Souvenirs of a Memorabilia

[Melusine]

((Continued from White Roses Bouquet))

Ophelia limited her outfit to something more traditional. It had the opposite effect, however. Everyone commented on it instead of discarding it like the usual fancy dresses with scarves. Ophelia was wearing a button-up shirt with tiny potted cacti hanging out on a plain pale green and white background. She avoided the french tuck because she found it too hard to pull off. So for legs, she had a pair of olive cargo pants. While it was different from her usual get-up, but it was still something that was clearly made by Ophelia.

At the table, there was, obviously, Ophelia, Daniel and William, Mr. Bratwurst, Melissa, and, finally, the celebrated, Adam. Everyone was talking about nothing and everything, waiting for the clock to reach 7:32 PM. Ophelia's gift bag was under her seat and it contained the birthday card and the mug. It wasn't a lot, but it came from a special place. It was 7:30 PM and everyone was getting impatient around their meal. It was spaguetti made by Melissa and William. Mr. Bratwurst, however, was eating normal dog food. It was getting quite fat from the leftovers.

"Do we start the song?" Melissa inquired.

Adam looked at the clock and then answered, "Yeah, it'll land perfectly on 7:32 PM, or close enough." Adam held his hands together, impatiently waiting for his family to sing their heart out to the totally common birthday song. The clock hand moved 7:31 PM and the family, apart from Mr. Bratwurst and Adam, sang the song.

"Happy birthday, Adam! Happy birthday," all the kids held the 'day' note while Melissa had forgotten that part. It wasn't her fault. Her birthday was the last one, "Adam! Happy birthday, happy birthday, A-" held the note for one last time. Thankfully, Melissa had remembered it, "dam!" Everyone clapped and laughed. Adam smiled while his lips curled into a smile. It wasn't perfectly 7:32 PM but it was time for the gifts.

Since he was the one that was honored and remembered, Adam decided the order of gifts. He knew for a fact that Mr. Bratwurst didn't bring a gift because he helped with Ophelia's, however he didn't know how. So by following his original idea of youngest to eldest, Ophelia was the first one to go. He looked at Ophelia and her eyes widdened when she realized it was her turn. Grabbing her gift bag, she retreated from the table and she walked quickly to her dad.

Like the tradition imposed, Ophelia was to give out her gifts to her dad while describing them. First, she pulled out the mug with "1# Dad!" with the tiny corki running around with a tennis ball in its mouth. "So that's the first gift, it's obviously the best one." Adam chuckled. He did need a new mug. Then, Ophelia pulled out her card. Everyone at the table started laughing at the sight at the bright pink birthday card. Adam was saw first the crudely added 0 next to the 5 and his laugh was the loudest.

"Come on, open it," Ophelia pushed Adam's hand toward the card one more time. He turned it and saw all the signatures. With her duty to describe, Ophelia pointed each one starting from the top, going to the lowest.

"That's me, duh. That's Daniel. That's Melissa. That's William." She stopped at the pawprint, it took her two tries to get the dog to put his foot on the card. Ophelia might have messed up her floor but it did look nice on the card. "Mr. Bratwurst." Adam was glad to know that was the dog's contribution. He turned the card around to show the signature of their dog, and Melissa bursted out laughing. Mr. Bratwurst was too proud to react, so he continued eating his food. Adam turned back the letter toward him and he noticed the unknown name. Her finger pointed the name of Lucas then recoilled as if it was fire, but it didn't stop her from touching.

"That's my bestfriend Lucas. We went to prom together." Ophelia smiled meekly. There wasn't quite a reaction, but she did feel the overall feeling to turn from bundling happiness to a more simple but concentrated feeling of delight. "Yeah, anyways, and that's Ann. She works at the dollar shop."

Adam lowered his shoulder and looked at his daughter. It was quite odd she managed to get a friend and go to prom without him noticing. She probably didn't need money so she felt the need to restrain her communication about it. "I'm glad." He had a soft smile on his lips. While he loved her gift, a part of him was proud. "Thank you for the gift, Oph."

Ophelia grabbed back her gift bag and, in a second or two, she was back in her place. It was strange. She was proud of something as minor as having a bestfriend, but it felt great. Adam picked the second youngest, William, and the play continued. Ophelia pulled out her phone and opened the conversation she had with Lucas. She had sent him songs she liked so that he could think of her during the trip.

dad loved the gift

That was the first message and it was followed with something more personal. She looked around to make sure no-one saw it. Ophelia would die from embarassement if it were to be seen.

im eager to see you tomorrow

OPHELIA MITCHELL-MACKENZIE: SPARED