Watcher

Chapter 18: Holiday

He keeps on reading the rest of the passage, but sadly it has been destroyed by termites.  Bradley puts the paper down on the floor and walks to his bed.

"It just all goes to waste my time. I didn't get anything at all," Bradley grumbled. "Ah, I hope trusting Madam Nigera's word is the right decision."

His eyes continued to stare at the ceiling of the room which already partially crumbling, revealing the inner structure of the room. He sighed again. A quiet atmosphere over the place as her eyes slowly closed and he finally fell asleep.

The sound of someone knocking on the door rings in his ears. It wakes him up from his sleep and he tries to cover both ears, but it feels like the knocking keeps ringing until it makes him furious. However, he suddenly realized something. He did not dream about that horrible thing yesterday at all. It feels like he's getting a gift from someone and today seems to be much better than before.

"The remedy seems to be working. I don't have any nightmares at all." He smiles and scratches his head.

"Hey Bradley, hurry up and get up." Caden knocks on Bradley’s bedroom door over and over again. "Madam Nigera and Theresa tell us to gather. They have something to tell us."

"I'll catch up,"

"All right, I'll go to the bathroom first." He yells from outside. “Don’t linger too long.”  

Caden walks away from Bradley and makes his way to the restroom. Bradley keeps smiling as he walks and picks up the clothes in his closet and goes to the bathroom. Suddenly he sees someone step out of the bathroom and it’s Caden.

"Brad, what's wrong with you?" Caden raises his eyebrows. "You look so happy," he said as he rubs his yellow hair.

"Cad, maybe it's just your feelings." Bradley smiled back at him. "But Cad, I have something to ask you and it's about Mr. Eugene's story."

"Oh, that's a terrible story. I've only skimmed it at all," he widens his eyeballs and tilts his eyebrows upwards. "It feels so real to me and I am so scared."

"But, do you think it's real?" asked Bradley, furrowing his brow.

"What do you mean by that?" Caden shocks hearing Bradley's words. "Hey, I don't want to talk about that, hurry up before Madam Theresa comes back to reprimand us a few more times."

Not long after, Caden's figure disappeared, He seems a return to his room. Bradley immediately rushes to clean up and change his clothes. He goes downstairs and the other children seemed to be getting ready as well as Caden. Bradley immediately looked at Caden and asked him. He says all of them are waiting for Madam Theresa and Nigera, but there are no signs of both of them.

“It’s almost 15 minutes we are in here and stands up like a statue,” Caden grumbles. “My legs are starting to feel tired.”

Suddenly footsteps are coming down the stairs, everyone looks at the source of the sound. Madam Theresa slowly descends the stairs, and beside her, Madam Nigera is holding a light brown bag and it looks so attractive.

"Good morning." Madam Theresa’s sounds filled the room. "I have something to tell you all. It’s about the Zwalinski family and they are gonna create a carnival event.”

Madam Nigera takes out a piece of paper from the bag and starts to read. “They want all the children of the "Happy Life" orphanage to participate in the carnival that will be held in a few days.”

“Really?”

All the children at the same time screamed and jumped up. The atmosphere in the room becomes chaotic and Madam Nigera immediately hits the surface of the stairs with a loud shout until the atmosphere calms back down. A few minutes later, Madam Theresa starts to talk.

"Oh, yes. Mr. Zwalinski will prepare a special vehicle for us in the afternoon." Madam Theresa's face couldn't stop smiling. "All of you hurry up and get ready."

“Madam, so what are we going to perform?" Madam Nigera furrowed her brows. " I don’t see anything inside this bag or in this paper.”

"I've talked about that too. Mr. Zwalinski said that we should just walk along with the procession." Madam Theresa tried to explain. "Therefore, we are all present in advance so that we can be briefed by Mr. and Mrs. Zwalinski."

“Okay, that’s new information for me.” Madam Nigera nods her head. “Oh, and all kids must pack up their things and wait here. Mr. Zwalinski’s bus will pick us up this afternoon, okay?”

“All right, Madam!”

All the children in the room run out of the room as well including Bradley and Caden.  Bradley packs the few things he wants to take with him. Two shirts, a pair of underwear, a pair of pants, and some of Mr. Eugene's notes. All of the things put in his backpack by a donor in the past.

"I feel like that's enough." Bradley carried the bag back downstairs.  

He looks down and sees that the other kids are already preparing their luggage. However, he does not see Caden.

"Weird, where's Cad ...."

Suddenly someone taps his shoulder from behind, making him surprised and turn his head. The figure turns out to be Caden who is seen carrying his backpack. Bradley's face immediately pales and makes Caden laugh until they decide to walk downstairs and meet up with the other kids.

"Cad, I'm sure it's going to be a lot of fun there." Caden's smile is etched on his lips. "I can't wait!"

"We are finally getting a taste of the outside world, cad. " Bradley continued to smile broadly. "Mr. Eugene always told us that the outside world is wide and big, doesn't he?"

"Yes, Brad. I can't wait." Cad laughed back at him. "At least we can be free for a while. I'm already bored in this orphanage."

" Jeeze, Cad!" Bradley is shocked to hear Caden's last words. "Hey, but you're not alone. I'm bored here too.”

They both giggled happily and it isn't long before the sound of vehicle horns honking is audible. All the kids came out marching like ducklings. Madam Theresa is in front of the line and carrying a medium-sized suitcase and a brown bag, just like the one Caden and Bradley saw earlier.

Madam Nigera's yelling caused Bradley and Caden to run straight into the bus. They choose seats at the very back of the bus because all the seats are fully occupied. They both put down their bags and rested their bodies on the seat cushions and the bus slowly moved away from the orphanage.

The atmosphere inside the bus feels very lively. The children are singing happily to the accompaniment of Madam Nigera's guitar. Bradley and Caden immediately feel a warm and happy feeling as they board the bus. But things don't turn out as they hope because it turns out something else is waiting for them.

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