By the time the Best Day of My Life had happened, mommy had helped me out with my grammar and spelling, so I was sounding more intelligent with my schoolwork. She was always going on about how proud of me she was, to the point that I wondered if she was trying to make up for my father's negligence. He wasn't purposely trying to avoid his children, but he was so involved with his work that I would sometimes go days without seeing him, despite the fact that we lived in the same home. As ashamed as I was to admit it, I didn't really know my father. It was evident that he knew me, though, because despite the fact that I hadn't had a full conversation with him in weeks, and couldn't even recall the last time we had a conversation when he wasn't exhausted, he was the one that made the Best Day of My Life a reality.
I had just gotten up for the morning, rubbing my eyes as I crawled out of bed and making my way downstairs. It was the first day of spring, and the smell of the dewy grass and thought of baby animals opening their eyes for the first time was too glorious to resist.
As such, I had already started the day out fabulously. The first thing I noticed from that day was a large, blue van rolling to a stop in front of our house. I had quivered with anticipation-it was too early for guests-but I would feel terrible to not welcome someone, especially one that had arrived in such an odd little van, so I ran out onto the lawn, savouring the feeling of the wet droplets clinging to the blades of grass being transferred to my naked feet, where they tickled my toes and made the sole of my feet slippery.
A Southern gentleman exited the van and offered me a grin and a nod of his head. "Hallo, young Missy. Your father or mother be 'round?"
I hid a giggle about his accent, which mommy had so fervently tried to wean me off of. "I reckon she's still in a deep slumber, kind sir. I have not the slightest idea-r where ma' fah-ther might be," I replied, adopting the accent I had been so accustomed to in all my youth.
He raised an eyebrow at me. "I'm only foolin', little lady. I know that you're the princess. An' princess don't talk like that. Now, your father got you a special gift. You're gonna hafta be extra careful with your present, ya hear? Close your eyes and I'll give you your present." A goofy smiled washed over my face as I closed my eyes willingly, bouncing with excitement as I heard him opening the van back door. "You can open yer eyes now!"
The poor man must have had his eardrums ruptured from the decibel of my shriek as I laid eyes on the foal scampering towards me.
"Your pa adopted him from my shelter," the man said, handing me a large bottle. "Here. The poor boy misses his mom-why don't you feed him?" He guided me through approaching the animal, instructing me on the warning signs of an fearful or aggressive animal. "He's an ornery sonofa-" he glanced at me "-gun, but I'll be damned if he isn't the fastest little devil I ever seen. I dunno why your pa chose him. We had plenty of friendly foals, but your pa was certain that you could get to the heart of any creature."
"So he's for me?" I piped up, whispering to the foal and smiling as he reluctantly drank from the bottle.
"Yes ma'am. His name's Flame. Your pa seemed to find it real funny-said that his name means fire, and your name means snow." The man talked me through the responsibilities of taking care of a horse. He unloaded all of the gear my father had bought along with Flame. At long last, he tipped his hat to me and left me to take care of my new buddy.
I didn't even bother changing out of my new pajamas, I was so eager to bond with Flame. I removed his bridle, murmuring to him all the time. His hostility turned into reluctant acceptance, and at long last, as I was using a soft bristled body brush on him under the noon sun, I felt his tense body relax. When I was done, he even offered me a soft whinny, letting me stroke his incredibly soft nose.
I could tell that it would be ages before Flame would befriend me, and perhaps years before he would allow me to ride him, but I was determined to take the best care of the horse possible. And maybe, I thought, maybe daddy knows me after all.
Receiving Flame as a present wasn't the extent of what made up the Best Day of My Life, however.
When Flame started to get irritated by my presence, I left him in his stall to nap and phoned Stefan. I told him all about Flame, and we ended up talking for quite a while. When the phone started to stick to my cheek, I knew I had been talking on it long enough, so we agreed to meet at the festival park. Mommy wouldn't let me go alone, so I ended up taking Flame with me. He didn't seem ornery to me, just untrained. I was glad that he wasn't the least bit scared, because I was a bit nervous about going out on my own.
