Well this update came fast, mainly because we had no homework today. :D
-Lisa- Age 46-
How could Alex let our nine year old girl go to the park with a man that's about twice her age!? He told me to calm down, but I refused. When I got into the car with them, I quietly told Ib to be careful around him, and she agreed, but wasn't worried too much. I sniffed the car, and was surprised it didn't smell like alcohol or smoke. Alex was in the front chatting quietly with Garry, and I still couldn't believe we were letting our daughter do this...
We stopped at a small park that I'd never seen before. There were patches of flowers and butterflies fluttering around. Too angry to speak, Alex and I sat down on the bench and watched what happened. However... I have to admit she looked like she was having the time of her life... I don't think she's ever smiled like she did. They laughed together, and played around for roughly an hour.
"Lisa, it looks like she's having fun..." Alex said to me, and I eyed Ib, putting together a wreath of flowers. Garry was by her side, aiding her by doing the knots.
"I still don't trust him..." I said. A few minutes passed, and Ib walked up to me with Garry following behind her.
"Can we come back here tomorrow?" she asked. She didn't have school since it was the first week of summer, but I didn't want her to. Alex looked at me nervously, and right when I opened my mouth to speak he spoke.
"Sure Ib, anytime!" he said. I just about turned and slapped him, but stopped. He leaned in and whispered to me.
"Give him a chance," he said. I glared at him, but then decided it'd be alright as long as I was there to watch her. Ib smiled, and followed Garry to his car.
"Ib, stop!" I said, and she turned around.
"Let's walk," I said, and Garry turned around.
"Are you sure? I can drive you," he said.
"I'm sure," I said, and I took Ib's arm and walked off. Alex followed, and the park actually wasn't too far from our house. It just seemed like it because I'd never seen it before. We walked back in silence, and Ib didn't say a word. We got back to the house, and Ib went back to being her normal self, bored, tired, and kind of lazy. I made dinner, and she trudge down the stairs and sat down at the table. I gave her a steaming plate of baked Ziti, and we all ate in silence. Even Alex didn't speak.
But it's gotten worse... much worse. She's been going every day now for a week.
-Garry- Age 21-
Ib seemed to really enjoy it, so we've decided to meet up at the park a bit more often. Her parents always come and watch us for some reason, and I showed her around and stuff. I did come to this park often, just a place to get away.
"Ooh... that cloud looks like an elephant," she said, sprawled out on the grass. I looked up at the puffy cumulus clouds in the sky, and pointed at another one.
"That one is kind of like a butterfly," I said, sitting on the ground.
"That one is like... a fairy," she said, pointing to the one I had just said was a butterfly.
"Do you like fairies, Ib?" I asked.
"No... all fairies do are flap their wings and brag about how pretty they are," she said, and I laughed.
"Really? All the little girls I know like fairies... their enthralled by tales of magic," I said.
"Why listen to tales about magic if it's not real?" she asked.
"How do you know it's not real? It might be..." I said, smiling.
"That's what all grown-ups say... its all this and that, when it's not," she said. Wow, she was a smart one. She got to her feet and walked to a bush with a large red rose peeking out.
"It's my rose..." she said, and smiled sadly at the bright red rose. "Is your rose here, too?"
"No... I don't think blue roses exist here," I said.
"Oh..." she said, obviously disappointed.
Her mom came over and told her it was time to go, and I waved goodbye and drove back to my apartment. Ib was such a curious child, and loved to try new things.
The phone suddenly rang, and I picked it up.
"Garry?" I recognised the voice instantly.
"Hi, Ib! What's going on?" I asked.
"Can we go to a beach sometime? I've never been to one..." she said, and I just smiled. She's never been to a beach? No problem.
"Sure! We can go there tomorrow! Come a little later though, at like 8:00, okay?" I said, an idea formulating in my head.
"Okay!" she said, "See you tomorrow!"
"Bye, Ib," I said, and hung up. I sat back down on the couch, and someone called again.
"Hey Garry, sup man?" my friend, Niko asked.
"Not much," I said.
"Watcha doin' tonight?" he asked.
