The only information that he knew about the stone was that it was hidden in Forlot. If we wanted to pinpoint the exact location of the stone, we would have to do some research, and where better to research then at Forlot's only bookstore?

The bookstore was owned by a Cindy Banks and her family. We were lucky that it would not close for another hour and ran to it, dragging Ariana in the process. As soon as we stepped in and wiped the bottoms of our shoes on the mat, we pondered.

"Do you have any idea where a book about the purple stone might be, Derek?"

"Well, we are looking for information on it, so I would guess the history section."

"Yuck." I stuck out my tongue. "Has it slipped your mind how much I despise history, especially geography and government?"

He looked at me as if I had spoken a different language. "For a guy who has lived in Forlot all his life, you sure are oblivious to the laws of this town."

"What do Forlot's laws have to do with my hatred for history?"

"History, government, and geography that have to do with the real world is banned in Forlot. Besides, the only history that we will be learning for now is a magical stone that never touches on the subject of the real world."

"I will take your word for it."

We strolled to the history section, and Derek ran his ghostly fingers along the spines of the book.

"Let us see. Forgotten Forest. Territory of Terror."

I pointed at a book. "What about that one?"

He eyed the book's spine. "Nah. That is just the Lubriem's life story. Spoiler alert! She dies."

I was going to ask him if he knew what a Lubriem was, but he found the book and yanked it out.

"Eureka! We should go sit at a table."

My friend led me to an empty table and pulled out a chair. He plopped in it, and I plopped in the seat next to his. I suggested that I do the flipping because I did not want us to draw attention.

"Um, Daniel? Where is Ariana?"

I smiled. "Do not worry. I have been checking to make sure that she did not wander somewhere else."

"Then where is she?"

I put two fingers in my mouth and whistled. With the exception of a couple people, it was alright for me to make some loud sounds in the bookstore. Ariana staggered out from behind a bookshelf and over to us. She was leaning on her cane and had a book in her hand. It had a dark blue cover with no title.

"I want this book," Ariana said. Her voice was weak every time that she talked. "It teaches how to create skin cream that makes old people like me young again."

I pulled out a chair for her, and she sat in it. I gently rubbed her arm and told her that she was too good for cream that would not even work. I opened the book and flipped through the pages until we came across a picture of the purple stone. The image was on the left page, and wording was on the right page.

The stone was a mix of light and dark purple and a rectangular shape. Derek confirmed that was indeed the purple stone and told me to read.

These were the pages that we needed. The information that I had read gave us the exact location where it was at and stated that the map was on the next page. I flipped the page, and Derek and I examined the map.

"Do you have a phone, Daniel?"

"Yeah. I have it on me."

"Take a picture of the map."

"Why can we not buy the book?"

"The book will become useless once we have the stone in our possession."

I sighed and took out my phone. I went to the camera app and snapped a photo of the map. Once I showed the picture to Derek, he used his ghost powers to place the book where it belonged. Off we went.

I suggested that we stop by another store and traded something of mine for a pair of fake handcuffs. Derek wondered - and was even concerned - what the handcuffs were for. I went to Ariana and slapped the handcuffs on our wrists.

"There," I said. "Now I sure will not lose the love of my life."

I noticed Ariana rolling her eyes. She said, "Teenagers these days."

"Ariana, you are a teenager."

She cupped a hand around her ear. "What was that, sonny? I cannot hear ya!"

"I can wait hardly until she returns to the Ariana whom we know and love," Derek stated. "Not that I am not fond of old people."

It was past my bedtime, and the same could be said for my girlfriend. But I was not in the mood to sleep. I was not tired, for I was afraid that Laila and Liam would end Ariana's life while I slept. Also, Ariana had been old for far too long. It was now or never.

We had to leave the buildings and townsfolk and venture into the woods that were about eleven minutes from the town. The three of us stood in front of the woods, and Derek mumbled that we should have brought a flashlight. I chuckled and switched on my phone's flashlight. He was surprised.

"Oh. I forgot that cellphones these days have flashlights built into them."

Old Ariana rubbed her belly. "I am hungry. Got any tofu?"

"No," I said. "But I promise you that we will grab some grub after our errand."

"Errand?" She raised her cane high. "I run no stinkin' errands! I am retired!"

I slowly shook my head. She was funny.

We strolled into the woods and followed a dirt path that curved from one direction to another.

That is when the giggles began.