Hey guys... I'm sorry for the delay.

It took longer than I expected... I don't know, maybe because I feel rather nervous lately for I have to face my national exams... full two weeks. And those exams will determine whether or not I deserve to graduate. It's like my final... my last exams in my school days.

Well, anyway... you come here not to read about my school activity, but to read the story. So... happy reading.

Oh one more thing... before we begin, I want to give you a little warning... the beginning of this chapter may be quite disturbing. So, don't say I didn't warn you...

Happy reading...


Three years ago ... at the Magna House

3rd person POV

The crowd in the spring three years ago seemed to fill a plot of land of almost five thousand square yards. Among the falling petals, the crowd headed for a place that seemed to call them to gather around it. Though jostling, they responded with their family's cheerful faces towards a building that stood in the middle of this plot of land... the Magna House, that's what people call it.

There's no reason why such a building was filled with cheerful faces, except for one thing...

"Welcome to the Meet-and-Greet of famous writers throughout America...!"

A woman's voice was heard from the loudspeakers installed in the area of the building, echoing and blending in with the noisy noise of the crowd which was slowly subsiding...

"Please do not push each other, and make sure to stay orderly. Keep an eye on your family members, and your personal belongings. I welcome all the honorable visitors... and then... have fun."

Meanwhile...

"Glu... are you nervous?"

A blue-feathered, slim and tall adult female bird asked teasingly to a child of around thirteen who had the same feather color as hers.

The child named Glu, shook his head with a smile, "No... I'm actually excited to meet with my readers."

"Hooh... is that so?"

Glu shook his head again, "Well... not only that... my mother will also come to this event, won't she? Seeing me give my first signature to my readers..." his smile grew wider, "I think it can make my mother feel much better."

The adult female bird is named Mimi... and the real name of Glu is Blu. Mimi has a habit of calling his name a little differently, because she thinks the name is cute for him, and fortunately Blu doesn't matter too much about that.

And Blu is actually Hyacinthum G... a young writer who is well known to Americans, maybe even people of the world. Books with critical stories, the creation of complex characters, unexpected plots, meaningful deep words... let alone written by a thirteen-year-old boy. Since he was nine years old, his books have been serialized from various publishers. His works occupy the first place in America, even selling nearly thirty million copies.

Maybe at some people... that is normal... considering he is the son of Anicius G, a world-renowned novelist...

"Mom...!" Blu exclaimed when he saw a bird sitting in a wheelchair with an IV, which was connected to an oxygen tube, into her nasal cavity.

"Please stop here..." the bird in the wheelchair, turned to a nurse who had helped push her wheelchair, "Thank you... you may go home now."

The nurse then said goodbye to her and walked away leaving her with her son, who was running towards her...

"I thought you wouldn't come." Blu with a cheerful face, stood in front of his mother. Staring at his mother's condition which appeared to be in a critical state... the color of her feathers was fading, and falling out so much that everyone could see the surface of her wrinkled skin.

"Well, that's how it is... my condition is getting better, so the doctor allowed me to get out of the hospital for a moment," replied Blu's mother, in her hoarse voice. She smiled, although she knew she was lying to herself, "Of course, it's because of you... your success is the most effective medicine for me, you know."

Several hours passed after the event had begun. Even so, Blu's readers still seemed to line up neatly in front of his post, only to receive his signature and sincere smile...

"Hey Mimi, tell me..." Blu's mother saw something from a distance, "Is that his new book?" apparently, that was a book brought by Blu's readers who came to ask for his signature.

"It is..." answered Mimi, who was standing behind her wheelchair, "He just published it yesterday."

Blu's mother just fell silent and seemed to be contemplating something...

"It's great, isn't it?" therefore, Mimi continued, "Even though it was only yesterday, but his book has been read by thousands... no, but... millions of people."

But, the reaction of Blu's mother would show something else, "Why I didn't know about that?"

Then...

"You fool...! Why didn't you tell me first about your new book...!?"

During lunch break, instead of Blu receiving his mother's affection... he received verbal abuse from his mother. The scolding echoed and attracted the attention of the visitors, especially Blu's readers who were surprised by the treatment of his mother to him.

Blu not only received verbal attacks, but also physically... his mother swung her walking stick repeatedly, and hit his face and temples, until his head bleeding...

