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Peter and Chloë were back just in time for Mattie’s party which was held the Saturday evening after his actual birthday, which was Tuesday. Amber cleaned her house, in case the weather turned and the party had to be inside, but she planned on a barbeque and games of horseshoes and croquet. She found a little beeper that could be placed at the iron post so Mattie could play, too. There was a good group coming, she’d invited all Mattie’s band members as well as their partners. The Garnets were leaving their two kids at friends’ houses, and James Howes was bringing his new fiancé. Barbie and Tom were coming, as were Jonah, Lynne and Lilla. It wouldn’t be so many people for Mattie to feel distracted or overwhelmed, and Mattie was comfortable and completely at ease with the invitees, so Amber knew he would have a good time.
Amber relented in letting her brother come over before anyone arrived. She looked at the balloons she’d tied up, and knew the surprise of her preparations would be kept until the party. She stopped, making a face.
“He can’t even see them then, anyway,” she said out loud. “What was I thinking?” She walked from the living room to a cupboard in the kitchen and peered inside. She smiled and pulled out five different sets of wind chimes, and took them outside. She hung one on a hook under the veranda roof, and one in the tree near her front steps. She walked across the lawn and put one in the willow tree. Then she walked around to the side of the house and hung another set of chimes by the back door. She hung a set near the picnic tables, and stood, closing her eyes and getting Mattie’s point of view for the decor.
When she opened them again, she saw Mattie coming across the field. She called out to him and he called back in acknowledgement as he continued toward her. He’d wanted to be there when people arrived. Amber knew he just didn’t want his own arrival to be a show for the guests, even though his friends would not see it as a show. Lilla would have run over to meet him to tell him about everything and anything. Everyone invited would just be happy to see their friend and celebrate his birthday. She knew her brother got hung up on his own part in the world sometimes, because his focus was so immediate to himself. He wasn’t able to get out of his own head sometimes, without having that window to the world to focus on.
“Hey, Birthday Dude!” she greeted him, and casually picked up his hand as he let go of the guide rope and tucked it into her elbow. Mattie easily fell into step along with her and Amber slowed as she got to the house, wondering if Mattie could pick up the faint chimes. She stopped him in front of the stairs and let him find his way up to a caned rocker on her veranda.
He didn’t sit down immediately. He turned back around and asked her what she had been doing the early part of the afternoon.
“I just put up some balloons,” she told him. “And made some tables up for the food and stuff near the picnic table. And getting food ready.”
“Why wouldn’t you let me help? I would have come over.”
“No, Hun, it’s your party. I’m not making you get your own birthday party ready. Besides, it didn’t take me that long, really, I just have been puttering all day.”
“You like this sort of thing, anyway, I guess,” Mattie said.
“Sit down, Xav. I’ll bring you a drink. Want a beer? Or a gin and tonic? Or a margarita?”
Mattie shook his head. “Right now, can I just have a lemonade or something just cold?”
“I have pink lemonade,” she said. “I’ll be right back. Want anything else?” she called back as she opened the screen door.
“I don’t think so,” he said, hearing the door shut against the frame. He turned his head, thinking about Amber’s house, his mind meandering aimlessly as his gaze may have done before. His attention was drawn toward his right, in front of him. A tinging in the high part of his right ear, it felt like. He turned, noticing a lower register tinging coming from further to the right, somewhere beyond the veranda.
Amber returned with Mattie’s lemonade and a couple of sugar cookies.
“Thanks. What’s that noise?” he asked her, his face inquisitive.
“What noise?” Amber asked, a little smile on her lips.
“Like... a little...” Mattie concentrated, his right hand in the air as if trying to pluck the sound from it. “A little bell. Bells. In places.”
“They’re your streamers and balloons,” Amber said.
Mattie’s face grew more confused. She’d thrown him right off track with her remark. “How do they make a sound?”
“They’re wind chimes, Xav,” she told him, smiling. “I put them where some of the balloons are. Whaddaya think?”
Mattie listened again, this time with recognition. He grinned at her. “You think of the strangest things.”
“I have to think outside the box. Although there’s not much breeze to make them really chime.”
Mattie listened again. “Thanks, Amber,” he said. It wouldn’t have been less of a party for Mattie without wind chimes, but that little touch for him somehow added a lot he didn’t even know he missed. The chimes made it a little more special, something to fill out his memory of his thirty-fourth birthday.
“So when is the fair Riley coming?” Mattie asked her.
“He’s... are you going to call him that when he gets here?” she asked him back.
“Sure am,” he retorted.
“He’ll be here early. He said he’d get the barbecue going and stuff. He says he is skilled at barbecue events.”
“It’s a man’s place to tend to the grill,” Mattie said, even though he hadn’t barbecued for years.
Amber looked at him but his expression was pleasant. “It’s going to be fun,” she said.
Mattie smiled. “Thanks for all the effort and work you put into this.”
“You know me and celebrations.”
He nodded. “Do I ever.”
They sat talking for a while until Amber saw Riley’s car approaching. He slowed down, checking house numbers and mailboxes, making sure he had the right place. As he turned into the driveway, Amber stood and waved.
