The park was in an absolute state of pandemonium, bare bulb light strands arcing back and forth from tree to tree as a plethora of booths and tents lined the main drive. The mid afternoon sun was already sinking fast towards the horizon, the bright blue already beginning to fade into a watercolored mesh of rose and navy. With the fast approach of night, the park staff found solace in the fact that they had already finished most of what needed to be done, save for the arrival of the music act. Benson had been directing traffic for the better part of an hour, finally succumbing to his fatigue and collapsing in one of the arm chairs in the living room. The rest of them had either returned to their activities they had been at before the setup had begun, or were presently surveying the park grounds to ensure every tent stake was fastened and all of the booth operators were content with their furnishings. Mordecai and Rigby were presently staring at the ceiling in their bedroom, watching the monotonous rotation of the ceiling fan as Ryan strummed away on his guitar, doing his best to mimic the notes and chords from the stereo they had playing. Since the three had chipped in to get the stereo this past week, the soldier had done his best to begin amassing a collection of various CD's and 8 tracks from the music shop downtown, which now occupied over half of his dresser drawer. Mordecai had pensively drifted off into a near state of placid comatose when his phone chimed on the bed, drawing the attention of the other two in the room.
"Who is it?" The raccoon had rose up to peer over the edge of the bed, curious as to why the blue jay had so quickly grasped for his phone. It wasn't CJ. It was Margaret. The thin lines of text crossed the avian's eyes before he hopped up from the bed, heading towards the door.
"C'mon dude, Margaret's friend is here." The two exited the bedroom, descending the stairs past the exhausted gumball machine and Pops who was doing his best to reinvigorate their boss with new life before the festival.
"So who is this guy anyway?" Mordecai looked down as Rigby held out his arms in question, curious as to what music act Mordecai had procured for the event.
"It's some guy Margaret went to school with I guess or something. I think his name is Jamie. He's the uh, music type." Rigby was curious what Mordecai had meant by 'music type' up until they rounded the corner of the music stage to see the man in question. He was a scruffy surfer type, wavy locks of blonde hair flowing down in front of his face with a thin line of stubble that rounded around his mouth and disappear somewhere under his jawline. His attire certainly wasn't very befitting of a 'professional' musician, as he was donned in a green flannel shirt, a simple charcoal tank top, and a pair of low hanging stonewashed jeans with a pair of black skate shoes to match. The only offset was the gold ring that rounded through the man's septum and hung snug from his nose. This was the guy Margaret had recommended? The skater turned with a goofy grin to the two, extending a fist that the two bumped in unison.
"What's up dudes? This party is like, gonna be so real." Mordecai and Rigby both gave each other a snickering look before turning back to Jamie.
"Uh, yeah dude. Are you set up? Do you need anything?" Jamie shook his head, motioning to the guitar case that he had in his hands and pointing to the amps and speakers that were lined up across the stage. They had cost a small fortune, but Maellard had been more than willing to provide once he had received his check in the mail.
"Nah dude, I got all I need like, right here." The two nodded and turned to leave when the musician stopped them.
"Woah, hang on dudes." The two turned back to him. "I just, like, really want to show my appreciation, for you guys putting in a good word for me. You dudes are alright." He reached out for a half hug on Mordecai, and then tousled the top of Rigby's head with that same goofy smile.
"Hey, Margaret never told me how she knew you. Like, birds of a feather, right dude?" Mordecai brought up a wing to scratch the back of his head once more as red flushed through is face.
"Oh, um. Well, we uh, dated for a while..." Mordecai trailed off as the goofy grin disappeared from Jamie's face.
"Oh, that's harsh bro. Apologies." Mordecai waved it away.
"It's alright dude, I mean, we're still friends. It was a long time ago anyway. It's no big deal." Mordecai could see the offhand glance that the raccoon had shot him as soon as mention of Margaret had entered the conversation, but Jamie took little notice and nodded absentmindedly.
"Bummer dude, sorry I mentioned it." Mordecai once more tried to dismiss the apology.
"It's fine dude. Just, take whatever time you need. The plan is to kick this thing off in an hour, so I hope you have enough planned to rock this place." Jamie thanked them and went back to tinkering with the sound equipment on the stage, turning as Mordecai and Rigby began to walk the main drive of the park to see all the vendors and stands that had been set up. It was crazy to think that the regularly barren grounds of the park were now abuzz with preparation for festivities and carnival-like events, and the sight was enough to make the two friends stare in wonder. It wasn't long before Mordecai turned back to the small mammal.