His blood splattered the black marble floor...

"Your words are broken, the setting is unclear, the storyline is such a mess, the depiction of the characters is less detailed, the mistakes in punctuation...!" Blu's mother continually chided her son, who just fell silent, lowering his face while holding his bloody head.

"I feel sorry for Hyacinthum G..."

"Even though all of his books are really amazing..."

"Does his mother always treat him like that?"

"Look... even on his wings there are a lot of bruises. That's why he always wears long-sleeved clothes."

"Anicius G's education is indeed cruel."

"I heard he always writes for almost twenty hours every day..."

"Is that true? If I were him, I would definitely not stand it at all to live like that.

The visitors who saw that disturbing scene began to whisper to each other... though they couldn't do anything about that.

"You make mistakes like that because you're drowning in your own emotion...!" when Blu's mother was about to swing her walking stick again, Mimi can't let her do it...

"Helen... Please, calm down!" Mimi tried her best to stop Helen's actions which she considered to be excessive, "You've gone too far... you've made him bleed...!"

Suddenly...

Blu threw all of his books... all of his manuscripts on his mother's face...

"How dare you- " have not had time for Blu's mother to express her anger...

"I've worked so hard to write that book... day and night tirelessly..." Blu slowly raised his bloody face which buried his anger, "I tried to hold myself back, though I was constantly beaten by you!"

Blu's mother who was shocked by her son's outburst of anger, could only be silent. The intention to hit him again had disappeared...

"But why...? Why you...?" Blu's hateful gaze met with his mother's. Then, a statement that should not be said by him at that time was spoken...

"You better just die...!"

.

Present time...

.

Summer holidays are typical of crowded tourist attractions and quiet areas of educational institutions such as schools... but unfortunately, such an assumption will soon be denied...

"Can you do it right...?! I've given you enough time to design characters. Why are you still only able to make just one?"

That was the voice that denied the above statement...

Jewel's voice sounded so loud in the lonely school library...

"Who's the one who repeatedly made punctuation mistakes, huh? I used almost all of my time to correct all of your mistakes, you know!"

Other voice also echoed...

That other voice was belong to Blu, which also made the atmosphere of the library became more noisy...

"I told you not to think too much about it...!"

"You mean you want to make your reader confused?!"

"Oh come on... they can't be confused, because I'm the one who wrote it."

"I wonder where did your confidence come from?"

Jewel and Blu had been in the library for two hours. And it only took two hours... they were able to change the quiet atmosphere to be noisy just by relying on their typical debate.

One is a neat writer, always checking grammar, punctuation, until his own handwriting. Whereas the other has a character that is inversely proportional to him... spontaneous, wild, and full of freedom.

That is such a remarkable combination...

"How peaceful..."

Another bird was staring at the two debating birds from behind the wide open library window while sucking on the popsicle in his oral cavity. He is Roberto who sometimes comes to school because of the obligation to practice soccer.

He was wearing his dusty and sweaty football team uniform... laying his head on the window's stool...

"Agghh..."

Then, from behind him came Gracie who walked staggeringly like a zombie...

"Robe... where's my popsicle?" with a weak voice, she patted Roberto's shoulder.

"Here..." Roberto casually showed a half-eaten popsicle, which apparently belonged to her.

Seeing her popsicle almost gone, Gracie angrily kicked Roberto's crotch and hit his- (Author's note : well, you know what I mean, don't you?) "Damn you!" and as a result... Roberto fell to the ground in pain.

"No... I can't stand it anymore. I don't want to take extra classes anymore. It's summer vacation, y'know..." Gracie whined... inner pressure and high temperatures seemed to influence her spirits, "I just wanna go to the swimming pool..."

"Ah... that's it...!" Jewel suddenly ran from inside the library, as if Gracie's whining pierced her eardrum which was overheating due to her debate with Blu that hadn't ended yet. She with a cheerful face, looked at confused Gracie and Roberto, "Hehehe..." she chuckled, "Let us go to the swimming pool together!"

Then...

Blu's POV

"Wait... why are we at the school pool?!"

My shout broke the silence of the school pool at night which was very quiet. Standing at the edge of the pool together with three of my friends who looked excited made me look like an empty person, trying to find out why he was in a place and situation like this.