“I don’t know all the different models of everything, there are too many nowadays. It’s not a beetle, that’s all I know.”
Mattie could tell she was moving down the steps. He waited, eavesdropping by default. She walked towards the car as the engine was turned off. Mattie heard the door open.
“Hey!” Amber called. “You found it.”
“This is wayyy out in the boonies,” Riley said, his voice playful. “What a beautiful spot. You grew up here?”
Amber pointed towards Mattie’s house. “Over there, we grew up there. That’s my brother’s house, now. This was where my grandfather lived when we were little.”
Riley looked around with interest as they walked toward the house and up the front steps.
“Riley, this is my brother, Matthew. Everyone calls him Xav. Xav, this is Riley Lachan.”
Mattie was standing by this time, and he put out his hand toward Amber’s direction, knowing Riley would be somewhere next to her.
Riley leaned forward and took Mattie’s hand, shaking it firmly and cordially. “Hey, Xav, it’s good to meet you! Amber talks about you a lot; you guys have had some good adventures together, I’ve heard.”
Mattie grinned and shrugged. “What else is there but adventure?” Mattie asked.
Riley nodded. “That’s true. Each day is an adventure if you want it to be. And sometimes when you don’t,” he added. “You guys are lucky to have a place like this, it’s beautiful out here. Nice and peaceful.”
“You live in the city?” Mattie asked.
“Yeah. I’ve been suburban so long that I had to go urban or die a slow death. But this... this is my idea of paradise in the modern world.”
“I can give you a tour of the house, if you want,” Amber said.
“I would love one,” Riley said eagerly. “Xav?” he asked before following Amber in through the screen door.
“Nah, you go, I’ve already had the tour,” Mattie told him. “I’ll just be here.”
He heard Amber telling Riley about different things in the house as they moved inside. He heard the chimes in the tree down on his right, and he could hear the brook further over. A car passed and a couple of kids on bikes went by on the road.
He finished his lemonade as Amber and Riley came back out the screen door.
“Want more lemonade?” Amber asked him. He shook his head, smiling.
“You need me to help with anything?” asked Riley.
“Nope, I think I have everything under control at the moment,” Amber said. “I’m just going to finish bringing some stuff out, you just relax. I’ll call you if I need either one of you.”
Mattie chuckled, and heard Riley sit down in the chair Amber had been sitting in earlier.
“Oh, happy birthday, there, Xav,” Riley said. “I should have said that straight off.”
“Thanks,” Mattie said. “Amber loves any reason to decorate and prepare food.”
“Yeah? I can imagine she goes pretty big over Christmas, huh?”
“It’s both impressive and daunting,” Mattie replied.
“Well... I like holidays, so...”
Mattie smiled. “Good answer,” he said, and he heard Riley laugh. “So, you’re a journalist?” he asked.
“Yeah, I work in at the newspaper right now.”
“That would be an interesting career,” Mattie mused. “I think it would have been something I would have enjoyed. Do you have your own byline?”
“I often do provincial politics. Mostly research right now, though I’m edging in. But I like local good stories, too. I’d like to work for the newscast on TV, though, at some point. Either behind the scenes or as a reporter.”
Mattie nodded, interested. “Well, I think that’s really fantastic.”
“I enjoy it,” Riley said. “Amber tells me you’re an English prof?”
“Yeah. I enjoy that, too.”
“Well, maybe we can compare colons sometime,” Riley said, and he was pleased when he saw the side of Mattie’s mouth curl up in understanding.
“Oh, it would be a pleasure,” he retorted. “Although I do love a well-placed semi-colon.”
Riley laughed. “It’s the apostrophes one must watch out for,” he said.
“Ah, jeez, don’t I know it. If I see a plural with an apostrophe without any possession again, I swear I’m going to go ballistic.”
“Well, in that case, Xav, it’s probably for the best that you can’t see, because on my way here, I saw an ad for a car dealership that said more great Honda’s out back on a huge banner across the parking lot.”
Mattie visibly wilted. “We shall be the last bastion of grammar,” he sighed. “Although I often despair of your contemporaries.”
“Oh, believe me, I have cringed at things I see every day there.”
Amber returned up the stairs, heading inside for a few more things. In a moment, Mattie heard music from the screen door and open window to his left. Amber came back out, the wooden frame of the screen door plunking shut behind her, and she headed back down the stairs.
“She’s a good one,” Mattie said softly when he she was off the stairs.
“She seems like a good one,” Riley returned. He turned to Mattie. “I’ll need stories. Just giving you a heads up, there, so you can think of some good ones that might embarrass her just a little.”
“Now you’re talking my language,” Mattie said, but he held his tongue until he knew more about Amber’s suitor. He knew Amber was head-over-heels for this guy, but someone needed to have an unbiased view of him. Mattie wanted his sister to be treated properly, and he didn’t want her to be let down after getting in too deep. He had to be her protective brother again.
Mattie heard metal clinking together and then the sound of heavy items being tossed on the grass.
“What is she doing now, putting up a tent?” he asked Riley.
