In the Melancholy Moonlight, Part 5: Dark Matter

Chapter 229: If I Could Leave

CLAIRE:

April Fool's Day was truly the best day of the year.

One of the first lessons I learned after Lucy disappeared was that laughter had a way of making the world feel just a little less horrible. In the first hotel where we stayed in London — after the initial investigation in the woods where we had to stay in that same tiny hotel room where I'd waited for Mom for what felt like a lifetime waiting for Dad and Lucy to come back that night, only for Dad to come back alone, muddy and bloody — the room seemed too quiet, so I asked my parents if they would mind turning on the TV for background noise. They agreed as long as I promised that I'd try to sleep and not let the TV keep me up, and soon, The Golden Girls was playing on low volume. True to my word, I closed my eyes and curled up in between my parents and tried to sleep, but after only about a minute, a loud laugh escaped my dad.

I was startled at first, eyes flying open, but I realized that my parents, both parents, were smiling. Smiling.

"Danny, Claire's trying to sleep," Mom had whispered disapprovingly, even though she was giggling.

Dad's hand came down on my head and pushed my hair back from my forehead. "Sorry, Claire Bear. I'll be quiet."

He didn't laugh out loud again, but I still couldn't sleep because of the way the bed kept shaking with suppressed laughter, from both parents. At one point, I asked my parents to explain what was so funny about a couple of old ladies, and I didn't understand at the time why my request only made them laugh harder. When I was finally allowed to watch the show myself, nearly a decade later, I realized that the humor was far too adult to explain to a six-year-old, but all six-year-old Claire understood was that laughter was still possible, even after.

Once we were back in the States, I pored over newspaper cartoons and read every joke book I could get my hands on. I realized that I loved to laugh, and that I loved to make other people laugh too. I was never really one for pranks, because I thought the perfect Claire Everlin shouldn't really be a prankster, but I loved making people laugh with my words, from puns to stories and everything in between. April Fool's Day was a special day, though, a day for shenanigans and hijinks and tomfoolery, especially when it happened during spring break.

On the morning of April Fool's Day, I got up at 5:00, the same time as always for my run with Dad, but rather than just changing into running clothes, I donned my prom dress and made my way downstairs.

"I'm ready for our run, Dad!" I announced with a bright smile.

He glanced up at me and immediately started laughing. "Very funny. I thought prom wasn't for another couple weeks."

"Yes, well, I figured I ought to break in my shoes," I explained, lifting my dress to reveal the high heels I was wearing. "What better way to do that than a morning jog?"

"Ah, yes, naturally," Dad said with a failed attempt at a straight face.

I appraised my dad's sweats, t-shirt, and sneakers with a furrowed brow. "You're wearing that for our run? Really?"

"Right, sorry, let me go change into my nicest tuxedo and the new loafers your mother got me for my birthday. While we're at it, let's run over to Grandma and Papa's and see if they'd like to join us for our morning jog. You know how much people in their eighties love running."

"Well, if we're inviting Grandma and Papa, it's only fair to invite Grandma Dot and Grandpa Rob," I said. "We should run to Arizona and see if they'd like to run back to California with us."

Dad tossed his head back and laughed. "Perfect. Alright, this has been fun, but if you actually want to run, please change. I'd love to see you try to run in that lovely dress, but your mother would never forgive either of us if something happened to it before prom."