Followers

Tuesday 6 December 2011

Circle Quartet: Chapter 9


Chapter 9

“Hooray! Hooray! It’s a Holi-Holiday! What a world of fun for everyone, Holi-Holiday! Hooray! Hooray! It’s a Holi-Holiday! Sing a summer song, skip along, Holi-Holiday, it’s a Holi-Holiday!” Ace, Sable and I are enjoying ourselves while jumping here and there.

Holiday is the day that everybody is waiting for, whether we are too young or too old, like me. I still like jumping around either feeling joyous or ferocious. Sometimes I can get too excited that I don’t know why that I jump. Dad just laughs and shakes his head, reading his beloved Sunday Morning newspaper while Mom gives us warning nearly 4 times now. We don’t care whether we will be turned into dust-bunnies or whatsoever. We just want to jump, that’s all.

There will be no formal dinner with Grandma Zelda like usual today so I spend my whole mundane Sunday with my family in the family chamber. After we received the invitation to the Circle, we must not say any word about it to anyone except our own family. My cousins, too, are spending their time their families. It has become the custom before going to the Main House of the Circle which is located I-don’t-know-where. I never been there and when I try to ask my parents, they tell me that time will tell.

“Children, if I see you guys jumping on the sofa again, I’ll call your grandmother and cancel your name for the Circle. Don’t think that I can’t do that!” her hands on her hips while holding a feather duster. That thing can be helpful and can be dangerous too, for us.

We stop jumping around, giving her sweet smiles and carefully sit on the sofa where Dad is sticking his nose to the newspaper. I think he’s reading about the golf tournament for he is the big fan of Tiger Woods.

“Now be good children or your mother will combust this room and turn us all into a scorching lobsters,” says Dad, without looking at us. That’s how Dad gives his warning. We laugh guiltily and nod.

“How about you guys help me doing some cleaning rather than jumping around like a chicken lost its tail? Sable and Ace, you two clean the living room and you young lady,” Mom points to me with the fiery feather duster, “have to help me clean up the kitchen. Now!”

We scramble in panic like a scrambling black ant. I quickly go to the kitchen with Mom. She tells me to mop the floor as she’s already swept it. I pick a pail and a mop from the toilet and pour some floor detergent after filling the pail with water. The cleaning begins.

Mom loves doing house chores. She’ll do it every day whether she’s busy or not. If she’s busy, she’ll use magic but she prefers to do it by herself because this is her daily habit since she was young. She makes sure that everything is neat and tidy, no dust on the table and windows. The toilet must always smell nice and glitteringly clean. Not to mention that the books on the shelves must be neatly arrange.

Mom gives me permission to take an afternoon nap and I cheer and give her a sweet kiss on her cheek. She usually forbids me to sleep in the afternoon but now I need to suit myself to be active during night time. For a vampire, we are a night creature. We sleep in daylight and active at night. Unlike Dad who prefers sleeping at night because he works during daytime.

“And that’s why I’ve been thrown away here rather than being with my own clan,” he said one day when I asked him about it.

“You’ve been thrown away? That’s horrid!” My eyes widened.

“Just joking, little buddy!” he laughed and patted on my head.

Dad loves joking around just like my brothers. They always have some crazy ideas and ended with laughter. If Jeff joined them, it will be more hilarious.

Mom and I go to the grocery store to buy some ingredients for dinner. We are having beef stew and this time I’ll do the cooking. I’m not really good in cook (did I mention that earlier?). It’s the tradition from my Mom’s side that every daughter has to learn cooking and master it before they get married. Well, I’m still young and I think marriage is way too early.

“Today you are going to learn how to make beef and barley stew. So we need pearl barley, a turnip and of course the stew beef,” Mom says as we stroll in the frozen food and vegetables section. I look at the list that Mom made it before coming here and pick the stuffs that we need.

“How about wine?” I ask when we are going to the counter.