"Nothing, really," I said.
"There's a new movie out, it's called Ideal Immortality, and we should see it," he said.
"When?" I asked.
"Now... it's starting in half an hour. I'm coming to stop by your place to pick you up," he said, then hung up. I took a breath, then Googled "Ideal Immortality," and what came up were five star ratings and movie reviews. I was interrupted by a knock on the door, and I opened it.
"Hey, bro! You ready?" he asked.
"Sure am," I said, and we climbed in the car. In the passenger seat was his girlfriend, Helen. She had on a pair of shades that went well with her platinum hair. We chattered all the way to the theater about how much popcorn and candy we would get, and about what it was about. We stepped into the large theater, and the scent of popcorn and pretzels filled my nose. There were five minutes until the movie started, so we quickly got our tickets and bought a giant barrel of popcorn for us to share, then ran to the assigned room. We got in and it was quite crowded, so we took a seat in the back row. I couldn't believe how long it was before the movie started, although there were only five minutes left when we got there.
"Taking forever!" Niko moaned, and his girlfriend leaned over and kissed him. I really didn't like how lovey-dovey they were, and Niko seemed to ignore me whenever she was around. In high school they always had an eye on each other, and it wasn't until prom that they found out. But of course, I was forever alone. None of the girls liked me, and I didn't like any of them. I had a good amount of friends until I went to a different college than most of them. I sighed at the long ad for no texting and driving. I didn't have a cell phone, anyway. While Niko was making out with his girlfriend, I scooted a seat over and the movie finally started.
-Alex- Age 47-
I was looking at a magazine, reading about a cruise that Lisa might like, and Ib was peeking over my shoulder.
"Where's that?" she asked.
"This? Oh, this is the beach," I told her, smiling.
"Wow... can we go there?" She asked. "Garry would like that,"
"Oh really? Why don't you call him?" I asked, and made sure Lisa wasn't around. Ib walked over to the phone and made a call, then came back over.
"He says we can go tomorrow at 8:00," she said. This wasn't like Ib... why now did she suddenly want to go places she'd never been? Before, she'd never even want to get out of the house... But Garry has cracked open her shell, I wonder why Lisa won't except that... Tomorrow, I think she works late... Maybe I can take her by myself.
"Great!" I said, accepting any chance for Ib to see new things. It was good to see her curious about things now.
The next day, around 8:00, Ib was excited as we drove slowly to the beach. We parked, and Garry was waiting there with a picnic basket and a few towels. Ib just got out of the car silently, and ran up to Garry. It was dangerous to go swimming this late... what would they do?
"Good evening, Mr. Kouri," He said to me, and I smiled as he lead us over to a few logs and a stone circle.
"A little chilly, isn't it?" I said, and he smiled. He took out a metal lighter from his pocket, and lit the few logs in the fireplace. We sat around it on the towels and let the warm feeling surround our bodies.
"So, Ib..." he said, "Have you ever tried s'mores?"
"What's that...?" she said.
"A marshmallow, chocolate, and graham crackers," he said, and handed a stick to me and a stick to Ib. I didn't even really know what this was for... Garry leaned over to his picnic basket and took out a bag of large marshmallows. Hm, I've heard of marshmallow roasting, but never actually done it myself. He took one out and put it on his stick, and passed the bag over to us.
"Here, take as many as you'd like," he said, and Ib took one silently, and I hung back. Garry put his stick over the fire, and Ib looked at it curiously.
"Try it," he said, and she put her stick up. Suddenly, flames were licking the marshmallow, and Ib blinked, not knowing what to do.
"Ib, here," Garry said, and leaned over. He gave a quick blow, and the fire was out.
"If your marshmallow catches on fire, just blow on it," he said, and took his marshmallow out of the fire. He leaned over to the picnic basket and took out a few plastic plates and put two graham crackers and a square of chocolate on it. He then got up and walked over to Ib, and she gave the stick to him, and he scraped the marshmallow off with a graham cracker and put it on the other one with the chocolate on it. He put the last one on top, and Ib didn't know what to do.
