Holidays (Part 2)

Click here to read Holidays (Part 1)

Although I set my alarm at four I couldn't hear it. As usual I woke up an hour later to find my coffee on my bedside table. The only thing I hated most in being wealthy is the use of servants. How many times, must I tell those guys not to bring coffee to my bed?

Then everything went fine. Only my mother was awake so she did much as waving at my sleepily when I came to wish her goodbye.

The bus came at quarter to six and I collected my luggage and entered the bus with a feeling of utmost joy. Fortunately none of my friends asked where were my parents; they were too busy with the fun going on. This was what I had always wanted. Everyone was here, every single one in my class. I had formed a lot of friends from the time I had entered the school, and of course they were loyal to me.

“Dude, what’s up?” my best friend Tobey asked me. He was wearing a T-shirt with jeans. I had also chosen casual. I was wearing a checkered shirt with trousers. There was a lot of babble and I saw the rest of my friends at the end of the bus.

 “The roof of the bus!” I was feeling really well.

“Seriously? What about your parents? I did not see them,” Tobey said.

“Never mind them now, same as usual,” I replied. Together, we went to the back of the bus where the rest of my friends were waiting.

“Ah, here comes the millionaire!” said Bill Stutters.

“Shut up, man! Long time no see any of you guys. What’s up, huh?” I asked them. There were four people in his gang: His best friend Tobey McLenning, Bill Warder, Amanda Jacobs and Mikayla Ferris. In my opinion they were simply cool. None of them were as rich as much as I was and that was also a reason why I liked them.

“Adrian that best friend of yours was gibbering this morning that you’re not going to make it here and that your parents had locked you up in a room with strict security until our bus stopped at your gate. If it hadn’t, then we would have believed all that blabber! Believe me, he was that serious!” Mikayla said.

“I don’t think it was his mistake! Anybody in his place talking to a friend whose parents are most likely to stop their son enjoying would think like that,” said Amanda, who was usually fond of Tobey.

I had enough of it. “Guys, who cares?! I’m here, we’re all here! Why don’t we just stop thinking about me for once and start talking about other much more important things!” I said.

“Such as?” asked Tobey mockingly.

“Hey, I’ve got an idea: Shall we prank Mr. Stettner? We can ask him how Napoleon conquered China.” Bill said, laughing.

“And listen to a long philosophy before he realizes that Napoleon had no idea of what China was?” I said and everybody laughed. This was how the re-union began. It was a three hour trip and it was almost noon when we reached Barbaria where the Seven Pillars stood majestically.

After a long talk in their bus, the class got down to see the summer at a restaurant in Barbaria. It was cheerful, of course. Barbaria was famed for its friendly climate. Their class teacher Mrs. Tenners and their philosophy master Mr. Stettner were already out giving instructions to the bus driver about their next destination. They could see the tips of the huge Pillars even from the outskirts of the city even though they were situated at the very center of the city.

“Everyone’s here, right?” Mrs. Tenners started turning away from the bus driver, “Now listen very carefully. I trust each and everyone one of you guys. You people are old enough to look after yourselves and your friends,” she let her eyes linger a second or two on the class gangster Collin Murkwood and his gang before continuing. “So, also I would like to remind you that this is not school time and you can enjoy and do whatever you can-”

Just then there was a huge scream of appreciation from the class and Mrs. Tenners smiled. Mr. Stettner, on the other hand remained motionless.

“So, yes, Mr. Stettner here has kindly accepted my request in coming with us to this trip and he knows a lot about the history of the Seven Pillars and he will be explaining it to us very soon (after all I’m only your English teacher). So, let’s get cracking!” This was Mrs. Tenners, the fun-loving teacher of Wallerby College.

The Juggler was very cozy. It served as the only restaurant for miles around for tourists who visited the Seven Pillars. So, usually, it was almost full, but fortunately for us, we found seats and were ready for the feast. When it came, everybody could only gasp. Even for Adrian whose dishes were from all over the world, this was different.

While we were eating, Mrs. Tenners explained us about the famous Barbarian dish: the Barbarian Tweaters. She told them that this recipe was only known to the chief cooks of this restaurant who were wise enough to keep the secret to themselves. This dish was discovered in Barbaria in 1568 by Evergold Tweater and this was his own shop. Now the shop was owned by Archibald Tweater, who was the living descendant of Evergold. The Tweater was simply delicious and I couldn’t agree more. From that day I decided that the Barbarian Tweaters was my favourite dish. I wasn’t alone; almost everyone who tasted the dish appreciated it, even Collin Murkwood who actually let out a huge burp and remarked that only I would be able to pay for this. But that was not a problem; Mrs. Tenners and Mr. Stettner were rich enough and had no worries on spending their money on the trip.

With bulging bellies and loosening belts, the class got back into the bus and got the ready for the next forty-five minute journey. Our next destination was going to be the Pillars itself. Everybody was feeling sleepy and only Mikayla and I were awake in the gang.

“Aren’t you thinking of having a nap now?” Mikayla asked me.

“I’ve had enough of sleep for one day, what about you?” I replied.

“Me? I’m not much of a sleeper, you know? By the way, I just completed my story on Wattpad. I’m not boasting, but I think it’s quite interesting,” she said.

“Oh, it’s the one called The Rivers of Justice, right? I’ll check it out. It’s quite interesting, and I’m being honest,” I  said, “ You know the one I posted on Wattpad, the short one, I got this guy commenting that he had experienced an accident which happened exactly the way in my story. Must’ve been crazy right?”

She laughed and suddenly I discovered that we were sitting opposite to each other.

“Really?” she said, “What did you do then?”

“I just replied that he must check his medics,” I replied. Even when I said it I knew the joke was lame.

