Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 31st cycle. Now cycle 32!
Hear that little bird twitter! Been thinking about doing this for a couple days, then this morning decided to just go for it. If you go there, find 'gleekathon' and there I'll be. There's also a video explaining everything... Yep... ;) Check it out!
"As Summer Drags Along"
Rachel & Co
[stay tuned at the bottom for a quick Name Poll! ;)
(also sorry for the delay, storms are evil ;))]
The summer holiday just wasn't the same since she'd joined Glee Club. Before, she'd count down the days until school ended, because when summer started so did her more ardent search to make her performance dreams come true at last. She no longer had to divide her time to include homework anymore… But now that she had Glee Club… She still did as she'd always done, but she just couldn't not think of Glee Club, especially as she continued to get doors closed off to her… No success, no love… The others in Glee Club, they may have differing views on some things, but they supported her in ways her other efforts had yet to bring her.
So as time went on, with all of them just… spread to the winds… it lacked in her life. She still saw them, some more than others, like Finn, Kurt, Mercedes… But they weren't all together, so it wasn't the same. And the more days went by, with the previous year further in the past and the next year nearer in the future, it only got her more… antsy… anxious… delirious for them.
That so-called delirium came out of the simplest of situations, when suddenly she'd end up thinking of them, and her mind got lit up like a stage, presenting her… possibilities… For instance…
She didn't know what it was about rainy days that equated 'let's go shopping,' but by the end of breakfast one Tuesday morning her fathers had worked themselves into some giddy bubble and it was decided: they were going to the mall that morning. She wasn't going to go with them, but they wanted her to, and they had her convinced in no time. She dressed, a light blue dress maybe to make the skies clear up again.
Before long, once they'd entered the mall, they landed in a department store, spreading wide with its various sections in the open for her to see… Kitchen, clothes, couches, and other furniture… From what she could see it wasn't too crowded… early Tuesday morning, she guessed. This is where her fathers, in their rainy day shoppers' frenzy, would usually land. They weren't looking for anything in particular, but when they'd see something all of a sudden it would become 'the thing that had been missing all along' and they'd start arguing about what color or size – where applicable – and then where it would go in the house.
It would amuse her at first, but then they'd be so busy discussing this that she would just stand around, waiting. So when this happened, coupled with her 'gleeless' solitude, it was only a matter of time before she fell to that escape of her 'delirium.'
They were in the kitchen section when she thought she saw Schuester. For a second she got excited, but then… the woman turned… Not Schuester… not even a man… She frowned, slightly disturbed, but still imprinted with thoughts of him.
"Rachel!" she looked up, figuring her dads had finally settled on the new toaster, but…
"Mike? Hi!" she went from confusion, to surprise, then straight on to joy. He zigzagged between a couple of tables to reach her and they hugged. "What are you doing here?"
"My parents are finally letting me get a new bed," he explained, nodding back to them.
"I don't think they're waiting for you," she pointed out, and he looked back.
"Right… I should go… But it was good to see you," he told her. She smiled; yes it had been. They waved goodbye, and he ran off, hopping over a couch, which got him a glare from a saleswoman. It only got a chuckle out of Rachel, and she leaned against the table behind her…
Oh, how she missed them… All the things they would do, could do… Just thinking of Schuester, still, and now Mike, too… Her mind had already begun to pool together everything and then there was Will, there was Mike, there she was, and she looked to them both, smiling, and…
[R] "Good mornin'" / [M] "Good mornin'!" / [W] "We've talked the whole night through" / [R] "Good mornin'"
Later she'd have to come to realize it was a beautiful daydream and no more… How else would they have gotten off with this, as they sang, and danced, the three of them… Even Mike sounded better than she knew him to sound. Not that she was worrying herself with that, no… That might have broken what they had going. They sang, they danced, marched arm in arm into a neighboring section of the store and Rachel hopped on to a chair, the other two on either side of her… No one paid attention to them for a second.
[RWM] "Good mornin' to you. / Good mornin', good mornin'! / It's great to stay up late, / Good mornin', good mornin' to you."
[M] "When the band began to play / The stars were shinin' bright." / [W] "Now the milkman's on his way, / It's too late to say goodnight."
[RWM] "So, good mornin', good mornin'! / Sunbeams will soon smile through, / Good mornin', good mornin', to you,"
[R] "And you, and you, and you! / Good morning, / Good morning, / We've gabbed the whole night through. / Good morning, good morning to you."
[WM] "Nothin' could be grander than to be in / Louisiana"
[RWM] "In the morning, / [K] In the morning, / It's great to stay up late! / Good mornin', / Good mornin' to you." / [WM] "It might be just a zippy / If you was in Mississipi!"
From her perch it was as close to a proper stage as she could get, but there was always a way to make it even more, and she hopped off, with Will and Mike behind her as they carried along to a raised display of various end tables. With Will taking one arm and Mike taking the other they lifted her up on to one of those tables, themselves climbing from one to the next.
[R] "When we left the movie show / The future wasn't bright / But tame is gone / The show goes on / And I don't wanna say good night"
[WM] "So say, Good Mornin'!" / [R] "Good Mornin'!"
/ [RWM] "Rainbows are shining through" / [R] "Good Mornin'!" / [WM] "Good Mornin'!" / [R] "Bonjour!" / [WM] "Bonjour!" / [R] "Buenos Dias!" / [WM] "Buenos Dias!" / [R] "Buon Giorno!" / [WM] "Buon Giorno!" / [R] "Guten Morgen!" / [WM] "Guten Morgen!" / [RWM] "Good morning to you."
Eventually they helped her down, and they danced their way to the small staircase which led to the showroom area… Up the stairs, down the stairs… And instead of going into the showroom – just yet – Mike drew them to the clothing area… She'd never known the sections to be so close to one another, but suddenly they each had a hat, a raincoat… and they danced around with them, like the most versatile props, able to create a skirt, instruments, a cape… Ohio, Hawaii, Spain, yes… And then they were in the showroom at last, dancing like a trio of ballerinas with a bar, leaping a couch, tipping another until they fell as a heap, a happy heap, gleeful…
"Rachel?"
And then she was in the kitchen area again, leaning against her table again, and Dad was showing her a toaster with a grin… Still summer… Oh, why wasn't it September yet?
THE END
PICK A NAME!
New character currently in development, and I'm being indecisive, so I'm putting it to all of you lovely people!
Please send via message if you can, the name you like best... [If you've already voted you can't vote again]
Brendan
Duncan
Ewan
Keegan
Neal
Rory
Sean
Thank you! :)
A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!