night passed quickly for Tracy. Half the time she did not know what she was doing or where she was, and whenever Michel looked over at her dancing around like an idiot, she would say "That is not my sister" to herself and look the other way.

At the end of the evening, when the party was over, Michel helped Tracy up the temple steps. Tracy was mumbling worthless nonsense the whole way, and Michel kept saying "I told you to stay out of the Tutti-Frutti punch."


Chapter Eleven - Look, Ma! It's The Boys!

The next morning when Michel woke up, Tracy was sitting in a deep, dark corner with a bag of ice clamped on her forehead.

"Good morning, Trace!" Michel shouted across the room.

Tracy cringed, and covered her ears with a pair of pillows.

"Not so loud! My head hurts."

Michel smiled knowingly. Tracy was suffering from the biggest, baddest hangover that probably was ever created.

"Serves you right. How many times did I come over and say 'Keep away from the Tutti-Frutti'?"

Tracy looked up at her sister with a strange look on her face.

"You came over to tell me to keep away from the punch?"

"Yes, I did. About a hundred times."

Michel threw her pillow at her sister, then turned to get dressed. As she was combing out her hair, Chipotlé came rushing into their room.

"My ladies, my ladies!" he cried.

Michel put her finger to her lips.

"Shh . . . Lady Tracy isn't feeling too good."

Chipotlé nodded, smiling.

"Too much Tutti-Frutti, I think?"

"You might say that."

The two laughed.

"Anyway," the High Priest said. "I've come to tell you that there are two men here. They say that they have followed your great bird and are here to see you and Lady Tracy."

"Two guys, you say? Holy cow! Tracy! Come on! The boys are here!"

Tracy crawled out of her corner, her hair tousled and tangled into a jillion knots.

"What boys?" she asked wearily.

"THE boys. The only ones we know. You know, Levi, Chris? Those boys?"

"Oh, those boys."

Chipotlé smiled.

"I will show them here. If it please your hearts, Ladies, I will set them to stay on the first floor."

Michel glowed with glee at seeing Levi.

"You do that," she gushed.

The High Priest disappeared down the stairs and out the temple door, and in a matter of moments, escorted Chris and Levi into the temple.

"Here you are, my lords. Your ladies are upstairs."

Then he was gone. Chris and Levi looked around and winked at each other. Then Levi cupped his hands around his mouth and called upstairs in a weenie voice: "Hidiho, Winslows!" Michel came racing down the circular staircase and threw herself into her boyfriend's arms.

"You got my text message!" she said, hugging him.

"Yeah, and I didn't believe it at first," Levi admitted, looking away sheepishly.

Chris punched him in the arm.

"No, I didn't believe it at first, you fruitcake," he smiled.

Michel laughed, and at that moment, Tracy came dragging down the stairs, squeezing the guts out of a pillow. Chris bowed elegantly and swept his baseball cap off his head.

"My lady, I am honored to be at thy service."

"Can it, Chris," Tracy growled, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Nay, but that I cannot do," Chris continued, feigning reverence and fighting the urge to laugh. "Thy happiness is my charge."

"All right," Tracy sighed. "You could start by getting me an aspirin, oh glorious Sir Christopher."

Chris pulled an Excedrin QuikTab out of his pocket and presented it to Tracy.

"My lady, a pill to ease thine suffering."

Tracy popped the headache reliever into her mouth.

"Thanks. Now like I said, can it, Sir Christopher, before I lop off thine head."

Chris laughed, and turned.

"Oh dear, Tracy, I think we're interrupting something."

For at that moment, Levi had swept Michel into a kiss, and just now he was letting go. Michel realized that her sister and Chris were staring at them.

"Oh, sorry." She coughed. "Say, why don't we go for a tour around the city? I'm sure it'll be perfectly beautiful."

"I'm for that," Levi agreed. "All I've seen for the past two days is clouds and leaves. I need a nice change of scenery."

"You got one, Doofus," Chris teased. "Remember that lovely tour through the grand country of Back-Of-Your-Eyelids on the way here?"

Everyone laughed. Then Michel started down the temple stairs.

"Come on, guys. El Dorado's no fun alone," she said, pouting.

"Oh, of course," Levi said, following her. "Come, thy glorious knightship, Sir Christopher of (New) York. Escort thine lady down the steps."

