Diary of Rapture: Prologue Part 2

 Summer Haze

 

It was the beginning of a new day. Sunlight streamed through my eyelids, and birds chirped from the tree outside my window. And I also registered the not-so-pleasant sound of Jeremy’s snores.

Wait a minute… Jeremy’s snores? What was I doing in my own bed?  I could’ve sworn I fell asleep in Mom’s bed…

As I shoved the covers off me and lifted myself out of bed, my groggy mind finally realized that she must have carried me back to my room sometime after I’d conked out.

Whatever the reason… why hadn’t she woken Jeremy and I?

"Oh, that’s right! Today’s Leisure Day!”

Giddy excitement washed over me. The summer festival was in town today, and there was no way that Jeremy and I were going to miss out on it. We’d already made that mistake last year.

Just then, a delicious scent wafting from the kitchen made my stomach growl.

To my delight, I saw that Mom had made us pancakes when I entered the kitchen. She wouldn’t be around today – she was catering for someone’s pool party – but she must have left them out for us.

There was only one caveat: where was Jeremy? He’d gone to bed before me, so shouldn’t he have woken up first?

I groaned inwardly as I grabbed a steaming plate of pancakes. For crying out loud, how much sleep did the boy need?

 

I had to eat my breakfast alone thanks to Jeremy and his laziness. Despite the hot, fluffy, comforting warmth of the pancakes, I began to worry. What if he slept all day and we missed the festival?

 

 

When I’d finished my pancakes, there was still no sign of Jeremy.

For the Goddess’s sake, what was taking him so long? Was he putting on makeup or something?!

Just as I’d jammed my plate into the dishwasher, I heard a whoop behind me. “Is that pancakes I smell?! Awesome!”

As soon as I was sure I wouldn’t fall over dead of a heart attack, I whirled on Jeremy. “Jeremiah Douglas! Why the fudgesicles did you sleep in for so long?!”

Jeremy was not amused. “Whatever. I’m hungry.”

I dashed into my room and quickly slipped off my PJs, changing into my typical ruffled tank top and patched skirt. When I returned to the kitchen, I had to sit through the agonizingly slow process of watching Jeremy eat his pancakes and waiting while he changed.

Geez, screw Slow Mo Joe. Slow Mo Jeremy would be much more appropriate. With the pace he was getting ready at, we’d be twenty years old before we ever got to visit the summer festival.

“Yumi, are you coming?”

I blinked. Jeremy had somehow finished changing really quickly, and was waiting at the door for me. So I darted out into the yard, trying to catch up with him. 

 “Yumiiiii, I’m waaiiiitiiing….”

I snorted. “Jeremy, no one watches that show anymore.”

He just grinned at me, unabashed. “Guess what? I don’t care! Now get on your bike.”

 My feet whirled furiously in a circle as I began the arduous journey from our home to Central Park.

Our hometown, Sunset Valley, had once been very small. But as the citizens acquired pets and went into showbiz, our little town began expanding. And soon enough, it had developed into a full-fledged community, with people immigrating from Riverview, Moonlight Falls and even Bridgeport. Of course, the downside to this was that it was a lengthy ride from our house to the town center, as we lived on the outskirts.

When I hopped off my bike, setting it in the nearest bike rack and locking it up, I saw the summer festival for the first time. My breath caught in my throat at its colorful glory.

What to do first?

I eventually decided on the roller blading arena. It was something I’d never tried, but had always wanted to.

My anticipation rose as I headed for the rink, the sun rays warming my back.

“Hey, Yumi, what’s up?”

I stared out into the rink. “Going roller blading.”

"Cool! Let me join you,” Jeremy said enthusiastically.

Once I had slipped into the goofy-looking shoes, I tentatively stuck one foot into the arena…

…and almost immediately slipped.

I threw out my arms for balance, trying to figure out how not to fall on my rear.

“Calm down, Yumi,” I told myself shakily. “Just keep your eyes on the rink, and you’ll be fine. Keep your eyes on the rink, keep your eyes on the rink…”

"Hey, Yumi! How ya doin?

I snuck a quick glance at Jeremy. His eyes were glued to the rink… but he wasn’t even wobbling. And, like me, he had never gone roller blading before.

Wow. Either Jeremy was a natural at roller blading, or I was the worst skater ever.

Knowing my luck, it was probably the latter.

Suddenly, Jeremy skated by, coming to a stop right in front of me.

Panicking, I slammed on the brakes so I wouldn’t flatten him.

What was he doing? Had he liked the pancakes so much that he’d decided to become one?

To my complete and utter shock, Jeremy held out his hands. “Hey, Yumi… you wanna spin with me?”

Did I want to spin with him? Of course I did!

Butterflies fluttered in my stomach as I carefully reached out, laying my hands in Jeremy’s.

As we slowly twirled in a circle, I felt unstable, and had to cling to Jeremy’s hands for support.

But the fear that I’d fall over was insignificant compared to the sheer joy.

His hands felt slightly chilly compared to the summer heat, and they were clammy and soft. But I couldn’t have cared less.

I was holding hands with Jeremy.

For the first time.

