It’s the 26th day of this A-to-Z Challenge. The last day. Damn. It’s been a journey, eh? Eesh!
The last three randomly generated words for this challenge are,…. You know what? Screw this! It’s the last day! Let’s make this interesting. The random words for today are gonna be all the titles of all the work I’ve done for this challenge! That’s right, right from Alone up to this post here, Zenith! And, (yeah, I’m not finished yet,) all of them will be in order. I’ll hyperlink the words to the respective posts too!
I just upped the ante, and I legit don’t know if I can deliver. Fuck it! Let’s give this one a fair shot!
There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.
Ernest Hemingway
“Out of all the cafes in this town, you chose to meet at the one where you have to sit outside. In the cold.” Mark rubbed his mittened hands together and brought them up to his face. He had never worn so many articles of clothing in his life, ever!
K smirked at him, slowly raising his hands to his face and letting his chin rest on it. “Well, we could sit inside.” The red full sleeve turtle neck accentuated his face perfectly while keeping him warm.
“No…” Mark gave K a sideways glance through his mittens. “The French street lights look nice.” He whispered. Both of them laughed as a particularly good looking waitress brought them their coffee. As she left, Mark mouthed ‘Wow!’
“That’s Marie. Angelica’s girlfriend.” K said with a tinge of sadness in his voice. “Angelica told me to drop by here from time to time to check up on her, before she…”
Mark put down his coffee cup and said, “Cancer, right?” K just nodded. Mark leaned in a bit closer, “K, I would have loved to help. You know I would have! The only reason I didn’t give you the cure-all when you asked for it all those years back was because it was…” Mark’s expression became grave, “Unstable.”
“I know. I know.” K put his hand on Mark’s shoulder. “It’s ok. At least she wasn’t Alone when she left. Everyone she loved was with her. Marie, Her parents, her friends, her two cats!” K let out a sad chuckle. The cold decided not to touch their coffee, perhaps out of respect for the soul that once led them to this enchanted café.
They sat in silence for a while, sipping their coffees and taking in the vista. A few minutes later Mark asked, “Why did you call me here? I know it’s not because you just wanted to talk to a friend. You could have just video called me. You didn’t drag me away from my research just for a coffee.”
K looked up from his coffee and smiled at someone he saw over Mark’s shoulder. “Mark my boy, you have excellent timing, cos speaking of friends, here’s a Buddy from the past!”
“What…” Mark looked confused for a moment before pair of arms noogied him from behind. “Mark-san! K-san!” an accent Mark would never forget rang in his ears. Mark looked up at K with the widest smile while K just nodded in excitement. “If it isn’t the great warrior of the east! Ishikki!” Mark turned around to hug a man in winter casuals paired with a long katana.
As the others in the café looked on, three grown men hugged it out, all of them almost in tears. Once they had all regained their sense of awareness, Ishikki pulled up a chair and sat down with the other two. All three of them just looked at one another with a smile on their faces. They hadn’t sat together like this in a very long time. Finally, Ishikki broke the silence, “So, K-san! Why you make me fly here?”
“Whoa, Whoa, Whoa!” Mark looked at K in surprise. “You flew him out here? Like you paid for him to fly here? Also, your English is getting better Ishikki! Good for you!”
Ishikki blushed a little, or maybe it was just the cold weather. K didn’t know how to explain this to Mark so he just kept quiet.
“Guys look, I’m sorry I pulled you guys away from your research and Cherry Blossom Festivals. I just… I just wanted to be back with the boys, you know!” K shrugged his shoulders.
“Well.” Mark folded his hands. “That’s good and all. But if you really wanted the boys together, you’re missing someone.”
“Ah! Migeru-san is miss!” Ishikki piped in placing his katana gently on the table.
“Missing. But good Ishikki! Also, yeah. Miguel isn’t here.” Mark looked at K quizzically.
“I tried to get him to come here but he had to go for a reunion at his school. He said he was hoping to see that childhood friend he keeps talking about.” K pulled up the front page of Rolling Stones magazine that had Kevin’s photo on it.
“Good looking guy!” Mark peered through his specs.
“Yes, yes. I is agreeing.” Ishikki chimed in.
As the three former collegemates reminisced of a simpler time, a group of sober young men walked by the café, laughing at each other’s quips and hoping to get hammered as the Dusk slowly settled in.
“So, did you finally do it? Did you finish exploring the um, how did you put it? Your Ethereal Reality, yet?!” Mark teased K.