“No, she’s got horseshoes.”
“Horseshoes? Oh.” He heard Amber coming back up the steps.
“I figured we could play some horseshoes.”
Mattie nodded. They would all play horseshoes.
A beeping sound came from Amber’s direction. Mattie turned his head, surprised.
“Can you aim for that?” she asked him.
He furrowed his brows. Could he aim a horseshoe at a sound? It seemed pretty far-fetched, but then again, there were things he learned to do that had seemed far-fetched when he’d begun. He remembered the beeping Frisbee.
“I don’t know,” he said honestly.
“Well, if you want to try, this might make it doable.”
He nodded. “Thanks, Amber. It’s a cool idea.”
People began arriving within the hour, and soon, everyone was furnished with drinks. Amber had put enough nibbles out to fill a goat, as Peter described it.
Peter and Chloë had run to Mattie as soon as they had arrived, hugging him and wishing him a happy birthday.
“A honeymoon does a person a world of good,” Peter said. “I’d recommend it to you, Xav.”
“I’ll take that into consideration,” Mattie replied. “You guys have to tell me everything. Amber wants pictures. I want talking, lots of it.”
“You’ll get it, Xav, Amber already invited us for supper tomorrow night for stories.”
“That didn’t take her long,” Mattie said.
“And where did that handsome fella come from?” Chloë asked. “That didn’t take her long, either.”
“She’s been pining for him for quite a while, now,” Mattie told them. “But he seems like a good guy.”
“Bet you’ll grill him good,” Chloë teased him.
Mattie’s cheek tweaked upward, a sly grin on his mouth. “I promise not to hurt him,” he assured her.
The barbecue was underway, and Mattie was enjoying his first beer with his hamburger, when Peter challenged Mattie to a game of horseshoes.
He didn’t do it loudly, nor did he do it to put Mattie in a spot. He was doing it because he wanted to play a game with his friend. The way it should be.
Garnet overheard, and challenged Peter and Chloë as a team against him and Mattie.
“You just picked the losing team,” Mattie said to him, but he was laughing. He was curious now about how much skill it took him to get a horseshoe anywhere close to the iron stake that Peter had pounded into the ground well below the oak and willow trees. He just wished he could do it without an audience.
“You have no faith in either of us?” Garnet asked. “Tough break for me.”
“I just don’t think I am ready for prime time,” Mattie admitted. “Really, unless you guys are all willing to do it blindfolded...” As he said it, a grin came on his face.
“Ah, no, not fair, not fair,” Peter crowed.
“How is it not fair?” Mattie asked, scowling. “That is fairer than anything.”
“Nah, yer all experienced at dis being-in-the-dark thing. I couldn’t hit t’ broad side of a barn with an air-horn attached to ’er, blindfoltet.”
“Why don’t you just get some practice shots in, Xav?” said Chloë, ever-reasonable. “Then you can decide if you want to play partners. And if this helps any, I am an absolute terrible horseshoe tosser.”
“Wait, what?” Peter said, looking at his bride aghast. “You never said you were terrible at dis! Da’s it, she’s over, annulment!”
Chloë smacked her husband on the arm. “Here, Xav. Don’t mind him. Do you want me to line you up?”
Mattie stood up, and Chloë took his beer bottle and put it on the picnic table beside her. She took his paper plate and napkins and put them in the garbage bag beside the table.
“Don’t throw the beer away, I’m not done,” Mattie said.
“Nope, it’s here on the table. You can get more to eat after, when we watch what Peter can do wit’ his magical t’rowing arm,” she said, copying Peter’s accent at the end, loudly, glaring at him, the twinkle in her eyes obvious.
“Okay. Is everyone paying attention to us?” Mattie asked her quietly as she guided him to stand where the others had been standing to throw the horseshoes.
“Nope, they’re all talking and eating.” She turned to glance at the others, and made eye contact with Amber, who looked surprised. She came over, but didn’t make a fuss; she just walked on by to the iron spike and flipped the little switch on the beeper that she’d picked up from the table on the way by.
“Your sister’s putting the beeper at the spike for us,” Chloë informed Mattie. He nodded, not believing for a second that there wasn’t a growing audience.
Chloë, her hands on Mattie’s shoulders, slightly behind him on one side, paced the distance with him to the spike and back, to give him an idea on how far to throw.
Amber, seeing others now looking curiously at the pair as they returned back to their original spot, motioned for everyone to not make him self-conscious, and they graciously continued their conversations and eating, though now keeping their attention on Mattie.
“They’re watching now, aren’t they?” Mattie guessed again. “The beeping is a little attention-grabbing.”
“Don’t worry about them, Xav. This is just our practice run. Just to get your distance in. Don’t worry about aim, okay?” Chloë instructed.
Peter watched his wife proudly. He watched his friend with pride, as well. As much as he teased them both, he had complete confidence and respect for them, and they knew it without question. Peter watched as Chloë held Mattie’s outstretched arm in the direction of the spike, and angled him better.
Mattie swung his hand back and forth twice, the third time he let the horseshoe go, and waited to hear the results.