But she laughed again and I felt a jolt in my stomach. “That was your reply? What was his username?” she asked.

“I don’t think I remember, but it was some slapmystories or something like that,” I said.

“You’re right, the guy must’ve been crazy,” she said. Suddenly the bus slowed down. “We can’t be there yet,” she said and leaned across the window. “What the heck?” she suddenly frowned.

“What’s wrong, Mikayla?” I asked.

“I don’t know, there’s a checkpoint here and the police, they’ve stopped our bus,” Mikayla said.

“But I thought-” I started but my friends were coming around.

“The sleep was refreshing. What, we’re already there, I mean here? But it’s only one o’ clock. I thought the journey was-” Bill said, yawning.

“We know Bill, we’ve just stopped at a checkpoint,” Mikayla said.

“But I thought that Barbaria stopped having checkpoints from the time President Hillary died,” Amanda said. Suddenly the whole bus was looking through the windows at the conversation going on with the police and Mrs. Tenners and Mr. Stettner. Already there were conspiracy reasons rumoring around. After ten whole minutes, when the whole class was awake, the two teachers came in.

“Guys, I am really sorry to say that we won’t be visiting the Seven Pillars today-”

Suddenly the class gave huge groan and when Mrs. Tenners started.

“The reason is that a very famous and wealthy person here in Barbaria has been murdered in the Seven Pillars and the police, they’re searching for clues there and it seems that they are not very happy about company, so the Pillars will be remained closed for a week. Now, as you might see, this incident has altered our schedule to an extent. So, to rearrange it, we might need a full day. So, for today everyone will be staying in their rooms we had booked with their friends. I deeply apologize for this inconvenience,” she said.

“Aw, come on,” Tobey muttered in my ear. I couldn’t help but feel disappointed too. We went back to the Juggler where we got our rooms. Tobey, Bill and I shared one room and the girls had another one for them. After changing, Amanda came into our room to have a chat (Mikayla was having a bath). Then we started play a game called Truth and Lies.

“I’m starting,” Tobey called sitting next to Amanda. “Bill, answer me, who is your crush at school?” he asked.

Suddenly Bill went deep red in his face. “Nice question, dude!” I said, smirking.

“Come on, answer, we don’t have all day. But remember only the truth or else you’ll know what’ll happen,” Amanda said laughing with Tobey.

“Err . . . alright, It’s . . . it’s . . . well it’s-please don’t tell her-it’s Mikayla,” he managed to say. At once Tobey and Amanda began to laugh but I felt my insides dropping down. But I still managed a fake laugh. At that moment Mikayla came in.

“What are you guys laughing at?” she asked frowning.

“We’ll tell you later, now that’s obviously true; nobody would dare to lie about such a thing!” Amanda said, still unable to contain her laughter.

“Will you please tell me what’s going on?” Mikayla said in frustration.

“Alright, alright, it’s just that Bill confessed that he fancies you,” Tobey said winking at Bill. Then the next second Bill was on top of him, his face redder than ever. Finally with my help, they managed to let go of each other. Bill was looking at his feet, still red but Tobey, on the other hand was still laughing.

“That’s enough, Mikayla, what do you think about him?” Amanda asked Mikayla.

“Well, I don’t know, this is quite new to me. Let’s think about it,” she paused. “Bill.”

I had enough. “Guys, excuse me for a moment, some sort of pressure’s acting in my privates,” saying so, I went to the washroom.

In the washroom I looked at myself in the mirror. At that moment the person in a T-shirt and a track bottom looking back at me was a total stranger. For the first time in my life I felt jealous of my friend. And the bloody question was why? Does that mean that I like Mikayla? Shut up, I told myself. She had been a very good friend of mine from the time I had joined the school. Why hadn’t Tobey ask me that question? Mikayla, I thought, my heart sinking. I could hear her laugh outside and suddenly felt an incredible jealousy at Bill. Shut up, I told myself again. If they have an affair, then what’s my problem about it?

I looked at myself in the mirror again. My face was white as sheet and my usually combed head was now a mess. Was I handsome? I knew I had no idea. Bill, on the other hand, was an extremely cool guy and he was quite handsome too. I had seen girls looking at him from the corner of their eyes. At last I settled myself; this was not the time to think about it. Clearing my throat and mind, I went back. After a lengthy talk and play, dinner was served in the hotel restaurant where for once my mind stopped thinking about Mikayla. I had my Barbarian Tweaters to manage.

Then the girls went back to their room and then we boys changed into our pajamas and crept back to their beds. I couldn’t help and could not understand why but feel an urge to throw my pillow at Tobey who wished Bill good luck with his so called ‘future affair’.

Next morning, we woke up to find Mrs. Tenners and Mr. Stettner ready with the new schedule. We would be going to visit the city museum that day. So, after breakfast we got on to their bus and went to the museum.

My first thought was that this was no museum. It looked like some twelfth century gothic cathedral. The other thing was that it was surprisingly huge for a museum.

“You know, this was King Mustave’s palace,” Mikayla told them.

“Palace, you say? But it looks more like a-” I started but was saved from finishing my sentence by Bill.

“Like a cathedral, yeah,” he said.

I felt a very uneasy lurch as Mikayla explained it to Bill. I was the person who started the sentence.

“Yeah, that’s how the castles and palaces were like in Barbaria. It was obviously adopted from the Diellions in the late tenth century. Before, that they had normal three or four story house-like buildings,” she explained.

“Mikayla, how come you know a lot about these things when you haven’t been here at all. Amanda, she says that she came here the year before the last and she can’t remember a thing!” Tobey said.

“Well, I read a lot and I came through a book about Barbaria, so I checked it out,”

Mikayla said, passing her eyes over me for a moment in which I felt my stomach do a backflip. I had never felt any of this before when Mikayla talks to me. What the heck is wrong with me?

