Other Half of Chapter Five

'Swear on your father's life that you won't go down that path.' is what Kyle is saying.
'"I swear." says Roo, but Mad isn't so sure. She decides to agrees and they continue along the path. Kyle's really surprised that Roo actually spotted the Invisible Path. To distract Roo from the path, Mad asks Kyle how old he is. He's fourteen. Then they 'burst out of the jungle onto a ledge of black volcanic rock'. Kyle sits down on the ledge and Roo and Mad join him. Kyle asks them a question in Spanish: What does El Mirador mean? I'll give you a Popsicle if you get it right. Roo guesses that it comes from the verb mirar meaning to look. He hands them each a Popsicle. Then he starts saying, to Mad, Yo hablo veite idiomas, wanting her to repeat it. She can't do it correctly so he turns to Roo and, of course, she gets it right her first time, so he focuses on Mad again. Finally she gets so annoyed, she shouts, "¡YO HABLO VEITE IDIOMAS!" and he nods his approval. As it turns out, that means "I speak twenty languages". 
Mad looks up and Roo is gone. She starts yelling for her, but Kyle grabs her wrists and pulls her down the trail.Towards the Invisible Path. Down it. They don't get far when the Monsoon begins. Mad closes her eyes and when the water doesn't hit, she opens them. Kyle is right behind her holding up a umbrella flower with waxy petals. 
Then a little blue blob is coming toward them. It waves and dances to stand in front of them. The second the monsoon ends, Kyle demands, "How did you do that?"
Roo asks "what" and he asks her how she knew to choose the right flower and where to squeeze it to make it an umbrella. He also says that the monsoon, actually they call it La Lluvia, doesn't start at 3:08 every afternoon. He glares at Roo and she swears, for real this time, never to go down that path again.

Half of Chapter Five

The next morning, Mad and Roo are in Mom's room watching her get ready for yoga. But she doesn't have yoga pants, so as she is saying that she'll just use running shorts, there's a knock on the door. She tells Mad to see who it is and Mad goes to open the door. It's the guy from the Selva Shop, you know, the guy with golden eyes? He says that he's from Ohio and Mad is furious that he didn't tell them earlier that he spoke English. His name is Kyle and Mad tells him that he can cal her "mad". Mom, Roo, and Mad herself are astonished. He is going to be their babysitter and Spanish tutor. When Mom is gone, Kyle won't speak and English whatsoever. Then Roo asks how to say "Can we go in the jungle please?" and when he tells her, she repeats perfectly. Then he says yes, after getting them Popsicles from the Selva Shop's freezer. He leads the way across the courtyard and opens the gate to the jungle. It is COOLIO!!!!! And I WANT TO GO THERE!!! Roo takes off after "a butterfly with eyes on its wings!!" and Kyle follow her. They find her frozen in the middle of the path. When Mad asks her what's wrong?, Roo replies,'"It did have eyes on its wings. And here's a secret path."' She points to the underbrush on the right hand of the trail, but Mad can't see anything. But when she stares REALLY REALLY hard at the jungle, she can.
'"Listen," Kyle says darkly. "You can't ever go down that path. Okay? Swear you''ll never go down it."'
Mad looks at Roo's solemn face and realizes that he's not joking.

Chapter Four

Did you notice that I just wrote Chapter Four? Yup, that's right it's only nine pages, so I don't have to split this post is half! Anyway, they order fried bananas from the Selva Cafe but nobody is very happy. They're all just sitting there, silently, when Mom says that she'll do the Relaxation and Rejuvenation yoga retreat after all. Oh yeah, I guess I forgot to tell you about it, the yoga thing I mean, it's a yoga class at La Lava that Ken/Neth told Mom she should do. She says that the kids can stay at Selva and take Spanish lessons. When Ruby and Madeline get back to their room, Roo- I'm just going to call them Roo and Mad, even If Mad gets mad- tells Mad that when Dad put his hand on her like he usually does, he squeezed it which was unusual. She thinks that he was trying to tell her something by it but Mad is doubtful. Just then, Mom comes in and gets them ready for bed. After Mom leaves, Mad realizes that The Creepies have followed them there. Oh yeah I forgot to mention that Roo still wets the bed. Then she starts to yell "MOM!" but she doesn't hear her so she goes outside. And sees Ken/Neth sitting in lawn chairs, talking quietly to each other, Mom worriedly,  so goes back in and snuggles up with Roo.
And she wets the bed. Roo I mean.

