A Mundane Morning

                                                                            

Present day..

15th October, 2018,

Prynts Corner, Bristol.

"It's over," she shouted in a victorious voice, looking at her shadow under the shining moonlight near where lies the dead man covered not just in blood but with deadly guilt.

The huge messy, deserted place, looked like it was hit by a disaster that caused hundreds of death. She was celebrating her victory with a sword in her hand and arms widespread amid the thunderbolts and lightenings that shone on her making her shadow look like she's the goddess of death while the rain dripped all over her.

"Eat fast," a voice came from nowhere, "Get to school early". Suddenly a thud. She was now into the reality. Reminding her about the maths test she has at school, her mom grabbed the laundry clothes from the floor.

"Reality sucks! Why can't those movie adventures be real?" she murmured, getting up from the sofa with her breakfast plate like a super sluggish sloth. She saw her favourite celebrity, Starleen Walz, in the television who portrayed her favourite character, the character of the super-girl in the series 'Watchwoman-The Saviour', which was then extended to be another season that will be aired soon.

"Super girl's on the way," she was imitating the TV show dialogue.

It is one of her mandatory routine, watching that television series every morning before heading to school. She used to watch a glimpse of her bravery and adventure to boast up her sleepy head.

"It's for you," her mom said picking the letter post that read 'To Ms. Idaliah Bristor' from the mailbox.

"Oh- no sender address," she put the post in the bottom drawer of her bedside cabinet and remembered herself to open it after school.

A girl with a tranquil nature covering her deepest inner desires of fantastical realms.

Born in a middle class family, living on the Zack Hends lane at South Bristol, was having a boring, studious studenthood as anyone else of her age does. Ida is a kind girl, flooded with loads of dreams to dwell in. She always dreamt of being a courageous, daring girl going on adventures. Sounds a little silly though. Ida always wander in her dreams, lucid dreams.

"Where is the peach one?" Ida was searching for the lipstick that perfectly suited her beige skin.

"It's in Juliah's pouch which I kept in your closet by mistake," her mom said from downstairs. Ida sighed as she went on to dig her messy closet.

Her mother, Mrs. Senida Bristor, was looking after her daughters- Idaliah and Juliah. They get to see their father, Mr. Erwin Bristor, not very often. Like once or twice in a year, maybe, as he was working abroad. In other words, a typical workman, busy bug, rarely makes time for his family.

He works for the Petnison Plugs, a very famous business firm in Norway, initially found by Mr.Petnison Blake. They make every parts of our daily used things and export them to other countries to convert them into a usable, complete lever or machines or whatever thing that is used regularly by us. Somethings that include are hair dryers, grinders and crushers, mixers and some complicated machinery parts.

There was a peculiar thing about the firm. People who work in Petnison Plugs are seldom seen wearing other color clothes at work than black. They wear white for gatherings and meetings. It was due to the preference of these colours by the founder. Mr. Bristor had been working there for almost a decade or more. A very kind-hearted, honest man, her father.

Ida was ready to go to school. Mrs. Bristor went to work pretty early that day. She works in a beauty parlour on Edins lane by day and by evening she's a barista. She works hard to pay off all the loans.

"Ida, don't forget to bring me lunch," Juliah said as she hurried to her dance class at school.

Ida and Juliah were doing their schooling at the Prynts Carrell Academy(PCA) on Bryson Beck Lane, South Bristol. It was a three storey building. There were five blocks. It is almost a little more than a kilometre from her home.

Ida goes to school in her shining, blue bicycle. It has red prints on it saying 'Never sigh to fly high'. A self-made quote inscribed by Ida herself. Some days, she walks to school if the weather seems to be good and pleasant.

The security guard of the school is the first person Ida meets at her school daily. She gives him a morning greet and walks by.

Her day doesn't move without her only and bezzie at school, Sarah Kent, a poppy, friendly girl. A girl who can be described as a wee less than perfect best friend material.

"Morning, Iddy," Sarah said, tousling her curly, blonde hair.

"Gidday, Sarry," Ida made a grin.

"Came so early today," Ida mocked Sarah.

Sarah always used to be late to school, intentionally. She loves when everyone looks at her with an 'again!'  look when she stumbles into the class after the teacher comes in. She had received punishments for that too, but 'her mum being really busy and her hard working dad trying hard to make her early to school' comes to rescue her every time.

"Mom came home and so I came early," Sarah said.

"To escape from her rants, huh?" Ida cackled. Sarah hates her mom as she's always about her work and burdens Sarah to be like her.

Her mother's a working woman in a dignified position in an MNC. Her dad's been looking after Sarah since she was a toddler. They were very much fond of each other.

"Prepared for the test?" asked Sarah, closing her locker.

"Unfortunately, it's a no," Ida replied, tilting her head.