“Oh, that’s cool, what was that book called?” I asked, her, trying to merge into the conversation.

“It was called ‘The Forgotten City’ and it was only full of facts,” she said, barely looking at me.

“Oh, right,” I said. I couldn’t understand why but I felt like I was being ignored by Mikayla. But of course, we enjoyed looking at the museum. It was full of ancient clothes the Barbarians used to wear and the utensils, tools and the things they used to have and of course their weird weapons. The only remarkable thing for me was their writings. They used to write in weaved and hardened cotton and the writing was completely illegible. The words went in spirals inwards. There were thousands of the writings. Mikayla told us that even after their excavation in 1912, archeologists were still trying to decipher these words. I was still wondering how these texts survived the wars of the country. There was not even much of a scratch on them.

After our two-hour walk in the museum, the class went towards the museum restaurant to have their lunch. For my dismay, they did not have Barbarian Tweaters or any other similar dish. What they had was fish and other sea food. I couldn’t eat much because the prawns reminded him of my parents’ favourite dish which was cooked in the house every other day: Prawn Salad.

The class itself had feasted enough on the museum itself and none of us felt hungry during lunch. So, in a few minutes they were on their bus journeying to a park in the city. There the boys played soccer and the girls played badminton. Fortunately the equipment needed was already provided in the park. After a lengthy soccer match, Tobey, Bill and I went away to play badminton with the girls.

It was decided that they should play as boys versus girls, but unfortunately, there were only two girls. So, Mikayla went away and then came with a very pretty dark-haired girl whom she introduced as Sarah Williams. I barely knew her (she was a one of the five visitors of another class of their same grade) and did not give her another thought. I never did know that she was going to change the situation in my holiday forever.

Ultimately the girls won. Then they went back to the bus and drained their supplies of water in exhaustion. Incredulously the we, the boys were sent out of the bus by two girls who said that they wanted to talk something important. We were looking at the muted forms of Mikayla, Amanda and Sarah. Quite clearly Sarah was the object of the talk; she was the person who was relating them something. When they came back the we asked them what they were talking about and the answer was stated out flat: mind your own business.

Tobey and Bill wanted to rejoin their soccer game, so they went away. Amanda and Sarah excused themselves to go to the bathroom. Once again Mikayla and I were alone.

“Do you know who Sarah is?” she suddenly asked me.

“Err… She’s one of the five people of the division draw, right?” I replied glad that she had started the conversation instead of me.

“Well, yeah, and there’s something else too,” she said, looking at him with an expression strong determination in her face.

I frowned. “What do you mean?” I asked.

“It’s actually about the conversation we girls had in the bus,” she started.

“Oh,” I said, my eyes going wide.

Mikayla took a breathe and said, “Sarah fancies Bill and has a crush on him,”

“What?” My head suddenly shot up. “But I thought that Bill and you had-” I got interrupted by Mikayla.

“He might have, but I don’t, in fact, I never did,” she said clearly.

My mind was swimming with questions. “But… that day… you… the game… you said that… Bill said-” I could only stammer.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, that was just a game I just wanted to play with you guys before Sarah told me this thing, and I purposely got her into our game. So, you must be wondering why I am telling this to you. We just want you to convince Bill to like Sarah. It’s gotta be easy, because she’s really pretty good-looking and Bill will like her,” she said, “Even I am not that pretty,” she added.

“I think you’re really pretty,” I felt the words coming out of my mouth before I even realized what I was saying.

“Huh?!” Mikayla said and instantly blushed.

“I’m sorry, it’s my mistake, and I shouldn’t have-”

“No, it’s ok,” she said quietly and suddenly smiled.

Suddenly I felt a sudden leap in his heart. She was pretty, that was true. With curly brown hair and graceful almond eyes, she was exceedingly clever and wise than the rest of the people.

“So, will you help us?” she asked.

“Yeah, yes of course,” I said, coming back to my senses.

“Ah, here they come,” she said, pointing at Amanda and Sarah. For the first time, I looked carefully at Sarah. She was pretty okay, and seemed like she would go along fine with Bill.

“I told Adrian everything and he seems willing to help us,” Mikayla told them.

“Oh, alright, I’d better tell Tobey about this too, don’t you think?” Amanda said and Mikayla and I rolled our eyes together.

At seven o’ clock the class left the grounds and went journeyed back to The Juggler. There they ate a heavy dinner of course, and this time when Mikayla and Amanda came into the boys’ room they brought Sarah with them. I remained silent and so did Tobey (I had told him everything during dinner) and for everyone’s surprise Bill remained quiet too. At last Tobey managed to fake asking what Sarah’s business here was.

Then suddenly Mikayla turned to Bill.

“Bill, that day you told me that you like me, didn’t you?” she asked straightforwardly. Bill suddenly turned red, but I noticed something: his color wasn’t dark as usual.

“Yes, why?” he asked.

“I’m sorry to say this, but I don’t fancy you, so you’d better give up on me,” Mikayla told him.

“Oh, okay, alright,” he said, clearing his thought. But for some reason he felt as if though Bill was faking it. Suddenly it hit me. A matter of unlikely coincident came pouring out of my head: Bill not choosing my side and many other things that happened very recently.

“Bill, be honest, do you like Sarah? Tell us the truth,” I blurted out.

Bill instantly went red. I smiled; his question had got out the proper effect. Bill turned towards Sarah and then at the others.

“Answer please,” Amanda said.

Then slowly, very slowly, Bill nodded. Then there was a huge cry from everybody. At once, they all laughed and wished Bill who had gone next to Sarah to talk with her. Looking at that, for two seconds, I felt a wild satisfaction which even surprised me, I felt really glad and I knew I was the only one who felt so much happy in the room.