When we got to the park, I introduced Flame to Stefan, then Flame took off to sniff about the other animals there. I dragged Stefan over to the photo booth, eager to have a solid memory for me to look back on. "C'mon, slow poke!" I shrieked, tugging open the photo booth curtain. I turned to see Stefan looking over at a Love-O-Meter machine. I giggled and suddenly started pondering over the choices of girls that Stefan could like. We were at an age where half of the boys thought girls had cooties and the other half were chasing them.
I had so much fun that day! We went Easter Egg hunting, and I found a big green one with purple polka-dots. While we were Easter Egg hunting, Stefan asked me about my parents. "So are your parents serious about getting us married?"
I shrugged. "They keep hinting how it'd be nice to unite two kingdoms together, and how I should help purify our blood and make it blue again."
"What's wrong with it now?"
"Gramma was a commoner, and mommy... well, you won't tell anyone, right?"
"Pinky promise," Stefan said, latching his pinky around mine.
"Mommy was a doll that daddy got when he was little. Gramma's Fairy Godmother turned it magical. Uncle Buzz made a potion which turned her human."
"...Right," Stefan said dubiously. I didn't push my point. Unless I had Uncle Buzz, Auntie Sandy, daddy and mommy all gathered in a room, there was no way he was going to believe me.
We chatted a bit more before I took to the dance floor. "Aw, lighten up, Stefan! Come and dance!" I said, dancing to the music. Seppen had been kind enough to at least teach me how to dance, though I could not do anything as nice as her pirouettes and such.
"I think I'm going to go grab some food for us," he said, blushing, "I'm getting hungry."
"Suit yourself!" I watched the other people on the dance floor and started to pick up moves from them. A small group of kids my age joined me and we were dancing like there was no tomorrow. We looked incredibly silly, but none of us cared. Flame broke up the party when he strolled through and nudged me gently. "Are you tired?" I asked him, stroking his nose, "hungry?"
I walked him over to where Stefan was seated with his food. He wiped his mouth with a napkin and stood up. "I've just finished, Yuki."
"Brilliant. So you can feed Flame while I eat," I said, locating Flame's bottle and handing it over to Stefan. They looked at each other, unsure, but Flame's hunger overcame his suspicious nature and he nipped at the bottle appreciatively.
"What's he like?" Stefan asked, even though I had told him a million times over the phone.
"He likes being brushed. I think I won't get to ride him until I've known him for a long while. But there's something else, I'm not sure... he seems protective? Maybe that's not the right word. Maybe he's just brave. Flame the brave. Yes, that's it." I checked the time. "We have to go back now," I said regretfully. We made our way home, Stefan first and then I with Flame.
Just as I was wiping away the sleepiness from my eyes, my parents announced a surprise trip to France! At first, I was super happy, then once I realized that Flame couldn't come with us, I started to panic. Daddy explained that Flame needed to be checked out by the veterinarian anyway, so I suppose that it wasn't that bad. Seppen decided to stay with Cousin Ami, since she had a fear of planes and had three summatives that she had to work on. Harry was coming along, though, and although I would never say so, he was my favourite sibling. Though he could be mean if he wanted to.
I fell asleep on the flight there, which made me really upset since I had wanted to watch the whole time. The next morning, I was awake to see France's beauty-or at least its one town.
Daddy was really excited for a vacation from his work, and his exuberance was catching. I grabbed his arm excitedly the minute that we were out of the taxi. "Daddy, I look silly in my clothes! We need to buy new ones!" Daddy happily obliged and took Harry and me shopping. Mommy was exhausted from the journey and resolved to take a nap and later take us out for dinner.