"Dude, what was that look?" Rigby looked at him inquisitively, outstretching his arms in confusion.
"What look?" Mordecai folded his arms.
"You know what look." Rigby craned his head and brought a hand to his chin, putting on an amused display of thinking before snapping his fingers.
"Oh, you mean that look. Well, you forgot the most important thing I told you!" The blue jay went to open his mouth before the raccoon held up a finger to silence him.
"Trust meeeeeee. Okay?" The raccoon immediately scampered off, leaving the blue jay more perplexed than anything as a familiar robin rounded the corner of the stage, nearly running headlong into the other bird's beak. The near contact was enough to flush crimson across Mordecai's face.
"Oh, uh, hey Margaret. What, uh, what are you doing here?" The robin blushed before waving a wing back towards the sound stage, motioning to Jamie as he began to test a few chords from his guitar to see how the speakers and amplifiers were working.
"Oh, I came to check up on Jamie. Listen, I've got to thank Benson, and you, for giving him a shot. He really really appreciates it." Mordecai nodded, glancing down to see the robin attired in a colorful but sloppily designed shirt under her jacket, the letters partially obstructed by the material above it. He subconsciously took in the lines of her figure, her defined hips and slim build still present under any amount of clothing. God she looked great. He felt his face flush crimson once more, but shook it away and stumbled into what the shirt really said.
"Um, what does that mean?" The robin furled the edges of her jacket down, revealing the words 'Crossed Insomnia' in a patchwork of vibrant hues and lines that looked as if they had been painted on by hand.
"They're Jamie's band name. He makes them and sells them to pay the bills. Figured I'd help out." She replaced the jacket and pulled it up tighter, shivering slightly from a gust of wind that broke free from the stalls and stands behind them. Mordecai remarked at the apparel.
"Aw sweet, that's cool of you to do that. Are you staying around for the whole festival?" The robin opened her beak to answer when a digital chime from her pocket broke through their conversation, prompting her to pause and look down at her phone. She hurriedly looked up nervously.
"Oh, um, I gotta go. But yeah, I'll be hanging around. I'll talk to you later." With that, Margaret rounded back around the corner of the stage, disappearing from sight. The blue jay sighed and began the trek back to the house, watching the slowly sinking sun only continue to drag the afternoon into night. From a distance he could see Rigby talking with a few park visitors up on the porch of the house, along with...
"Eileen? CJ? Oh man." As he approached closer he could see Rigby nervously fidgeting and trying desperately to answer whatever question was asked of him, frantically pointing towards various stalls and booths that lined the drive of the park. CJ was leaning on the wall of the house, an amused grin slowly spreading across her features as Eileen had crossed her arms in a huff, glaring knives into the raccoon's skull. The girls caught sight of him soon enough, but focused their attention on the animal in front of them. The park guests, a small family of what looked to be gazelles thanked Rigby and took off towards the festival, leaving the racoon to slowly turn back to the pair behind him. Mordecai scaled the steps to stop next to Rigby, offering him some type of moral support in any case. Eileen tapped her foot waiting for the raccoon to continue whatever he had been spewing before the blue jay had arrived.
"Oh, nice to see you Mordecai." Eileen's voice harbored as much sarcasm as the mole could muster, and the effort nearly brought a smile to the bird's face rather than embarrassment. Regardless, he did his best to simply wave at both of the girls, taking note that CJ's eyes were intently focused on his own. "So Rigby, now that Mordecai's here, care to continue?" The small mammal laughed nervously.
"Oh, ha ha, I think I, y'know, covered the basics." Eileen wasn't amused.
"Rigby!" He held up his arms in defense.
"Okay, okay! Ugh." He raised his hands and closed his eyes. "Mordecai and me got high and we forgot about meeting up with you guys and we're really really really sorry about it and won't ever do it again." He did his best to shoot out the retort as fast as he could, despite Eileen's constant gaze. Mordecai stepped forward.
"Look, Eileen. We know we screwed up. We feel terrible about it. We know that blowing you two off wasn't cool, and we'll try to make up for it." Maybe it wasn't in the nature of the mole to hold a grudge, but after attempting to hold the pout, she eventually let her arms fall to her sides as she huffed in a similar nature that Rigby had done moments earlier.