Other Half of Chapter 3

Ooooooooh!! They get to see their dad in TEN minutes! Patricia Chevalier suggests that Ken/Neth takes the girls to the balcony. The balcony is a large, white oval coming out of the side of the palace. Whoa! This is neat-o bandit-o!! Anyway, "Oh My Gosh!" Ruby says, pointing. "Look! Now Vivi is getting a red drink!"
Madeline looks down and sees Vivi take a red drink of a tray and wave the waiter away like he's a mosquito."Wow! I never thought that she was so mean." Madeline says, accidentally speaking what she's thinking. But Ruby doesn't even notice; she's already on to the next thing; an outdoor dinning room with gold tables and chairs and floating lily pads in the middle of the tables. Then she starts whining about how she wants to stay there.
Then Mom says, " 'You want know why they don't allow kids? Because kids are loud and lively and a tad bit crazy and when people are paying thirty thousand dollars a week somewhere, they're buying utter and complete freedom from loud and lively and a tad bit crazy okay? In fact, you're lucky they even let your little tushie on these grounds in the first place.' " 
Then Patricia Chevalier appears and says that it is time!!!:) She leads them down a white marble hallway and they get stopped by two French ladies. They say that Madeline's skin is exactly what they want. 
Then they continue on down the marble hallway until the reach the end. Madeline is wondering if her dad is behind the door to the right or the one to the left when Patricia looks up at a little device thingie and the wall in front of them starts to slide away!!!! They step through the gap into a small, white marble, windowless room. Their dad is sitting on a metal chair with his head in his hands, which are resting on a glass table. He is super excited to see Ken, but is furious that his family is here. Then, while he's saying sorry to Mom, the room is hit with a crazily loud sound and Madeline screams. Mom asks what it is and Ken/Neth shouts, "The monsoon! Every afternoon at 3:08! You could set your watch by it. Roo, Mom, and Madeline leave the room, the monsoon thundering all around them.

Half of Chapter 3

This was another long chapter, so I have to split it into halves, again. This is what's happening: Ken/Neth-did I tell you that that is what Madeline calls him?- and the girls, including Mom, load into a golf cart and drive on a white road to La Lava. La Lava is a white palace that is built into the side of the ACTIVE VOLCANO!!! There are a bunch of colored pools connected by small waterfalls and streams all around and the jungle around them seems controlled with no wierd noises coming from it. The jungle perfect, and there is no messiness around the vines and tree trunks. And then there are the poeple.There are lots of people. Then they pass a woman stepping out of a pool of pink water. Her hair is long, black, and curly. Madeline realizes who it is and squeezes Ruby's hand. It is Vivi, their favorite actress. Ken/Neth laughs and drives through golden doors. Then he hides away the golf carts because the rich people don't like to see them. They step into a white marble lobby with a huge gold block in the middle. Oops, it's the front desk. Behind it is a BEAUTIFUL woman named Patritia Chavalier. She is the known manager of the fine spa. She told them that their dad would be ready to see them in ten minutes.
All righty dighty! That's it for today!:)                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Other Half of Chapter Two

"Oh, shoot,"--Wait a second, do you remember where we are? Well, we're at the part where they find out that they're not staying at the La Lava hotel. Here we go again.

"Oh, shoot!" Kenneth is saying. "I forgot to tell you that La Lava doesn't allow kids."

Wow! Madeline is mad! "Lava is such a jerk!" Ruby yells. Apparently Ruby is too. The Selva Lodge looks pretty much like any old American motel. Kenneth is already across the parking lot. They follow him through the gate into a concrete courtyard. There is a pool and there are lots of children playing in it. Madeline and Ruby end up in room number 4, mom in number 5, and Kenneth in number 8. Ruby and her sister are pulling on their old speedos when mom bursts in yelling "Surprise!" She holds up two bikinis. Ruby gets a red polka dot one and Madeline gets a green striped one. Madeline is surprised because her mom doesn't like or allow bikinis. Ruby puts hers on happily but Madeline leaves hers on the floor. Ruby dives in after Kenneth leaves and starts playing with some kids who don't speak English or Spanish.  Madeline calls her over so that she can put sunscreen on her. She knows that it is almost out so she says so. She just wanted to go to the souvenir shop, which would be fun, with Ruby. The shop isn't fun and it's really weird. Ruby finds their favorite coconut sunblock and asks how much it is. Madeline can barely make out the shape of the the teenager behind the counter. His eyes are golden. This guy is really creeping her out. Then they head back to the pool. Mom is really upset but she's fine now that she knows they were only getting sunblock. Madeline sees something strange happen. Ruby gets out of the pool and runs into the arms of a which like lady. Turns out that she is the owner of Selva Lodge. After talking with her and her husband for a while, Kenneth returns with tacos for everybody. Madeline loves them and Ruby thinks that they are disgusting. "What is in these?" Ruby asks. Now everybody is pestering him to tell them. He finally gives in and says that the tacos have fried grasshoppers. When Madeline realizes thet he isn't joking, she goes and jumps into the pool and doesn't come up until the tacos are gone.