Daddy ended up getting himself an outfit that made him look more like a fisherman right out of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn than a Frenchman. Harry and I fought over the same farmer-esque outfit which ended in us both getting one each and looking silly in the end. The rude woman who was helping us pick out our clothing told me that my hair was too short; I looked like a boy. I was on the verge of tears when daddy bought me a braided hair extension. "Just until we get back," he said, and with a wink, "so you don't look like a boy."
We then met up with a man that daddy met on an investigative case. They greeted each other by kissing each other on the cheeks, which surprised me. "Daddy," I later whispered to him, "I know that you like boys and girls, but you're married."
Daddy smiled kindly at me and lifted me up in his arms, swinging me around in a circle. "That's how people greet each other around here!" he told me.
Later, I met the man's son, but he shook my hand. I was okay with that anyway-I didn't want to kiss a boy I didn't know. He told me that if it weren't for my clothes and the way I wore my hair, I could've passed for a French girl. "What about the fact that I don't speak French?" I asked.
He laughed. His accent was so faint that the only way I knew that English wasn't his first language was because he had told me so. Occasionally, when a word began with an 'h', he wouldn't pronounce it. I was intrigued with the way he spoke and soon convinced him to teach me a few French phrases. Thanks to early French immersion, my accent was passable even if my understanding of the language wasn't.
He quickly introduced Harry and I to his sister and two of his friends. The one boy that I talked to found it very funny that Harry and I were dressed the same, but he quickly got over it and to apologize for teasing me, taught me a very beautiful song. Harry seemed bored, and like the womanizer he was, went over to the girl to strike up a conversation. It was funny listening to them try to communicate, and I nearly cracked up when Harry told her, "J'aime ton aubergine." Giggling, my new friend and I translated Harry's words into English. My brother turned bright red. "Tell her that I like her dress! Not her eggplant!"
Nodding solemnly, my friend turned to her. "Il dit qu'il t'aime."
The girl turned an even deeper shade of pink than my brother, and shyly avoided him for the rest of our excursion.
Later that night, mommy was true to her word and ate a lovely dinner with Harry and I. The restaurant wasn't fancy-just a café-but the cheese platter was exquisite. Mommy ate vegetarian fish and chips while Harry had grilled salmon with a side of corn and cucumbers.
Mommy even wore a cute little French dress and a beret. "I just want you guys to know how much I love you," mommy said.
"More than Seppen and Bert?" Harry asked hopefully.
Mommy laughed. "I love you all equally."
Harry stuck out his tongue.
"Mommy," I said, "I love you too. Thank you for this trip and Flame. Am I spoiled?"
Mommy gave a stilted laugh. "We definitely spoil you, darling, but you're too sweet and generous of a girl to let this go to your head."
The next evening, dressed in my pajamas and ready for bed, I couldn't find my parents to say goodnight. "Just go to bed," Harry said, "they're adults-they can take care of themselves."
I didn't have a single doubt that they could. I was just terrified that if I went to bed without saying goodnight to one of them, then I would wake up and never be able to say hello to either of them ever again. We were staying in a large B&B type lodging, so there weren't many places that they could be. I placed my naked feet on the staircase, slowly climbing down, shivering every time my flesh made contact with the cold stone.
I let out a contented sigh as I stepped down onto wood floor. Looking up, I found the two that I was looking for. Daddy was kissing mommy, so I cleared my throat. They bolted upright and mommy laughed upon seeing my stern expression. "Goodnight, Yuki, dear," mommy said.
"Night, Blanche," daddy said, "mommy and I are just going to go out for a little bit. Get yourself to bed now." I quickly obeyed them.
Mommy winked at me. "Sleep tight!"
I should've known that the best day of one's life quickly turns into the worst.
True, it didn't happen on the same day. But the fact that the worst day of my life occurred three days after the first, I was resolved in my opinion that nothing good lasts forever. If you get too much, someone's going to take something away.
We never should've gone on that trip.
Mommy never should've gone to that man's house.
She never should've asked for an interview for her blog.
She should've left the second she saw what he was.
A monster.
