Connie drove her Toyota Camry north on U.S. 1.
Billy sat in the backseat and played with Airship 3 like it was in another dogfight.
Inside Airship 3, Melvin and Hazel were tossed around the airship and were still passed out while Billy maneuvered the airship in all sorts of positions.
Then Hazel and Melvin regained continuousness while they were upside down.
“Ahhhh!” they both cried out in unison while they floated down to the top of the cockpit bubble.
“Where are we?” Hazel asked while she looked around the bubble.
Melvin looked around the bubble and saw the floorboard, the rear seat, the doors and windows. “I think we’ve been eaten by one of those creatures with the four round wheels,” he replied and got scared.
Then the airship suddenly was turned over and placed on the rear shelf with the nose pointing at the rear window.
Hazel and Melvin looked and saw another car in traffic behind Connie’s Camry while they sat in their seats.
“Is that creature coming after us?” she nervously asked.
“I don’t know,” Melvin replied then looked at Hazel. “I’m thinking this mission was a huge mistake,” he added and started to shake with fear thinking his life would soon be over.
Hazel noticed Melvin and held onto his fin. “We must be brave and find a way out of this mess,” she said.
Melvin looked at Hazel and knew she was right and tried to think brave thoughts in his head.
Hazel and Melvin looked at the rear window of the Camry while Connie drove down U.S. 1 and drove into the town of Sugarloaf Key.
They watched while Connie made a right turn with her Camry.
Then they watched while Connie made a left turn with her Camry.
Connie stopped her Camry.
Hazel and Melvin looked around and saw some homes across the street.
“Look at those humongous Air Alien caves,” Hazel said while she pointed at the homes across the street.
While Melvin looked at the homes across the street, the airship was suddenly lifted up in the air.
“Here we go again,” Melvin said.
Hazel and Melvin waited while the airship was moved in the air out of the Camry.
Then they were tossed out of their seats when Billy held the airship with the nose pointed down at the ground. They both were pressed against the bubble canopy and stared at the green grass down below.
“Is that some type of seaweed field?” she asked him with they looked at the grass while Billy walked through their yard.
“It could be,” Melvin replied.
Then the grass turned to brown carpet when Billy walked into their home.
“What is that?” Hazel curiously asked while they stared down at the brown carpet while he walked through the house to his bedroom.
“Maybe some type of sand?” Melvin responded.
“There are a lot of strange things in the land of the Air Aliens,” she replied.
Melvin nodded in agreement and then they were both tossed around while Billy threw the airship onto his bed.
The airship was on its roof on the top of his bed covers.
Hazel and Melvin floated around the cockpit.
“Could we still fly this while it’s upside down?” Melvin asked Hazel.
They looked down at the top of the bubble and saw Billy’s Cowboy and Indians bedspread. They were first a little startled by that sight but knew it was another Air Aliens thing.
“No. We need to be upright,” she replied.
“How do we get back to Stephanie?”
“I guess we’ll have to jump at the first opportunity,” she replied.
“Is this the end?”
“Not if I can help it,” Hazel replied and looked determined.
The airship suddenly rose into the air, which startled them.
Connie had the airship in her hand and walked it over to Billy’s toy box.
She opened up the lid and dropped the airship inside. She closed the lid and walked out of his bedroom.
“Billy, how many times did I tell you, don't leave your toys lying around!” she scolded Billy from the hallway.
It was dark inside Airship 3 while it was on top of some toys in the toy box.
“Are we dead?” Melvin asked.
“I don't think so.”
“So, this is how my life will end?”
“At least we'll go together,” Hazel replied.
“But I’m not ready to go just yet,” he said.
“Me neither,” she replied.
It was silent inside the airship.
Back in Stephanie’s aquarium in Cooter’s store, Stephanie and Carlos swam around the aquarium.
“Back at Aquaticville, my father was the head of NASA and I'm a famous model.”
“Back home, I'm the Mambo king of North Cuba. They'd come from all over to watch me dance with my wife,” he said then performed a Mambo dance for Stephanie.
Her eyes light up when she remembered how she knew him. “Now I know why you looked familiar. Wow! And imagine meeting you here in this water world,” she said and looked impressed with Carlos. “I also have to confess that you inspired me to learn how to dance,” she added.
Carlos’ heart warmed up over her comment then he looked sad. “I lost my wife to the Air Aliens and had to dance solo, as I couldn’t find a partner that good. Then while I was away doing a performance, I was taken by the Air Aliens,” he said and his eyes welled up.
Stephanie saw his teary eyes and placed a fin around Carlos for comfort.
At the counter, Cooter talked into the phone by the cash register.