Thud! There was no clang of iron hitting iron; the horseshoe had landed on the grass somewhere.
“Not bad, Xav, not bad at all. You’re a bit to the right, and... maybe a few feet long. Let’s walk to the shoe and then to the spike again, you can see where it landed and where it needs to go.”
Mattie nodded, letting her once again steer him forward, counting paces. He knelt at the horseshoe, feeling around and locating it with Chloë’s direction. She got him to scoot backward, feeling for the spike to his left. When he stood she turned him to face back where he’d started, and once again they counted the paces. She lined him up once more, and he listened to the beeping, turning his head slightly to find the exact direction. He concentrated more this time, centring himself to the sound of the beep, seeing the beep as distance in his head. He couldn’t hear anyone, but he wasn’t sure if it was because he was concentrating so intensely, or because they had all stopped talking to watch. He measured the distance of the sound of the beep in his brain, a visual coming together in lines like a physics diagram. His toss was gentle but had stamina. He let go of the horseshoe and it sailed straight ahead, once again landing with a thud on the grass.
“Holy...” said Chloë, and Peter hooted. Chloë didn’t say anything else, but she once again guided Mattie forward, stopping at the beeping post in front of him.
“Bend down,” she said, and he reached down and found the iron spike. “Now, look on your right...”
Mattie slid his hand to the right, meeting the cold iron of the horseshoe, not more than forty centimetres from the iron spike. A smile broke out on his face.
“That was close!” he said.
“Damn close,” Chloë agreed, smiling as much as he was.
He picked up the horseshoe and stood up, finding her elbow. “Let’s try one more time.”
“You got it, Champ,” she said, taking him back and positioning him once more.
As he had the previous time, Mattie honed in on the beeping in front of him. He knew the distance, he just had to put it together with how hard he needed to throw the horseshoe. Again, closing his eyes, he could see the lines in his mind, the beeping making the pinpoint his focus was aimed at. If someone could aim and hit the spike using their sight, then it was completely rational that he could aim and hit the beeping spike using his hearing. He took a deep breath and swung his arm back, preparing the launch. It sailed off his fingers toward the mark, and he felt Chloë clutch his arm.
He heard the gratifying sound of the iron hitting iron, and his mouth dropped open as he turned to Chloë.
“You hit it!” she cried out joyfully, and there were other cheers from behind them.
“Did it stay? Or bounce off?”
“Does it matter?” Chloë asked him.
“No, but that answer sounds like it bounced off.”
“It bounced off and landed a little behind. That is a moot point, Xav. You hit it! You aimed for it and you hit it. Like a boss!”
Mattie laughed. She was right. It didn’t matter if the horseshoe wrapped around the post. He’d hit it. Blind.
“Come get your horseshoe,” Chloë said, leading him forward once more. “I think this one’s lucky.”
When they reached the spike, Mattie touched it and then felt behind it. The shoe was only a hand-width away. He smiled again, and picked it up, and to his surprise, there was applause. He laughed, turning, and held the shoe in the air in victory, and they all hooted in cheer.
“I’m out!” He heard Peter say. “My opponent is a horseshoe savant, and my partner apparently has no talent for dis game at all.” By the time Mattie was back to have a drink of his beer, Peter had grabbed him around with one arm and with the other hand, gave Mattie’s hair a rough scrub. “Nice job, Buddy,” he said, pleased at Mattie’s success. He guided Mattie’s hand to the beer, and they both sat back down.
“I’m glad you’re on my team,” said Garnet. “I take back the whole no faith in our abilities comments.”
“That’s amazing,” said Garnet’s wife. “Wow, Matthew. You are on fire!”
“I think I need more sustenance,” Mattie said.
“Want me to get you another hamburger?” Chloë asked him.
“And a beer,” added Peter.
Mattie almost turned them down, almost said No, I can get it. But though that was true, he’d forgotten how much longer that would take, what mess it could create, and its potential for burns. He got to his feet nonetheless.
“Sit,” Chloë said to him.
“I’ll help,” Mattie told her, and reached out his hand, letting her know not to contradict him.
Everyone else was topped up, so they continued to the barbecue and the food table. Chloë put Mattie’s hand on the large, open cooler, and he bent down and felt over cans and various bottles. He recognised the beer bottles and pulled out two.
“Want anything?” he asked her. “A cooler?”
“I’ll take that cooler your left hand is on... that’s it. Thanks, Xav. Okay, so what do you want on your burger?”
Mattie moved around to stand next to her at the table. He heard her opening the pickle jar, the sound was unmistakable. He smiled. “You already know,” he said, nodding.
He heard her laugh. “How about ketchup or mustard?”
“Both.”
“Here,” she said, picking up his hand and dropping a dill pickle into it as she sliced another to put on his hamburger.
He crunched on it, and felt her brushing napkins on his wrist. He took them and wiped his hand before picking up the two beer bottles in one hand and tucking the cooler in his elbow. Chloë carried the plate back to the table with Mattie following with his hand on her shoulder. Sitting back down at the table, he slid the second beer bottle across to Peter.
