I was so excited to go to the concert. I had been planning this for weeks. In fact I was filling up two red paper bags to take with me. “Dong,” went the clock. “Dong…Dong…Dong…” It was now 4 o’clock and I was not even ready!
The concert started at 6:30, but I had to be there by 5. I stopped what I was doing and hurried into the shower. Luckily it only took me five minutes, but now I had to do my hair and find an outfit. I thought of Lydia from high school at that moment. She always had an outfit picked out for the each day. She sat by me for a little while in chemistry. When the teacher told us we had a lab the next day she would always have to rearrange what she was going to wear the next day. She told me that she made a calendar for each month and it was on her closet door so she knew what to put on each day. But I’m just getting away from the story now. Where were we? Oh yes, now I remember. I could not find an outfit. I dug through my closet looking for anything and everything to wear. I didn’t really care at this point if it was clean or dirty. As I was digging and searching, my friend called out, “its 4:30, come on we’re going to be late!! Where are you?”
“I’m in here. I have nothing to wear,” I yelled faintly. She came in and yelled louder, “Where are you? I can’t even come into your closet there’s a mountain of clothes in my way.”
I was at the bottom of that mountain moaning and groaning, I could hardly breathe. She climbed over that mountain and went straight to my summer clothes. She grabbed the only thing on the rack and yelled, “You really could not find an outfit? I have the one I planned for you to wear right here.” I thought of Lydia again. Now she is the president of a huge company in France. Life must be great for her.
I put it on, grabbed a bag, and out the door we went. I did my hair as fast I could while we walked to the bus station. My hair was everywhere. I looked like I have been buried for thousands of years. People of both genders just smiled and laughed. One guy even whistled and said, “Where are you lovely ladies going?” We picked up our speed until we got to the station. My friend looked at me and saw that I was as red as a sunburn. She just giggled and understood, but I didn’t find it funny at all. Unfortunately, I did when I took my seat. I guess I stepped in a puddle and the bag and I were soaked.
I looked at my phone and checked the time. It was 4:45. I knew it would be close but I probably would be late. “Eeeeerrrrrkkkkk.” Everyone went flying. The bus driver was trying to make a yellow light, but he was nowhere close. So he decided to slam on his brakes. “Clank, clank, clank.” The driver tried again, “Clank, clank, clank.” Of course the bus would not start, because I was running late again. 5:10, I was late and we were not even half way there. Brad was going to kill me. We decided to jump out the window and try to find a cab. Maybe we would get there by 5:45, if we were lucky. “Splash.” Of course I had to jump right into a mud puddle, slip and fall straight into the mud.
She helped me up, and we ran to the nearest cab. “Wait,” I yelled as my life depended on it. “I forgot the bag.” I ran there and back, playing Frogger the whole time. when I came back, we jumped in the cab and took off. About 30 minutes went by before I realized we were going the wrong direction. “Sir,” I called. “Sir, we’re going the wrong way!”
He turned around and murmured, “No speak English!!”
I rolled my eyes and as loud I could I yelled, “STOP THIS CAR NOW!!!” Luckily, the man did what he was told. I was about to beat him. We threw him some cash and got out. 6:20, the clock on my phone read. I was getting mad now. It was supposed to be just another day getting Brad ready for another concert. But NO, I had to do something out of the ordinary and for that I would have to miss the whole concert. And I hadn’t even gotten a call from him or anyone there. I wondered if they had forgotten about me. But how could they? I talked to Brad before every show. I would get him in a good mood by saying something funny or telling him a story. He loved that.
While we walked the way to the concert, we took time to revisit all the memories that we had had with him. It would be 3 years then, but it seemed like only a month or two. We talked about how his voice had grown over the years and how his image has changed so much. He was a whole new person now. I get all warm and fuzzy inside just thinking about it today. I had the hugest smile on my face the rest of the trip. 7:30 read the clock on my phone. We were getting hungry and a little delusional.
Then like a sign from Heaven, I saw lights up ahead. “LIGHTS…LIGHTS,” I said pointing and pushing her. We ran as fast as we could to the closest gas station. I had a flashback as we entered the store. “I’ve been here before. I know a guy that lives just a fourth of a mile from here,” I exclaimed. So we grabbed some water and food and went to his house.
“Hello, are you there? Come on dude, open up!” I called pounding as hard as I could against the door. He came rushing to the door. “Come in,” he gasped, trying to catch his breath. We explained the whole thing to him while he cooked us supper. As we all sat down my knee hit one of the table lags, shacking to the whole table. “URG! Can anything else go wrong?” I looked down at my shirt and pants. Punch, gravy, and even mashed potatoes were smeared all over it. I felt a cross between being burned and frozen to death. I knew I should have just worn something old that no one would care about, but NO. SHE just had to give me one of my best and favorite outfits to wear. I didn’t care about the time anymore. I just wanted to get to our destination so Brad could bring me back to the hotel.
“I know just the thing to make this scene disappear,” said the owner of the house. He went up to his room and brought down the perfect outfit to cheer me up. When I would go to see him I always asked if I could wear the same outfit. For just some reason it always made my day, and it still does even now. “I want you to have it. So if you’re ever feeling down just put this on,” he said warmly. I gave him a huge hug and went to the back room to change. That smell of summer days was still in them. Maybe that’s why I liked these clothes much. I modeled a little for my friends and off we went.


At 9:07, we finally got there. I was happy to see that Brad and the band were still there. I didn’t really care at that point if the paper bag was clean or dirty. I just ran over and gave it to Brad. “Here, I brought this for you,” I exclaimed.
As he looked inside he suddenly looked very puzzled. “What’s all this?” he asked.
“I put some of your favorite foods and some odds and ends in there. I thought you would like it. What’s wrong? Is it all wet?”
“Oddly …no. I do appreciate the thought that you put into this, but it’s really not my personality. I mean come on. I’m Canadian. I really don’t like when people give me an English dictionary. In Canada we speak English. Just because we speak French too doesn’t mean we can’t speak another language. Also what’s with this brain in this glass case, or the Energizer Bunny? But I guess I can use this tiger and the clown to scare someone,” he said with a little smirk.
“What do you mean? I had a picture to give you of some awesome looking skies. There was also a Canadian keychain that reminded me of you, and an old golf ball signed by some famous person. I also put in some mini snickers that you love so much,” I protested.
He just giggled and shook his head. He took me into the bus and laid out the items on a table. Instead of making fun of me again, he carefully examined each piece, as if he someone was looking at a diamond.
It was quite for awhile, but then he spoke. “I’ll bet I know what these things mean. It just took me some time. I remember I did the exact thing in school. When you talk to me you stutter sometimes, probably looking for the right words but you can’t. That’s why you have that dictionary and the brain in the case. That’s even how you look right now. I know you are a little clumsy, and you always put me in a good mood for my shows. That’s why you have that clown. The tiger and bunny go together as well. You are always helping me, or just doing something just for the sake of moving around. And you are somewhat aggressive at what you do. I really like these things that you have placed in this bag.”