"Fine... but you better make it up to us," a small digit pointed to the both of them. "I mean it." With that, Eileen turned to go into the house with a scowl still evident on her face. Rigby and Mordecai both turned to walk back into the house before CJ grabbed the bird's wing and swung him back around.
"Hold on, you don't get off that easily." Mordecai saw a smug look on the cloud's face, seemingly content with the scolding that Eileen had given to Rigby. She didn't speak at first, simply letting Mordecai contemplate the silence and wonder. Finally, she crossed her arms and expressed a similar frown to the blue jay that the small mole had expressed to her opposite.
"Y'know you could of just called, right?" The avian started but was stopped by a raised hand. "I don't want to here excuses. But you could have just called apologized." Mordecai's head sunk.
"I was...afraid you'd be mad. Especially since we blew our plans that night. I didn't know what you would say, or what I would say." CJ readjusted her position against the exterior of the park house while raising her eyes.
"I'm not mad. A little disappointed, but not mad." Mordecai perked up.
"Look, I know we screwed up big time. I promise, we'll make it up to you two. How does lunch and an afternoon of fun sound tomorrow? Just us four?" CJ looked at the bird with apprehension, sizing up the idea before casually nodding.
"Alright, you better blow us away though. I know Eileen's been fuming so Rigby better pull out all the stops if he wants to even stand a chance. We'll talk about this later, okay?" The bird nodded, leaning in to give her a hug that was barely reciprocated. He'd have to work out a plan with Rigby later to make sure they were on the same page. He could only hope the raccoon had similar intentions to right their wrongs. The two turned to follow the others into the house when Maellard stepped out onto the porch, that familiar scowl on his face as he descended the steps with haste. Behind him was Ryan, his hands over his head and visibly agitated as he began to pace the front porch.
"You okay dude?" The man gave a sarcastic laugh.
"Oh, yeah I'm doing great. My pay just got docked because of hospital bills and I just got the estimate on how much the repairs will be. So yeah, just... fantastic." The man bent over the banister of the porch, pinching the bridge of his nose and running a hand through his hair as he tried to calm his heavy breathing. The two figured it would be beneficial to give the soldier some space and slipped into the house to allow him to vent in silence. A quick glance at the clock just inside the door showed that the actual festivities would be under way shortly, and those inside the house could already hear music coming from the direction of the stage. Benson was directing traffic inside, running down a clipboard in his hands as the rest of the staff had congregated in the living room. Mordecai fell into line as best he could, watching through the open window as night finally descended upon the park grounds.
"Alright, Skips, I want you to make sure the vendors and booths have everything they need. Pops, you know where you're supposed to be greeting guests. Fives, you and Ryan will be up at the sound stage and...Mordecai and Rigby-" The raccoon had flown down the stairs in a rush after hearing the voices from below.
"Yep?" Benson flipped the pages on his clipboard.
"You two will be working the concession stand, per usual."
"Aw what? That's at the other end of the park, nobody's gonna be over there." Benson shrugged.
"You'll make due. Alright, everyone know where they're supposed to be?" The group all nodded in near unison, prompting the gumball machine to begin walking towards the door.
"Alright, we can't afford to screw this up people. So let's go out there and give it our best shot."
"Let's go out there and give it our best shot blehhh. Dude, there's nobody over here. This is boring." Since the two had made it to the concession stand they had sat in near silence for the better part of an hour, watching the shimmering lights in the distance and listening to the faint music that echoed through the park. In that time they had only seen one visitor, and they had promptly directed them towards the main festival. Not even the girls had followed them over, but rather went to gander at the attractions that the festival had to offer.
"I know dude, but Benson will get pissed if he finds we skipped out on the concession shack." Rigby shook his head.
"Dude, Benson's not gonna care. We just lock up the concession stand and head on over there. Simple." The bird was skeptical.
"What if Benson comes by?" Rigby pointed towards the ongoing festival.
"Dude, he hasn't stopped by since we got here. This shack is the last thing he's worried about." The raccoon had already scampered over the top of the shack's counter and onto the dirt path in front of them.