While talking with Sarah,"Ouch!" Ida took her hand to her head when she was hit by a paper ball on her head.

It was thrown by her own sister, Juliah Bristor. She is a cool, adhesive girl unlike her sister. There were always sister wars between them both at school and home. Juliah often dominates Ida. But Ida doesn't do the same. She is really nice to her sister.

Juliah was a mountain of evil to handle. As they used to play together, Ida was forced to follow Juliah's words. Or else, Juliah made her cry. When Ida took the spoon to eat the mud, their mother came and stopped Ida. Mrs.Bristor scolded Juliah for her act.

She used to tear Ida's notebooks. She'll make Ida do homework for her saying that if she didn't, she'll complain to mom that Ida kicked her.

Juliah once pushed Ida into the river. Ida was carried away by the flow. Then, was rescued by the guards.

"You little git," Sarah pointed Juliah as she hit her best friend.

"How dare you call me that?" Juliah fumed.

"Back off, you little kitties," walked Riana Rampel, the girl who was pondered as the queen bee of Ida's class.

"Look, who's here with her nerdy friend," she said giggling, looking at Sarah. That doesn't offend Ida as she was used to it.

"Go away, Riana," Sarah said as Riana flipped her dyedash black hair, raising her cut eyebrow.

"Ugh," she smirked and walked away.

Sarah was trashing Riana for her unkind words while Ida was peeking at one of the most popular guys of the school, who resides next door to Ida, Dannon Kenndrik. He was a new student. He is one of the few people who talks well with Ida. He was so kind towards her, which made her develop a huge attraction towards him. He had striking looks too. His brown eyes would make Ida's heart race over. His messy, wavy, brunette hair adds to his overall astounding look. His smile, Waaahh! The girls in the school would stick to him for that pulchritudinous smile. They usually meet at their street gatherings.

"Hey, Liah. Good Morning," said Dannon with a warming, charming smile on his face that made Ida's heart rush. He's the only one who calls her Liah and she loves it.

"Um-Good Morning, Dan," Ida greeted, tugging her light, chestnut brown hair behind her ear.

The bell rang and everyone was walking towards their classes.

"Oh. We're gonna be late. See you later," Dannon said, waving his hand.

"See you," said Ida with a little smile.

To Ida's fortune, their math teacher Mrs. Adalyn Jade was not present that day. They had a science class instead. Ida always loved her English class. The English teacher Ms. Violet Inkson was Ida's favourite. She was the friendliest teacher at school. She cares for every student equally. Her class usually has a lot of fun and creative vibes.

Ms. Inkson started teaching some vocabulary and was giving notes to the students.

"I hate it when she writes on the blackboard," Ida took out her brownish-red framed specs from her bag.

"Iddy, you look beautiful without specs. Wearing it makes you look nerdy," Sarah said.

"But I have to wear it," Ida responded.

After the lecture, Ms. Inkson was distributing the answer sheets for the previous class test.

"Huh! I didn't think that she'd give it today," Sarah sighed.

"I got good grades," Ida grinned.

"You always do. You are like what- the great grand daughter of Shakespere. I knew that," Sarah mockingly jabbered, making Ida arride. 

During lunch break, Ms. Quelinia Melbin, a dance teacher at school, summoned Ida to meet her at the dance hall. She conveyed it to Ida through some high school guy.

"Hey Ida. How're you doing?" Ms. Melbin asked.

She spoke a different accent, of course, she's an American.

"Hm! Doing good, mam," Ida smiled. Ida haven't met her a lot. Maybe two or three times.

"Ah! I asked you to meet me to ask whether you could do me a favour," she said.

"Why not, mam? Let me know what I could do for you, besides you are one one of the sweetest people at school," Ida smiled.

"Oh! So sweet of you, sugar pie. The matter is, you know Riana? Riana Rampel?" she asked.

"Yeah, I do. She is my classmate," Ida replied.

"Uh! She created a scene this morning during the rehearsals. She behaved in a foul manner," Ms. Melbin said sighing.

"Ugh- She always does. What was that?  What did she do, Ms. Melbin?" Ida asked.

"I'm okay with Ms.Q," she said, taking a dance robe from the floor. "She wasn't even good at dance. I made her to the team only because of her mother," Ms. Q told Ida.  "Don't get me wrong. I don't mean to portray her bad," she said.

Riana's mother was very bossy, popular and adament. She wanted her daughter to be in one of the best dance crews, so that she could vaunt about it to the others.

"I asked her to focus her moves," Ms.Q said.

"Obviously, she must've said something insulting," Ida responded with a judgmental nod, as she knew what Riana usually does.

"She did. She insulted me in front of everyone and blamed me that I wasn't good enough to teach her dance. She yelled and went off," she said.

"That's not fair, Ms.Q. You must've reported her to the HM," Ida insisted.

"But, I thought that it would be silly to report a student as a teacher," she said.

