A little here, a little there, Lara thought as she threw pebbles into the lake. They touched the surface of the lake and created ripples as they toppled severally across to the other side. A light breeze blew suddenly and scattered her blonde hair across her face. She struggled for a moment to get it out of her eyes and mouth; it was a bright summer morning, and the air smelled of lilies; it reminded her so much of her father. He had died a year ago from cancer. Lara thought about how they had made it a tradition to come fishing at the lake every summer, it was always beautiful and fun with her mother's fishcakes and beef stew. Now, she was left all alone to carry on the tradition. Lara's mother didn't like fishing so she spent most of her time sewing up their clothes and knitting while they were away. After her father died, the middle-aged woman spent most of her time sitting on the rocking chair her father loved, on the balcony, staring out at the front yard until Lara returned.
“Hi!” Someone said as Lara was about to throw in the fishing hook.
She turned sharply and smiled. It was Brian, her best friend. They had been friends since kindergarten. “Hello, Brian,” she said, brimming from ear to ear.
Brian spoke rapidly, he only did that when he was excited. “Guess what Lara?” He said wide-eyed.
“What?” Lara asked with a look of bewilderment.
“I got us a ticket to the live concert this evening at the stadium!” he yelled and began to sing “Annie Are You Okay” by Michael Jackson wiggling his body in a failed attempt to break dance.
Lara stood up, almost throwing her fishing hook into the pond. “You mean the one Beyonce is performing at?” She could hear her heart pounding heavily against her chest.
Brian paused for a minute to enjoy the growing tension on his friend's face, it seemed as though she was about to explode if he didn't speak soon. So he burst out laughing with a “yes!” Lara squealed and jumped on him.
Let's be on our way home already!” She said after a while of squealing. “I need to prepare my dress and make-up, and nails, and shoes, and, and_”
Brian stared at her, dumbfounded. “Wait a minute, you're going to do all this today?”
“Yes, today! Right now!” The sixteen-year-old girl said and ran around packing her fishing kit and singing like a happy child.
“Ladies and gentlemen! Tonight, Let's give it up for __” Lara put her hands to her ears, the sound from the speakers above her was so loud she felt she would soon go deaf or die out of exhaustion. But she was determined not to leave until she had watched Beyonce perform. They had been at the stadium for almost two hours now, no sign of Beyonce. The stadium was an open arena packed to the brim with people sitting on all sides in a tiered format like stacked sardines, with the stage at the center. Lara wondered for a brief moment how all these people could exist in one country alone; they reminded her of the biblical phrase, “like the sand on the seashore”. She pulled up the neck of her blue sweater and blew inside, then looked around, the ACs seemed not to be working. Why had she worn a sweater? Then she made a face and turned to look at Brian who seemed to be just as frustrated as she was.
“Why isn't Beyonce here yet?” She asked as soon as his eyes met hers.
Brian shook his head, “I don't know Lara,” he said. “I'm sorry.”
Lara sighed and watched the next artist perform. There were loud cheers from the crowd as the singer jumped around the stage asking the crowd to repeat the lyrics after him. A woman in front of her had a little child in her arms, and she was screaming her lungs out and yelling out the lyrics of the song like her life depended on it. Lara wondered if the child was breathing fine amidst the heat and stuffiness. All the while, she sat morbidly on her seat staring at the crowd around her and the stage with disappointment
About an hour later, the MC announced the last artist was about to perform and immediately the name was called out; Lara stood up and tugged on Brian’s shoulders hurriedly, “I'm going home,” she said and walked out through the aisle without looking back. Brian followed rapidly, sprinting halfway to catch up with her.
“Let's go get some drinks and pizza,” he said finally catching up with her midway to the exit. “I'll let you pick whatever type you want.” He added, breathing heavily. He was trying to make her feel better.
“Okay,” she said after a while. “But no garlic.” She added.
Brian nodded, “whatever you want,” he replied.
About thirty minutes later, they sat at a cafe nibbling quietly on a large pack of pizza, Lara's eyes fixated on the brown pack in front of her all the while. Brian couldn't bear the silence, he kept tapping on the table with his fingers and staring up at her frequently as if to say something, but soon reverted to eating his pizza and sipping on his drink.
“Why on earth would they put out so many ads and lie to the whole country that Beyonce was coming to perform at the concert when she wasn’t?” Lara burst out finally. Her face was red with anger.
Brian paused his lips; he had been blaming himself all the while for getting her the ticket in the first place and making her end up so disappointed; now he felt worse. He had only wanted to cheer her up in the morning when he called and she said she was at the lake fishing alone. He stared into her eyes and they were tearing up. “I'm sorry,” he said. “It's all my fault. I shouldn't have bought the tickets in the first place.”
A tear trickled down Lara's eyes. “I’m sorry I'm crying,” she said covering her face with her hands. “It isn't your fault, I just thought today was going to be different, and I was going to forget a bit about how much I miss my dad. But now I feel worse and I still miss him so much.”
Brian swallowed hard and thought frantically about what to do to make his best friend feel better. Then he heard some children scream at a distance, and turned. There was a mini playground at a corner of the cafe and he could see some mascots dancing around with the children. “I'll be back Lara, please give me a minute,” he said and shifted back his chair quietly. He disappeared for about fifteen minutes, while Lara sat there quietly sipping on her drink and wondering if her tears had offended him. Then out of nowhere, a blue mascot appeared in front of her table. It was the cartoon character “Tom” in “Tom and Jerry”. Lara burst out laughing suddenly. Tom was her best cartoon character in the whole wide world, and she thought it to be the funniest. She knew only Brian could pull this up
“Hi Lara, it's me, your best buddy Tom,” the mascot said turning around and wagging its butt.
Lara knew that was Brian's voice, “Brian,” she called and almost choked with her laughter. People stopped in their tracks to stare, and those sitting at the other tables around them stopped to stare at the laughing girl and the mascot wagging its butt in front of her.
“I know I'm your kryptonite, you can't resist me,” the mascot sang. “You can't be sad around meeeee.” Lara laughed until she cried and fell off her chair; then sat up on the floor begging him to stop. She laughed until all the emptiness and grief on her chest was gone. It ended up being her best night yet.
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