CH24: A day of the past that all will remember

A cold wind send shivers down my body, while I'm sitting on the grass, my back to a bench, on a hill.

Pink and white leafs fly freely in the wind, landing on the ground, and rising back again, creating a beautiful storm, like the storm happening in my head.

"Look, that's classified photos that were taken from that day 14th years ago" my father told me an hour ago, while sitting in the living-room, and gave me a big-brown-file.

When I opened it, I saw the scenes I heard about so many times in school and ceremonies, 'the world's dark day'.

There's a lot of 'dark days' through human history, when the day turn to a night, and phenomena such as darkness, sky turn yellow, animals running for cover, and much more, BUT, it is also in a certain area, not in almost the entire world.

those 'human scientists' in some countries says thick cloud, or solar eclipse, volcanic activity, forest fire, and what's not? as long as it's not out of their little science-knowledge scope, living in their little bubble, thinking they know everything.

A lot in the world turned to religions.

Most dominant were 'jesus followers', as the 'Catholic stream' of them called upon the days of darkness since ancient times, and even 'jewish followers' and the 'book of exodus'.

They act some times more like a history-scientists than believers, but it seems that for normal-human, give him an excuse, a reason, and it will settle the nerves in his normal-brain.

'Those photos... They were... man-made. People used forces, really strong forces, to create this 'dark day', but out of fear humanity will find the excessive force, and maybe redeem it inappropriate, even if this secret organization did it to save humanity. To save Earth itself, from a weird danger which couldn't be seen in the photos, but 1 thing is for sure, some 'thing' fought against that secret organization and the people in it'... I try to recollect my thoughts, from those photos and short comments my father added when seeing certain photos in them.

He even was in few of them, and so is my mother, and so is many 'legendary humans' who were, or is, dominant in human society today.

It made me remember the 'Twin Towers' in U.S. at 9/11, when a rumor appeared that the government made the building collapse, but another less frequent rumor said they made it collapse, but only so it won't fall on other buildings around it, making a bad-good decision secretly.

I stare at my mother's grave, wondering what should I feel, but all I can gather in the turmoils of my heart is 'a Mother', that saintly being who give birth and raise her child from infancy to adulthood, in life, was non-existent in mine.

I do not know what mother is.

I was given birth by this birth-mother, raised by others, and since I can remember, Robin and Mia were there for most of my early childhood, trying to fill this 'motherly' gap in my life.

*Pat*, *Pat*, 2 hands from the bench reach my head and shoulder, and turning around, I see Robin and Mia gentle sad-smile, trying to comfort me and awake me from the storm in my head, making me feel like I'm in the 'eye of the storm', together with them, and how we're in a quiet spot, but everything around us is flying in the wind.

A sakura leaf hit my face, and tears break free from my shaking eyes.

I fold my body to a ball, sitting with my head on my knees, and Robin and Mia sit next to me, hug me, and we're like a giant human ball, trying not to fly away, while the Sakura leafs storm happen all around us on top of the hill.

Suddenly, *clamp*, *clamp*, foot steps sounds reach our ears, and my father goes on his knees in front of the grave of my mother, putting down a flower bouquet, whispering invisible words to the huge carved stone.

*Pat*, my father hand land on my hair, scrambling it, saying "There's those days of the past that all will remember, for whatever reasons it affects them...", then he release his hand, walking away, saying "I gotta go to some ceremonies, see ya later", and disappear into the wind.

-

Instead of lunch at home, we go get food outside, as I wished to, in a crowded restaurant, in a busy street, in a highly populated city.

We cover ourselves, me, Robin, and Mia, not wanting to be noticed by anyone, with hats, scarfs, and bulky coats.

We sit in a silent spot, near a glass window, in the 2nd floor, watching the human-carnival walking the street under us in silence.

"Do you wanna hear about her?" Robin and Mia asks me.

"Dead man tell no tales" I respond.