Amber said beside Mattie. “They’re playing it your way,” she said to him.
“What way?” he asked, distracted.
“Horseshoes. Tom and James. They’re playing it blindfolded.”
“They are?” Mattie asked, turning as if to watch them.
“Yeah, that’s why the beeper is still on. They wanted to try and beat your score.”
“Really?” Mattie had not thought he was to be competed with in such a visual sport. But they weren’t letting him win their game. They were trying to outdo him with his game.
Pretty soon, there were several people giving the blindfolded horseshoe toss game a go. Even Peter relented and tried his skill and luck. And though he tried five times in a row, he couldn’t hit the spike.
“You got some mad skills,” he told Mattie as he sat back down at their picnic table.
Mattie took another turn, and this time, on his second try, he got a ringer. There was a large cheer and Mattie felt Chloë raise his arm in victory. Peter raised his hand in the air as he approached Mattie, and then stopped.
“Hey, Xav, high five,” he instructed, and Mattie obliged by raising his hand out. Peter slapped his against it. “I think we have our champion of this contest!”
“That was pure luck,” Mattie said.
“I don’t think so, Man,” Peter told him. “It takes some damn good math and damn good hearing and spatial awareness to get that right.” Peter knew that it was indeed a feat, because he was an engineer. The more he learned about how Mattie’s mind worked without visual input, the more he wondered how he could help his friend do even better.
Mattie smiled. He was feeling pretty proud of himself. He didn’t want it to be such an amazing thing that he could ring a horseshoe, but even to him, it was. He thought Amber had been nuts to think he could hit a beeping target. He’d dismissed himself. He realised it was better to be applauded for being able to do something others could do easily than to be dismissed as someone who couldn’t do anything at all. It was amazing that he hit that iron spike, he’d put himself at such a long-shot.
And he realised he didn’t need to be applauded as someone who could do something anyone else could do without any effort, because in this case, they had all joined him. He had been their equal there, and he’d bested them. He was the one to try and beat. He inwardly knew he deserved to feel some pride about that.
The Roberts family, who had called Amber earlier saying they would arrive later, joined them. Lilla ran over to Mattie as soon as the car was parked.
“Here comes your biggest fan,” Amber told Mattie, and he turned around on the picnic table seat to be ready.
“Happy Birthday, Mattie!” the little girl said, suddenly shy as she came up to him and noticed people turning to watch her, smiling.
“Hey, Sweetie! Thanks for coming to my party. Want a hamburger?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m glad you guys made it before the cake,” Amber said. “I’ve been saving it.”
The little girl giggled. “You waited for me?”
“Of course we waited for you,” Mattie said. “You’re my official cake tester. Also, my official cake describer.” Lilla laughed and Mattie continued. “And you can make sure I blow out every candle.”
“Can I blow out the ones... if you miss any?”
Mattie smiled at her. “I’m counting on you. I need you to make sure my wish comes true—”
“Don’t tell me!” Lilla shouted and Mattie felt her jump. He laughed.
“I won’t, I won’t!” he said, raising his hands.
“Here’s a hamburger, Lilla,” said her mother Lynne. “Come sit down.”
“I wanna sit here,” Lilla argued. “I have to be next to Mattie.”
Lynne looked at Mattie who sat just listening to the activity going on around him, and then she looked at Amber, who smiled back at her.
“She’s okay there,” Amber told her. “You and Jonah help yourselves. Can I get you anything at all?”
Lilla sat at Mattie’s picnic table, and immediately engaged with Chloë about wedding dresses and honeymoons while she worked away at the hamburger. Amber, with Riley’s help, went inside for the cake.
“How’s it going?” Amber asked Riley, when they were in the kitchen. “You looked like you were having some fun. Sorry I left you there for a bit.”
“No, no, no worries, Amber, it’s your brother’s birthday. I’m fine. He’s a pretty determined fella, isn’t he?” He smiled at Amber. “He can sure throw a decent horseshoe.”
“I did not expect him to be that good, actually,” Amber said. “Just goes to show you that there’re lots of ways to do things. People will surprise you.” She looked at Riley, glad he seemed to be having a good time with her group. He fit in, she’d seen that, but she wanted to know if he was just acting like that to be nice. He was a nice guy, she could see him doing that.
“Well,” he said, turning her toward him. “I like him a lot. I’ll be glad to talk to him any time. All your friends seem pretty great, really, so in case you were worrying about whether I was having a good time or hoping that the day is over quickly and I can have you all to myself...” He stopped, making a pensive face. “Well, actually, that second idea doesn’t sound so negative, now that I say it out loud.” He leaned in and gave her a loud kiss on the cheek and she laughed. “But what I’m saying is, I don’t feel uncomfortable here. I was sitting and talking to Tom and... Joe, is it? Came later? Right, Jonah. Everyone is cool. And next weekend, you get to hang out with my cousin Tay and his wife Gill, and Jack and Paulette.”
“Who are they again?” Amber asked.
“My sister?” said Riley, raising his eyebrow at her.
“Oh, shit, what was I thinking? Of course, your sister. I knew that.”