“I know the one. I'll bring it over when I watch Billy,” he said into the phone while he looked down the aisle where Stephanie’s aquarium was located.
Cooter hung up the phone and grabbed a small dip net off the counter.
He walked down the aisle and headed to Stephanie’s aquarium.
Inside her aquarium, Stephanie and Carlos swam around.
“I’m sorry to hear about your wife,” she told Carlos.
“That’s alright. Life goes on and then you meet someone else that is so beautiful,” he replied as that comment was directed at Stephanie. He looked at Stephanie for her reaction to his compliment then his eyes widened when he saw Cooter at the aquarium. “There’s an Air Alien at our water world. Avoid eye contact and maybe he'll go away,” Carlos told her while he looked away from Cooter.
“How do you know which is the male and which is the female Air Alien?” she curiously asked him.
“The females usually have more colors on their heads especially their eyes and lips. The males typically make a loud noise from their backsides. Some kind of mating call I believe,” he told her.
“That’s interesting,” Stephanie replied the second Cooter shoved the dip net into the water.
“Ahhhh!” she screamed out while the dip net came after her.
Stephanie swam away in a panic and the dip net chased after her.
She zigged zagged around the aquarium in a panic with the dip net hot on her tail.
“Stay away from the net!” Carlos yelled out.
“Duh!” Stephanie yelled out while she zigged zagged around the aquarium with the dip net still hot on her tail.
Then the dip net scooped her up in the water.
Carlos raced over to the net and grabbed a hold of the netting. “Stephanie!” he cried out while he used all his strength to pull the netting apart, but it didn’t budge.
The dip net rose in the air and Carlos clung onto it and used all this strength to pull the netting apart so Stephanie would escape.
Cooter pulled the dip net out of the aquarium and Carlos clung onto the outside of the net.
Carlos’ eyes widened in fear when he noticed he was out in outer air. He panicked and let go of the net and plopped down to the plastic top of the aquarium.
“Help!” Carlos cried out while he flopped around the top of the aquarium and gasped for some water.
Cooter emptied Stephanie into a plastic bag full of water. Then he saw Carlos flopping around on the top of the aquarium. He used his hand and scooted Carlos over to the plastic bag.
Stephanie looked scared to death while Carlos splashed into the water. She rushed over to him while his eyes were as big as saucers. “Are we going to die?” she asked him while his eyes welled up.
Carlos looked around the small bag and saw Cooter walking them to the backroom. “I hope not,” he replied.
She snuggled next to Carlos and he placed a fin around her for protection.
“You were brave trying to get me out of that net,” she replied and gave him a little kiss on his gills.
Carlos smiled loving the little kiss from Stephanie.
Stephanie and Carlos watched while Cooter carried the bag out through the backroom.
They watched while Cooter carried the bag out the back door and headed to his 1959 red with red interior Cadillac convertible, which had the top up at the moment.
Cooter got inside his Cadillac and placed the water bag on the passenger seat
From inside the bag, Stephanie and Carlos looked at the glove box portion of the dashboard. Then they saw Cooter while he started up the Cadillac.
“What is this huge thing?” she asked Carlos.
“It’s one of those creatures that the Air Aliens use to move quickly around their land,” he replied.
“Where are we going?” she asked a little scared.
Carlos looked around the bag. “I’m thinking we're going to our new home. Speaking of which, I'll teach you the Mambo there,” he replied then danced a little in the bag.
Stephanie smiled at the thought of learning to dance the Mambo.
Stephanie and Carlos just stared at the dashboard and Cooter while he drove his Cadillac down U.S. 1 and headed to Sugarloaf Key.
A little while later, Cooter pulled his car into Connie’s driveway and parked.
He grabbed the bag and got out of his car.
He walked around and opened his trunk where he removed a small suitcase.
Cooter closed his trunk, walked to Connie’s front door and rang her doorbell.
Connie opened the door and gave Cooter a quick kiss on his cheek.
“I can’t thank you enough for watching Billy while I go to that conference in Orlando,” she said while Cooter walked inside her house.
“Billy, Uncle Cooter is here,” she called out while she walked Cooter down the hallway to the guest bedroom.
After Cooter dropped his suitcase in the guest bedroom, he headed to the den.
Inside the den, there were two big aquariums on opposite sides of the room.
Cooter walked inside the den with the plastic bag in hand.
Inside the bag, Stephanie and Carlos watched while Cooter walked the bag over to one of the aquariums.
They saw the aquarium and it was larger than the one inside the store.
“That place looks nicer than the one we left,” Carlos told Stephanie.
“That water world has more stuff at the bottom,” she said.
The water bag was raised to the top of the aquarium and tilted.
