"A long time ago, when the earth was still green
And there were more kinds of animals than you've ever seen
They'd run around free while the earth was being born
But the loveliest of all was the unicorn"

(The Unicorn, by Shel Silverstein)

The return back to Grandpa's garden had not taken long.

The walk was light and playful, Pete incessant chatter animating the people around. Cookie was running, chasing butterflies. Kitty jumping from tree to tree.

Lola smiled at her brother shenanigans. She remained thoughtful, however. So many things had happened that night, so many information to analyse and digest. She was just a ten years old kid, but she was an inquisitive one, as the Unicorn had put it.

She wondered who she would be able to talk to, about their discoveries. Beside her brother, she knew of no one who would not think them crazy. Perhaps Grandpa and Grandma would listen, but they were adults. But Grandma knew about the Unicorns. And Grandpa also, because he had the map.

But the holidays would soon been finished. So who would she talk about it?

It was so complicated. Lola decided to stop thinking and tried to play along with her brother and the dog.

She would miss talking to Cookie and to Kitty, even if the cat was not always the most friendly pet she knew.

When They reached the tent, the first light of dawn were illuminating the sky. The silence of the night was replaced by the joyous song of the birds. All felt calm and relaxed for the children. They really had enjoyed their night, even though it had started dark and frightening.

Entering the tent, the children changed their clothes for their pyjamas and sneaked under their blankets.

The soft purring from the cat and the snoring from the dog lulled them into a deep and restful sleep.

~~

"Pete? Lola?" Grandpa was calling them.

It was late into the morning, their grandfather had checked on the early this morning and had find them fast asleep. Feeling they needed the rest—perhaps they had a long and playful night he thought—he decided to come only later to wake them up. It was now half past ten in the morning, and Grandma was wondering if they would ever wake up. So she sent Grandpa to the task.

"Rise and shine, sleepyheads!"

Kitty was the first to open her eyes. Grumbling, she muttered something about old men who should not be so happy early the morning.

The next to wake was Cookie. Hearing the older man, he barked a warning for the cat to stop talking.

The children were still asleep.

Grandpa entered the tent, letting the warm sun rays through the opened flap.

"Come on, children, wake up!" Grandma is getting worried."

"Good morning Grandpa!" Pete greeted the old man.

"Is it already morning?" Lola asked in a sleepy voice.

"Up kids! Open your eyes and straight to the bathroom. Go change and freshen up. Grandma is waiting with a healthy breakfast. She even made some cupcakes you like."

With these words, Grandpa left the children to finish to wake up.

"Good morning, Grandma," Pete and Lola greeted their grandmother. The start of the morning had been slow for them. After their night, and the short sleep, they were like in a fog.

"Did you enjoy the night under the tent" The older woman asked.

"Oh, yes!" Pete exclaimed. "It was just great, super-duper-hyper great! We went to..."

For some reason, the memories of the night before seemed to desert him. The boy looked at his sister, to see if she was remembering something from the night before, but she frowned. No memory on her side either.

Wondering what happened the night before, Pete and Lola started their late breakfast. The taste of their favourite cupcakes gave them some rest.

Once finished, they helped Grandma, as usual, to clear the kitchen before going out and packing their things. Under the tent, they sorted the linen and the cover, brought back into the house the bulky mats and pillows. Once done with the beddings, Pete checked his backpack. All the snacks had been finished, but the bottle of water was still full.

The rest of the day went as usual, cleaning, tidying up the tent and walking the dog into the woods.

For tea time, Grandma asked them if they had a good time and they were confused as no memory came to them.

Grandma took it in stride and did not ask much about what had happened. She told them, as often she did, a story about a Unicorn.

Pete and Lola did not react to the extravagance of the story. They had accepted that Grandma would always be a bit silly with her stories. And they did not want to disappoint her by telling her they did not believed one word that she told.

~~

The end of their holidays was nearing. Pete and Lola surprisingly realised they enjoyed their long stay at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

They had played and made new friends, a cat and a dog. They had roamed the woods and found many interesting spots there. They had learned about Grandma and Grandpa's childhood. And about he mom also.

A lot of fun, finally, while they thought they would just perished under dust and cobwebs in an old folks' house.

"Are you ready?"

Mom and Dad had arrived the day before. They wanted to spend a day with the grandparents before going back home, and to their daily job.

As much as Lola had wanted this day to come faster at the beginning, she now dreaded the return to their routine. Soon would be the beginning of the new school year, a new grade. Sure, she would find back her old friends, and would made new ones. She still would miss terribly Cookie and Kitty.

"Say goodbye to your grandparents?" Mom asked as she was putting their luggages in the trunk.