"Uh! Maybe," Ida nodded.

"But in the case of Riana-Do you want me to report her to the principal?" Ida's helping heart asked.

"Oh-No, Ida. I'm not likely to have her in my class. Um-I-I just wanna ask you if you could replace Riana?" Ms. Q asked.

"What? Me?" Ida was in shock after hearing out Ms. Q.

"Yeah. You would be perfect for that. Your friend, Sarah showed me a video of you dancing. It was awesome. Your moves were fabulous," Ms. Q said.

"Video of me? Was that from the new year celebration?" she asked.

"Yeah, that one," Ms. Q smiled.

"That was at my home, when no one was watching me except her," Ida told her.

"That's okay. You could think of it," Ms.Q tried to make her take the offer.

"But, I haven't danced on stage since my 8th grade. How can I now?" she asked.

"You can, Ida. I'll suck out the dancer in you. Don't worry. I've heard about you from the other teachers and I thought that I can trust you," Ms.Q said.

"Ah! I've to think about it Ms. Q," Ida told her.

"Okay. Let me know before tomorrow evening," Ms.Q said.

"Okay. Sure," Ida nodded.

"We are one of the top 10 competitors in the 'Dancers' Dash'. We need a complete crew, Ida."

"I'll let you know, Ms. Q," Ida said with a little smile which hid the thought of giving a no.

Ida was having oatmeal for lunch. When Ida was having the second spoon of her oatmeal, she heard, "Oh! Be careful Sania," Riana shouted with a chuckle looking at Sania who was balancing an egg on a ruler.

"I lost control," Sania came shaking towards Ida and dropped an egg on Ida's desk. It broke and spilled on her peach coloured top.

"Have you lost it, Sania?" Ida shouted in anger.

"Is it even a question to ask?" Sarah told Ida in a funny voice and gave a terrible look at Sania saying, "A Brainless boor," in a fierce voice.

Riana came to Sania,"Oh! You made her dirty, San," she giggled.

"Oops! I'm sorry for that," Sania chuckled in an irritating manner.

Sania and the other girls of her gang walked behind Riana. A stupid guy named Unan Throb followed Riana saying, "Riana, I want to talk with you. Can u schedule two minutes of your precious time for me?" madly. That guy has been following her for months but got zero response from her.

"You eat, Sarry. I'll wash away this dirt and will join you," Ida said and went to the restroom.

After washing the dirt, Ida was standing in the restroom corridor, where she saw her math teacher coming out of the restroom. But, Ida was standing in the corridor for a quarter of an hour but didn't see her going in there.

"How could she be in there for this long?" she wondered.

She switched the sides of her top, as she was wearing a jacket that could cover it up from not looking odd.

Sitting near Sarah, Ida told her about seeing Mrs. Jade in the restroom.

"She might have had a bad stomach," Sarah said, raising her eyebrows.

"Maybe, that was why she didn't take over the first class," Ida thought and prepared for the next class.

That afternoon, "Why did you show the dance video of mine to Ms. Q?" Ida asked her while they got some sandwiches in the canteen.

"Ah-you know that miraculously I came early this morning, I was in the staff room and was helping Ms.Inkson with her writings and correction works. I saw Ms.Quelinia talking to Ms.Inkson about Riana's behaviour and about throwing her out of the dance crew. She was bewailing about the empty spot in the crew. So, I showed her the New Year's Eve dance video of yours. She was a lot impressed by your dance and style. So, she wanted to have you in the crew," Sarah imparted. Ida was already looking at her with gawking eyes.

"Oh! It's very nice of you, Sarah," Ida said with a fake smile.  "But, I'm not into it," Ida fumed.

"Ah! You are doing it, Ida. For sure," Sarah said. "Don't make me feel dumb for putting you into it," she confronted.

"Hm-I couldn't accept that very early. I'll think about it tonight and I'll convey it to Ms.Q by tomorrow. But, probably it would be a no," Ida gave her an objecting nod.

That evening, Sarah and Ida went to the park near Sarah's home. The girls were swinging. They were chatting about their boring life. Ida would always frown about having monotonous routines. Ida always longed for an interesting adventurous life. She would watch a lot of fantasy movies and wish for a life like that.

Sarah would tease her chortling, "You need to fly, Iddy. Or teleport. Or vanish. Ah?". Sarah is a very practical girl. She always reminds Ida about what reality is and the things that happen in superhero films don't work out for real.

"Ah! Enough Sarah. Stop making me feel like a goon. You have wishes too, right?" Ida asked Sarah.

It was Rayon Rampel. The elder brother of Riana. Unlike his sister, he's very genuine and nice. But, he just has the same swagger attitude like his sister. He fell in love with Sarah before three years and is still crazy about her. Sarah too was head over heels for him. But, things didn't workout between them because of Riana. She was mad on him for having Sarah as his girlfriend.