“I already ordered the wine. The best wine ever,” Mom smiles and we pay the goods. We go straight home after shopping the groceries and Mom seems happy today. She can’t stop smiling and when I ask her, she says that she’s enjoying herself. I think she’s hiding something from me. I try to read her mind but she blocks it with magic.

“Surprise!” I nearly drop the grocery bag as Jeff open the door with arms wide open. “I’m home!” He hugs me tight that I can hardly breathe.

“Jeff, let you sister put the grocery bag in the kitchen first. Then you can hug her,” says Mom. Jeff chuckles and says sorry.

I go to the kitchen and put the groceries in the fridge. Jeff helps me too. Then we go to the living room and he hugs me again.

“Happy belated graduation day, Alice. I hope that I’m not too late to say it. And I have some presents for you,” he takes out some paper bags. “This is for you two, Ace, Sable,” he hands the black paper bags to both of them. “And this one is for you!” he hands me the red paper bag.

Three of us gobble the paper bags. Ace and Sable get a wizard cloak. “Do you guys like it? I ordered them special for you, with your name at the back.”

“Thanks, Jeff! You are the best big brother ever!” They hug Jeff.

I get a box of chocolate and a vampire cloak.

“Thanks Jeff!” I hug him too.

“Hey, how come you’re the only one who gets the chocolate?” asks Sable.

“Because this is my graduation day present,” I smirk.

“That’s not fair,” Sable frowns. “Jeff, I want chocolate too.”

“I’ll give you for your next birthday, young man,” Jeff pats Sable’s shoulder. “Try the cloak, Alice. I think it suits you.”

I put on the cloak and stand in front of the stand mirror near the TV. I like it. This cloak looks cool.

“Okay, it’s cooking time. Alice, put away your cloak and come to the kitchen,” Mom gives order.

“You’re going to cook for dinner?” Ace does not believe what Mom just said.

“Of course. You got problem with that?” I frown at him.

“No, no, nothing at all. Just don’t blow up the kitchen,” he says and I smack him on the head.


We eat dinner together and everyone loves my beef and barley stew especially Ace and Sable. They are beef lovers, what can I expect. Jeff bought the best wine that Mom mentioned at the grocery store this evening. I don’t drink wine, actually. I prefer the blood. Jeff brings another box of supplies and this makes me happy.

“Are you having a break?” I ask Jeff when we are having ice-cream for dessert.

“Nope. I’m now a delivery boy,” he smiles and raises his eyebrows.

“A new job?” asks Dad.

“Not really. Grandma Maegan orders me to deliver the schedule to the Circle tomorrow. You guys,” he points to three of us with the spoon, “are going with me. You must be ready at 8 o’clock sharp. The meeting will start and 10. The late comers will be punished.” Now Jeff looks serious. 

22 comments:

Inspector Saahab said...

i love having magic. if we are busy we can just use the magic to clean the house. that is the most important use. HAHA. and if we are not busy, we can use it too :P

this is good. happy family. i can imagine that Alice is just like you and now you are learning how to cook. hehe

waiting for what will happen in the Circle. hew hew

Ciklong said...

chakir:

i love magic too but i think it will make me becomes a lazy person. haha.

anyway, that part was part of my experience last weekend when my Aunt taught me to cook gulai kambing. but i still need to learn a lot more. haha. i'm obsess with Masterchef Malaysia now.

i'll guarantee that the Circle Meeting will be awesome! XD

Inspector Saahab said...

cant wait >.<

i love watching master chef too. haha

i see you're mastering cooking..oooo hehe

Parmita said...

What a lovely family. I was grinning while reading this chapter. The light mood is very comforting. But you always end your chapters with some startling news for the characters thus maintaining intrigue. That's a very interesting way of putting a chapter.
Good work!

Feilong, so you are now in competition for the Master Chef title after becoming a master writer. Wish I could taste your dishes too and enjoy it as I do in case of your story. Have you guys watched other versions of Master Chef? I have watched various editions from different countries but Master Chef Australia is my favorite.

