The Most Epic Trip Ever ~ Chapter 1: Google is Deaf

Hey, y'all! It's your girl Cari! *waves excitedly* Besides creating original books, I also dabble in fanfic writing. Even though I just created a Wattpad account, I thought it would be cool to share my very first Keeper of the Lost Cities fanfiction, The Most Epic Trip Ever, with you guys. As some of you may know, I'm slightly obsessed with KotLC. So, two summers ago, I made a groundbreaking decision to pen my first-ever fanfic. I emailed my five fangirl friends, asking them to create characters based on themselves for my undertaking. Everyone gladly responded, and soon The Most Epic Trip Ever was born. Since this is from 2021, I sincerely apologize for anything cringy in the writing style or storyline. I've grown as a writer since then. So without further ado, please enjoy Chapter 1: Google is Deaf.

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It all began with a misunderstanding on Google’s part. One misunderstanding that flipped my whole world upside down. My name is Rebecca. Rebecca Pryce. This is the story of how my life changed forever—for the better. This is the story of one of my fondest memories ever.

It was the summer of 2019. I was sick of having nothing to do except read. I grabbed my phone. No new texts. Or emails. I sighed. I picked myself up and meandered over to The Most Esteemed Bookshelf, a regular shelf granted the coveted title because of its holding my all-time favorite book series—Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger. Automatically, I reached for my bookmarked copy of Nightfall, the sixth book. I’d been rereading the entire series to keep my mind off the dreadful cliffhanger in Shannon’s latest book, which I just so happened to be on. Opening it, I began to read, becoming so engrossed that I didn’t hear the voice calling me till it was too late. Uh-oh. It was Mom.

“Rebecca Astrid Pryce!” Mom scolded. “I’ve been calling you three times now! It’s time for you to go help out at Eternal Valley Souvenir Shop.”

“Coming, Mom!” I yelled back.

Replacing my bookmark, I pulled my dark brown hair into a messy low ponytail and burst out of my room, phone in hand. I’d been volunteering at Eternal Valley Souvenir Shop, which was owned by my aunt, for a few weeks now, and Mom was always on time. Hastily I tapped the microphone icon on Google Maps.

“Eternal Valley,” I mumbled.

After releasing the icon to let the dratted device know I was done speaking, I stifled a fangirl squeal. Google apparently had interpreted my request as “Eternalia”. Quickly I snapped a screenshot before typing “Eternal Valley”. Once the directions for the souvenir shop were up, I laced up my worn light pink Converse and headed out the door with my precious phone.

“Well, Rebecca, took you long enough,” Mom observed.

“Sorry,” I replied. “Google had the wonderful idea of misinterpreting my request, so I had to manually search for the directions.”

“Oh, it’s fine, sweetie.”

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Well, that's chapter 1. Pretty short, right? Well, stay tuned for chapter 2 to see what chaos Rebecca (who is literally fourteen-year-old me but fictional) is going to get herself involved in. Feel free to express your thoughts in the comments!

Cari out.

Copyright 2021 by Cari Legere. Cover by Ella Bowden.