Dusk Until Dawn

Chapter 5 - Some Ramen as a Treat

The rest of the week ended in a blur.

Yukina hadn't come back home since that night. One of her friends' moms contacted my mom, and she said that Yukina would be staying over at her friend's for a while.

I was worried, but also somewhat relieved. I guess she could have time for herself and reflect on a few things while she was distancing from us.

I woke up Saturday morning actually feeling refreshed. I got eight hours of sleep, when I usually would get six.

I waltzed to the kitchen and grabbed an apple to chomp down on. As I started to belt out a song from Hamilton in between chewing, my mom walked in and threw one of the couch cushions.

"Shut up," Mom said drowsily with a smile on her face.

I laughed as I hugged her tightly. Mom had been stressed over Yukina recently, so it felt so good to see her beautiful smile again.

"Mom," I said as I gently let her go. "I'm thinking of spending my day outside today, so I could get some groceries for you on my way back."

Mom ripped a page from her tiny notebook. She gave me a full list of groceries with a sneaky smile, as if she planned for this to happen.

"What are you going to do?"

I shrugged. "I'm not sure yet. I might go to Starbucks, take a walk downtown, buy some books, go shopping... stuff like that. I've always wanted to spend a day with no schedule whatsoever; it sounded like fun."

Like watching the sunrises and the sunsets, I feel like spending a day doing things I love is a way of meditating. I could practice self-love, amuse myself, and evaluate everything all at the same time today. I was eager to see how this day could go.

Shortly after, I left my house and skipped to my car. I'm sure my neighbors thought I was delusional, but I couldn't keep myself composed.

Today is going to be a good day.

-

I karaoked out a Taylor Swift song with all my heart. The wind was strong, but I rolled my windows down regardless, yelling into the wind. Some man shouted at me to turn my volume down, but I blew him a kiss and passed him on the road. I felt so much like a boss that nothing was going to bring me down, not even the elderly.

I arrived at a Starbucks and ordered two drinks and two cake pops, one of each for me and Ivory. She was shut up in her home because of her breakup with Adam, so I dropped off a drink and a cake pop at her doorstep with a post-it note taped on it; "This cost me $12, so I'll come at you if you don't eat/drink it <3"

Next stop, the bookstore. This bookstore had a lounge area, so I read a relaxing book for a couple hours while slowly drinking down my Starbucks drink. I was going to eat my cake pop, but I decided to save it for later.

Relaxation at its finest.

The next few hours felt like the shortest hours of my life. All I did was raid the shopping mall and it ended up taking up 3 hours of my day.

Oh well.

It was already 4PM, when it only felt like 10AM. I must be spending my time perfectly then.

To wind down, I decided to take a quiet stroll at the park. Seeing the coordinating colors of red and orange on some parts of the ground and on the trees made me feel at ease. This was precisely why November was one of my favorite months.

I had some questions run through my head as I admired my surroundings.

Is Yukina okay?

When will she come back?