That night everyone slept soundly because our day had been awesomely exhausting. Next morning everyone woke up late and after breakfast they went to the city beach. It was really cool there compared with the rest of the city. Everyone changed into their swimsuits and jumped into the sea.

It was really fun. I had never been so happy in his life; I had never swum in the sea. It was a totally new world to me and I preferred it. For the next four days the class went around the city exploring its mysteries and everything else it hid. I loved it, and now that Mikayla was exceptionally friendly with me, I wanted nothing more. But there was something else that I longed for: The Seven Pillars. It was fulfilled on their seventh day of the trip.

The morning was very tense for me. I was about to visit the oldest structure in the world that wasn’t in ruins. What I knew about the building was only an inch of what Mikayla knew, but still I was sure I was going to visit a place which was exceptional than the rest of the world.

Everybody else was silent too. They were all eager to visit the place. During our journey to the Seven Pillars, I asked Mikayla what she had read about the building and then she related me all that she knew.

“Not for nothing had it been given the honour of being the first and the best wonder of the world, Adrian. It was the oldest building that had survived the 21st century. Archeologists had not yet confirmed the exact date on which the gigantic building was built. Entomology dating had given its best while researching about the Seven Pillars. For the ordinary people, the Seven Pillars seemed to be growing older and older. For the archeologists, it looked as though the Seven Pillars seemed to be growing younger and younger each time they discovered a section. Although the most recent entomology dating confirmed that a part of the back wall was built in the sixtieth century BC, the archeologists were sure that it was built very recently. But that was nothing, the oldest dating records that it was built somewhere during the early Jurassic period. So, that was also why it was a mystery to the wide world,” she said.

“Oh,” this was more than what I could comprehend. I did not know what was entomology dating and he did not like getting embarrassed by asking Mikayla what it was. It was a very short journey. So, we were at the car park in ten minutes. Then everyone got down. The bus was a tiny speck in the amount of vehicles that littered the car park that was as twice as big as the Seven Pillars itself.

After that Mrs. Tenners started talking to everybody.

“So, guys, the big moment has come, this was what we were all waiting for. You’ve done researches and assignments about this edifice, but most of us haven’t even seen a picture of this place. This is because the committee has restricted to capture images inside the building because even the slightest flash of light might ruin the building’s walls. Now, guys, your parents have sent you alone because they have placed a lot of trust on you. So, I know that none would like to ruin their trust in you. So now all of you are here, I want each and every one of you to behave. The committee is very careful about the edifice. Although they don’t have security cameras here there are always docents security guards walking all over the place. So, please, I know you are not young anymore, but still it is my duty to say: behave yourselves. We’ve got the best person here with us so, please be patient and listen to him very carefully. I might give you an assignment about it next term.”

At this statement the class stirred a bit. Mrs. Tenners was famous for her kindness and care but that didn’t give away her teacher-ish habit of giving out assignments every other week.

In a single file, every one of us walked into the entrance of the magnificent edifice. While we were standing there at the entrance, Mr. Stettner went to the overflowing counters and bought twenty-six tickets and handed it to each one of us. We had to show our tickets to the security at the entrance before proceeding in.

As soon as we entered the ramparts, it felt as though my eyes had turned upside down. I felt as though I was entering another era. I forgot all about my friends and everybody whom I was walking with. With the exception of the bustling tourists and the security guards and docents, the place looked like a whole village of sculptures and carvings of weird yet sense-making statues and etc. Mr. Stettner started explaining something about the carvings which my ears were not able to catch.

As soon as we entered the ramparts we found ourselves walking in a single line towards the great edifice. Even before entering the huge silver doors, I was awed by the massive seven-storied building. Then as we entered the great corridor that was lined on both sides with enormous statues of people doing anonymous things I heard the docents talking in a calm and clear voice for groups of about thirty people. It was easy for them because none of the tourists were uttering a single word; they were utterly speechless.

“This corridor stretches for about four meters and is perfectly decorated with-”

“Searchers, the haunting souls of the wicked,” Mr. Stettner finished the sentence for the docent who suddenly wheeled and frowned, obviously startled by the knowledge of somebody outside the committee.

He went closer to Mr. Stettner and whispered something in his ear. But Mr. Stettner replied clearly in his gruff voice, much to the embarrassment of the docent.

“No sir, I haven’t worked here. I did my own research and why are you telling me not to talk about this matter, sir; I know as much as you do and in fact I might know a bit more that you do, sir,” he said. Suddenly the docent turned red and started walking towards another group (that already had another docent) and started muttering something about the diameter of the building.

I had barely come out from my subconscious state when Tobey whispered in my ear, “Stettner really does know his way, doesn’t he?”

“Through the whole building, yes,” I replied. Although the walk of twenty-five meters took nearly twenty minutes I never got bored. The statues gave me a feeling of a haunted anticipation and seriousness. With Mr. Stettner describing about this corridor in his grim voice it made me feel more like getting back to totally something beyond this ordinary world.

Next we reached another highly decorated room—another era full of surprising stories. It went on like this to a point where I actually lost track of time, for I was exceedingly mesmerized.

At last, at long last, we enter entered the biggest hall. Here came the biggest one, practically. It was the biggest one in the building, I mean, the whole wide world. This was where the name of the edifice itself had been taken from. This was what the generations of people had died to have a single glance. It was known as the most ancient treasure of the world. It was the seven monuments of undying glory: The Seven Pillars.

It was truly an impressive and amazing sight. Once again I lost myself completely in the depths of the amazement.