Riley just laughed and shook his head at her. He looked out the window. “You think those candles will last until the cake reaches him?”
“Does it really matter?” Amber asked. “I’ll just tell him they’re all lit, he’ll blow on them, we’ll all applaud.”
Riley chuckled. “I suppose.”
“Oh, no, wait, that won’t work. Lilla’s right beside him, she’ll never let that pass.”
Riley asked about Lilla, and Amber found her lighter and gave Riley a stack of plates and forks. She picked up the cake, which was a sheet cake she’d ordered from a little bakery in town. It was shaped like a piano, and although Amber knew that would be lost on the recipient, she’d still wanted that cake for him, though it was a little pricier. Riley held open the door and as soon as Amber began down the stairs, several people had started to sing Happy Birthday. They continued into a second round as she and Riley lit the candles. A couple went out and needed relighting but finally they all stayed glowing, and Amber slid the cake forward in front of Mattie.
“Cake is right in front of you, Little Brother,” Amber said. “I went with six candles instead of thirty-three.”
“Why six?” Mattie asked, pausing before he took a breath.
“Three... plus... three. Six.”
Mattie rolled his eyes. “Of course. Why didn’t I think of that? So obvious.”
“Make your wish, Mattie!” Lilla prompted, leaning up on the table.
Mattie closed his eyes, because that was how a person made a wish. He thought about what he really wanted. He wanted his mother to have her children all back in her life. He wanted to not be lonely anymore. He wanted Amber to finally find her place and have someone look after her for a change. He wanted to know where Danny was. He took a deep breath in and blew, trying to cover the area in front of him as best he could. He felt Lilla leaning over, probably up on her knees on the picnic bench. He could hear her puffing out air and he knew that his candles would all be out without problem, so he sat back, smiling, hearing everyone clapping.
“Here, Xav,” said Amber, carefully putting the handle of a cake knife into his hand. She kept hers over his to guide him to the cake. “You can make a second wish. Or double your first one. First cut of your cake.”
Mattie let her place his hand in the appropriate place on the cake, and she let him cut the cake. Again, he closed his eyes, and he doubled his wish.
He released the knife into his sister’s hand and she slid the cake over to cut it. Mattie got the first piece, but the second was passed to Lilla, whose face was wide with anticipation.
Mattie turned to Lilla beside him. “Okay, give me the details. Tell me.”
“It was a piano. Like, the top of a piano shaped cake. That roundy-back piano thing.” Mattie grinned at her description of a grand piano. “It has chocolate frosting and the keys are white and black frosting... Is that frosting?” she asked Amber.
“It’s kind of frosting,” Amber said.
“It looks like you could play it. It’s perfect because you play piano. And we got the keys part on our pieces.”
“Cool,” said Mattie. “What colour is the cake?”
“White.”
“My favourite,” Mattie told her.
“Mine, too!” she said. “But my friend Amy loves chocolate best and doesn’t like white cakes at all. This one’s good, though. You should really try it.”
Mattie laughed, and he heard Peter and Chloë across the table chuckling.
Mattie reached out with both hands and found the plate. He centred it in front of him and located the fork resting on the right side of the plate. “Well, I will, then, Smartypants.” He slid the fork over and calculated the size of the corner as he sliced into the cake. Rather than make an error in judgement, and make a spectacle of himself, he decided to put it out there and make it okay, make it less humiliating in it’s loneliness, and make it something to share with his friends. It took the glare of it away and made it normal.
“How’s this for a piece?” he asked Lilla, lifting his fork. “Okay?”
“Perfect,” said the little girl, her mouth full of her own cake.
“No ants on it?”
She giggled, and some of the others at the table did, too. “Nope, no ants.”
“Okay, good. I want you to keep a watch for ants on my cake, okay?” He easily ate the forkful of cake, using two hands to guide it safely to his mouth. His hand-to-mouth coordination was hit and miss now, and there were plenty of times he’d humiliated himself in front of people, spilling beverages down his chin or neck, hitting the edge of his mouth and cheek with frosting or potatoes. He never expected it when he missed, since in his mind, his hand was where it was supposed to be and his mouth was where it was supposed to be, but sometime they just didn’t end up in the same place at all.
His strategy to engage Lilla in his attempt to keep cake from being on his face and shirt worked completely. He didn’t feel separated or stared at, because she was in it with him. People were smiling and laughing because Lilla was cute and funny and helpful, and Mattie was comfortable and not self-conscious, and the two of them together were sweet to watch.
Lilla ate a second, smaller piece of cake, quickly before her mother saw she had another. Mattie didn’t want a beer after cake, so he had some more lemonade, and went with Jonah and Lilla when they went over to play croquet. He sat in a lawn chair, soon joined by James and Riley. Lilla called out to Mattie with questions about playing, and he answered as best as his memory of the game could provide. Every now and then she would give a report that she or her father had gotten a ball through the little gate, as she called them.
