I so proud! This one came out so quick! And here's something I found whist looking through the comics;
"To the world you may be one person,
but to one person you may be the world.
-Heather Cortez"
Sweet, huh? Well I guess all that I have else to say is that I now love the TV show Bones; have I told you? Kinda gross sometimes but awesome non the less. Oh, and I'm excited for Halloween!
All ideas belong to Kenneth Oppel.
I jolted as the car rode over a bump in the road; but I hardly noticed. All around us people crowded, holding Canadian flags, waving them so vigorously it seemed to make the very air vibrate with energy. Once again I marveled at all Earth was.
It had taken a good amount of time to put it together, but finally we had gotten our ticker tape parade we had been promised back in Egypt. All the former crew of the Starclimber were packed into either this car or the one behind us. I was grateful they hadn't stuffed us into one car. Sir John had insisted that everyone dress formally for the occasion, so I had on a slick black suite complete with a bow tie at my neck.
True to it's name, ticker tape parade, shreds and scraps of paper flew all around us. I only had to squint my eyes to imagine that all the paper being tossed from the offices and houses to either side was a brilliant swirling blizzard; the noise our shouting crowd was making blurred all together and sounded like wind. In the car behind us Miss Karr was standing with Haiku, having insisted that he come with. For some odd miracle, the monkey wasn't screaming or hitting anyone on the head, not even Sir Hugh. The zoologist was still hustling to put distance between himself and Haiku, squeezing against Dr. Turgenev. Dressing also in a suite, the Russian scientist was looking very accomplished but trying not to frown.
The first car, the one I had been placed in was more crowded. Tobias was behind me, grinning widely and thumping me on the back. In front of me was Captain Walken headed the parade. This was sort of a send off for him, into retirement; and what a marvelous send off this was. If I were him I probably couldn't imagine a better celebration. I'd have felt incredibly honored, and only wished that I might get something near as wonderful as this when I retire from the skies.
The place next to me should have rightfully been Shepherds, had he been here. Before the parade had begun, I had actually had the chance to meet who would have been his wife. I still didn't know her name, but she came and talked to us all. I wonder sometimes what it might have been like to know the other side of Shepherd, the one who had loved his fiancé.
Kate, someway or another, had gotten herself the would-be empty space beside me for herself. At first I had been angry with her, taking a dead man's place. Though soon my irritation had worn off, and I was glad I had her next to me.
After what seemed like forever and only a few seconds I saw the end of our road through the torrent of white. There was a stage with a podium, where we would each give a few words to our audience and the reporters and their flashing cameras. Sir John and Mr. Lunardi had encouraged us to dedicate our success to the people of Canada, stay nationalistic, and add extra doses of Canadian spirit. In other words we were meant to please the crowd; and though of course all the people of Canada had done for us was practically nothing, it still sounded good to me.
My mother and sisters had promised to be there, at the end waiting for me, and sure enough I saw them there. Isabel started jumping up and down, yelling when she saw me. Sylvia was maintaining her mature attitude but her face still glowed. Mom stood behind both of them, smiling at me and crying a little. It was nothing less than I expected. I grinned and waved back to them all.
Just as the cars where going to stop I reached out and grabbed Kate's hand, squeezing a little before raising our arms up. I twisted around and held up Tobias' hand, just as with Kate's. I could practically taste the victory in my mouth. Taking a quick peek over my shoulder, I saw that Sir Hugh had decided to risk taking hold of each of his neighbors hands and reached up, mimicking us.
Captain Walken turned around, smiled warmly at all of us, and put his hand on my shoulder. I felt that I would burst with pride; we were heroes here and I felt better even than when I had been in the newspapers for fighting pirates or finding the Hyperion. But I would also miss working under my captain, now that he was going home to his family for good.
When the cars juddered to a halt I released Tobias' hand and kissed Kate's. Everyone was smiling at me and I felt that I would never forget such a wonder like this.