After few more minutes, I ask "Can we go shopping?", and they both nod 'yes' to me.

We go back into the car, to a luxurious mall, and I say "let's meet here in an hour, I wanna go check a few things" as we stand next to an ice-cream cafe.

Mia shove a credit-card to my hand, Robin wave 'ciao', and I walk into the crowds.

In a music-store, inside a testing-room, I hold an electric guitar, playing really loud a rock-song I just invented, and I start singing words I just composed.

"... They will never know! but I will never forget! Broken human perception! Rise or Demise, at least it will be my own way! ...".

after few minutes, exploding my emotions to a song, I just grab the guitar off of me, and *SLAM!!* it to the floor, *BOOM*, it brakes, strings explode, and I sit down, relaxed, like a lot was taken off my back.

I walk out of the testing-room, straight to the cash-out-register, put the broken guitar on it, and say "I wanna buy this, and also this,this,this, and that also", giving the cashier the credit-card, and writing down the house address to get it delivered.

The cashier is in shock, but still move quickly, make a receipt, and I say 'thanks' and start walking out, but stopped in the entrance.

*CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP*, a disguised pink-wig, sunglasses, white scarf, brown coat, black stockings and black high heels, stand in front of me, with a giant smile behind her face-mask, applause, as she saw my reckless singing and even wants an encore.

"Let's be friends!!" She jumps at me, shocking me a bit, with my usual introvert exterior.

"MMM, okay? I'm on a shopping spree, wanna join?", I answer, and she nods 'yeah', looking kinda lunatic, but I don't mind, I need that right now.

We don't talk, and I decide to walk to the next store, a custom shop, inspired by her weird wig, and say "it's kinda a weird wig, like you're not hiding? but rather wanna be seen? so let's go extreme?", and I choose a set of things for me, and her, and we both go change clothes.

I come out looking like Super-Mario, and a minute later she comes out as Princess-Peach.

We both laugh, standing together in front of a mirror, and I can see now... she's really cute.

She's 1.80m tall, with a blond-caramel long hair, blue eyes, and overall looking like a British-beauty.

"Okay, next!", she says and choose, and we change to a Flintstones costumes, I'm Fred, and she's Wilma.

She looks hot, with her curvy body, inside that tight white dress, but I neglect that thought and enjoy the moment, screaming "Wifey! Me hungry! Food!", and we laugh.

We then keep on trying more costumes, till we both go out in an elegant Cowboy costumes, with a large white cowboy hat, and we both nod our head in agreement.

"Okay. I think we're ready, even though you look a bit like Woody, so maybe I should change to Buzz Lightyear?" I ask, smiling, but she nods like she really want me to, but no way I'm going out with an astronaut suit on me.

I go change, put an astronaut helmet on, and she laugh happily, but says "yeah, better not", as I remove it.

"What's the next stop?" She asks, as I go pay for our cowboys costumes we still wearing, hiding in a huge hat, but I see people seems to recognize her, like she's famous, maybe a celebrity, so I choose an extra bandanna, and she put it on her face, whispering "thank you".

We walk out, and go to many stores, not wasting more than 7 minute in each, and I just buy a lot of stuff everywhere.

"What're you goona do with all that?" She asks, and I just answer "gifts".

She see a post on a column in the mall's corridor, and suddenly catch my hand in hers, dragging me to the top floor, where there's a huge stage, lots of kids, and also a low-stage with a row of judges.

She leave me alone, running away, and I see it's a music competition, so I get a bit tensed, turn back, but she already came back, caught my hand, and declare "We're IN! You sing! I play!".

'Ohh, damn, I knew she's crazy' I think in regret, trying to find an excuse, but she says "Come'on! We wear costumes, and use fake names! nobody will ever know!", and I think 'she's right, why not'.

"Okay, hmmm, I'll just scrap some words, let's go classic rock basic rhythm" I decide, and she nods, and we go back-stage, where she grab an acoustic-guitar, and play a perfect tune, showing how talented she is, and I nod 'yeah'.