“Ha Ha. Very funny.” K retorted while Ishikki geared up for the story that K would inevitably tell. “You can’t say that I’m done exploring it. One never can. It’s an endless journey. The key is that you don’t Falter when it goes downhill sometimes.” K looked satisfied with his answer. Mark and Ishikki looked confused, one because nothing made any sense to him and the other because he didn’t know most of the words that came out of K’s mouth. “The short answer is no. No, I haven’t finished exploring my ethereal reality yet.”
“Ah ok.” Both Ishikki and Mark nodded in sync. “But you is still writing?” Ishikki asked.
“Yup!” K’s face beamed.
“But you still can’t find a publisher?” Mark chimed in.
“Nope.” K’s face drooped.
“Oh! Um, that’s ok. It’s hard to find publishers. Every writer goes through it. Let’s just call it Growing Pains, yeah?” Mark fumbled, trying to cheer K up.
K let out a hearty laugh before saying, “No it’s ok. There actually is one guy. New in the publishing market. He asked if he could publish some of my work. I’m considering it. Besides, it really doesn’t matter if my work isn’t published in the big leagues. It’s not like I’m publishing research that would help Heal the World someday, like someone else on this table.”
“No, I no write. If I write also my write no so good.” Ishikki scratched the back of his head.
“He meant me!” Mark stared daggers at an Ishikki who was practically on the floor laughing. “But, then again I don’t think my research is gonna be taken seriously, now that the scientific community knows what I’ve done.” Mark thrust his hands into his coat pocket in dejection.
“No! What you say Mark-san! I See You in magazine of medicine, In Japan! You are big doctor who cure very sick small girl! I say to my friends there that you is my friend!” Ishikki swooped in to save the day.
“Thanks, bud, I appreciate that.” A smile crept up on Mark’s face. “By the way, what about you Ishikki? How’s the shrine?”
“Yeah. Last time I came to visit you were talking about making the entrance out of stone instead of bamboo.” K sipped on what was left of his coffee intriguingly.
“Shrine is good. Yes, I make entrance of stone. The goddess like!” Ishikki sat up proudly.
“Wow, even after all these years you think a goddess talks to you just because you live near a temple?” Mark looked at Ishikki with disbelief.
“Oh god, here we go again.” K planted his face into his palm and sat back. “I’m not getting involved in this!”
“Look, I’m just saying! There has to be a scientific explanation for this goddess speaking to him thing!” Mark sure was adamant.
“NO! Goddess speaks. Goddess real!” Ishikki wasn’t going to back down either.
“No buddy, it’s all in your head!”
“That’s what you said, years back. When you try to doctor me! You think I mad!”
“And I’m telling you now that if you give me Just Five Minutes Longer and I’ll figure out what’s wrong with you!”
“Nothing is wrong!”
“Guys, Guys, Guys! If you’re gonna keep arguing I’m just gonna leave!” K stood up authoritatively.
“But I have no American money to give for paying coffee.” Ishikki said with a straight face.
K sat down slowly and both he and mark looked at Ishikki for a full minute before all of them burst into another round of laughter. “You’re alright kiddo!” Mark grabbed Ishikki’s shoulder and shook him.
They talked deeper into the night and Marie was more than happy to keep the black coffees and caramel lattes coming. This time around K mostly listened as Ishikki and Mark shared their life with him. Both Mark and Ishikki knew something was wrong because it was not in K’s nature to be quiet for more than half an hour.
“Hey, what’s happening buddy? Talk to us!” Mark probed.
“No, it’s just that I got nominated for a journalism award…” K started to say.
“Ā, Sugoi! Sore wa anata no Koe No Chikara ni yoru monodesu!” Ishikki jumped from his seat and hugged K.
“Uh, translation?” K asked while returning the hug.
“Oh! Um. This is because of power of your voice!”
“Ah, thanks, man! But uh it’s no use when you have nobody to share it with, is it?” K raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Mark was pretty confused.
“Janet, she uh… she left me.” K’s eyes welled up with tears.
“Janet as in Janet who stalked you throughout college and then proposed to you in the worst possible way, on the jumbotron screen during the Knicks game? That Janet?” Mark’s eyes were this close to popping out of his head.
“Yeah!” K managed a chuckle. “That Janet. Turns out I have an expiration date. And that date is when I decide to write something that isn’t an ode to her! I started out on that novel of self-realization I wanted to write since college and so yeah, I had to shut myself off for some time. She should have just Let Me Be!” K scratched the back of his ears.
“Yeah, you’re pulling our leg.” Mark relaxed back into his seat.
“Goddammit! How do you always know!” said K in utter disbelief.
“You have a tell, whenever you lie you scratch the back of your ear. How do you think warrior man here kept taking all your money at poker back in college?” Mark explained.