Mattie enjoyed the conversations he had throughout the afternoon and early part of the evening. He caught up with James and Garnet, got some time in getting to know Riley, and enjoyed his best friend’s return. As his friends parted the party in straggles, he knew he had the best of the best there. There wasn’t a person there he wouldn’t feel comfortable with, even Amber’s new boyfriend seemed quite decent. Each person came over to thank him, wish him happy birthday, give him a hug or a kiss, a hand on his arm, and let him know how much he meant to them in their actions. Lilla gave him a huge hug and a wrapped gift before she left, telling him he had to wait until everyone was gone except Amber. Peter and Chloë were the last couple to leave, and Amber and Riley let Mattie sit back with another piece of cake and some tea while they cleaned up.
He picked up the present from the little girl and carefully found his way inside the paper. There was a small cardboard box. He opened it and felt inside, taking out a leather tag. A key ring. And his fingers found her details quickly as he ran them over the little raised bumps she’d added. friends. Each raised dot was made from a bead or a rivet or gem of some kind, melded into the leather snugly. The end was looped over the key ring and riveted tight, no doubt with the help of Lynne.
Friends. She’d hit it right on the head there. His friends got him through the toughest times in his life. His friends had always been there for him, had always supported him, had made him laugh, and celebrated his victories. It didn’t matter whether they were eight-years-old, or if they were blood relations, or if they were poetry professors. How would he have gotten by without Peter’s humour and constant watch? Where would he have gone if it hadn’t been for Amber? How would Amber have had enough strength without Barb to take some of her stress away? How would he have gotten through the hard days at work without Garnet and James inviting him let off steam playing music in their band? Each person that made up the essence of his friends, the warmth of his friends, the sound of their presence around him, made him whole.
Amber looked down from the deck as she carried a box out to collect dishes, and nudged Riley, smiling. Mattie sat in the lawn chair, his tea mug in the cup holder on his left, his expression myopic and peaceful. He was holding something in his hand, and Amber could see the wrapping paper on the grass beside him. He’d expressly made her tell everyone no gifts. But Amber had seen Lilla give him a present wrapped in the same green and blue paper before she left.
“Whatchya got there, Buddy?” Amber called over as she pulled the tablecloth off one of the tables.
Mattie moved his head as if awoken from his daydream. “A keychain,” he said. “From Lilla.” He held it up and Amber moved towards him to see it better.
She took it from his fingers and smiled as she admired it. “It’s a nice brown leather,” she said. “She’s put little metal studs into it. What does it say?”
“Friends,” Mattie said, nodding.
“But there are only three letters,” Amber said, looking at it.
“She somehow knew the contraction.”
“I don’t even know the contraction,” Amber said.
“I know,” Mattie replied.
“That kid’s gonna be smarter than you one day,” Amber said, putting the key fob back into his hand.
Mattie nodded, the smile crossing his face.
“Well, she certainly loves you,” she said. “We all do. Did you have a good time?”
“It was awesome, Amber. Thank you. I mean it. That horseshoe game was genius, I had fun, thank you.”
“Anything it takes for you to smile, Little Brother,” she said, leaning down to give him a little squeeze and a kiss on his forehead. “I hope your birthday wish comes true,” she added.
Mattie closed his eyes, his fingers still brushing over the word in his hand, and he nodded. He hoped so, too.
Small Mercies Chapter 55, a romance fiction | FictionPress
"Jane the Virgin" zapowiedź odcinka S03E11: Chapter Fifty-Five
“Jane the Virgin” zapowiedź odcinka S03E11: Chapter Fifty-Five
W następnym odcinku “Jane the Virgin”…
Praca wydaje się Jane dość rozczarowująca, jednak podchwytuje informację o pokazie dla początkujących pisarzy. Jane i Rafael starają się zrozumieć zachowanie Mateo.
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Instead of an outstanding light surrounding her, Nanami found herself thrust into a vat of black smoke. Unwelcoming, dark, and seemingly endless, she wasn’t able to find Tomoe, much less see five feet in front of her. Thick and suffocating darkness.
Then, she was plummeting into a pile of wooden boards with a sharp yelp. As unsettling at the black smoke was, Nanami had no time to think or process the odd transfer.
“What’s with all these boards…?” she muttered, looking down in annoyance at the rough drop. “Tomoe, are you—?”
Expecting to see the white-haired familiar at her side, she wasn’t thrilled to see that the two were seemingly separated. Regardless, Nanami stood up hesitantly, looking around the place she fell. A run down looking shed with broken walls and the door acting more as a splintered mat.
Frowning at the poor condition of the shed, Nanami crossed her arms, feeling a chill run down her spine at the eerie atmosphere.
Clunk.
Looking down at the piles of boards, Nanami made no effort to move forward, expecting a demon to be resting in this shabby place. Instead, she backed away, taking cover behind a wall and waiting for whatever to come while the boards shuffled irregularly.
Something’s here… there couldn’t be a worse time for Tomoe and I to be separated…
However, on the contrary, she saw a bob of orange stumbling its way out of the debris, followed by the small frame of a girl in a plain kimono. She groaned, rubbing the top of her head with a cough.
“Something heavy must have fell… ouch…” she commented.
