Early in the morning I made my way over to the park. Danni and I were meeting up at the karaoke bar later that morning, which meant I had some time to play. It was our first real date, and I was nervous. What if I said something wrong? What if I somehow offended her?
To take my mind of it, and to finally do what I had been meaning to do for months - no, years - I had taken my piano with me and had driven to Central Park.
I set up pretty quickly, and although no one was around yet I started to play. 8am had only just gone, but soon the first people started to enter. I had set up close to one of the entrances, hoping that this way they couldn't ignore me too easily.
Soon the first people had stopped on their early morning walk, and were listening. To me! Some of them were slowly moving their heads to the music, others just watched me silently as I played my favourite songs. I had tried my hand at writing my own music, but none of it was really finished yet, and I wanted to win them over first before dropping stuff on them they didn't know.
The hours flew by quickly, and before I knew it I had to leave to meet Danni. My crowd looked pleased, and some even clapped when I got up which felt amazing.
I rushed to the karaoke bar so Danni wouldn't have to wait. I was excited to sing with her, or for her if she didn't want to get up on stage, but there was also something else I wanted to ask her. Maybe she knew what that strange blue light had meant some nights ago? I thought if anyone knew it'd be her, or maybe her parents. It had looked magical, so it made sense in my head that a witch might have some clues.
"Danni!" Oh Maker, she was already here! Not a very good start, Rhys, not at all. "Have you been waiting long?"
"Not at all, I only just got here. Besides, we're both early." She gave me a warm smile which put my worries to rest.
"Shall we go in?" The Bar had only just opened some minutes ago. For a change, it was empty inside.
Danni agreed to sing with me, but didn't want to do it on her own. I was more than happy to sing together, and it was somehow more fun than usually. I didn't focus as much on hitting all the high notes, like I normally did. Instead, I focused on having fun with her, and had a great time even though I sounded off a couple of times.
After three songs she told me she was thirsty, so we hang up the microphones and sat down at the bar. It was still quiet, with only the bartender and proprietor around, so I decided to ask while we were still more or less alone.
"Thanks for taking me out, Rhys. I'm having a great time."
"Thank you for letting me! I'm having fun, too." Was it weird to ask about something like this? Maybe it had only been over our house, and hadn't been as spread out as it had looked. But I had to know, it had been too strange not to investigate further! "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure!"
"A few nights ago there was this really strange blue light all over our house and garden. It looked like all of Brooklyn Hights had been covered, and there were ghosts in our garden! Or they looked like ghosts, anyway." She looked at me expectantly, and I wasn't sure if she didn't believe me or if she waited for more information. "I have never seen anything like it! Tell me you saw it, too!
"U-huh, sure I have!" Oh, thank the Maker, she didn't think it was weird!
"What was it?"
"You don't know?" I shook my head, feeling a little stupid. Was I supposed to know? "Well, my parents taught me from a very young age that during the full moon, we sometimes act strange, or feel different. A lot of people can't sleep so well, and we witches can cast spells a lot better. Our magic is more efficient, werewolves can't help but shift, and fairies-" I knew it was rude to interrupt, but this was all getting a little too much.
"Wait, hang on a second. Werewolves? Fairies? Are you telling me those are both real?"
"You didn't know, then? I thought you'd at least know about fairies. Two live just down the road from you."
"You're joking, right?"
"No. It's a female fairy married to a human man. They have a daughter together, who is also a fairy but doesn't have pointed ears like her mother. They wanted to integrate her more into the human world, to have the best of both so to speak, but as I told you before this city isn't very welcoming to anyone who isn't completely human. She got terribly bullied at school, and her parents home-school her now." Huh. Shows what I knew, right? Two fairies were living two minutes away from me, and I hadn't noticed. Way to go, Rhys.
"And werewolves are real, too?"
"They are, but I haven't seen any in this city so far. It's really not a brilliant place for us."
"Then why did your parents move here?"
"There are better career opportunities here." It occurred to me that I had never asked her where she was from.
"Where were you born?" I had known that they had only just moved here, but I had never thought to ask.
"Riverview. It's a nice, quiet place. People there are used to having witches, fairies and wolves about."
"I think my Mum used to live there! She's never mentioned anything about this."
Danni smiled. "Fairies are shy by nature, Rhys, and werewolves do still have a human body. You wouldn't know one if they didn't want you to know. And you had no idea I was a witch, either, so I'd say we blend in well, too."
"So the full moon caused the light?" Danni nodded, but I remembered something else she had mentioned. "You said a lot of people behave differently while the full moon is out. Like - like strange dreams?"
"Yeah, sure! That's if you can sleep at all, a lot of people can't sleep during the full moon." Phew! I was definitely not a pervert! The moon had caused my sex dreams! And it explained why I didn't fall asleep easily that night.
Feeling extremely relieved I paid for our drinks, and drove home with Danni. It was my birthday, and I wanted her to be there since it was the big one. My grades really had dropped a little thanks to my parents and their odd punishments, but I was still on a B so it wasn't too bad.
Having Danni cheer for me was the best applause yet. She looked genuinely excited when I blew out my candles, which made this day even better for me. The other part was me coming of age, of course. I was done with school, my graduation ceremony was in a few weeks time, and I was finally able to start my career properly!
My family had spent the day doing what they usually did on days off. They had been in the garden, using the slip-and-slide. How my parents hadn't broken their bones yet was a mystery to me.
There were only two things I wished for that day.
A successful career, and a long life with Danni.
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And here's a picture of his more mature looks ;)
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Wishes fulfilled
Play Piano in the park
Sing Karaoke
Go on a date with Danni
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