Inside the aquarium, Martin, Ally, Tony, Glen, Janet, Penny, Kim, and Eddie, all exotic fish watched while Stephanie and Carlos were dumped into the water.
“We have some new guests,” Janet told the other fish.
Billy ran inside the den, saw Cooter by the aquarium and he ran over to him.
“Did you bring me a new fish?” Billy asked while he stuck his face in the glass.
“Yep and I threw in an extra one,” Cooter replied while he pulled Billy’s face away from the glass.
“Neat!” Billy said then he looked at Carlos while he swam with Stephanie over to the other eight fish.
“I’m going to head to Orlando,” Connie said while she walked up to Cooter and Billy.
Connie gave Billy a kiss on his forehead. “You be good for your uncle,” she said.
“I will,” Billy replied.
“Thanks again,” she told Cooter and gave him a kiss on his cheek.
“We're going to have some fun!” Cooter told Billy while Connie walked out of the den.
Billy looked at the door to make sure his mother was gone. “Practice driving again?” he excitedly asked Cooter.
Cooter nodded in agreement and winked to let Billy know it’s their secret.
Billy looked excited while they high-fived each other again.
Cooter and Billy walked out of the den.
Inside the aquarium, after the other eight fish greeted Stephanie and Carlos they swam around checking out their new home.
Stephanie looked homesick and Carlos noticed. “Don't worry, you'll always have me,” he said.
Stephanie cracked a little smile at Carlos.
They continued to swim around and around the aquarium.
Back in the toy box, it was still dark inside Airship 3.
“I guess this is the end. I'm never going to see Stephanie again.”
“And that would be a bad thing, why?”
“Why would you say that?” Melvin replied a little bothered by her comment.
“Since this might be the end, I guess I can tell the truth. Stephanie's only in love with the thought of being the wife of a hero. She doesn't love you the way,” she said but light suddenly appeared outside the bubble and she stopped.
The looked and the light illuminated the face of a dinosaur toy with its mouth opened and full of teeth.
“Ahhhh!” Stephanie and Carlos both screamed the second they sat the dinosaur.
The airship suddenly moved up.
“Now what?” Melvin asked while the airship continued to move upward in the air.
Melvin and Hazel watched while the airship moved through the air.
They were tossed around inside the airship while Billy ran through the house.
Billy ran out his back door and into his backyard with the airship in his hand.
In the middle of the yard sat Andy, Billy’s nine-year-old buddy with a toy F-22 jet fighter in his hand.
“Look Andy!” Billy cried out while he ran up to his buddy with the airship in the air.
Andy grabbed Airship 3 out of Billy’s hand. “Cool,” he said while he checked out the airship.
“There’s two toy fish inside,” Billy said.
Andy looked at the bubble canopy and saw Melvin and Hazel inside.
Inside Airship 3, Hazel and Melvin were violently tossed around the cockpit while Andy shook the craft.
Billy grabbed the airship out of Andy’s hand. “Let’s have a dogfight,” he told Andy.
“Okay!”
Andy and Billy ran around the yard and pretended to have a dogfight with the F-22 fighter and Airship 3.
Inside Airship 3, Hazel and Melvin were able to get to their seats.
They watched while the airship went up, down, to the right and then to the left.
“I’m thinking this could be our opportunity when Hazel saw the sky and clouds.
“Let’s go for it,” he replied.
Hazel configured the console for flight then she looked over at Melvin. “Are you ready?”
“Let’s get out of here and get back to Stephanie,” he said.
Billy and Andy ran around the backyard with their toys in their hands while they pretended to be in a dogfight.
All of a sudden, the rear engine to Airship 3 fired and the craft vibrated in Billy’s hand when he had it straight and level. That scared him and he let go of the airship and fell on his butt.
The airship dropped to the ground and then it suddenly rose up in the air and ascended in the sky.
Billy and Andy looked baffled while they watched Airship 3 fly off into the sky.
“I guess I pressed a button or something,” Billy said while he stood up and scratched his head while he watched the airship fly away.
“I want one of those remote controlled planes,” Andy said.
Billy looked like he was going to cry when it dawned on him that his toy was gone.
Inside Airship 3, Hazel and Melvin looked so relieved they finally escaped from the grips of that small Air Alien.
While Hazel worked the joystick, Melvin leaned over and gave he a quick kiss on her gills.
“You’re the best!” he said.
Hazel loved the feel of his lips on her gills.
“Now, how do we get back to Stephanie?” he asked her.
“I don’t know,” she replied while they flew through Billy’s neighborhood.
A little while later, the airship reached U.S. 1 and Hazel turned right and headed north toward Miami.