Some minutes later, another song ends, weak applause heard, as all the performances are pretty amateur or novice here.

Then, the V.J. announce ".. And Now! Welcome To The Stage! The Lunado!", and she grab my hand, signaling me it's us.

"Lunado?" I ask, and she says "The lunatic duo?" and laugh happily.

On stage, with her starting to play next to me, and blinding lights upon my eyes, I take the mic, and sing.

"... A day of the past / that all will remember ;

you chose what to do / and I could only render ;

if you are a saint / I guess it makes me a sinner ;

I'm in the eye of a storm / but I will never surrender ;

... ".

*CLAP,CLAP,CLAP,CLAP,CLAP*.

I'm sweating on stage.

My hands shake a bit.

I really exploded there, throwing all I got into the wind, letting my soul loose, singing my unspoken emotions.

She looks at me with a smile, also clapping, so I also clap, and leave the stage, with her behind me, and just off-stage, I meet Robin and Mia, looking at me.

"Hi" I say shyly, but my vibe cut-off from my cheerful partner, as she speak loudly "Awesome, Awesome, Awesome! IT WAS SO REAL! You really got talent!".

I look at Robin and Mia, and they both nod 'yeah', agreeing with her, and I get shy again.

"Sorry I was late, let's go eat ice-cream" I tell them, and Robin and Mia each take a hand of mine, and my singing-partner-in-crime follow along to the elevator, then entering an ice-cream cafe, sitting down, and we all order cold-deserts and hot-drinks.

"So... what is a world famous singer-songwriter doing with our Ayn in a mall singing competition?" Robin asks, making me and her shocked.

"You recognize me? Ahhh, bummer, I had so much fun. We're friends now! And please don't reveal me" she asks, and I look straight at her, as we sit in a 4-chairs-round-table, asking "how should I call you then?".

She answers "Alison?", so I say "Alison, hi, well, yeah, you're fun, I'm Ayn by the way".

Her eyes open wide, saying "NINJA BOY!", and I laugh a bit shyly, nodding 'yes'.

I speak a bit shyly "So... I kinda feel I live in a cave, cause I can't recognize you ... WAIT, you're 'Wildest dreams', 'You belong to me', 'I knew you were trouble'... ahh, HAHA, Robin really likes you, she hears you a lot. Now I get how she can easily recognize you".

Robin pinch me, looking a bit red-shy, and Mia laugh at her, saying "haha, Robin's shy face, it's rare, like watching a solar eclipse".

Alison smile gently, asking "now you know me, tell me about you?", and before I could speak, Robin answers "I'm the one who contract you to sing tonight at that ceremony my company sponsor".

Mia add quickly "We're kinda secretive about our personal life, but if you're up to it, wanna come to our Island? I mean, it's basic courtesy for friends to come visit you, and we'll be going there tomorrow, and Ayn will join us the day after".

Alison thinks for a bit, before saying "I'll see if I can... I'll give you an answer tonight? I'll see you all there?", but I nod 'no', and she asks "why?", so I tell her "well, it's usually my father who go there to the public eye, I'm kinda hiding?".

She laugh at me, saying "with all those videos you upload, you're not really good at hiding", and I just realize how true it is, so I *Huff*, *ingale*, and say "you got me there, I guess I'll go, and it will be nice to see you perform".

She smile happily, stand, say "Cool, see ya tonight, gotta run, ciao", and run away.

Right after, Mia tell us "all of your videos are old, and way before your growth-sprout... if she can recognize you, I guess there's some catch here?", but Robin says "Eyes, Hair, Etc, he's too unique?".

...

"Your father sounds happy you're coming" Robin tells me, as we drive to the ceremony location.

Robin wear a long-white-dress with transparent-sleeves, and black-high-heels, adoring a jade-necklace on her, looking like an elegant women, yet in a sexy way.