Ciklong said...

Sui: i put some music this time. haha. i love that song since i was in school. it brings back the memory. I think i should change the way i end the story for each chapter. i don't want readers to get bored.

I watched the malaysian and american version. i learn something about mixing the right ingredients. i must improve my cooking like i'm imporoving my writing. haha

Ciklong said...

chakir:

cooking is my new hobby. that's where i learn about discipline, passion and patience.

the next chapter will be updated ASAP.

Taqiuddin said...

I was expecting more about the Circle thing from the last chapter, but this is OK too, never thought Vampires have robes and the pace slowed down a bit. Nice chapter, Teacher!

Nani Othman said...

the first part is rather..unrealistic? how old are these characters..that they wanna jump for no reason..? mcm immature dan agak pointless (?)..tapi that's purely my opinion lah..maybe i'm not too involved with the story lagi kot. and grammar.

Ciklong said...

farid: thanks for your comments! sgt lah memberangsangkan. hehe. i'll try to improve on my writing skills. i'm getting busy lately but still can write the story.

i didn't know that you and Inspector Saahab knew each other.


nani: hahaha. mungkin sebab long tulis tak ikut realiti semasa and mmg nak tunjuk yang diaorang ni still immature. but i'll develop their maturity kot after this. thanks for your purely opinion :)

p/s: nani, ada org ingat nani sengaja kutuk long. haha. they don't know the 'underlying' meaning. hehe

Inspector Saahab said...

yes we know each other. HAHA

well, saya kan femes..gheee

Nani Othman said...

sape yang poyo bajet bagus sangat tu?? eh hello, whoever you are, i tak minat lah nak kutuk2 my own friend, if you're reading this - YOU SUCK!

Taqiuddin said...

yeah, that inspector keeps promoting his blog to me since early last year

Ciklong said...

chakir: mmg femes pun. tgk blog la kan. haha. u make me feel envy. haha. leh jadi saingan hebat nih!

nani: alah, long tak kisah pun apa yang nani komen. orang lain pulak yang lebih2. ish. ada tip nak improve my story?? macam desperate je ni. hehe

farid: chakir is a very good promoter. haha. dia byk promote blog. kehkeh

Inspector Saahab said...

farid : =.=

teacher : hehe

Taqiuddin said...

promote my blog then, wait, don't -__-" it's too depressing

Inspector Saahab said...

post something cheerful then. and i will do my part. but no promises, if got time. promoting consumes lots of time. hehe. peluh kecil di situ

Taqiuddin said...

sure2, if my depressing side's OK with sharing his blog hahax

Inspector Saahab said...

=.=

Ciklong said...

chill guys!!!

haha! ^__^

Nani Othman said...

tip nani tak banyak..tapi nani rase maybe long boleh fix-kan cara bercakap dan personality bagi setiap watak. maybe sorg tu suka bercakap, so byklah die ckp..yg pendiam tu maybe bg komen2 pendek tapi bernas, maybe yg byk ckp tu tak berapa pandai, or maybe yg pendiam tu analytical..and make them obvious all these personalities. sbb kalau characterization yg berjaya ni..biasanya kite bace dialog je pun kite boleh teka sape yg ckp sbb kite kenal perwatakan die.. cmtu lah tip nani..setakat pengalaman nani je la..

Ciklong said...

nani: okay. roger. hmm, kena buat characteristics lists for each character ni. hehe. thanks!

nani, cuba tgk dekat shout box long. ada org nama lily tersesat kat sini.

PC1667 said...

This post makes me miss the old time. It's perfectly the same. My siblings would play around the living room, my Dad would read the newspaper and my Mum would nag us. I miss seeing them together in the living room. It made a perfect scene :)

Sorry for making a personal statement here. Hihihi.

And yes I'm back! :D