"Why... you ask... of course because the only free swimming pool in this city is in here." Roberto answered, looking at me confidently.

"After we have struggled to infiltrate, don't do anything stupid." Gracie, who had been looking forward to this, threatened me, "Do you understand, Blu?"

I just nodded...

"Alright... let's do it!" Gracie shouted, without thinking twice, she immediately threw herself into the swimming pool.

"How dare you enter the pool first...!" Roberto exclaimed, and immediately did the same thing as she did.

'Hey... is it okay for us to do this? Their voices are too noisy. The school security guard might be suspicious and come here, you know.' I whispered to myself, staring at my two best friends who were playing cheerfully with water.

Suddenly...

"Gotcha...!"

That's right... I forgot about her. A ferocious girl who looks so excited tonight...

'Eh...?!'

She's Jewel... like her name that shines brightly under moonlight. She pushed me so hard that I -who couldn't maintain my balance- fell hard enough to the surface of the pool.

"Hahaha..."

She laughed seeing me struggling to get my head out of this cool water...

"Hey Jewel... what are you doing up there?! Hurry up and throw yourself in here...!" Roberto then shouted at her.

"Alright... just stay still there, okay..." Jewel took a few steps back to take preparations to take off, "Alright, here I come...!" she then ran towards the pool and jumped as high as he could. She jumped so high that she seemed to be flying between the stars of the night.

A splash of water spurted everywhere... soaking our feathers. Impatiently, we waited for the Jewel to come out of the surface of the water after her devastating attack.

And after almost thirty seconds passed, "Fuuaah..." she finally surfaced, "Haaah... the water is quite cold apparently." she said, smiling at the three of us.

"Of course, it is." Roberto swam closer to her, "But you know what, this is good for cooling off... after sweating a lot during the day, so tonight let your body feel the cold of the school pool at night."

Roberto splashed water towards Jewel with his wings...

"Ah... it's cold. How dare you...! "

Likewise Jewel... she then do a counterattack...

And finally the water war began... between the two of them...

Whereas I was far behind them, smiling, "They both do look harmonious..." I could only see their happiness from a distance. There was absolutely no place for me there...

Suddenly...

"I got you...!"

A splash of water suddenly hit my face... when I looked around to find out who had done this, the splash of water once again hit my confusion face...

"Jeez, what are you doing, subschara? If you don't focus, you're gonna die."

I should have known, that was her doing... my childhood friend, Gracie. She smiled confidently while looked at me.

"Oh... that's how you play it, eh..." I replied, putting on my evil smile, "Alright... I'll accept your challenge...!" I put my wings in the water, and caught as much water as I could.

And so did she, "Hehe... so be it..."

Time runs faster than we thought. The temperature began to plummet, and the moon was now right above us, illuminating the school pool which a moment ago was very noisy with the activities of the four of us.

After being satisfied playing water, even more so because the night air was getting colder... we came out from the pool and lay on the edge along with the campfire between us while drying our feathers...

We lay around the campfire staring at the starry night sky...

"Is this okay?" I asked, lying near the warmth of the campfire, "If we light a campfire like this... the school security guard will find us, you know..."

"It's okay. When it's already this late, he usually has gone home." Roberto answered -the one who light the campfire- casually... lay next to me.

"After all, there's nothing wrong with this, right?" continued Gracie, who was lying on the other side of me along with Jewel next to her, "We don't know when we can find such an opportunity in the summer."

"Oh right..." Roberto said, "You should take extra classes, right?"

"Shut your beak!" Gracie exclaimed irritably.

"Hahaha... study properly, so you don't become stupid." Roberto seems to be trying to encourage her, but...

"Do you want me to hit that part again, huh?!" Gracie looked rather sensitive tonight, and thanks to the threat... Roberto closed his beak at once.

"Oh yeah..." Roberto then turned his face away from Gracie and looked at Jewel and me, "You two don't take any classes and also don't take those extra classes, aren't you?"

"Oh right..." as well as Gracie, "That means after graduating, you want to continue to the literature university?"

'Oh right... I completely forgot about that. We haven't been in classes in the past few weeks, moreover we also have no extra classes this summer. Well, It can't be helped, we were made busy thanks to the activity of writing our book.' I told myself, after hearing Gracie's question, 'If it was my mother... I would definitely be schooled in a literature college.'