I’m not that heavy…
The girl sighed raggedly, turning around to look around the shed with a cautious gleam in her icy blue eyes.
Nanami nodded to herself. It didn’t take a genius for her to understand who it was.
Arika… that’s Arika.
An intent stare on her face, Nanami watched Arika stumble to the shack’s now bare doorway, peering outside stiffly.
What was she doing? Moreover, exactly what was going on?
Nanami leant out from behind the wall; she was practically holding her breath to be not be caught.
Meanwhile, Arika flinched as she peered out, covering her mouth and tilting her head, and she stood up; dirty and scratched feet leading her outside.
Nanami began to follow, walking slowly towards the doorway, keeping an eye out for anything else that could be hiding under boards of wood. However, before peering out, she stopped mid-step, now wondering if Arika was just outside. It’d be trouble for Nanami to be caught, she couldn’t afford to risk it.
“Maybe I should just wait a bit longer?” she suggested to herself.
“Who are you talking to?”
Jumping with a surprised gasp, the land goddess’s first impulsive reaction was to whip around and take a whack at whoever was behind her. Simultaneously, she recognised those upright ears.
“Uh…”
A forced smile on her face, she lowered her hand, still able to feel the slight sting.
Tomoe!
A hand covering his face, Tomoe looked at Nanami through irritated slits.
“I’m not going to waste my breath asking why the hell you just slapped me, and dismiss it as you just slipping back into your usual idiotic self, Nanami.”
Blinking in disbelief, Nanami placed a hand on her hips. “Idiotic—You’re not supposed to sneak up behind me like that! Where were you anyway?” she demanded, raising an eyebrow. “How am I not supposed to react that way when I hear someone behind me in this place?”
“By recognising the voice of your own familiar, for one.”
“It doesn’t work that way, Tomoe…”
“Then what way does it work? Enlighten me.”
Nanami glared indignantly, giving a roll of the eyes before turning back to the door. Slowly looking out, she spotted the girl kneeling beside someone else, a weak smile on her face. Around them, more sheds were falling about or completely destroyed.
Nanami’s face dropped.
The person she knelt beside was, indeed, a fox, with dark long hair, a hand over the left side of his side and a bitter smile.
It’s that guy alright…
“Nanami?”
Nanami put a finger to her mouth. “Be quiet, I can’t hear ‘em…” she ordered.
Observing the two outside, something did not add up.
Nanami could see nothing demonic about Arika, she looked just as she did the first time Nanami met her, while Akira had no reason to hide his nature in this time. Whatever the two were talking about, Arika was obstinate about it, tugging at Akira to stand up, and an encouraging smile on her face. While Akira only seemed to give blank responses and ignored Arika.
I wonder…
It wasn’t a conventional assumption, but the scene was unsettlingly familiar to Nanami.
She’s arguing with someone from a different world of her own…
“Nanami, we need to go.”
From behind, Tomoe put his sleeve to his nose, grimacing and looking around the shed.
Nanami shrugged, still watching the two outside.
I know this has nothing to do with Tomoe, but…
Akira had soon stood up, glaring down at Arika with drooped ears, still covering his left eye. Conversing with Arika, they suddenly started to walk out from the village, and out of Nanami’s sight.
“They’re gone already…” she sighed, “I wonder what happened to this place, it looks like an abandoned village. Why was Arika here?”
“This place was destroyed by another demon, isn’t that obvious? It’s less an abandoned village and more like a graveyard, it reeks,” Tomoe corrected, keeping a disgusted look on his face. “We’re only wasting time here, and we’re not finding anything out that’s important, so –“
Nanami nodded, slowly walking away from the doorway. “Is something wrong?” she asked absently.
“Did you just hear me? Let’s leave,” Tomoe snapped.
“One second, I’m thinking..”
“We’re getting nothing done here, let’s go.”
“I said one second!”
The fox only scoffed, pulling at Nanami’s arm, and soon the past vanished.
Shortly after, Nanami’s eyes snapped open, but before she could spring up, Mizuki tapped her on the forehead, a warm smile on his face as he sighed.
“I keep telling you that going in the past takes a toll on your body, Nanami-chan. Just relax for a bit, the shrine isn’t leaving you behind. Don’t strain it more than you already have,” he gave a laugh, looking over. “The stupid fox learnt his lesson the hard way~.”
Nanami followed Mizuki’s gaze, seeing Tomoe hunched over, Kotetsu and Onikiri fawning over him as he sat there with drooped ears.
“Bastard snake, shut up. I’m more bothered by how the past smells like a damn slaughterhouse, there’s no toll on me at all.”
“Why don’t you try walking over here and saying that to my face, then~?”
“I can’t risk having your own rotten meat hash breath slither its way near me.”
Everything’s the same. But… Tomoe smelled blood? I guess he mentioned that a demon must have attacked the place, did he see who, though?
Laughing silently, Nanami stared at the ceiling absently, thinking to Arika and Akira.
Something about how Arika was acting… was familiar…
Sitting up from where she was, Nanami smiled lightly.
We may not have found anything out, but… I have a feeling I know what to do next.