It was the most perfect moment of my ten years…

…until I felt my skates sliding out from underneath me, launching me backwards.

I yelped in surprise as my balance slipped away.

The whoosh of air sounded in my ears, and I desperately threw out my arms in a futile attempt to catch myself. “Jeremy! HELP!”

“H-hang on, Yumi! Don’t panic! I’m comi –“

 

"WHOA!”

Mere seconds after I painfully collided with the rink, my knight in shining khaki pants toppled forwards instead of rescuing me.

When the sharp pain finally subsided, we began to struggle to our feet. “Jeremy?”

“Mhm?” Jeremy asked breathlessly.

“Whadya say we do something less dangerous – like eating snow cones?”

“Sounds good to me.”

And so we hobbled out of the arena.

I recovered quicker than Jeremy, beating him to the snow cone machine by half a minute.

My heart was set on a lemon snow cone – after all, ice cold lemonade just screamed summer.

I was so caught up in pouring the bright yellow syrup into the ice, I didn’t notice Jeremy waiting for his turn, tapping his foot impatiently.

At least, not until he opened his mouth to say my least favorite phrase…

“I’m waaaiiitiiiing!”

As I shoveled more ice onto my snow cone, I groaned. “Jeremy, you are NOT Sonic!”

When all of the ice was completely smothered in lemony goodness, I stepped away from the machine, taking my snow cone to the nearest bench.

 

I leaned down to take the first lick.

The second my tongue touched the snow cone, I was overwhelmed by a sudden rush of sweet and tart and cold.

Summer nirvana.

 Of course, when Jeremy came over with his snow cone, he had to ruin the experience for me. “Yumi, your snow cone looks like someone peed in it.”

I lowered the snow cone to glare at him. “Oh yeah? Well your snow cone looks like..." I tried to think of a comeback. "...like it’s made of plastic!”

“Better plastic than peed in,” Jeremy said smugly as he dug into his rainbow snow cone.

Okay, he was crossing the line. Nausea was already churning in my stomach.

So, trying not to throw up, I left Jeremy to his snow cone in search of other activities.

As I scanned the park, I stumbled across a field of wildflowers… including some daisies.

When I found them, I decided to give my mother a little Leisure Day happiness. Hopefully, when I presented her with the flowers this evening, it would bring a little bit of the festival she couldn't attend to her door.

I plucked the daisy from the ground, quickly inhaling its aroma. Sharp, pungent chlorophyll mingled with a tiny hint of fresh linen in my nose.

The second I put the daisy in my pocket, I felt a drop of water land on my shoulder.

Was it seriously raining again?

Apparently.

I groaned. It had been pouring rain near constantly all summer. Sunset Valley was supposed to have a warm, sunny climate… but apparently someone up there didn’t agree.

“Yumi!”

When I saw the expression on Jeremy’s face, I felt a flutter of anxiety...

…because the smirk on his face would traditionally appear before he booby-trapped the computer. Or put pink dye in my shampoo. Or made the toilet explode. You get the picture – he made that face whenever he was up to no good.

“Look out, Yumi! Slenderman’s right behind you!”

“WHAT?!” I forgot that he was pranking, desperately scanning the area for the entity I'd had nightmares about ever since I had been stupid enough to Google that name.

“P-please don’t kill me, Slenderman! I swear I’ve been a good girl! It was someone else who ate the entire plate of chocolate cookies Mom baked for charity -"

Before I could turn around, I felt something explode on my back. Water soaked my clothes, dripping down my braid.

Most girls my age would have screamed at Jeremy for ruining their clothes and hair, but not me. As I wiped the water from my back, I grinned at Jeremy. “You’re a dead boy, Jeremy Douglas.”

And so Jeremy and I spent the rest of the afternoon dodging and hurtling water balloons.

Water balloons weren’t the only thing that we threw at each other. Playful trash talk also flew through the air, each taunt prompting the toss of yet another balloon.

I didn’t know how much time had gone by until Jeremy dropped his supply of ammo. “Yumi, we gotta go. It’s seven, and you know your mom said she’d make us scrub the toilets if the curfew police brought us home again..”

Reluctantly, I climbed onto my bike. The lights of the festival faded behind me as I pedaled away from it.

I hummed the overworld theme from The Legend of Zelda to myself as I took the long ride home.

But when we stepped past the creaky gate, we were greeted by a complete and total stranger waiting by our front door.

He wore a suit, and his eyes were hidden by sunglasses.

And for some reason, the sight of him sent my heart plummeting to my feet.

“Good evening, Mr. Douglas.... Miss Sora. May I come in?"

Whew! Finally done. Gosh, it takes FOREVER to edit HTML code, which is the only way Blogger.com will let me resize pictures. And since the site's always shrinking my pictures down to microsize... :(

If you get the "I'm waaiiiitiiing!!" reference, you get a gold star. My brother and I LOVED that show growing up - even though we had to watch it on VHS since the show had stopped airing before we discovered it.

Oh, and remember the song Jeremy and Yumi were singing in part 1? Here's the full song w/ lyrics:

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy!

 

-Kamatsuya