The seven gigantic Pillars stand out greatly from the rest of the world because of their remarkable height and size. The seven pillars were so tall that during winter days, the domes that adorn the top of them get engulfed in the clouds and the pillars were so thick that it needed five people to wrap around it to cover its circumference. I suddenly became conscious that my mouth was hanging open.  I closed it. The next second, the Seven Pillars had etched itself in my mind.

I suddenly became aware that my friend Bill was trying to ask a question. He was standing on his tiptoes and was waving his hand to catch Mr. Stettner’s attention who was equally awestruck at the monuments and did not bother to close his mouth like I did. Mrs. Tenners saw Tobey and motioned to Mr. Stettner. He did not even bother to look at Bill, but he started speaking to all of us. Bill, on the other hand put his hand down, frowning.

“The Seven Pillars, yes. We are here at last. These Pillars are exceedingly remarkable because of their gigantic height and size. The reason why this hall did not have a roof is that the ancients thought that these were the Pillars that were holding up the sky. You might find it funny, but the ancients were very serious about themselves,” he said when a few people giggled. “And what was your question, Mr.?” he said, now looking at Bill.

“Stutters, sir and I wanted to ask how they built the Pillars?” Bill said.

“Good question, err. . . Stickers. This is another big mystery of the Seven Pillars. As you can see, these Pillars are randomly placed here and there. So, it can be said that this great hall was simply built to build the Pillars. Nowadays metal bars are used in Pillars and walls from preventing them from collapsing and to hold up the ceiling or the roof. But here, the Seven Pillars were simply built out of a mixture of granite and similar rocks. How they mixed the rocks is yet another mystery to us because rocks’ ignition temperature is very very high, as we all know. Most of us, maybe none of us know what the other interesting part of these Pillars is. Our modern day X-rays of the Pillars have confirmed the appearance of blood that has not yet solidified. What I mean, by that is there has been sightings saying that fresh blood is dripping inside the Pillars,” At this point the whole class gasped and Amanda actually whimpered.

“But this is not all,” Mr. Stettner continued, his voice going frighteningly into a low tone. “Although there are controversial issues regarding this, the researchers still say that there are dead bodies mounded up inside the Pillars.”

I felt my heart skip a beat. The whole class was obviously horrified by this news. I actually found it hard to believe what my teacher had just said. The world’s most famous monument has such a horrible history. As soon as I looked at my friends Sarah suddenly ran to the restrooms. When we all looked at Bill, he just said, “Don’t worry, she’s a bit too sensitive.”

The last part of our walk through the building was frightening. We were all so tense, wondering whether Mr. Stettner was going to tell yet another horrible history about this place. But then it ended. Our journey through the building left us both awestruck and scared.

When we got on to the bus and were travelling back to The Juggler to collect our stuff, Mikayla and I were talking about the Seven Pillars.

“That was really creepy wasn’t it? What Mr. Stettner was saying,” I said.

“Yeah, it totally freaked me out. I researched on this but not a single book contains this piece of information,” Mikayla said.

“Try the Internet; it should probably work. I am joking, never mind. It was sort of cool though, the building,” I said.

“Yeah, but it’s seriously haunting. Let us talk about something else,” she said.

“Yeah, you’re right. So, how are you going to spend the rest of the holidays?” I asked, glad that she had changed the subject.  

“Me? Well, I don’t know,” she said and thought about something for a while and asked me, “What are you going to be, Adrian? Your ambition?”

I laughed. “My goal is unstable, Mikayla, but I don’t want to deny the fact that I want to become an astronomer,” I said.

“Oh, that’s cool,” Mikayla said.

“What’s yours?” I asked.

“Mine? Well, I agree with your point saying that your goal is unstable because it’s the same with me, but I think it would be cool to become as archaeologist, don’t you think?” she said.

“Archaeologist, eh? That’s pretty cool, yeah,” I said. Then we both remained silent as the bus reached The Juggler.

We got into our rooms and collected our stuff and packed them clean and tidy for the return journey. We got our teas served just as we had finished packing and in less than an hour, we were all ready to go home.

I was sad. I was going to leave all my friends and I won’t be seeing them for a long time. Anyway, I had enjoyed myself with my friends. This was a trip that was going to be a very memorable one for me. During this time, I had forgotten all about my parents and all my problems and responsibilities. I felt like I only wanted friends in this world. I can never forget my friends. First and foremost was my most loyal and best friend in this world: Tobey McLenning. The coolest guy I’ve ever seen. He was so loyal to me that sometimes I felt that I’m not being loyal to him as much as he is to me. We never hid things from each other. Whatever happens to me, whenever I feel sad I talk to him. His joking personality and his nature of having fun always made me happy. The truth was that he was my only best friend.

Next was, my inspiration: Bill Warder. He was truly my inspiration. I always wanted to be like him. This was because he had a good family and that included caring parents, two own siblings and he was handsome. So, obviously anyone would feel jealous about him, and I’m not any different. Still, he never treated me as a foe. He was loyal to me as much as Tobey was. He was not a great talker. He was usually silent. But that suited me. We were quite the same in some ways.

Then comes my other friend, Amanda Jacobs. A good girl she was, though always supporting her boyfriend Tobey. But still always making us laugh with her silliness.

There’s not much to talk about Sarah Williams, either. She was a new person to me and only Bill knew almost everything about her. She was also silent and very much like Bill with the exception of her sportiness. She was a kind girl.

Lastly but most importantly, is that one girl. The girl whom I had liked since the time I had joined my school. The girl whom I knew the most: Mikayla Ferris. That girl. She was, first of all, very, very kind and patient. She was not like the other friends you get, the ones who simply get bored when you try to pour what’s in your heart to them. She was not like that at all. She listened with utmost attention what I try to tell her and she helps me. She was very intelligent and very brilliant. She has the potential to explain complicated things in a simple manner. That was simply not all. I am a boy; I have all the rights to admire her. She was very beautiful . . . From the brown curls that adorn her shoulder to her always-smiling face, makes me feel that I can do anything in the world. Gosh, I like her so much! More than those stupid feelings, she was my very good friend; she was really my closest friend, with the obvious exception of Tobey, of course.