“It’s true.” Ishikki concurred.
“Ah, I thought I had you guys. I was about to say all that then take you home and then you’ll see her there and be all like ‘What is happening?!’” K’s shoulders drooped with disappointment.
“We’ve heard worse Mind Muddling Mindlessness from you before you know.” Mark swatted at the air.
“Mind mud… what the fuck did you just say? Did you just try to sound like an intellectual or something, cos bro you just sounded silly.” K looked at Mark all funny.
“I no know what he say, but is true. You silly man.” Ishikki concurred. Again.
“Whatever!” marks face was flushed with embarrassment. After a hearty laugh and then paying for coffee K offered to take them to his house because the both of them had Nowhere Left to Go in that town. At first, Mark turned down the offer because he wanted to leave immediately so as to not leave his “research” unattended. But K and Ishikki convinced him to stay for One More Day.
As they walked back to K’s place, Ishikki came up with the idea to take a detour and check out their old college. They thought it was a good idea to see the state of their second homes. Little did they know that every little memory would come rushing back to them. Every little prank Ishikki pulled. Every little mid-class snack K munched on. Every little heart Mark broke. You could see the moment when all of them realised this was the first time they actually fulfilled their Promises to come back together and spend a day with the people that really mattered.
K took out his phone and video called Miguel. They had promised that all four of them would be there. When Miguel picked up the call, the three of them on the other end were blinded by stage lights and deafened by someone shredding it on the guitar. It didn’t take them long to long figure out Miguel was basically Quarantined on stage with Kevin! Kevin really didn’t want to let his best friend go away! Miguel finally moved to a comparatively silent corner backstage and was filled in on what had happened. They didn’t talk for long because the three on the other end had realised that it was these Really Small Moments with the right people that made life worth living. They let Miguel go and enjoy the rest of his night with Kevin.
Revisiting their old college was like a whiff of a cool Summer Sea Breeze for all of them. A feeling of warmth and joy but also a reminder that, that stage of their lives had given them all it could and that it was Time to Let Go. They all had their troubles and triumphs. Staying in the past, however splendid it was, would just eventually suffocate them and the others around them, like being held Underwater.
As they walked back, still hungover from all the memories, marks phone buzzed. It was Veronica. Mark excused himself and explained to her that he would only return the next day. “Daddy’s not coming home today, ok? Daddy is with his friends! I’ll come back tomorrow. You’ll be alright, won’t you?… Good, good. That’s my girl! Don’t trouble your mom, ok?…. Ok, bye-bye!” Mark hung up.
“Daddy?” Both K and Ishikki were taken by surprise. They knew what Mark had done. They hated him for a while, but then they saw what he was doing to help Veronica. He had recently perfected the formulation and cured her.
“Oh, yeah. Um… I told her. Well, I told her and her mom. The truth. Everything. Veronica was quick to forgive even though I kept her in a cage for 13 years of her life. Amanda threw me out of the house but then she saw Veronica and she had a change of heart. She’s still a little angry though. Sorry, I didn’t tell you guys sooner it’s just that…” Mark didn’t even finish his explanation before the other two gave him the warmest bear hug he’d ever had in his life. Veronica was always a topic they steered clear from, but now K and Ishikki wanted to know everything about her.
“Well, she’s about 14 years old now.” Mark’s face lit up with so much love when he talked about Veronica. “We’re looking for a good school that might accept her. I homeschooled her till now, but we think she should meet other kids and mingle with them now that she’s all cured. She’s very smart!”
“I’m sure she gets that from her dad!” K chimed in proudly.
“Yes, it must be like seeing Double You for Amanda because Veronica is smart like you!” Ishikki was over the moon with joy.
Tears welled in Marks’s eyes as he looked at his friends. It was like a single soul Xenogenised, creating three different people, yet being able to share in each other’s happiness and sadness.
They made their way back to K’s house joking along the way about stupid things like how Mark could create a You-niverse of himself if he had more kids that were smart like him or more realistic things like how Ishikki could still steal money from K at poker. These people had reached the Zenith of their friendship in that one night!
Just as they were about to enter the house a paper aeroplane hit Ishikki in the head. As he picked up the crayon coloured plane, a kid yelled from the window of the house opposite K’s, “Hey! Don’t touch my Flying Phantom 3000 (Trademark Pending)! If you squash its nose it loses aerodynamicity!”
I do not know If I did a good job on this but I hope you guys like it! This whole challenge has been so much fun and I sincerely hope you guys have had a great time reading what I have had to offer throughout this month!
Until next time!
The Writing 