CHAPTER 2 - JINGLE BELLS CALLING, PART ONE
Well, here we go with Chapter Two as Lo gets ready to (in a nod to the old Ma Bell system) "reach out and touch" her Surfer's Paradise friends when she invites them back to the hotel for the holidays.
Emperor of the Animal Kingdom - Yep, this story will get heavy later on when that tragedy in question happens. How it happens and to who will have to stay a mystery for now, but I can drop a hint - George will have something to do with how the tragedy happens.
MUSKOKA, ONTARIO - THE DAIRY PRINCESS
Reef, who returned to working part-time after school and on weekends at the Dairy Princess in his hometown of Muskoka after returning from Surfer's Paradise, was busy outside shovelling the ice cream store's parking lot clear of snow following a recent dump of two feet of snow in the area. Shovelling snow was not his idea of fun, especially after the fun he had surfing at the resort hotel on his time off during his time working there that summer.
Thinking about the summer weather kept Reef's mind off the cold outside as he continued clearing snow toward the growing snow piles along the edge of the parking lot, as did the times he spent hanging out with the friends he made at Surfer's Paradise. The most memorable of those friends, of course, was one Fin McCloud, the surfer girl from Halifax who captured his imagination (and his fantasies) during those three months at the hotel, even though their relationship was more along the lines of love-hate during much of that time.
Reef hoisted another shovelful of snow up to toss onto one of the snow piles, but as he prepared to throw the snow on the pile, he slipped on a patch of ice he was standing on and fell on his back. As he slipped and fell, he let go of the shovel and the momentum from the fall caused the snow in the shovel to fly out backward and land on his face. As he lay there with snow covering his face, he then heard laughter coming from not far off.
"Enjoy your trip, dude," the voice said. "See you in the fall!"
"Ha-ha, very funny, Moe!" Reef said as he brushed away the snow and got up, recognizing the voice as his friend and fellow Dairy Princess worker.
"Here, figured you could use this," Moe said, walking over to hand Reef a cup of hot chocolate. "It's crazy cold out here."
"Yeah, thanks man," Reef said as he took the paper cup and took a sip. Suddenly hit by searing pain in his mouth, he then spat out the mouthful of hot chocolate. "Aaaahh, too hot!" he said, breathing in and out rapidly through his mouth to cool off his tongue.
"Well, don't be so quick to drink it next time, man," Moe said. "So anyway, what's up for your Christmas plans this year?"
"Haven't thought that far ahead, bro," Reef said, "though that New Year's Eve staff party Brad's been plannin' just crossed my mind. You bringin' a date for it?"
"You know I am, man," Moe replied. "How about you?"
"Don't worry 'bout a thing, dude," a confident Reef declared. "I'll have a girl on my arm to ring in the new year at that party." A second later, Reef's cell phone rang in an inner pocket of his coat and he fished it out. Checking the call display, he recognized Lo's number right away. "Oop, gotta take this, old friend calling," he excused himself. Hitting the talk button, Reef answered, "Hey Lo, what's up?"
"Hi Reef, I just called with a little good news," Lo responded. "I talked with my dad earlier and he said I can invite some friends from the summer staff back to Surfer's Paradise to spend Christmas vacation."
"Summer staff, as in..." Reef wondered.
"As in you, Fin, Emma and Kelly, silly," Lo said. "I told Broseph and Johnny about it earlier and they're gonna be super-stoked to see you too when you come back!"
"Right on!" Reef said. "So did you call anyone else on your invite list yet?"
"Nope, you're the first," Lo said. Hearing this, Reef did a mini-victory dance where he stood, glad that he got an invite to spend Christmas break at Surfer's Paradise before Fin did.
"There's another thing too," Lo added. "Daddy told me that everyone I invite to stay at the hotel is allowed to bring along one friend or relative as a guest, so you can bring along whoever you want from your family or one of your friends back home. Your plane tickets will be paid for and ready to pick up at the nearest airport you go to, and you'll fly from there to Victoria Airport near Sidney, take the bus down to Victoria and then take the seaplane to Sunset Beach. All you have to do is mention my name when you pick up the tickets, I'll be paying for them. As for your hotel room, Daddy's covering the bill for that."
"Sweeeeet!" a jubilant Reef said. "I am SO there! When can we come?"
"School lets out for me here on the 10th, so you can come over right after that," Lo said. "If you come on a Sunday, you'll be able to stay the full three weeks of Christmas break and be able to go home and back to school the day after New Year's."
"Right on," Reef said. "I'll definitely see you then." After hanging up and contemplating how to break the news to Moe that he would have to skip out on the Dairy Princess New Year's Eve staff party for a stay at Surfer's Paradise over the holidays, he then scanned his phone numbers list on his cell phone, picked one and hit speed dial. As soon as the other end answered, Reef said "Hey Mom, have you decided yet what we're gonna do for Christmas? I just got an idea..."
HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA - AMANDA McCLOUD'S CONDOMINIUM
Amanda McCloud, Fin's grandmother, had just finished putting up her Christmas tree in the living room of her suburban Halifax condominium a few minutes earlier, but she decided to wait to decorate the tree until Fin, whom she was expecting, arrived to help her with the decorating. While waiting for Fin to arrive, Mrs. McCloud continued her holiday decorating around the living room as Christmas music played on her living room stereo when she heard a buzz coming from the video phone by the front door. Pressing a button on the video phone, Mrs. McCloud said, "Hello?"
"Hi Grandma, it's Fin," Fin, whose face appeared on the video phone screen, replied.
