Miss Pear’s
adventures. Chapter one – Fruit Town
The
Central Library of Gloomy Seaside Town is
a quiet place, where everyone goes quite often, as there isn't much else to do, except
in the summer season, when the town is full of tourists. But now, as it is the
end of August, Miss Pear, the receptionist of the library, is standing by the
Reception desk, sorting out the books being brought back after the
holidays. She has always enjoyed her job, but after a busy period, she always
felt like she needed a break, like she wanted to go somewhere and experience an
adventure of her own. She’s seen too many happy people living their dream for
two-three weeks, that now, Miss Pear has decided there and then, that she wanted
to escape.
A grumpy customer not admitting that he didn't return some books, has demoralised her even more. Now she was in the middle of an argument with him and needed to get away. She tells him that she needs to check in the register about those books and excuses herself while she steps into the Office.
A grumpy customer not admitting that he didn't return some books, has demoralised her even more. Now she was in the middle of an argument with him and needed to get away. She tells him that she needs to check in the register about those books and excuses herself while she steps into the Office.
First
things first, though, she wanted to see when her holidays were
booked for. The Office is a very daunting and grim place, hardly any light gets
through. Every time she was going in, she felt the need to run out, but
today she was making an effort to find the calendar with the holidays and that register. The
light switch was quite difficult to find in that darkness, but as she has
switched it on, she realised why she wasn't using the office to relax in her
lunch breaks, even though she was allowed to: it was a complete mess, and no
matter how often she has tidied it up, it was always getting back to this indescribable
state… Sad how it didn't bother some people to live in such a mess: the desk
was a complete chaos, lots of papers thrown around, with no order or logic whatsoever,
there was a plant on the windowsill, if you could really call it a plant any more
that is, as it looked more like a set of twigs… But somehow, she did find that
calendar and realised that her holiday wasn't really booked until much later in
the year. What was she thinking when she has booked her holiday for October???
What was she going to do in October??? A!!!! Now she remembered, her friend has
asked her to swap and as she had nothing better lined up, she has accepted, but
now she regretted it…immensely…
“Well,
let’s see what I can do about this.” She thought to herself as she left the
office and went straight to the Canteen. She was going to ask Amy Apricot if she
could swap holidays as she was supposed to have some time off in the next few
days.
“Aww”…Amy
has left a plate of fish and chips for Miss Pear on the table… “No, I couldn't ask her to swap, she has got family coming tomorrow, I couldn't do this to her…I couldn't really ask anyone to swap their planned holiday with me, it’s too
short notice for anyone. I really want to leave…now…”
She
went back to her desk, finished what she was doing told the grumpy customer that he is allowed to take the new books out, but that someone else will look into the old ones,and started writing a letter…a
resignation letter. She has decided it’s time for her to take life in her hands
and go and chase her dreams, and at this point in time, her dream was to have
an adventure and follow the wind, wherever it would take her…
M.P.
(Miss Pear) dropped the letter in the Office and went home to pack a few things
and started walking… Should she go to the train or bus station? There was no
airport in Gloomy Seaside Town, and she didn't really want to fly anyway, she
wanted to see places, so either bus or train would do for her. She was ready to
explore.
Her
steps took her to the Bus Station. First bus was in 10 minutes and would go all
the way to Fruit Town. That was quite a way away from Gloomy Seaside Town, but
it would cross most of the country and she really wanted to see places. If she
wanted she could hop off the bus, if any place along the way would stir
interest. So she decided to hop on, but in order to do that, she needed a
ticket. At the ticket office window, a sour face was saying something she couldn't really understand, it was much too loud, with everyone getting on the bus and trying to organise their luggage in the luggage compartment. When she
got a bit closer, she realised she was being advised to rush if she wanted to
get on that bus, as there were only a few minutes left till departure. She
quickly bought a ticket and got on board. She didn't need to use the luggage
compartment, as she only had a small bag with overnight stuff. She was going to
buy things along the way, depending on where she will settle: somewhere by the
sea ( a more lively seaside town), or somewhere in a big town. Fruit Town was a
place that she always wanted to visit. From the books, it looked like a very
old, quiet, but quirky little town, but full of places to visit and interesting
arty things to do. She was thinking for quite some time that she would love to
take up painting, but with her job and helping out her neighbours, her life was
pretty busy in Gloomy Seaside Town , so maybe, this was the time to see if that
would make her feel more accomplished.