"Try it, it's good," Garry said, and went back over to his spot. He did the same to his sandwich, and took a large bite of it. Ib tried small bites of hers, and Garry smiled.
"How is it?" he asked.
"Good..." she said, and I looked at how happy she was. If Lisa gets back early, she'll be steaming... but hopefully Ib won't miss a minute of this. She quietly finished her s'mores, and it was a little messy. Garry handed her a napkin and she took it, thankful.
"Would you like one?" he asked, looking to me. I smiled at the kind offer, but backed off.
"Nah, I'm okay. Thanks for the offer though," I said. He smiled, then looked behind him, and opened a large, black case, and he took out an acoustic guitar. This was just classic... Ib looked at him in curiosity, and he started to strum the strings and sang.
"Now that you've found me
My whole world is brighter
Now that you've touched me
My steps are much lighter
All of this world could decide
To fall inward
And you would still linger
Something has brought us together
Unspoken
Feigning reality, friendship, and wisdom
I will defend you
I'll keep you beside me
That's how I'll repay all the kindness you've shown
Now that you've found me
I've stumbled through fire
Now that you've touched me
I've bloomed like a flower
Now that you're with me
I no longer cower in silence, hiding
I'm fighting for you,"
He strummed the strings one last time, and Ib was staring at the ground. There was no denying it; his voice was brilliant. I, myself was impressed... I never really played instruments as a child...
"What was that song?" I asked him.
"I wrote it," he said.
"Wow... your a good singer... you should lean into that," I said.
"Haha, thanks... but art is more my thing," he said, and I looked to Ib and her head was tilted to the ground and her eyes closed. I was going to shake her because I thought she was asleep, then her eyes opened. She didn't say anything, and just stared intently at the fire. There was a silence, and I leaned over to Ib.
"You tired?" I asked. She nodded, eyes almost shut, and I went over and she leaned on me.
"Thanks for everything, Garry," I said, and picked Ib up. I looked at my watch, and it was 9:30, quite a bit passed her bedtime.
"Thanks for coming, Mr. Kouri," Garry said, and put out the fire. He took his case and the picnic basket and dragged them back to his car. I put Ib carefully in the back seat and buckled her up, then looked at Garry once more. Why didn't Lisa see what I saw? This is good for Ib... Garry hulled the case into his trunk and started up his car. I pulled out and drove home silently.
-Lisa- Age 46-
My eyes fluttered open, to see the clock at 11:28. I sighed, as I had been up the whole night last night. Alex was home, asleep when I got home, and he wasn't beside me now. I got up and got dressed, then saw Ib with her shoes on and ready to go.
"Ib, where are we going?" I asked.
"Oh, I'm meeting Garry at the park," She said. At the word, "Garry," I wanted to grimace. I had to tell her to stop...
"Ib... not today. Just take a break today, okay?" I said.
"But he said it'd be quick..." Ib said, and I gave her a look of disapproval.
"The word, 'quick' usually means it'll just take longer..." I said.
"Please Mom..." Ib said, not wanting to take her shoes off. "The park is just around the corner,"
"You heard me, Ib," I said sternly.
"Mom..." she said again, and looked up at me with her large red eyes.
"No. Just take a day off, okay?" I said.
"You don't have to drive me! I can walk there!" She said, and I immediately shook my head.
"No! There's people out there!" I said. Plus, I didn't want her alone with Garry.
"Please Mom, you don't have to do a thing!" She begged, and before I could object again, Alex came over.
"Lisa, please. Just let her. It won't hurt... it's the middle of the day," he said, and I shook my head again.
"You can walk, Ib. Just be careful," he said, and I almost shrieked in disapproval. Ib smiled and went out the door, and I almost slapped Alex.
"What was that? She might get abducted, she could..." I said.
"Let her be. She'll have to learn how to do this someday," he said.
We waited thirty minutes, going to an hour, going to two hours, and she didn't come back.
Okay, I guess there'll be no Garry POV from here on... who knows what happened. I just got lazy and removed that part. Next chapter tomorrow! Sorry for the wait!