Now coming back, we were all ready to go home. The last place I ever wanted to visit. I was still thinking about the fun I had during the time I spent with my friends when we got onto our bus. Suddenly my sad thoughts were interrupted by Mrs. Tenners’s words.

“Now guys, I know we had an awesome time during the holidays. I hope every single one of you enjoyed it. All thanks goes to Mr. Stettner, here, who took care of us by his expenses and by simplifying complicated things we had. He took his time and patience to explain us all the stuff about the Seven Pillars. So, guys let’s all give a hand of applause for our teacher, Mr. Stettner!” she said and everyone applauded in delight. We knew he was sure a great teacher.

Then we started leaving Barbaria. I found my friends sitting with their, well, girlfriends and boyfriends. Tobey was sitting with Amanda and was talking to her in low voices and so were Bill and Sarah. I did not see Mikayla anywhere so I just went deeper into the bus. She was there, reading a book. I went and sat on the seat opposite to hers.

“Hey,” she said dreamily, looking up at me.

“Hi,” I replied cheerfully, “So, what’s up?”

“Are you serious?” she said, smiling, “I thought we just met this morning.”

“I know,” I said, grinning, “It’s quite fun saying it every time you meet someone, yeah.”

“Whatever,” she said and closed her book and pulled out her bag to keep it.

“Mikayla, I just wanted to ask, what do your parents, err . . . do?” I suddenly asked her.

“My parents?” she said, “My dad, he’s a doctor and my mom’s a dentist.”

“Wow,” I said.

“What do your parents do, Adrian?” Mikayla asked.

Suddenly I felt the smile fade off my face. “Well, both of them are running a stationery company called SCHOOLMATE. I don’t think you might’ve heard of it-”

“Oh, is it SCHOOLMATE? I should have known. They produce good stationery, yes, they sure do,” Mikayla said, nodding.

“Oh, great,” I said tonelessly.

“Why? What’s the matter Adrian? Why have gone so dull?” Mikayla asked me.

I looked up at her. Her face was full of pure concern. I didn’t know why, but I wanted to tell everything to her.  Everything that troubled me. Everything I ever wanted. So, I did. I spilt out everything to her: How I felt about my parents and my friends and how I wished to have a family like Tobey’s or Bill’s. She listened patiently to all what I was saying. Then through the course of our conversation, the topics changed, we talked about other things and then suddenly as it began, my journey ended. I was the first to get down.

I waved at my friends and told them to call me. It was only going to be a holiday, but for each one of us, a single day seemed like a year. Then I turned to Mikayla. For a moment I felt my head spinning when I looked at the way she was smiling at me. Suddenly she said, “Adrian, can you ask me out for a date?”

There was this fraction of a second when the whole bus was completely silent and I felt as though I was bare. Everyone was looking at us. Then it erupted. Everybody was shouting, clapping their hands loudly and at the same time laughing. Even Mrs. Tenners and Mr. Stettner started smiling. I myself couldn’t help it, I smiled too.

Then I looked at Mikayla. She was looking at me as though waiting for an answer. I nodded silently and waved at her as I descended from the bus. As I was struggling to carry my bags, I looked the bus, which was presently starting its engine. I saw my friends all waving at me. Tobey, Bill, Amanda, Sarah and of course Mikayla. I was sure I was going to miss them a lot. Then the bus sped off. Leaving back nothing but darkened trails on the tarred road.

While I was walking back to my house, I was smiling, thinking of Mikayla. But then, I suddenly noticed something else. There were about three police vehicles parked near my house. Frowning I went in. I saw my parents talking with an inspector and when I went in, my dad saw me and said, “Hello Adrian, I hope you had a nice journey. Can you please go upstairs and pack your stuff? We are going to shift,” he said.

When I opened my mouth to ask the reason, he said, “We’ll explain everything later, Adrian, just finish packing quickly.”

Clueless, I went up, trying to come up with a reason. I went to my room and took two huge trunks and stuffed all my things inside. When I finished, I looked at my room; it looked totally weird without my stuff occupying every nick and corner of the place.

I was still wondering what the heck the problem was while I was descending the staircase. I saw the inspector getting into his police car and revving up the engine. Then I saw my mum and dad talking with each other. When my mum saw me, she said, “Come and sit here Adrian,” she said, “We need to talk with you.”  

I went to the sofa set and sat on it, clearly clueless. This had never happened before.

Then my dad started talking.

“First of all, it’s our duty as a parent to ask how your journey was to Barbaria. So, yeah, how was it?” he said trying to force a smile.

I blinked. I couldn’t believe this. My parents were actually asking how my time was at Barbaria! Without my even realizing it, my mouth said, “Fine.”

“Did you have fun?” my mother asked me.

“Yeah, sure, loads of fun,” I said, still dazed.

“Good,” my father said and took a deep breath and continued, “What we want to tell you is that, to start with, I don’t know whether you know about a murder in Barbaria that happened very recently, do you?’ he asked.

“Oh, yeah,” I said, remembering, “The murder was why out trip to The Seven Pillars was put off schedule. What about that?” I asked. I was so amazed at this unusual behavior of my parents.

“Good, so he’s Mr. Emmanuel Coater. He was quite a rich man with a nice house and a lot of business experience. He was very influential person too, in Barbaria. This was because he was a very kind philanthropist, yes,” my dad paused and then sighed.

