Komi Komi Literature Club!
Chapter 34: The Snow Day
Komi's alarm went off, waking her up for her school. She reached over and turned it off then rubbed the sleepiness for her eyes. Temperatures were getting colder now; she couldn't feel it, but she could hear the cold breeze outside of her window.
She had a feeling she would need to bundle up for the day.
She got out of bed and did a quick stretch before opening up her bedroom door and making her way to the bathroom. She brushed her teeth. She brushed her hair. She washed her face. She opened up the door to the bathroom just in time for Shousuke to walk over and do his morning routine.
She gave him a cheerful wave and a bright expression that said, "Good morning!" to him. Shousuke replied with a brief, low humph as he shuffled past his older sister. As Komi stepped out into the hallway, their mom peeked her head from around the corner.
"Oh! Kids, you can go back to bed! Your schools called, it's a snow day today! A major storm blew in last night!" Shuuko said cheerfully. She was used to being up this earlier, and considering how the weather was outside, she was happy to have her children staying home today.
In response to this, Shousuke let out another grunt, "I'm going back to sleep." He said before going right back into his room and closing the door behind him.
Komi stood in the hallway awkwardly now, looking back and forth between her mom and her bedroom door. She was actually looking forward to another day of school today, but at the same time, she was happy to have more time to rest and relax.
Despite her conflicting feelings, she returned to her bedroom and closed the door behind her. She laid back in bed, pulled the covers back over her...and then just laid there, unable to go back to sleep. So she just allowed her body to relax.
She closed her eyes and listened to the wind blowing outside...
After almost an hour, her phone started buzzing. She sat up in surprise. Was she receiving a call? Or text messages? She reached over to grab her phone, but her hand missed it and it slipped off of her nightstand. She whined to herself as she got out of bed and stopped down to pick it up.
Flipping her phone open, she saw that it was a message from Monika.
Monika: Good morning, everyone! Enjoy the snow day! (She added emojis of snow and what looked like a cup of coffee)
Komi: I hope that everyone has a good day today. Please stay safe.
Yuri: We will, thank you. Snow has already begun to pile up outside. It looks very pretty, like a swirl of white spiraling through the air
Monika: Sounds like somebody's already starting on their winter poem Yuri lol
Yuri: I actually have, but I didn't want to just write about snow. That feels too...obvious, I suppose that's the right word. I would like to do something more thoughtful and unique, and use snow only as a metaphor perhaps if necessary
Komi: I think that I will work on my poem today. That sounds like a good idea.
Monika: Today's a perfect kind of day for it, Komi! Happy writing! Let us know if you need any help or advice, okay?
Komi: I will. Thank you.
So Komi set her phone aside and grabbed her notebook. She set it down on her desk and sat down, flipping it open to an empty page. She reached for her pencil, took a moment to scoot her chair forward, then touched the led to the paper, ready to begin.
Time seemed to pass slowly as Komi stared at the blank page in her notebook. She remained still in her writing position, waiting for inspiration to strike...but nothing concrete was coming to her. Just isolated words floating around in her mind...
Like puzzle pieces waiting to be put together.
Gray. Sky. Cold. Eyes.
Komi set her pencil down. She needed a different approach. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, taking a moment to relax her body and mind. She slid her chair back a little and turned it to look towards her now open window.
She could still hear the wind outside. She could see the snow swirling and falling, being blown in circles by the sharp breeze. Listening to it in silence gave her a sense of serenity mixed with isolation. Peace and yet there was loneliness...loneliness and yet there was peace.
She was starting to miss her friends a little more now...but she would surely have a poem to share with them this week!
Later on in the day, Sayori, Natsuki, and Alex started to become active in the group chat, which got conversation going again.
Sayori: I got so much sleep today! It was great! :D
Natsuki: For once lol same! Happy there's no school today too
Yuri: I'm glad you all got more rest
Alex: Wouldn't it be great if we could always sleep in?
Sayori: That'd be amazingggg
Alex: Not you Sayori lol if we let you sleep in you'd never wake up
Sayori: Ehhh? Not true! You're such a meanieee :p
Monika: Haha settle down kids please. How is everyone enjoying the snow day so far?
Natsuki: It's been good! It's way too windy to go outside so I've been baking cookies
Sayori: Cookies?! Can I come over and have one Natsuki? Pleeease?
Natsuki: I'll bring some for the club meeting Sayori you can relax
Sayori: Yayyyyyy!