Pete and Lola dutifully said their goodbyes, hugging their Grandma and Grandpa tight, getting a dose of energy from their exchange. They would need it for the long trip back home, and the loneliness that would follow.

Kitty was observing the children, her eyes fixed and suspiciously watery. If they did not know she was a cat, and a mean one, the children would thought she was emotional.

Pete and Lola gave her a scratch on the head. They did not try to hug or pet her more as they knew she did not like these kind of contact.

With Cookie, the children were more demonstrative. They hugged him, petted him, scratched him. In exchange they received profusion of licks in the face.

The dog was happy and playful, as if he did not understand Pete and Lola were leaving for a long time. They would not come back until the next long holidays, perhaps a whole year.

They all cried a bit when the car started down the alley. The children in their back seats, Grandma and Grandpa, still holding their hands in the air, waving goodbye and good luck to Pete and Lola.

The rest of the way was a long silence.

~~

"Pete? Where is the phone? I need to charge it," Lola called her brother.

They arrived from Grandma and Grandpa's place the day before, at night. Tired from all the emotions, the children went to their directly.

Now, in the morning light, their last days of holidays before starting school seemed not so dreary.

Lola had a boost of energy. She woke up early and felt refreshed.

Pete looked into his backpack. The phone was there, among a certain number of other mismatched items. The phone battery was empty, as he had forgotten to plug it since he had put it in the bag. Because they did not use the phone often, it was easy to forget to charge it, Pete thought, and he said so to Lola who was annoyed by his attitude.

The rest of the morning went through a slow motion for Pete while Lola was full of energy.

They tidied up their bedroom, put in the laundry the dirty one, emptied their luggage and put back in place all their clothes. A regular boring morning back from holidays, Pete thought.

"Pete?" Lola shouted her brother's name. "Why did you put rocks in my jacket? Is that your idea of a prank?"

The boy wondered what her sister was thinking, shouting nonsense about rocks and pranks. He stopped trying to prank her long ago. Since he realised she was better prankster than he, in fact.

"What are you talking about?" He shouted back.

Lola was annoyed. It was apparent with the way she ran to her brother.

"Look! Why do I have this in my pockets?" She asked Pete showing him three small rocks. Why she had those in her pocket, her brother thought about telling her what he thought but he did not want to fight early in the morning.

"Are they shining?" Pete asked as he looked at the rocks. It looks like there is some light inside. Is it a blue light?"

Lola was now puzzled. What was this?

Few hours later, the incident with the rock forgotten, Pete and Lola were in their bedroom, talking about their holidays and how they missed Grandpa and Grandma, and Cookie and Kitty.

Remembering the phone, Pete thought to look at the pictures stored in it. They had taken some with the pets and perhaps they could ask Mom or Dad to print them. It would be great to make a poster and hang it, he told his sister.

"Hmm, Lola?" Pete looked at his sister in puzzlement. He had opened the folder for the pictures on the phone and what he saw was weird. Just plain weird. Did they play with pictures from Internet?

They couldn't have taken those. He thought. He showed his sister who ended up as puzzled as him.

Was that a... unicorn?

~~

Back at Grandma and Grandpa's place, the silence reigned. Cookie and Kitty were not playful anymore, as if they were missing the children.

Grandpa and Grandma had taken back a routine of theirs that they had put aside while Pete and Lola visited them.

Grandpa, working on the garden, often glanced towards the woods. Perhaps he could walk Cookie more often. The dog was getting old, like himself, but he had enjoyed the attention from the children during this holidays.

"Cookie?", the old man asked the dog, "what do you say? Do you want to go out in the woods?"

The dog seemed unfazed by the proposition. He looked at the man and tilted his head, as if he was pondering about the merit of said proposition.

"You don't have to say okay, you know. I'd settle for a bark or two," Grandpa added.

Cookie seemed to understand what was required of him. He sat in front of the old man and look intensely at him. And with a slow grin he opened his mouth. A single bark was heard.

Then, the dog straighten up and took the path toward the gate separating the garden and the woods. He waited for Grandpa to join him and open the passage.

Once the way was clear, Cookie started towards the trees, running and jumping all around the place.

"I know you are happy, Cookie. But, you know, I wonder if you are still mad at me." Grandpa was talking to his dog as if he was a person. "I understand you were not happy with me, asking you to take care of the children. But is it all okay now?" Cookie had stopped fooling around and was observing the old man. "Will you forgive me" Grandpa added, "and start talking to me again?"

The dog tilted his head and gave him his signature smirk. Without a sound, he turned one more time towards the trees and walked slowly, away from Grandpa. As he was disappearing in the darkness of the woods, he turned his head above his shoulders and looked at the man.

"Who know, old man, perhaps I will forgive you..."