The Map Introduction

After we finished saying our rosary, we pulled out our maps, carefully unfolded them and looked them over. They were bulky and detailed, but what stood out on mine was a place called Sloth Valley. It looked desolate and vast. I cringed, and then I glanced over at my uncle so I could show him my map and ask him what he thought, but when I glanced over I saw him looking intently at one particular spot on his map. Looking over his shoulder I saw a place marked out on his path called Vainglory Mountain. From the look on his face it looked like he was up for the challenge, confident in God and with a healthy dose of curiosity. In another area of his map I noticed that we both needed to pass through an place called Gluttony Thicket.  I tensed up even more as my mind and imagination filled up with uncertainty and thoughts of all the things we might encounter on our journey. I felt myself getting lightheaded, but I caught myself holding my breath, so I took a deep breath, and then decided to put the map away for the time being. 

Fred, as he looked a the dark cloud headed towards the ship, told his niece, "This is kinda stressful. You know who I'd like to meet here if she wasn't a fiction character, Anne of Green Gables. She would give us a little comedy relief and sunshine." 

Then, from the corner of my eye I felt someone staring over in our direction. I slowly turned my eyes toward her, trying not to be obvious and saw that it was a bright eyed, red headed girl. Her eyes were sparkling and she looked really happy, almost bursting at the seams with enthusiasm, like she couldn’t wait to speak to us. I nudged Fred so he could take notice. When he looked up, he seemed to immediately recognized her. Under his breath he muttered “That looks like...” but before he could finish, the captain burst in and walked right up the red headed girl, leaned in to discreetly tell her something, and then suddenly she got up and they both walked out of the room.

It was disappointing to see her go before we’d had the chance to speak with her but our disappoint was soon replaced with ardent, renewed curiosity. Resting on the bench where the girl had been sitting was a sealed white envelope. 

My uncle immediately stood up and went over to pick up the envelope so that he could try and return it to her. He dashed outside the cabin to try and catch up to her but within a few minutes he returned to the cabin with the envelope still in his hands. She was no where to be found. As my uncle began to put the envelope into his jacket pocket for safekeeping, I stopped him and suggested, “Why don’t we hold it up to the light so we can try and see what’s inside?” My uncle hesitated and looked over at Father Wolferger. Blushing, I clarified, “Not to be nosy, just to know if it’s something important, that needs to be returned urgently. What if it’s her map, she will definitely need that, or maybe it holds a clue about where we can find her?” After a moment of reflection we both agreed that it we should go ahead and take a quick peek.