"Hi Fin, come on up," Mrs. McCloud said as she pressed another button to allow Fin access to come into the condominium building. A couple of minutes later, a knock came at the front door and Mrs. McCloud went to check the peephole in the door. Upon seeing Fin standing outside the door, Mrs. McCloud unlocked the door and let her granddaughter in, greeting her with a hug. "Glad you could drop by, dear," she said. "Hope you won't mind helping me with decorating the tree."
"Not a problem at all, Grandma," Fin said as she took off the coat, tuque and boots she had worn to bundle herself against the just-below freezing temperature outside. "I'm actually glad to come here because my place is a madhouse right now with Mom, Sam and the brothers all there to decorate for Christmas."
"I believe it," Mrs. McCloud said with a laugh. "I was just getting some hot chocolate ready for when you came," she added as Fin began sorting through a decoration box to find some garland for the tree. "Would you like some?"
"Oh, yes please," a grateful Fin said. "That's gonna warm my insides up after being out walking in the cold tonight." Walking over to the dinner table to sit down and join her grandmother for hot chocolate, Fin asked her, "So, looking forward to the big day on the 25th?"
"I am, though I imagine it's going to be a bit crowded in here between me, you and your mom and the kids, and your uncle Scott and his family," Mrs. McCloud said. "I don't mind though because I always enjoy your visits."
"Yeah, it's gonna be nice," Fin admitted, "though it won't really be the same without Dad around this year. The first couple of months back home since he's been gone were a pretty rough time. I'm just glad I have you, Uncle Scott and my friends, both here and from Sunset Beach, to talk to about it."
"Thanks, honey," Mrs. McCloud said, putting her right hand on top of Fin's left. "You know that's what we're here for when you need us," she added, drawing a smile from Fin.
"I was thinking," Fin said after taking a sip of her hot chocolate. "With all the surfing trophies you have lining the walls around the living room, I'm amazed you found room to put up Christmas decorations." As she said that to Mrs. McCloud, Fin was looking at the various trophies her grandmother had won in surfing competitions over the years, including a number of East Coast and Canadian title trophies, some from a local competition called the Bluenose Invitational, her very first trophy from winning the Battle of the Betties as a 17-year-old in 1962, and the pinnacles of her competitive career, the five World Women's Surfing Championship trophies she won in 1966, 1967, 1975, 1978 and 1980.
"Oh, I know," Mrs. McCloud said as both she and Fin shared a laugh over it. "I've learned to be creative in my decorating over time when it comes to my trophies."
As Fin was about to make another witty remark about the trophies, her cell phone began to ring in her right jeans pocket and she pulled it out to see who it was. Recognizing Lo's number, she said, "Sorry Grandma, that's Lo calling. Something must be up."
"Tell her I said hi," Mrs. McCloud said.
Fin then answered the phone. "Hey Princess, what's shakin'?" she replied teasingly.
"Hey, you should know by now I only let Daddy call me 'Princess'," Lo said at the other end as Fin giggled. "What're you doing right now?"
"I'm over at my grandma's right now, helping her decorate her Christmas tree," Fin explained. "She wants to say hi, so I'll put you on speaker."
"Sure," Lo said. "You'll want your phone on speaker anyway 'cause I've got some good news." Fin then switched her phone to speaker mode and put it on the table. "Hi, Mrs. McCloud," Lo then said as her voice came clearly over the phone for both Fin and her grandmother to hear. "How're you doing?"
"Very well, Lo, thank you," Mrs. McCloud replied. "How about you?"
"That's what I'm calling about," Lo said, "because I have some good news to share. My dad's letting me invite some friends from the summer staff back to Surfer's Paradise for Christmas vacation, and Fin, you're on my invite list."
Fin's mouth dropped open in surprise. "Really?" she asked.
"Yep, really," Lo said. "And everyone who's invited is allowed to bring along one friend or relative as a guest." Lo then gave Fin the details on how to get from Halifax to Sunset Beach and on the plane tickets, which she explained she would pay for, and the hotel room, which her father would cover. "So what do you think, Fin?" Lo then asked.
"Well," Fin said, "I'm in for sure. As for who to take along, there's really no one I could think of who'd be better to bring to Surfer's Paradise than Grandma. So Grandma, how about it?" she then said to Mrs. McCloud.
"Hmm," Mrs. McCloud mused. "Does the hotel have winter surfing?"
"There've been some surfers who've tried winter surfing here," Lo said. "Never tried it myself, but it sounds like fun, even though it's cold out."
"It's as much about getting a good wetsuit to keep yourself warm and taking the right precautions as it is about catching the waves, but that's all I needed to hear," Mrs. McCloud said. "I'm in too," she added, pleasing Fin.
"Awesome!" a pleased Lo said. "School lets out on the 10th, so you both can come on over after that. Come on the Sunday after so the two of you can stay the full three weeks of Christmas break."
"Bank on it," Fin said. "By the way, who else are you inviting back to the hotel?"
"I'll be calling Emma and Kelly right after you to invite them," Lo said, "and I've already invited Reef. I've also told Broseph and Johnny about it and they'll be waiting to see you guys when you get here."
"Perfect," Fin said. "I'm looking forward to it - maybe not so much with that kookmeister Reef, but Grandma and I'll be there for sure." After saying goodbye to Lo and hanging up, Fin turned to Mrs. McCloud and said, "Grandma, this is gonna be great! I'll get to spend Christmas with you and my friends from the summer and surf some of the most radical waves I've ever surfed again! My friends got to love you after they got to know you at the Staff Tandem Surfing Contest when you were at the hotel the first time, so I think they'll be happy to see you again too."
"After the welcome they gave me the first time, especially Lo, Emma and Broseph, I'd definitely love to go back," Mrs. McCloud said. "All I think we need to do now is break the news about this to your mom and your family."
Next chapter, Emma and Kelly are the next to get their invitations from Lo.
