All in one piece.
A ray of sunlight filtered through her window and fell upon the card. And Kelsey could see the Fool’s menacing grin – the menacing grin that was meant just for her.
7
“So were the crabs real or not?” Drew asked.
Kelsey told Drew all about her terrible night as the two walked to the beach the next morning.
“I told you!” Kelsey yelled. “They weren’t real. Well, one of them was real. But not the others.”
“So – why were you afraid?”
“Look!” Kelsey said, shoving the Fool card right in his face.
“So?” Drew pushed her hand away.
“So!” Kelsey couldn’t believe that he could be so dumb. “I told you. I tore it up into a million pieces and threw it into the garbage can! Now look at this thing. It isn’t even bent or creased.”
“This just doesn’t make any sense,” Drew said as they reached the beach and started tromping through the sand.
“Wow, Drew. When did you become such a genius?”
“Very funny,” Drew grumbled. “So – what are you going to do?”
“Well, I am definitely not going to let that old gypsy and her stupid curse scare me,” Kelsey declared. “And now I am going to get rid of this card- forever.”
Kelsey headed directly to the ocean. She stood on the shore for a few moments and watched the waves roll in.
“What are you doing?” Drew asked.
“Watch,” she told him. She held up the Fool card and tore it again and again and again – until she couldn’t tear it anymore.
Then, with Drew by her side, she waded out into the water. When the first wave broke around her knees, she scattered some of the bits of paper over the water.
She and Drew watched as the foam carried them away.
When the next wave hit, she did the same thing, scattering a little more of what was left of the card. Wave after wave, she did the same thing – until nothing was left.
“There,” she said as the surf carried off the last torn pieces. “It’s gone for good. Now let’s go swimming.”
“We have to wait for our parents,” Drew reminded her. “You know the rules. ‘No swimming, kids, unless we’re with you.’”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. But they promised they were coming out right away,” Kelsey complained. “Where are they anyway?”
She scanned the beach, searching for them. “There they are!” she said, spotting them.
Kelsey jumped up and down, waving at their parents to get their attention. When they waved back, Kelsey darted into the ocean.
“Race you to France,” she called over her shoulder to Drew.
Drew dived in after her.
They fought their way through crashing waves until they were shoulder-deep in the water. Kelsey watched as a wave began to swell behind them.
“Let’s ride this one,” she yelled.
“All right!” Drew yelled back.
Kelsey bent her knees and pushed off the sandy floor. Drew did the same. The wave took them on an awesome ride. Perfect all the way to the end.
They swam out and waited to catch the next wave. Suddenly Kelsey felt something squishy hit her back. And it stayed there – right between her shoulders.
“Drew,” she called. “Do you see something on my back?”
But Drew wasn’t there. He had caught the wave and was headed for the shore.
She reached over her shoulder to swat off whatever was there. The tips of her fingers brushed against something soft.
Something wet and slimy.
Something that began to wriggle against her skin.
“Jellyfish!” she shrieked in terror.
She tried to brush it off, but it wouldn’t budge.
She jumped up and down and tried to shake it off. The more she struggled with it, the tighter it clung to her.
Digging into her back.
Stinging her with its deadly poison.
8
“Drew!” Kelsey screamed. “Drew! Help me!”
But Drew was riding his wave to the shore. He couldn’t hear her.
Kelsey dug her nails into her back. Trying to scratch the jellyfish off. Her fingers sunk into its gooey body. And with a sickening
“Help me!” she screamed. “Somebody, help me!” She twisted and turned until she wrenched her hand free.
A wave began to swell. I’ll ride it in, Kelsey decided. It will be the fastest way back.
As soon as it reached her, Kelsey pushed off and tried to catch it. But her timing was off, and she missed. She tried for the next one. But the wave seemed to wash right over her.
She missed wave after wave. And it seemed like the harder she tried, the faster the waves passed her by.
Her skin started to burn under the creature’s slimy hold.
“Swim in!” she told herself. “Just get to shore and get help!”
Kelsey paddled as hard as she could. But she seemed to be moving in slow motion. She noticed that the water around her was churning. Growing thick and cloudy.
She swam harder. Her hands thrashed the water. But she felt as if she were swimming in Jell-O.
Why is it so hard to move? she wondered. Why am I stuck in the same spot?
The jellyfish on her back gripped her skin. A sharp pain shot through her body.
Kelsey kicked her legs. Harder and harder.
Her arms ached. And the muscles in her shins were beginning to cramp. With every move, she gasped for breath. But she had to get to shore. She had to get that jellyfish off her back.
I must be close to the beach now, Kelsey thought.
She looked up.
She was farther away than when she started!
“How can that be?” she screamed.
She needed to rest before she tried to make her way back again. She closed her eyes. Then she flipped over on her back and floated for a few seconds – until she felt something on her shoulders.
She turned her head from side to side.
Two blobs rested on her shoulders.
Two hideous bluish blobs.
Jellyfish!
Giant blue blobs of jellyfish!
The shiny blue blob that sucked on her right shoulder was chunky and clear. But the one on her left shoulder had little red lines running through it.
Poisonous! She was certain.
She flipped over quickly, but before she could peel the horrible creatures off, her legs began to sting. Then her arms. Then her stomach and the back of her neck. Even the soles of her feet.
“They’re all over me!” she shrieked.
Some were small – like clear jellybeans. Others had tentacles that shimmered in the water. They curled around her limbs. Closing around them. Tighter and tighter.
A tiny one was stuck to Kelsey’s eyelash. Every time she blinked, she looked through its slimy, cloudy body.
Kelsey’s heart raced. She felt dizzy. Everything around her started to spin.
Kelsey’s arms sliced through the water as she struggled toward the shore.
But swimming grew harder and harder.
The water felt thick and gooey.
She was swimming in a sea of jellyfish!
Kelsey’s eyes darted around her. There were jellyfish everywhere. There seemed to be more jellyfish than water. Waves of jellyfish rolled toward her. Crashing against her skin with a sickening splat.
She flailed through the sea of slime. “I’m not going to make it,” she groaned. “I’m not going to make it back.”
The jellyfish sea thickened around her. She could barely lift her arms to swim anymore.
And then a huge wave lifted her up and carried her toward the shore. As soon as her foot hit the ocean’s sandy bottom, she stood up and charged out of the water.
“Help me!” she screamed. “Somebody, help me get these things off!”
But the people on the beach didn’t move.
Why wasn’t anyone helping her? What was wrong with them?
“Kelsey!” Drew shouted. She spun around to face him. “What is wrong with you?”
