AT THE PRINCPAL'S OFFICE

"So, all you care about is what goes into your stomach? It didn't cross your mind that we would need something to dig with? Oh Simon, why must you be so.. you all the time? You know what, we will dig with our hands, and we will do it individually, you will dig my mom's grave and I will dig my dad's, because there's no way we are leaving here without what we came for" she raised her voice.

Simon looked at her in disgust " its impossible for these hands to do such a dirty job", he said, flexing his hands.

Ivy looked and him and shook her head. She knelt down and started to dig. Simon's eyes widened. Ivy stopped to looked at him, in a way that made him feel he had to dig too. He mumbled of discontent, and hesistated, but he eventually got down on his knees and started digging.

After several hours of digging, Ivy felt a hard object. She quickly brushed the dirt off the surface, and she was shocked to find her dad's remains. " Oh my God! Ive found it.... Ive found it!". She exclaimed in excitement.

Simon rushed to see the remains and Ivy asked him to continue digging, because it was already getting late. Simon pouted in displeasure.

" I just want to see what urrrrmmmm.... how..... the male si ... side of a skeleton looks like" he stammered, looking away shyly.

"You're so silly, Simon, and you had better not look at my mom's skeleton, when you find it" Ivy laughed aloud.

Ivy broke one of her dad's phalanges and kept it in the backpack. She got up and started covering the grave with the dirt.

Simon stared at her with suprise. " What are you doing?" he asked.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" she replied.

Simon laughed. " Answering a question with a question... Classic Ivy. Can't you let the old man get some air? You don't need to cover him up, you could just leave him like that. I'm sure he would be very thankful if you do".

Ivy giggled. "I know what you're trying to do Simon, your lazy ass is getting some funny ideas now, isn't it? but, I'm not gonna leave my parents graves uncovered".

Ivy continued covering the grave while Simon kept digging.

At a sudden moment, Simon screamed and jumped back "Jesus Christ of the Holy Spirit! Your mo .... mom is s... so beautiful". He stuttered, trying to catch his breath.

Ivy couldn't control her laughter . "You are such a scaredy cat. Skeletons don't bite , Simon!"

"Well , tell that to your mom whose teeth are so gigantic" he said, as he rubbed his forehead with the back of his palm.

"Break the phalange already and stop wasting so much time. It's not gonna break on it's own" Ivy said, resting her hands on her waist.

"Could you pass my phone to me? I have to take a picture of your mom. I'll show it to Mr Edwin and tell him to resign ,he sucks at teaching biology, I'm sure he doesn't even know what a real skeleton looks like. Now who's the tough guy huh? Who's the man?" He bragged.

Ivy laughed so hard that her stomach began to hurt, " I thought u hated the idea of coming here, now who has an adventure to write about? You could wait till your mom dies, so you take a picture of her skeleton, not mine"

Simon rolled his eyes. He tried to break the phalange but he was trembling, he did not want Ivy to tease him, so he closed his eyes and broke the phalange. He quickly handed it to Ivy, and rubbed his hand on his pants.

Ivy finished covering up her dad's grave and she went over to help Simon to cover up her mom's grave. When they finished, they both took a deep sigh of relief and they started laughing. Ivy took out a bottle of water from the backpack and they washed their hands. They ate some snacks, and they began their journey back home. They made it out of the forest before it got dark.

With an exhilarating weariness, Simon accompanied Ivy to her house. They said their goodbyes and Simon went home immediately.

Ivy quietly walked past Jasmine looking exhausted. Jasmine wanted to hear about all about their journey, but Ivy was too tired to talk about it. Ivy told Jasmine that she would tell her all about it the next day.

Jasmine stood at the door and watched Ivy fall on the bed sluggishly. " And dont wake me for dinner" Ivy lifted her head and said, and she dozed off immediately.

Upon returning home, Simon found his parents in the middle of dinner. Curious about his whereabouts the entire day, they inquired about his activities. Simon told them that he spent the day with Ivy.

"What dirty game did you and Ivy play?" Hilda asked, smiling mischievously.

"Mom! Not now! Im exhausted" Simon replied, and headed upstairs.

"I hope you used protection while playing your dirty game? Freshen up and join us for dinner will you!" She exuberantly exclaimed in a playful manner.

Her husband smiled and shook his head." Allow the boy live a little"

Simon took a cold bath and joined his parents for dinner.

The next day, Ivy told Jasmine all about their little escapade on their way to school. Jasmine was filled with excitement, however, she expressed her regret for not joining them.

Shortly before classes commenced, Ivy and Simon were called to the Principal's office. As they entered the office, the Principal sat behind her desk, glaring at them.She inquired about their abscence from school the day before, seeking an explanation for their non-attendance.

"Ivy, Simon, would any of you , care to explain why you were both absent from school yesterday?" , she inquired.

Their minds raced, desperately searching for an excuse. Simon stumbled over his words, trying to come up with something coherent. " Ummm, you see... Errmmm . Ivy's cat.. i mean dog fell into a very deep hole, it was so deep.. and ummm... She ummm ... I... had to umm.. did i mention that the hole was really deep? Like so deep...."

"Enough with the talk of deep! Well, need I remind you both, that skipping school is a serious offense. If it happens again, I will have no choice but to call your parents, and you could be suspended" The Principal interrupted.

Ivy quickly interjected, hoping to salvage the situation. " We understand the importance of attending school, it wont happen again. We apologize for our absence and assure you that it was a one-time occurrence".

The Principal's stern expression softened as she sighed. " If there's ever a valid reason for missing school, make sure you have a note from your parents. Now get to class!"