Once Upon His Last Day

Parkin's Day- The Morning Preparations

No sooner do we enter our school, than all of a sudden Mackenzie pulls me into a tight, suffocating hug. Then she jabbers something absolutely incoherent.

"Ah what?" I say as soon I manage to get released. I literally begin to gasp for air. 

"Oh dearie! I'm so happy today that I can't put it into words. Don't  you see?" she squeals. What am I supposed to see anyway? Ah the fairy lights are enthralling though they are not so visible due to the daylight. The decorations are all put up and it seems like Richard and Preeti are all set with the music. But of course, lots of work is yet to be completed. The food stalls - oh wow none of them are put up yet! I wonder what the condition of the performers is. Hopefully they're not freaking out 

"Muriel!" she hollers. Wow, she called me by my actual name. Quite unusual I must say.

"Oh yes!Yes-yes-yes I see them. Everything's wonderful Kenz. I know it is a pretty onerous task being the-uh" I pause for a second. "The uh-uh supervisor of it all. " I almost fumble. In the other world, she was the Student Supervisor but I'm not sure if both the worlds work in the same manner. "Hey why don't you pause for a second huh? I can sense the nervousness. You and I both know that's going to prove to be a hindrance."

"Yeah, yeah I know." she sighs. "I know."

I smile and walk to my locker to take my things. After grabbing my books, I realize amidst all the talking, I completely forgot about Arthur. I go on a frantic search for him. Thankfully, I find him chattering with Mackenzie Droubay. Again, let me clear your confusion. Here, we are talking about my brother's friend, Mackenzie Droubay whereas the one who is the Student Supervisor this year, is my friend, Mackenzie Wilson.

Arthur almost winces when he notices the overly disconcerted look on my face. 

"You're inordinately--I don't know-- distraught today. This isn't like you. What is it that ails you?"

 Once I regain my composure,  I manage to get a few words out. But don't get me wrong. I'm still gasping for air.

"Wow-- you've learnt some big, flowery words." I say, grinning like a Cheshire cat. 

" Muriel! Are you alright? Do you want to talk?" he murmurs. Now why does that make my eyes misty? Thankfully, the tears don't have the audacity to come out.

"No--um---nah it's fine! I'm fine! Everything's absolutely fine!" I somehow manage to muster up a smile while saying this though my voice is tremulous. Arthur sighs and on hearing the school bell ring, he leaves to the junior high wing while I remain in the senior one and watch them go. The high school students don't have any classes today but that doesn't stop us from being miserable for if anything goes wrong with the arrangements, much of the blame is going to fall upon us. 

Someone abruptly comes from behind and prods me in the back.

"Ah I have missed baby Kenz. How's Arthur by the way? Haven't talked to him for a while." Earl says, smiling. Those words he just uttered, makes me have flashbacks of that dreadful dream or whatever it was. All sounds around me become muffled and everything just goes blurry. After what seems like a while, I am pulled out of my stupor by Earl's loud cry.

"Muriel! Can you hear me? Hey!"

"Huh? Oh yes. Yes-yes!" I blurt out. 

"Thank God cause otherwise I'd think you've become deaf!"

"Haha! Very funny!" I make a weird face. We both cackle at this.

"Hey you didn't answer my question. Arthur's okay right?"

"Oh-yeah-uh-yeah. He-he-he's okay. Per-perfectly okay! I mean-- why not?" I stammer.

"Good to hear that." he smiles and walks to where my friend, Mackenzie Wilson and everyone else is. I see they are preparing for the big event. I decide to go help them instead of staring at the walls.

"Muriel!" Mackenzie runs towards me, shouting.

"I don't like the sound of that yell." I mumble.

"Help! Two of the curtains are beginning to fall off and the pile of books that we beautifully arranged for the reading corner are now tottering! Ugh this is turning out to be a total mess! Great, those decorations are on the brink of getting destroyed. Oh my god!" she moans.

"Hey Mackenzie! We've got like three more hours till the last bell rings. Besides, you've got Earl, me and everybody else. Don't worry! I'm sure together we'll be able to bring off a spectacular event. And hey, like I said, don't be so perturbed. It's going to ruin things. Just take a deep breath and let's get to work!" I reply in the most cheerful way possible. 

Thankfully, we manage to sort things out and everything is perfectly set for the evening. While everyone returns home with a feeling of satisfaction, I feel elated for the road trip. To quote a line from our favourite song, "there is a pleasant sense of happiness in me". And I'm sure Arthur is feeling the same. That is the only thing that matters right now.