"Shut it, Bubba," Chris said, and he and Tracy started down the steps.


Chapter Twelve - We Used To Have a Lot Of Fun Together Until You Got Boring

Our quartet of heros spent the entire day exploring El Dorado, even though half the time Tracy acted like a stick-in-the-mud. She spent nearly the whole day with a snarky frown on her face, and almost totally ruined Michel's good time. Thankfully, though, Levi and Chris were in better moods, and assured a partially crestfallen Michel that Tracy was just being a snot because she was a couple thousand miles away from her laptop.

Later that afternoon, they grabbed some ice cream cones and sat down beside a water feature to eat them. Tracy ate hers a little bit too fast, and grabbed her head as the cold-induced headache came on to add menace to the remainders of her alcohol-induced headache.

"Gosh. Why does ice cream have to be so darn cold?!" she snarled.

"Uhh . . ." said Chris. "Maybe because it's made from . . . ice?"

Levi and Michel snickered. Tracy stood up and crossed her arms.

"You three are absolutely no fun at all. All we've done today is walk around staring at boring stuff. Sheesh! I'm going back to the temple to play with my GameBoy."

She stalked off, leaving her friends staring after her.

"Who spit in her bean curd?" Levi asked, using a movie quote from his extensive vocabulary of them.

Michel, who usually found his little quips so funny, did not laugh. She sighed.

"I guess she did have too much Tutti-Frutti."

Levi and Chris stared at her.

"Do what now?" they asked together.

"Tutti-Frutti. It's an alcoholic punch they served at the party last night."

There was a long pause. Michel looked down at her ice cream and suddenly did not feel hungry anymore. She handed it to Levi, who gratefully wolfed it down in one bite. Then Chris stood.

"I guess I'll go back to the temple as well. Maybe I can keep Trace company or something."

"I'll see if I can't find something to do," Levi said.

"I want to keep exploring," said Michel. "Maybe I can tour those gardens over there."

"Okay," Chris agreed. "Meet us back at the temple."

Michel nodded as she started off in the direction of the gardens. She pulled her iPod out of her pocket and stuck the earphones in her ears. Soon, she was immersed in the music. Absently, she began to walk a little faster. By the time she had reached the center of the luscious garden, she was dancing.


Chapter Thirteen - It's Not My Fault I'm Not Like Her

A half hour later, Tracy got tired of playing with her GameBoy. She looked downstairs and saw that Chris and Levi were completely asleep on their couches. Quietly, she sneaked out the door and down the temple steps. She had every intention of finding Michel and apologizing, but as she walked through the city, she found herself thinking how stupid her sister could be sometimes. The more she walked, the more frustrated she got.

"Why can't Michel just keep her head out of the clouds?" she thought. "I mean, come on. It's not like that's an impossibility."

Soon she arrived in the gardens. She strolled through them until she found Michel. She was dancing around with her iPod in her pocket, humming to the music. Tracy rolled her eyes.

"Michel," she said.

Michel did not hear her, or see her.

"Michel," Tracy repeated, a little louder.

Still nothing.

"Mi . . . CHEL!!" she yelled.

Michel turned, and when she saw Tracy, she reached over and switched off the iPod. She pulled the phones out of her ears.

"Oh, hey, Trace. What's up?"

"I was coming out here to apologize for being a butt this afternoon, but now I've watched you dancing and I don't think I'm going to."

"Why?"

"Because you're nuts!"

Michel's mouth dropped open. For a minute she did not know what to say. She would not have been able to say anything anyway, because Tracy kept talking.

"You're always daydreaming about worthless junk! All your time is spent at that stupid computer of yours writing stupid stories (if you can even call them stories), and you can't seem to ever get your head out of the clouds!"

"Well, maybe I'm just different from you!"

"Yeah, well, I wish you weren't different."

"Why? So I could be your little clone who goes and does everything you do? Well, maybe I don't want to spend all day hogging the bathroom because my mascara's got clumps. Or maybe I don't want to spend a perfectly good weekend locked up in my room because some stupid boy I don't even know called me ugly. Or maybe . . . maybe I just want to be myself! Maybe having my head in the clouds isn't such a bad thing after all!"

Tracy stomped her foot.