Now my mother started, “Yeah, so recently we attended a party where we met him and we told him all about our business, our profits and losses and other various stuff and he too talked with us and he told us that he was going to a start a press and he wanted someone with experience and to invest some money. So immediately your father and I thought that this was an ideal moment to let go of the stationery business because it was going at loss at an accelerated mode, And things began to turn expensive plus now there are other various stationery brands with better prices and quality, so people began to think mostly about money and not the quality, so-”

“So, we asked him whether we could enter his large business: the famous concrete brand Firmexcel,” my father said, “And he agreed wholeheartedly, so we sold our factory and stuff, and went to join him. We invested a large amount of money on that business, without asking anybody’s advice or anything. It was going along fine as we started the paperwork, but one day, we heard the news that he was shot dead. We didn’t know what to do. We were just paralyzed! Then gradually the worry settled down, and we were searching for someone for partnership of the business when the police turned up today with some officers telling us that we had to leave the business and the house and go somewhere else. The reason was that we had signed a fake agreement and spent all our money in the name of none other than the late Mr. Coater’s secretary, who had somehow tricked Mr. Coater into signing over of the business to his name. He was the one who had made us sign the fake partnership agreement that simply had no value. Therefore we legally have no right of the business. And now that we can’t settle back the amount our house for which we had leased in the bank, we have to let go of it. We suspect that secretary was the one who had killed Mr. Coater, but unfortunately we have less money at hand for judicial purposes. So, what your mother and I have decided is to shift somewhere and find work somewhere else,” finished my dad.

“Plus, this time your dad will be the only one working. Not me. We have learnt a lesson from you Adrian, being the best in everything and filling the bank account with loads of cash for no reason at all is simply like trying to fill a basin that has a hole in its bottom with water. Whatever you do, how much you earn, to whatever heights one goes, one must come down and for that you need experience, not the experience of how clients negotiate with you, experience of the world and who is who. We were so stupid that we trusted only money. We were so obsessed with it, and now we learnt a lesson, Adrian. When you were younger, I don’t think I as much as did walked with you to school, but now,  we know you are there for us, you are going to be our teacher, because you know what the world is like. Even though we wanted you not to, you fought and you are tough, you know the world. You taught yourself, now it’s time for you to teach us, Adrian. Our strength lies in you, Adrian, you are our last hope. I’m so sorry Adrian,” suddenly my mother started crying. I suddenly felt remorse and it ached my heart. I regretted all my ill feelings towards my parents at once. I felt like crying, myself. Without my consciousness, I ran to my parents and hugged them both. I felt my eyes burn, I let my tears flow.

They were my parents; I am not going to let them down. We were going to live another life, totally different from our usual. After fifteen years of being pampered, I was going to live a life whose income was going to be less than any of my friends. But this is going to be a challenge. My father, my mother, they’re both mine and I am not going to let them down at any rate. They have changed and so  will I. I was really happy, for one thing, because from now onwards I was going to live a life with my parents, alone, without any servants. This is going to be a start. . .

       TWO MONTHS LATER. . .

“Yes! Yes, yes, yes!” I saw my father coming whooping with some delight and coming back to the room, with a glow in his face that wasn’t seen for two months. My mom turned around from the oven in which she was practicing to bake pancakes.

“What’s the matter dear? Has anything gone wrong?” she asked.

“Wrong? From today onwards, everything is going to turn right, lady!” saying so, he did a small dance with my mom, who was astonished more than I was.

“Whoa, what’s the good news, dad?” I asked him.

“Adrian, after two whole months of starvation, you dad has found work!” he said, gleefully.

“Really, dear, that’s the best thing I’ve ever heard since we left our house!” My mom said.

“Seriously dad, that’s awesome? Where?” I asked him. I knew for his talent in business, he should have got a good job at an office somewhere.

“In an automobile repair center, Adrian. The owner told me to come next Tuesday, so that he could find a job for me in repairing vehicles,” he said, still smiling.

My stomach dropped.  A man who had once been ranked the #1 business man, now had been reduced to a normal car repairing mechanic? His talents were all useless, now. But more than me, my mother was the one who was hurt by this news.

“James? A talented person like you working in a repair shop? But-”

But my dad cut her off. “My talent is nothing, Mary. This is a new world we are going to live in. This is enough for our family. Money is nothing. And we are just three people, right? We sure can survive this century. Ha ha. And I don’t want to become a businessman again. It’s not worth the trouble,” he said.

Automatically my jaw dropped. Not worth the trouble? Whoa. . . My dad has surely changed a lot. Suddenly from the corner of my eye I saw tears rolling down the cheeks of my mom.

“James, you have become a new man. I hope I will become one too,” she said, barely able to control her tears.

My father took a deep breath and looked at me. “Adrian, it’s all up to you. What I hope is, that in your future you will not make the same mistake I did. I don’t have to tell you, of course. You know it a lot more than I do. But, still you are our only hope,” he said.

I knew. “No, dad. You brought me up. I learnt a lot with you. I’m sorry dad, I’m sorry mom, if I ever was rude to any of you. I’m always with you. No matter what. Because money can never buy awesome parents like you two. I love you mom, I love you dad,” my eyes burnt, I suddenly realized that I was crying. Before I could wipe my tears off, both my mom and dad were hugging me and both of them were crying too. It was the best family reunion we’ve ever had.

***********

I saw her waiting for me at a lonely table, reading a book, as usual. Fishing out my courage, I walked towards her.

“Hey, Adrian. Long time no see,” she said, settling down her book.

I couldn’t help noticing how pretty she was. I felt as though I might as well blow up a building rather than telling her what I wanted to.

“Hey, Mikayla. What’s up?” I said, thinking of how to put my thoughts into words.

“Come on, not again,” she said, laughing.