Half of Chapter two

The airport is tiny. Madeline's family and Kenneth walk of the plane right on to the ground without even having to go through one of those "detachable hallway thingies". The air is thick with humidity and this surprises Madeline and Ruby.
"Man," say Ruby, "What is up with this air?"
"Welcome to humidity, Roo," her mom replies laughing. Kenneth picks up everybody's suitcases and Mom (I'm going to call her Mom from now on) says, "That's not necessary, Ken. Let us carry something."
But of course, he refuses like all grown-ups would do and starts walking toward the airport building. Madeline finally notices that everything around the airport, the runway, and the parking lot, everything is jungle. And there's a big noise coming from it. Ruby asks what it is and Kenneth says it's howler monkeys.
Ruby and Madeline have to rush to keep up with him. Inside the airport there is a strange man in white pajamas who's holding up a sign that says:
SENORA SYLVIA WADE
SENORITAS MADELINE Y RUBY WADE
"That's us!" Ruby whispers to Madeline. Madeline is waiting for Mom to point out that she kept her maiden name so her last name is not Wade. of course she doesn't so she looks at Kenneth and he doesn't mention anything either. He goes up to the man and puts up two fingers in a peace sign in greeting. Then the pajama man loads their luggage into a pure white van. He opens the door and everybody steps in. The inside is heavily air-conditioned. Kenneth sits up in front and talks to the man. The cold air is giving Madeline a headache so she rolls down her window and sticks her head out into the humidity.
"Mad," Mom is saying, "Mad the driver wants you to roll up your window."
"Okay," she says, embarrassed. "Sorry." She doesn't like having the glass between her and the outdoors.
"Hey are those pineapples in the middle of those plants?" asks Ruby as she blabs on about stuff. Madeline tunes her out and stares into the jungle. She can see the volcano now, blue and perfect against the sky. They turn and it goes out of view so they have to imagine it.
"And here we are," Kenneth announces as the driver turns into a parking lot. "Welcome, ladies, to the Selva Lodge."
"The Selva Lodge?" Madeline says, obviously confused. " I thought that we were staying at La Lava." With our dad she added silently.

That's all for today folks,this chapter goes on for fourteen more pages and I think it's good to stop now.

Chapter One

My new book is called Here Where the Sunbeams Are Green. It starts out with a girl, I think her name is Madeline, and her nine-year-old sister Roo are riding on a shaky little airplane with their mom and a man named Kenneth Candy. Madeline is the narrator. She's looking out the window with Roo leaning over her to see the two rainbows that are crisscrossing each other next to the plane. Madeline (Mad for short) is glancing over at her mother and sees that Kenneth is whispering something is her mother's ear. Now she's remembering the time when her father brought Kenneth home for dinner, okay so that's where we are: back in time when Kenneth Candy came for dinner.Mad's dad is saying, "Ken's involved in that fascinating development in Central America. The one I've told you about, remember, that opened a couple years ago? It's won the World's Greenest Spa award for two years running. It's an ornithologists's dream!" He pauses and continues, "Of course, it would have been more of an ornithologists's dream a few years back, before the Lava-Throated Volcano trogon was confirmed extinct."  
Mad's dad hates extinction and loves Central American birds.
Her dad started going on dreamily about how beautiful and awesome the Lava-Throated Volcano trogon before it went extinct.

Now we are back to where we started: on a shaky little airplane.I learned something: I can't call Mad Mad neither can you; I have to call her Madeline and I also can't call Roo Roo neither can you; I have to call her Ruby. That is just because Madeline made up the nicknames and only family members can use them. Anyway, after Madeline is finished remembering her memory, Ruby pulls out the The Very Strange and Incredibly Creepy Letter which their dad sent them back in April. Madeline doesn't want to think about it so she isn't. Well not thinking about The Very Strange and Incredibly Creepy Letter didn't work too well with Madeline. She is now telling us about when The Weirdness began, got it? Good. It all began when they received The Very Strange and Incredibly Creepy Letter; it was the last message that her dad had sent them before all of a sudden, he stopped contacting them. Now they are on their way to see him.