"Arrg! You make me SO mad! Why can't you just be more practical?"

"Because I don't want to be a stick-in-the-mud like you!"

"I hate you, I hate you, I hate you! I really do! Sometimes I wish you weren't even alive!"

Michel was taken aback by that last sentence. Her nostrils flared while she came up with a comeback. Her cheeks were burning with anger, and she put her hands on her hips.

"Yeah? Well maybe sometimes I wish you weren't my sister! I'd gladly trade you in on a dog any day."

"Why, so you could have a little clone?" Tracy rebutted. "And while we're at it, how come you never do as I say?"

"Because you think you're Mom, and you're not!!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!!"

The girls immediately turned on heel and went their separate ways. Tracy went back to the temple to fume some more. Michel ran farther into the gardens. She ran for so long and so hard that she did not even realize that it was getting dark. Finally, out of exhaustion, she sank to her knees and sobbed. Wrapping her arms around herself, she rocked herself back and forth and tried to make everything feel better.


Chapter Fourteen - Michel and the Jaguars

Michel cried for so long and so hard that she eventually fell asleep sitting against a tree. When she awoke some time later, she looked down at her LED backlit watch and found that it was nearly eleven o'clock at night. She rose to return to the temple when she heard a low growl. She looked around nervously.

"Tracy, I'm hoping that's you," she said.

There was no answer, only a second growl. Michel backed up against the tree.

"Levi? You'd better not be playing tricks on me, because this isn't funny."

Just then, five huge black jaguars leapt from the underbrush. Michel's heart began to pound. Their hulking masses were nearly invisible in the night, but she knew they were there when she saw their yellow eyes glowing eerily. She swallowed hard. She backed around the tree, but the jaguars followed. One of them hissed. Both Michel and the jaguars stood stock still for a little over a minute. Then suddenly, they attacked. Michel put her hands over her head in protection, but two hands are little good against five thousand pounds of sheer muscle. Michel nearly screamed as she felt the claws raking down her back and sides. She tried to kick them away, but that only encouraged the jaguars to fight harder. One of them clamped his jaws around her arm, nearly tearing it to shreds. Michel used her other fist to punch him right in the face, which luckily frightened him away. Soon, when the cats decided there was little more damage they could do, they turned and slinked away into the night, leaving Michel a broken and bloody heap.

~ˇ~

An hour later, Tracy sat bolt upright in bed. A gnawing in her stomach told her that something was not right. She looked over at Michel's bed and freaked out when she saw that Michel was not in it. As fast as she could, she ran downstairs and jumped onto Chris.

"Chris!" she cried, pounding on his shoulder.

Chris rolled over, nearly knocking Tracy off onto the floor.

"Whaaa . . ." he moaned, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Michel's not in her bed!"

"Maybe she went to the bathroom. Go back to bed, Tracy."

He rolled back onto his stomach, and pulled a pillow over his head. Tracy punched him in the back.

"OW! Sheesh, what was that for?!" he yelled, sitting up.

"Michel's bed hasn't even been slept in."

"Uh oh. That can't be good."

Chris reached over, picked up a pillow, and threw it at Levi. The pillow caught Levi squarely between the eyes.

"Hey!" he said, instantly awake. "Why'd you do that?"

"Michel's missing," Tracy said.

"Do what now?"

"Missing. Gone. Not here. Somewhere else. You know . . . disappeared," Chris answered.

"Oh, my gosh! We have to go look for her!" Levi cried, throwing the sheets back and pulling on his shirt.

In a matter of seconds, the trio were down the temple stairs and headed for the high priest's house. When they arrived, they all banged on the front door until it opened. A sleepy-eyed Chipotlé was standing before them.

"Ah, Lady Tracy. What might I do for you . . . even at this hour of the night?"

"Michel's gone," Tracy said. "She hasn't been at the temple all night. Something might have happened to her."

In an instant, Chipotlé wrapped a robe around himself and stepped out into the silent streets.

"We will need to arrange a search party. Follow me."

Chris, Levi, and Tracy followed him through the dark streets until they reached a tall tower. They climbed the stairs to the top, and when they got up there, Chipotlé blew a horn that echoed throughout the city. In a few minutes, all the people of El Dorado were gathered around the tower. Chipotlé stepped back.