Mia, sitting next to her, wear an elegant-red/black-dress, with black/red-high-heels, and red/black ornaments on her head and hands, looking like a summer night filled with stars.

I sit at the back seat, wearing a black suit on a dark-blue buttoned shirt, and the white-cowboy-hat I wore today on my lap, reminiscence of the day I had today.

We just ended a call, and all got invitations confirmation for the ceremony entrance, reaching there in a minute.

As we step into the ball-room hall, *SLAM*, I get hit in my back, almost making my cowboy-hat fall off my head, and I know it's my father's doing.

"Come, I'll introduce you to some big-wits", and I follow him along, waving a sad-bye to Robin and Mia, afraid some 'bugs' will try talk to them.

Wasting an hour greeting lots of people with my father, I hear someone whisper to him "he's her son, right?", and *punch*, my father fist hit him, whispering "shhh", but he retort back "you forgot who babysit him, even though I sure haven't signed up for that".

They both smile at each other, showing they're close-friends, rather than some rivals or enemies, to the wondering look I show, but not minding me really, nor introducing me to him.

Suddenly, a really short black-man, wearing a white turban with a blue-jewel on his forehead, and clothes who seems like an african-noble, comes over to my father, saying "I'll see you tomorrow in 7:50. Don't be late".

My father answer "of course, no worry. That's Ayn, my son, he will go in instead of me", and he nods his head, giving me his hand for a handshake, saying "Mr. Popo. I'll guide you for those 2 days".

My father exclaim "can't he do 1 and me 1?", and Mr. Popo refuse, answering "NO. 2 days", and my father *sigh*, saying "okay, see ya tomorrow, I'll leave Ayn in your care".

I tell my father I'll see him later, and go to Robin and Mia, who sit in a VIP table together with Alison, and I tell them "I'll be gone for 2 days, and then go straight to the island".

They agree, while Alison says "But I can only come for 3 days! and you will be gone for 2!", making me *Sigh*, saying "sorry, but I promise you'll enjoy it, even without me, and I'll plan some good stuff for the day we have together?".

Alison smiles happily, even though I didn't knew she would really come.

After some short speeches, my father start talking on stage, and Alison says "it's my sign" and goes back-stage. He mumble-jumble about principals and humanity for 20 minutes, before Alison walks on stage, and he introduce her.

Alison wears an elegant black dress, and on her head is a white-cowboy-hat, my hat, who disappeared from the table I'm sitting on, and I see her looking at us, at me, a lot, during the performance, who was amazingly good.

'She really got talent. ... She's crazy, but in a good way?' I think as I *Clap,Clap,Clap* my hands with the rest of the audience.

After a short meal and drinks, with lots of small-talks everywhere, we go back-stage to tell Alison "good-bye, see ya tomorrow at the Marina", as I think 'it seems Robin and Mia became like close-friends with her'.

We wave 'ciao ciao', while leaving the place, and drive home.

"I've got to go early, so I'll go run a round around, telling everyone I'll be gone to 3 days" I tell them, and start teleport everywhere, saying my goodbyes, plus giving gifts from my mall tour, as I just took everything I bought when they put in delivery.

By morning, I'm all set and ready, after breakfast, driving with my father to a deserted place in the country-side, where I see a small round building, and Mr. Popo watering a small garden there, looking like he wait for us.

We wave 'hello', and he and my father talk privately for some time, before my father says "Goodbye, see ya in 2 days. Don't do nonsense, listen to all his instructions, and get stronger".

He *slam* me once again before leaving, pushing me toward Mr. Popo, who calls for me, as he sit on a rug, and tell me to sit next to him, so I sit down, and *FWOOSH*, the carpet start flying into the sky.

"You don't seem shocked?" Mr. Popo asks me, and I respond "Too many surprises like this makes a man apathetic".

He laugh, and start giving me a review of where we're going, and a warning "...Don't step away from me before you understand everything".