Yuri: I've been taking advantage of this day off to do some cleaning around the house and organize my things. It has been quite a productive day thus far
Alex: I did a little choring myself but now I'm just hangin out, workin on some story stuff
Komi: I finished my winter poem for the next meeting. I hope that you all will like it.
Yuri: That's great, Komi! I was going to work on my poem today as well. I prefer to do my writing in the evening, however, so I have yet to complete it
Natsuki: Well then it looks like I win because I already finished mine mwahahaha
Sayori: Heyyy me too! Yay us!
Alex: Oh yeah poems. I should do that at some point lol
Natsuki: Yeah Alex do something for once lazy
Monika: Ouch lol
Yuri: No need to be too harsh now. It isn't easy to write poetry every week when you're not accustomed to it
Alex: Yeah Yuri thank you!
Natsuki: She was talking about Komi lol you're way behind Alex
Alex: WOW OK I SEE HOW IT IS
Monika: Lol please settle down kids this is too much
Monika: Hey what are you guys doing tonight? Why don't we have a little video chat?
Alex: Sure
Yuri: I suppose that'd be alright
Komi: A video chat?
Sayori: We should totally do that! Just let me know when and I'll be there!
As the chat continued, Komi received a separate text message from Alex individually.
Alex: Yo Komi do you have anything to video chat with?
Komi: My mother has a laptop that I borrow
Alex: Okay. If we end up doing the video chat thing I'll help you get set up
It took awhile for things to pan out, but later on in the afternoon the group did decide to do that video chat. After requesting to borrow her mom's laptop, Komi got set up at her desk. Alex had to call her on the phone and help her install the right program so that she could join the call.
Once she joined in, she was able to see everyone!
Monika was sitting in her bedroom wearing a sweater. Natsuki was sitting on her living room couch in a onesie munching on a cookie. Sayori was cuddled up with her cow plushie on her bed with a long sleeve shirt and shorts. Yuri was sitting at her desk wearing a sweater. Alex was sitting at his desk wearing a T-shirt and glasses.
Then there was Komi, awkwardly sitting straight at her desk wearing her favorite cat T-shirt and a pair of borrowed headphones.
"Heyyy! How's everyone doing?" Sayori asked with a bright smile as she waved at the camera.
"Good good. Just chillin," Alex answered, taking a sip from his water bottle. "Nice cow." He commented with a chuckle.
"Oh thanks! Mr. Cow says hi!" Sayori said with a giggle.
"What are you drinking there, Monika?" Yuri asked curiously, noting the mug that she was holding in her hands.
"Oh, ahaha, I'm drinking some hot chocolate! It seems like the perfect time to have a cup, don't you agree?" Monika answered with a smile.
"It certainly is. Unfortunately, I don't have the ingredients to make any for myself, but I do have a nice hot cup of tea with me." Yuri said, holding up her mug for the others to see.
"I got cookies and warm milk so I'm good!" Natsuki said with a smile, happily holding up a cup of milk.
"Man I want cookies and milk and hot cocoa. Awwww." Sayori whined.
"Aww pobre sito." Alex repeated in a teasing tone.
"Shouko! I brought you some chocolate!" Komi's mom came into her room at that moment with a cup of hot chocolate for her. Komi flinched in surprise, not expecting her to come in at that moment.
"Man, Komi gets hot chocolate too! I'm feeling cheated right now!" Sayori exclaimed.
"Here you are! Oh are you video chatting with your little literature club friends? How nice! Hello, everyone!" Komi's mom waved to the others, leaning over to be in video frame. Komi waved her hands frantically and tried to shut the camera off to save herself embarrassment, but she couldn't find the right button.
"Hi, Komi's mom!" Natsuki waved and laughed.
"That's her mom?!" Alex exclaimed in surprise.
"Huhuhu, oh goodness." Yuri giggled at this.
Komi covered her face in embarrassment; her cheeks felt hot and were no doubt extremely red. It didn't help that the others were laughing. They weren't laughing at her, were they?
"Your mom is so nice." Natsuki chuckled.
"M-Mhmm." Komi hummed in agreement, still covering her face.
"Can we trade moms?" Alex joked and laughed at his own joke.
"Shut up." Monika shook her head and scoffed at this.
"You're an idiot." Natsuki rolled her eyes at him.
Komi pressed her hands down on her desk. She was having a hard time keeping up with all of this – her mother's sudden entrance had amped up her nerves. She took a sip of her delicious hot chocolate and sighed.
She wasn't quite ready to participate in conversation at this level yet, but she was still happy to be present. She appreciated the company nonetheless – it was a nice way to cap off the snow day...