"Tell them what you need of them," he directed.

Tracy stepped up to something that resembled a megaphone.

"Hey, everybody," she said. "Sorry to wake you up in the middle of the night, but this is an emergency. You see, my sister, Michel, has just disappeared. She's been gone since this afternoon, and she hasn't been at the temple. Her bed hasn't been slept in, and I'm worried that something might have happened to her. If you'll cooperate, we need to spread out across the city and search for her."

The response to Tracy's request was overwhelming. Every person in the crowd, from the oldest man to the youngest child, cheered as a sign of their cooperation. Tracy sighed, glad they would help. She then proceeded to direct groups to different parts of the city. When the people dispersed, she turned to her party.

"We'll go together. There's one place I didn't send a group, and that was to the gardens. Come with me."

Chris, Levi, and Chipotle followed her through the city until they reached the entrance to the gardens.

"Maybe we'd better split up," Chris suggested. "We might find her that way."

Levi nodded.

"I'll take this left fork," he said. "Tracy, take the middle fork. Chris, you go right. Mr. High Priest, you keep watch out here. If Michel's hanging around, she might come here when she knows we're looking for her."

Everyone agreed to this plan, and they each took their separate paths. Tracy fought her way through the orchard part of the garden shouting Michel's name. Chris nearly tripped over brambles in his search for his girlfriend's sister. Levi had the easiest path of all. He found that the way he was going was easy, for there were no thorns or fruit trees in the way. Suddenly, he stopped and stooped down to the ground. He picked up Michel's iPod.

"I must be getting close," he thought, then began calling again. "Michel? Where are you?"

Maybe his ears were just playing tricks on him, but he thought he heard a groan.

"Michel?"

Michel, lying on the grass in her own blood, heard the call.

"L-Levi?" she moaned.

Levi rounded a curve in the hedges and waved his flashlight around. The beam of light fell on Michel's battered body.

"Oh, my word," he gasped, bending down to her. "What happened?"

Michel opened her eyes a little, but closed them again when she saw that everything was fuzzy.

"J-j-jaguars . . ." she whispered before passing out.

Levi lifted her into his arms, despite that fact that his shirt was going to get all bloody. When he reached the part of the garden where the forks split off, he whistled for the rest of the group.

"Hey Chris, Tracy," he called. "I've found her!"

In seconds, both Tracy and Chris rushed back to where Levi was standing.

"Michel!" Tracy cried happily, but stopped short when she saw what was left of her sister. "Oh, God."

She gingerly touched Michel's forehead, where a long gash ran from one hairline to the other. She looked up at Levi, horrified.

"What happened to her?"

"She got one word out before she passed out," Levi said. "'Jaguars'."

"Oh, no."

Turning so no one would see the tears, Tracy buried her head in Chris' shoulder. Levi started out of the garden.

"I'll take her back to the temple," he said.

"I will announce that we have found her," Chipotlé said. "Then I will get a doctor."

As soon as they were gone, Tracy burst into tears. Chris wrapped his arms around her.

"Hey, everything will be all right," he said.

"No, no," Tracy wept. "This is all my fault."

"How?"

"I screamed at her this afternoon, and I guess that made her run farther away. And . . . and . . . I told her that . . . that . . ."

"That what?"

"That sometimes I wished she wasn't even alive! And now she's dying, and it's all my fault, all my fault!"

Tracy sobbed harder than she had ever sobbed in her life. Chris tried to comfort her, but with no luck.

"Come on," he said, taking her hand. "We'll go back to the temple so you can be with her."

Tracy nodded. And slowly, solemnly, they walked back to the temple.


Chapter Fifteen - Michel's Fight For Survival

When Tracy and Chris arrived back at the temple, they found Levi, Chipotlé, and Nell hanging around on the first floor. Levi rose and grabbed Tracy's hand.

"The doctor's with her, Trace. Everything'll be okay."

Tracy nodded, and reached up to wipe the tears off her face. She sank into an over-stuffed chair. Chris sat beside her, cautiously eying Nell.

"Who the heck is he?" he asked, whispering.

Tracy looked up. She had almost forgotten that Nell even existed.

"That's Nellsakeehai. We promised to take him back to the States with us if he'd keep the secret that we're not goddesses," she whispered.