As
she got on the bus and found a great sit by the window, she was being “attacked”
by two toddlers – the Cherry Twins. They were very cute, almost angelic in
their looks, but she could see trouble was in the waiting… She tried not to interact
too much, as the reason for this trip was to relax and enjoy the scenery, but
she couldn't ignore them, as they were literally climbing onto her… Where were
their parents???? She told them off in a nice manner, and gave them a sweet
each, to keep them quiet, but it didn't last long. So, as she went back to
reading her book, she was being jumped on again… What should she do? Should she
say something to their parents? Should she ignore them to see if they would
stop?
She
did try the peaceful way, she carried on reading her book for a while until it
was not possible any more She got up, to look for their parents. They were both
asleep. Was this normal? Would you just go to sleep and leave your young
children to just roam and annoy passengers? She went to the front to talk to
the bus driver, seeing that the Cherry Twins have only picked her and no one else
to annoy. But the bus driver didn't really want to know too much, as long as he
had peace and quiet, he was happy.
“What
is all this about???? She is on a holiday. She has even given up her job to
live a dream. This WAS NOT her dream!!!”. She has decided to take matter in her
own hands. She told the twins off and got them both by their hands and sat themdown
in their seats next to their parents, but that was not their idea of fun, so
they have decided to throw a tantrum, as that always worked for them. And it seemed
that, that was what worked for their parents, as they both woke up instantly. How
funny… But, not so funny when they started accusing Miss Pear of upsetting their
children. In vain she has tried to explain that the kids needed to be looked
after, as she wanted to read her book and not be jumped on by two toddlers. The
parents started abusing her as well now.
“What
was all this about???? Is this a farce? Is someone playing a trick on me???”
she thought out loud. But instead of someone familiar jumping from behind a
seat, the Cherry twins’ parents were carrying on with their verbal abuse,
raising their voices now, as they were clearly getting more and more annoyed
with the fact that they were woken up from their nap.
M.P.
decided that she needed to take the situation in her own two hands as, by the looks
of it, no one else was getting involved. Should she start an argument with
these inconsiderate and rude people, and put them in their place? Is it worth
it? Or should she just get off the bus and get on with her adventure. This
might just be a sign, this whole situation might just tell her it is time to
get off the bus. There might be something interesting waiting for her in the
next town.
“Yes,
that’s what I will do! I am wasting no more time!” She went in front and asked
the bus driver to drop her off at the next stop.
Having
misunderstood her, he stopped the bus at the edge of town, and there was no
public transport she could take, but she only realised that once the bus was
gone. Oh dear, what a nightmare. Did she do the right thing? Was she really
made for adventures?
The
only thing she could do, was to hitch-hike but luckily, there came a car that
stopped straight away and picked her up. Madame Ananas (the driver), told her
she was heading to Fruit Town.
“What
a coincidence! Yes, I’ll get to Fruit Town, after all, and have a great ride at
the same time. Oh, didn't I mention, Madame Ananas introduced herself as being
a ballet teacher, who has been visiting relatives in Gloomy Seaside Town, and
was on her way back home, but didn't really enjoy driving all that way on her
own. So she was really happy to have a passenger to talk to. She was driving a
really nice car, comfy seats, lovely relaxing music was coming out of her
stereo, so what more could anyone ask for?”
So
M.P. started telling her about the mini 'adventure' she had on the bus and why
she had to abandon her travels and was forced, in a way, to hitch-hike.
“Oh
no, not the Cherry Twins!!!” was what came out of Madame Ananas’ mouth… “ funny
how small the world is, isn't? They were living next door to my relatives,
during my stay in Gloomy Seaside Town. They were there on holiday, but were
really cheeky.”
Then
they started talking about each other’s lives, deciding to both leave their respective
Cherry Twins episodes behind them.
Madame
Ananas was a retired ballet teacher, a widower, part of the old French
aristocracy, and she had a son, Lazy Ban (lazy by name, lazy by nature, as Miss
Pear will soon find out for herself). She was telling her companion how she was
trying really hard to get her son interested in the family affairs, as she was
really ready to retire and leave everything for him to run. They had a few art
galleries in Fruit Town. The only thing Lazy Ban was interested in, was painting,
and she had to admit, he was really good at it, but she would have liked him to
have a bit of business sense and run the art galleries as well.
“How
lovely”, thought Miss Pear, “I came on this adventure to learn how to paint,
and I'm having a ride with the owner of a few art galleries in Fruit Town...