"Come on dude, if we don't like it we can come right back. Benson doesn't have to know." Mordecai weighed in their current state of boredom against the usual scolding that they received from the gumball machine, and figured the concession shack could do without their tending for a little while. He slid over the counter and went around back to ensure the door was locked, pulling the metal barricade down to prevent any would be thieves to enter much how they exited. Rigby managed to keep watch long enough for Mordecai to finish, and they both creeped along the dirt path that ran towards the main drive and to the festival. With the onset of night, the frigid November air was enough to drop the temperature well below what it was earlier in the day, prompting the dew on the grass to begin to frost over, causing the rolling fields of the park to dance and shimmer in the moonlight, as if the park house was some foreign, strange vessel awash in a sea of diamonds.
"Woah, it sure is pretty out here tonight." Rigby paid no mind to the path, opting to crane his head towards the stars and the distant hills that surrounded them. It was rare to see the raccoon take note of his surroundings that didn't adversely affect him, and the sight was enough to make Mordecai crack a small smile.
"Come on dude, we don't want to get there late." The two double timed their strides to the small tents lined with the colorful bulbs they had placed earlier. The festival was certainly a sight to see, the sweet aromatic scent of cotton candy and funnel cakes mingled with the chimes, bells, and whistles that came from the various entertainment booths spread out across the main drive. Bright and vibrant canvas stalls adorned with toys and plush animals, seemingly begging to go home with any who would try their luck at the multitude of games that ranged from milk bottles to horseshoes. The two felt more like they were at a carnival rather than the park they had known for so long. The turn out of people was shocking as well. It seemed that their nearly two week long campaign of posting as many pages on telephone poles and windows had paid off, judging by the mass of bodies that were parading to and fro in an attempt to visit all the booths.
Couples, old and young. Quite a few families. A young rabbit dragging his mother by the paw to try his hand at winning a pet goldfish. A lone father carrying his daughter up on his shoulders and swaying back and forth like a drunken war horse, much to the delight of the giggling toddler. A pair of teens sheepishly clutching at each others' hands as they slowly paced through the living maze of people before them. Some long overplayed song pulled from a radio station was playing through a majority of the smaller venues, while the main attractions played an endless loop of the upbeat and erratic music that they were known for. The two had made it through the main cluster of stalls when they sighted the sound stage, though there wasn't music being played at the moment. It was then that they saw Benson and most of the other park staff watching round the corner of the stage, gazing at something seemingly out of view for the pair. Skips pulled the two closer once they approached, now seeing that the display that they were looking at was Margaret and Jamie arguing down in front of the stage during what they perceived as an intermission in the music. The yeti turned to the blue jay quickly.
"Go figure out what's going on." Mordecai had only taken a step before Jamie swung his guitar against the edge of the stage, cracking the instrument in a loud, audible crash. He stormed off towards the parking area, leaving Margaret yelling back towards him. The avian's pace quickened.
"Margaret! What's going on? What happened?" The robin crossed her arms in a huff.
"Um, let's call it a misunderstanding, okay? I don't want to talk about it." Both Fives and Ryan rounded the opposite corner of the stage that Jamie had walked off towards, watching the music act disappear into the gloom out of range of the bulbs hanging overhead.
"Hey, what the hell happened? We heard the crash." Fives floated forward in front of the soldier while giving him a sour look.
"I heard the crash. What's up?" The rest of the group had approached, now looking to Margaret as Mordecai was. She looked around the group and held out her arms in exasperation.
"What? I told you, it was a misunderstanding. What do you want me to say?" Benson was already turning various shades of red.
"So, did he quit? Is he taking a break?" The robin shook her head.
"He's not coming back." The gumball machine let out a scream before Skips and Pops immediately muzzled him to the best of their ability. The yeti turned to Mordecai as the two dragged Benson off.
"You guys need to figure something out quick, they won't hang around forever." It was true, some of the festival goers were already drifting away from the music stage. The blue jay turned to Rigby.
"Dude, can't we just play the radio over the speakers or something?" Ryan shook his head at the idea.
"Nope, I saw the equipment they dragged up. We don't have the proper setup, and we don't have enough time to make it a proper setup." Rigby took off towards the back of the sound stage, sifting around in boxes and containers that he could find with ease. Eventually from one of the boxes he withdrew a guitar, oddly shaped and colorful. Searching through another box, he found what appeared to be a bass guitar as well. A look of wild excitement crossed across the raccoon's features.
"I think I might just have an idea."
Song of the Chapter:
Leave All the Lights On - A Day To Remember