"Well," said Chris. "I think that secret's already given away, what with the blood and all."

At this, Tracy burst into tears. Chris cradled her in his arms, but that did not help much. The sheer thought of losing her sister was too much for her to handle. She wished with all her strength that she had not said those awful things to Michel. Finally, she heaved a shuddering sigh and wiped her eyes.

"I wish we had some of that Fire-Flower Juice stuff," she muttered, not intending anyone to hear her.

"Some of what stuff?" Levi asked, confused.

"Fire-Flower Juice. Haven't any of you ever read The Chronicles of Narnia?"

Everyone shook his head "no". Tracy sighed. These guys were so thick. Just as she started to think about how nice it would be to borrow some of Lucy's Fire-Flower cordial to heal her sister, El Dorado's doctor came down the spiral staircase. Tracy looked up at him, and stood.

"Well?" Levi asked anxiously.

"Well," the doctor said. "It is pretty serious. People who are attacked by jaguars do not usually survive . . ."

Tracy started to cry again. Chris rolled his eyes this time, thinking that this kid was awfully weepy.

" . . . but," the doctor continued. "she has got a chance. I think that with the proper care, she will pull through. But I cannot promise anything, especially not a miracle."

Tracy nodded.

"Can I see her?"

The doctor stepped aside, and Tracy started up the stairs. She took them one step at a time, not wanting to see her the extent of her sister's injuries. Nevertheless, she eventually reached the second floor, where she stepped through the door and closed it behind herself. She closed her eyes for a moment, praying that when she opened them Michel would be all right and this would have just been a bad dream. She opened her eyes, and her heart sank. Michel was not all right. She was lying, motionless, in her bed. Her cheeks were colorless, and her hair damp with sweat and blood. From where she stood, Tracy could not even tell if she was breathing. Slowly, she walked over to her, where she sat down on a leather ottoman by her sister's side. Tears began streaming down her cheeks as she clasped Michel's hand between hers.

"Oh, Michel," she whispered. "I'm so sorry. If I had known that saying those things would do this to you . . . Oh, please, Michel. You've gotta make it. You've just gotta! Please, please don't die! I need you!"

Tracy put her head into her hands and sobbed. At that moment, Michel's eyes fluttered open. She turned her head and saw her sister.

"Tracy?" she said softly.

Tracy looked up, and relief flooded her face when she saw that Michel was still alive. She breathed a quavering sigh as her worry melted.

"Michel . . . I was so scared! I thought that--"

"That I'd die?" Michel smiled weakly. "Gosh, girl, what do you take me for, anyway?"

Tracy laughed.

"I take you for the best little sister in the world."

"That's not what you said this afternoon," Michel answered, her eyes reflecting the sadness and pain that Tracy's words had inflicted.

"I know it's not. But I was wrong. I guess I do need your spontaneity to balance out my logic. In a way, you're Lucy and I'm Susan. I'm always too know-it-all to have any fun."

"Yeah, right," Michel scoffed.

"No, really," Tracy replied. "I am. I guess that's why I love you so much."

"Well, that sounds better than 'I hate you, I hate you, I hate you'."

Michel tried to sit up, but Tracy stopped her.

"Don't even think about it," she said. "You're not well enough to be moving. I mean, come on, you nearly lost your arm!"

"Cool, just like Star Wars," Michel said with a half-smile.

"Man, I knew Dad shouldn't have taken you to see that Revenge of the Sith movie! But it would not have been cool, no matter what George Lucas thinks. Heck, the guy would chop off his own arm if somebody promised him a cybernetic prosthesis!" She paused as Michel giggled. "But we're gonna get you well. It'll take a while, but we'll do it. And I'll be with you every step of the way."

"Yeah. We'll see how long that lasts," Michel said jokingly.


Chapter 16 - We're Outta Here!

A month passed, and Michel's wounds gradually healed. Her experience left her with scars, however, the most obvious one being a jagged line around her upper right arm. She joked that it was like the marking Pocahontas wore on her arm in the Disney movie, but no one actually took her seriously. Finally, on a bright, beautiful morning that was much like the one on which Michel and Tracy first stumbled into El Dorado, the city's doctor gave Michel a clean bill of health. It was then decided that they and their boyfriends would get back to their real lives in New York. So, that afternoon, after Chris and Levi had given their plane to the city so they could all travel together, they readied to leave.

