Dream Chronicles #1 - Enjoying the Sunset

Vloggers' Day Out

"There you are!" Mark's giddy voice called out to us as we climbed out of the Uber we requested. He ran over to us with Amy hot on heels. We all laughed and said our hellos, bringing in a big group hug. 

"It's been too long you guys," Amy said, then her eyes landed on Kay. "Oh, are you Alli's little sister?"

Kay looked at me before responding. "Yeah, did she not tell you I was coming?"

Amy's eyes glanced at me, then Mark, then back at Kay. "I mean, there's nothing wrong with that!"

Tosh and I chuckled. I still had my camcorder in my hand.

Mark pointed at it. "Turn that on real quick."

I obeyed and aimed it at him and Amy. Almost instantly, they both had on goofy expressions. Mark introduced himself as he usually does on camera, Amy said hello, then they motioned towards us behind the camera, so I turned it around and we all said hi before I faced the camera back on Mark and Amy. They said that they had a fun day planned for all of us and that they had been looking forward to this meet-up for a while. Then Mark waved at me to cut it. I shut the camcorder off and smiled. "I'm so excited."

"I'm so hungry," Kay sighed dramatically. We all shared a laugh before heading inside the restaurant of which we were standing outside. 

* * *

After breakfast, Mark and Amy led us around the block, showing us around and pointing out things that we should film. Amy pulled out an action camera from her bag and started vlogging as well. We shared jokes and caught up with each other, talking about our plans for our YouTube channels and our futures. Mark asked us if we were all still in school; I said yes, though YouTube was kind of taking over. He said he totally understood that feeling, then suggested that we do what we enjoy first. The conversation got deep and emotional pretty quick, but we appreciated Mark's advice. 

"Alright, so where are we going?" Kay asked to change the subject. 

"We were going to start with the park," Amy answered, "walk around a little, work off all that food, then go from there."

"Sounds good to me." Tosh said happily. "It's a pretty day today."

"Isn't it? I'm just glad it's not a hundred degrees out," Mark said as he looked up at the clear, blue sky. "We picked a good day to do this."

As everyone else started talking to each other about the weather and how other projects are going, I lost myself in my own thoughts. Today really couldn't be any better--I was with my friends on a gorgeous day out in California with no worries in the world. 

"Right, Alli?" Tosh said, elbowing my side. 

I shook my head and looked at her. "What?"

Everyone laughed before Tosh explained that she was just messing with me. I smiled and said that I should have just agreed, in that case. 

* * *

Our conversations continued on as we walked around and vlogged our trip. We went to the park and walked a track for a while before taking a break to sit on a bench and record ourselves acting like we were dying. It made for a good laugh. Then we trekked on, looking at shops on the corners and admiring people we passed on the streets. Tosh had the idea of having both cameras going and we could take turns just saying nice things to people as we passed them; naturally, we all loved the idea, so that's what we did for at least an hour. I think we really made some people happy. Then, of course, there were some who recognized all of us and asked for hugs or high-fives or whatever. We made a bigger deal with these people on camera. 

When it got to be around one o'clock, we decided to take a lunch break. 

"Having fun?" Amy asked. 

"Of course!" Tosh said. Kay was nodding, her mouth full of chicken sandwich. 

I took a sip of my water before saying that we all really needed a day like this to just wander around with friends. Mark gave his goofy smile. "Well, I'm glad we did this. I think Amy and I needed this, too. Too bad you guys live so far away... I'd love to get to do this more often."

"Same," Tosh said. 

"Too bad Hannah wasn't here, too," Kay said. "It would be a real party, then. I mean, not that I'm not bringing the party or anything."

We all tried not to choke on our food from laughing at Kay's last comment. She chuckled to herself and shrugged. "See?"

* * *

We finished our lunch and rested a little before going to walk around the street some more. Mark and Amy suggested going to the studio, so we headed that way. I was almost skipping with excitement--we'd never been in Mark's studio before, and I'd always wondered what it looked like in person. 

Before long, we arrived. Mark took us on a dramatic grand tour, making sure the cameras were recording as he did it. We got to see his setup, where they edited the videos, and he even pointed out how spit-covered his monitor was where he recorded his gameplays (it was pretty bad). After that, we all sat down and relaxed a little, coming up with ideas for new videos. Brainstorming like this was a lot of fun and very inspiring. 

Mark checked his watch. "Do we wanna go back out for a while?"

Kay, Tosh, and I all exchanged looks. 

"I don't see why not," I shrugged. 

"Yeah, can we go back to one of those stores?" Kay suggested. "There was something in there I wanted to look at."

"Sure, that sounds fine." Mark nodded. "Anyone else?"

"I just want to be outside again." I said. "It feels too nice."

Amy and Tosh agreed. So we prepared ourselves to do some more walking.