I felt like a blundering fool. Why did I even turn up? I could have just phoned her and told her everything.

Apparently Mikayla noticed the ugly look on my face, because she asked, “Adrian, is anything wrong?”

I made up my mind and got ready to face the worst. I took a deep breath and said, “I’m sorry Mikayla, but. . .You know what happened, right? To my family? So. . .we’re like in a financial problem at present ‘cause we’re used to the other lifestyle and we’re having a heavy toll. So. . .the thing is I don’t think we’ll be able to continue this anymore,” I finished and looked down at my knees.

Mikayla was silent for a few minutes. “Ok, ok. Anyway, it’s very brave of you to come in front of me and tell the problem. Thanks a lot for that. But why this sudden decision?

Your reason was vague,” she said, searching my eyes.

Mikayla, Mikayla. You’re a great girl! How can I tell this to you? Resolving, I started, “Well, I’ve got no idea about that searching look of yours, but I don’t think we can be together anymore. I’ve got hell a lot more pressing matters in my head. So many burdens to carry, and. . . I can’t just keep on texting you and talking with you. My parents are depending on me. Once I finish my Ordinary Levels I doubt whether I’ll even do my Advanced Levels. If I just forget all those duties of mine and just hang around with you. So, please Mikayla, I beg you to understand my situation.” I finished.

“Ok, Adrian. It’s alright; can we at least be good friends?” she asked, looking uncertain.

I looked at her. Her face was full of concern. From this moment I realized: There was no other girl in the world like Mikayla.

“Friends?” I asked her.

“Best friends?”

At that moment I was at a loss for words. If I say no, then something worse would follow. If I say yes, then that would obviously develop into something larger and I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on my other problems. I tried to make my answer neutral as much as possible.

“Well, Mikayla, that’s a hard question. If I say no, both of us would be really sad, ‘specially you, if I say yes, then there is more than sixty percent chance of it developing into something larger and that would become an obstacle to the solutions of my other problems. So, here’s my answer: once everything is over and I’m out of these problems I will come back, I assure you. But you will have to wait. Anyway, it’s your decision. I’m still your friend,” I added, “forever.”

It was an awkward silence. Suddenly something happened in a flash. Mikayla suddenly pulled me by my collar and kissed me full on the lips. When she pulled back, she was weeping and my mind was blank. It took me five whole seconds to register the fact that a girl called Mikayla Ferris had just kissed me and now she was crying.

“Hey, what, don’t cry, please. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry-”

“Adrian, you’re my best friend ever, whatever happens, I will wait for you. No matter what. I’m sorry,” she said, looking straight at me with her red eyes.

“You don’t have to be sorry for anything, Mikayla,” I took her hand into mine. “I won’t be seeing you for a long time, Mikayla, it may take years, and I promise I will never forget you. You are my best friend,” I said.

We stared at each other for a few blank minutes. Suddenly Mikayla asked me, “Hey, did you read the 3rd book of the ‘THE LIFE OF THE DEAD’ series?” clearing her eyes, she pulled out the book she had been reading. “It’s called ‘THE WALK’. It’s quite interesting, try it out,” she said.

Whoa. “Oh, what? Yeah, sure. I’ll check it out,” I said.

Then there was another brief silence. I decided to break it. “So, what’s up?

I saw, the corners of Mikayla’s lips twitching. Suddenly we both burst into pearls and pearls of laughter.

That was our departure. We stood up and smiled at each other, and walked out together, still making jokes and discussing about storybooks. We were so like old friends. Then it was really time to depart.

“You’re awesome, Mikayla. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had. I don’t think I’ll be seeing much of you at school too, because now it’s the final year, we’ll both be busy with our studies and stuff, so goodbye, take care,” I said.

“Yeah, sure dude. Have a nice day, See you,” she paused, “as soon as possible.”

With a small and uncomfortable hug, they departed. Shaking himself, I started walking towards my house. As for my other friends: Tobey, Bill, Amanda and Sarah-I won’t be missing them as much. Tobey and Bill are always going to be with me and wherever they are Amanda and Sarah will follow.

Looking back, I saw the most of my mistakes. How I had scolded the servants, how jealous I had been of Bill, how selfish I had been, how much I had shown off, how much I had hated my parents. But one thing was that, I had never felt home and comfortable when I had everything, when the bank was overflowing with money. I had really wanted the calm and public life, the life what all my friends experienced daily. Right now, I am living that kind of life. Somehow or the other, if there was really someone called God, he had answered my prayers, teaching me a lesson. What I had wanted was a moderate kind of life, with a fair income, a small sedan and a normal house, I would’ve called home. But that God had answered my prayers with a bit more carelessness. I am living a life with a not-so-good income, no vehicles, and a room to live in. But that was my life. I had no choice but to live that life for the next, well, it’s indefinite. But I know what I have to do. I’m not going to make the same mistakes. This time, history will NOT repeat itself. I had to grow up, learn with the living and face the challenges thrown at my face. For that, I had to do only one thing, I have to study. It’s high time. If I was allowed to speak in public to a group of college teens, this is what I would say,

“Guys, I know, your parents always say, you’re our only hope, please concentrate on your work and study, or else your future will become spoilt. You guys have been hearing this like your iPod has stuck in replay. I know, it’s hard for you guys to accept the fact that you are not studying enough and doing other things. It’s because you think what you’re doing is always right. No, guys listen to your parents. Even I was once like this, hating my parents, living my own life. But certain events affected my living, and I changed, I found out what I had to do. So, please guys make up your mind. It’s high time. Change to suit the correct living,”

I know it sounds stupid. But that is the ultimate truth. I repeat again, this time nothing in history is ever going to repeat itself again. . .    

This short story was written by Jeshan Fernando