I then looked at Jewel who was also asked by the same question as me. But this is strange... her face looked confused, and just stared at the sky with her blank stare. She seemed to be thinking of something else...

"I..." she slowly began to say, but stopped for a moment when the campfire began to dim and finally went out, "I don't know... I haven't thought about my future at all..."

That is her answer that beyond my expectations...

She who loves the world of literature so much, has written amazing books, and readers who admire them... unexpectedly, her answer contain such obvious doubts.

Jewel then got up, and stood under the moonlight that seemed even brighter because the campfire had now completely extinguished.

"My main focus now is to finish our book...!" she then exclaimed confidently, "Publish it in the summer, and steal all the hearts of those who read it. Because we are the greatest writers...!"

"I like your spirits...!" Roberto smiled, got up and walked to her side, "Then, I will be your first victim."

'I see...' I said to myself, looking at them both from behind, 'They both do look harmonious...'

Many days later...

The day changes to weeks, and the week changes to months... after going through many things such as facing a dead end, debating over differences of opinion... finally the time has come for us to submit our scripts.

Forty-seven days have passed, and on the thirtieth of August is the time when writers must submit their scripts to the publisher.

"What the heck is going on?!" I shouted under the hot sunlight at noon, "Why at times like this she hasn't came?!" standing in front of the magnificent building while waiting a writer who has been dragged me into this place.

A magnificent building called Nobela Gallery, located about ten kilometers from the town of Moose Lake. I came here riding Sis Mi's white car with Roberto and Gracie who whined to come too this morning. The front yard of the building, which was crowded with busy writers who wanted to submit their respective scripts, made me became more anxious for the scripts we wrote was on her.

The day before, J Gemma, the writer I was waiting for right now, made an appointment in front of this very building...

However...

"Does Jewel often come late like this?" Sis Mi asked Roberto who was trying many times to contact Jewel's cellphone.

"No... she's never late like this before. What's more, this is an important event in her life, so she shouldn't be late." answered Gracie instead.

"It's useless... she doesn't answer at all..." Roberto said after failing to contact Jewel's cellphone many times.

"Should we pick her up?" asked Gracie.

"No, we can't... we don't have much time left." answered Sis Mi.

"Then what should we do?" I asked her.

"There's no other way..." Sis Mi then took her daughter who looked confused with a situation like this, then walked towards Roberto, "I beg you... please, keep trying to contact Jewel. It's possible she still had time to come here."

"OK...! Leave it to me!" Roberto answered and nodded firmly.

Sis Mi then walks towards me, "Let's go, Glu... it's our turn..."

I just nodded, obeying her words. I along with Sis Mi and her daughter then walked towards the main building which began to be filled by other writers. A large glass-walled hall is the first room we met when entering this magnificent building...

"What are we going to do?" I asked Sis Mi, walking nervously towards the second floor.

"We're going to ask permission from the publisher to be late in submitting your scripts. Because this is a seasonal publication, I think the requirements aren't too strict. We will wait for Jewel until the last moment." Sis Mi answered firmly.

I just fell silent... following Sis Mi's quick steps up the stairs...

'What's wrong with you? Don't you always wait for today?' with feelings of disappointment and confusion, I said to myself, 'I look like a fool because I'm too excited for today, you know...'

"If..." Sis Mi suddenly said in a hopeless tone, "If Jewel can't make it today... I can only hope the publisher wants to give us a one-day waiver..."

Meanwhile... at the same time... at the Jewel's family residence...

3rd person POV

Helados Blue Alas... an ice cream shop that is also become Jewel's home. When Blu and the others are waiting anxiously for her, her home looked quiet at this time.

The 'close' sign is displayed at the entrance of the ice cream shop. The atmosphere inside is dark, completely quiet without any sign of someone inside. But among this silence... on the second floor, in Jewel's room more precisely, it was heard that her cellphone ringing broke the silence. Her cellphone rang alone in her quiet room, without any sign of the existence of its owner. With the words 'Roberto' on her cellphone screen... it kept ringing, filling the silence of her room...


Chapter 26 : Stimulation


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And done...

Starting from this point, you might be able to guess where this storyline will lead to. About the relationship between a mother and a son, and Jewel's little secret, will slowly unfold from here...

So... see you next time guys, until my last exams end...