Riana and Sarah were enemies since elementary school. They often fight, argue. It's because, they have the same bossy attitude. But, Sarah isn't selfish or over showy like Riana.

"Getting back together with Rayon?" Ida mocked her.

Lifting her shoulders, "Don't remind that. That's over. Riana is such a berk. Her brother is one too. I am not gonna go for it again," Sarah shrugged.

"Don't mind Riana. She is just his sister. She has nothing to do with your relationship," Ida consoled her to look beyond Riana.

"Let me think about that later," Sarah sighed.

"What is going on? About your father?" Sarah probed.

"No information from him yet. I'm already worried that something undesirable may happen," Ida worried.

"Don't have such thoughts. Spread positivity to your stupid brain," Sarah tapped Ida on her head.

"Hope he is fine."

After a moment of silence, "Hey! It's Dannon," Sarah said looking at her phone. No sooner, Ida grabbed it from Sarah.

'Is Liah with you? She isn't home. I've to talk to her,' the message read.

'She's not here, Dannon,' Ida sent it from Sarah's phone.

'What? Where is she? It's already 7 and what'll she be doing?' Dannon replied.

Ida's face glowed like thousands of lightbulbs put together.

"Iddy, give it to me," Sarah said and grabbed the phone.

'Hey, she has been to the market. I've been waiting for her in the park,' Sarah plucked the phone and texted a lie.

'Oh! Well. Ask her to ping me when she gets home,' Dannon texted back.

Ida was smiling. "What is that about?" Sarah asked Ida.

"Who knows?" Ida squeaked, rubbing her palms together as it was cold.

" Wooh! I could see my nerdy blushing," Sarah chuckled at Ida.

"Don't call me that," Ida rolled her eyes.

It was almost eight. After some good laughs, Ida and Sarah went home. Ida's mother was already waiting for her at home after preparing supper.

"Where have you been, Ida? Dannon came looking for you," her mom said, placing the plates on the dining table.

"Oh! Been to the park with Sarah, mom. I'll be ringing him up after a while," she said and sat to have her dinner.

"Good night, mom. Night, Jule," Ida said walking to the stairs.

"Gonna sleep? This early?" her mom asked.

"No. I'm having some homework, mom." Ida went to her room.

Ida was pondering over a mathematical problem. "Oh- how to find this?" Ida was tapping her temple with pencil. "Maybe, I could ask Mrs. Jade." Ida pinged her.

"Hi, Mrs. Jade. Sorry for disturbing you. Can you help me with a problem in Maths?" Ida asked.

"Yeah. Sure, Ms. Bristor. Tell me." Mrs. Jade cleared her doubts.

"Thank you, Mrs. Jade."

"That's okay, Ida. Is your dad home? He wasn't present at the Parents' Council last week. He has to sign the new terms and conditions of the council."

"Um- no. He's at work."

Oh- Have you spoken with him recently?

"He isn't answering my calls. I heard that he's busy with some new clients for the past few weeks," Ida said.

"Okay. Let me know if he call's you."

"Sure, Mrs. Jade. Good night,"

"Night, Ida."

Ugh-dad. Please call me. I am worried. Ida thought as she slept.

Dannon was waiting for Ida's call. From his balcony, he could see Ida sleeping in her bed through her window.

He was staring at her for some time. There was something in him, some little space in his heart that adored her. He went to his couch and was scrolling over the pictures of Ida that he took on the Carnival Day at school. They had only one picture together. Dannon was looking at Ida's smiling adorable face and was blushing over it.

There was a call from his friend.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked. "On Saturday?" he asked again after a reply from the other side of the phone.

"Okay. We'll do that," he nodded over the phone.

"But, why Saturday?"

"Because he wanted us to." The person on the other end spoke.

"Okay. Do you have a plan?" Dannon asked.

"Yeah. Of course, I do. Or else I won't be telling you to be ready."

"I am thinking of talking to her about it."

"Duffer! How do you think she'll trust you?" the person asked. "Don't do that."

"Why can't we just tell her?" Dannon asked.

"No. We are instructed not to," the voice from the phone said.

"Okay, see you then," he hung up the call laying back to his couch. Thinking of Ida, he fell asleep.

Ida, she was up the next day to the eye catching view of the florid orange sunrise that was very much visible from her window and the voice of Juliah talking out loud to her mom.

"Dad hasn't called for a month, " Juliah was saying. "Don't you guys care?"

"He's busy, Jule," her mom said picking up her shoulder bag. "Maybe he'll give us a surprise visit."

"Ugh- whatever. I miss his frequent presents," she said.

While getting up from her bed, a forgotten thought bumped into her head.

"How the heck did I forget about it?" Ida woke up from her bed.

Rushing, she jogged to take it. She forgot the place where she had kept it. As she was searching for it, a DANG...