Last Week's Festival

Yes Sir, I'm Here

Leigh woke up startlingly at around 9:30 in the morning. She woke up from a dream where there was a jester who announced, "It is time to go up to Athens. Wake up at once." In the dream, Leigh actually refused to wake up and instead rang a bell on the bedside. She thinks she just imagined there was really a bell there but she didn't mind and just picked up a bell anyway. 

She woke up when the jester could not stop his jig - she woke up when she rang the bell. 

She wondered if there actually was a bell in her hands and actually held her watch. 

A late morning, she wanted to go clear up the breakfast table. Her grandmother was the one doing the gardening. Father was gone, and Louis and Simon were off at the nearby grammar school. She supposed so.

Her elder sister, Anneliese was off in town. Leigh supposed that she worked at Angela's Fried Eggs Cafe down the avenue. She didn't know if she had anything else to do.

Leigh cleared up the table. She ate bread with jam from the cupboard. She quickly cleaned up her plate and knife and went on her way.

Back upstairs, she saw an old maid carrying a cane berating Mr. Johnson. Leigh thought she heard the old lady saying, "Crockpot you! What did you do with my favorite can of Winter Spice?" 

Instead of sketching the old woman, Leigh thought of cutting out a picture from an advertisement and pasting it on her fax paper. She scribbled all around the paper, doodling a stick-figure Mr. Johnson getting scared of the old lady. Accompanying the old lady's exclamation was some fancy lettering.

Leigh began talking to her grandmother. She told her that she was about to visit Anneliese in town. Her grandmother tried warning her that no one would wait for the fruit vendor carrying grapes...Leigh told her grandmother that she has to buy a new box of graphite pencils. 

She quickly left with a quid in her wallet. 

The marching band was playing in the town square. They sang:

Hundred days and a hundred ways

Faulty brackets never stopped this lad

Broken cases drove the old witch mad

Old popcorn vendors never made two hundred a day

To visit the fluvial parade is to go this way

The coin purses go jingle-jangle

Loose change like bell machines

Lost opportunities could be fixed by the game machine

The right coin token is your ticket

Say goodbye to your old itchy blanket

Ride the London Bus to Grand Valley Village

Leigh actually spotted her Father in the crowd, watching the band. Leigh quietly slinked away and put on a black beret that fell to the ground. She would be off to figure out what Anneliese had been doing all these years.