"I guess this is it," Michel said aloud, slinging a backpack over her shoulder. "We're finally going home."

Tracy made a sudden lurch toward her, trying to prevent her from lifting that backpack. Michel stepped forward a couple of inches, and Tracy landed on her face. Levi and Chris laughed.

"Chill, Tracy," Michel exclaimed. "We're past that. I'm perfectly capable of picking up a twenty-pound backpack."

She chucked the sack into the back of the plane, but followed it with a quick massage to her shoulder. Levi stooped to pick up Tracy's backpack, and threw it in next to Michel's. He then stood in a fashion that allowed his hands to rest on Michel's shoulders.

"Michel," he said, digging around in the pockets of his blue jean jacket. "I want to say something to you."

"Yeah?"

Levi fished a little black box out of his pocket and dropped to one knee on the grass. Michel's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open as he opened the box to reveal a sparkling diamond ring. Chris caught Tracy's attention and directed her to watch the scene. Tracy's mouth also dropped open in shock.

"Michel," Levi said, taking a deep breath. "I've been meaning to ask this for the longest time, but I happen to be a wimp when it comes to big moves. But, here I go anyway. Michel Johnson, will you marry me?"

Michel barely even gave him a chance to get those four words out before she threw her arms around his neck.

"Yes!" she cried, laughing and crying at the same time.

Tracy ran over and pulled her sister from her fiancé's arms and hugged her so tightly she could have broken her back. Chris clapped Levi on the back as he rose from the soft ground of the garden.

"Oh, Michel!" Tracy squealed. "This is the best thing that's ever happened to me!"

"Happened to you? What about me?! This is the best thing that's ever happened to me!"

They hugged for another few minutes, screaming and laughing, until they saw Nell approaching from a distance. Then they released each other, and stood about five feet apart.

"Oh, hey, Nell," said Tracy. "Have you come to go with us, like we planned?"

"Actually, no," Nell answered. "I've decided to stay here. I probably wouldn't like it in Yorkie, anyway. But I did bring some people to see you off."

He turned, and behind him came the entire city of El Dorado, with the chief and Chipotlé leading the group. The chief bore an embarrassed expression that he tried to conceal with a posture of greatness and high-and-mightiness. Chipotlé still looked like the gentle, grandfatherly man that he was.

"I apologize, miladies," the chief said. "I had no idea that you were not our goddesses. I was . . . I was . . . incorrect."

He stepped back, his face reddening like the sun over the Pacific Ocean. Chipotlé stepped forward, and grabbed Michel and Tracy into his big, strong arms.

"We will miss you," he said. "You are the grandchildren I never got to have."

He winked at Michel, who grinned and winked back.

"And good luck on your wedding," he continued. "Could we have a kiss before you leave us?"

Michel laughed.

"Sure!"

Levi, who had come up behind her, placed his hands on her shoulders and bent closer to give her a gentle kiss on the lips. Michel wrapped her arms around him as the townspeople cheered. When the kiss ended, they climbed into the back of the plane, followed by Chris and Tracy, who crawled into the cockpit. The plane taxied down the length of the garden, and the people followed it, waving and shouting farewells. Michel, Levi, Chris, and Tracy all leaned out the windows and waved back as the plane climbed into the clear blue sky. When they could see the people no longer, Michel turned her attention back into the interior of the plane and sighed. A lone tear slipped down her cheek, and before she could reach up to brush it away, Levi noticed it.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing. I've just never had such a wonderful vacation in my whole life."

Levi kissed her on the forehead, and finished his previously interrupted proposal by slipping the ring onto her finger. They were just about to doze off in each other's arms when Tracy turned around.

"Uhh, Michel?"

"Yeah?"

"What did you do with that fuel can?"

The End




Disclaimer
Michel, Tracy, Levi, Chris, Chipotle, Nell, and Chief Tostitos all belong to me, even though they're based on characters that don't. So, everything that doesn't belong to me belongs to those who own it . . . Star Wars and Indiana Jones to George Lucas and Lucasfilm, The Road to El Dorado to Dreamworks, Pocahontas to Disney, and I think that's it!

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