The hangover.
Beverages being poured at a crazy party with unidentified party organizer
Fragment 1.
There was a party. Like many parties, the details elude my memory. But it was a party. It was crazy and I remember little.
Two.
Some of it’s coming back to me. Earlier in the day, I think I was trying to get my chainsaw going, and I found some deer antlers in the forest. There’s a Foo Fighters track thudding through my head and I’m not even sure it’s a good one.
Part three.
I remember someone asking what time the party was, and I vaguely recollect saying something along the lines of :
"…let’s have the party after supper, and before bedtime."
That would place the time of the event somewhere in the 7pm-ish range, which is usually considered the Wild Hour for partying. I can’t remember exactly when it started. I wanna say around 7.19pm, but I don’t know exactly.
The fourth thing.
There were cookies! It’s coming back to me. I smelled them before getting a visual. There was chocolate, and I could tell from a hundred feet away they’d be both crispy and gooey. It’s hazy, but in the background I vaguely can see some kind of baking duo pulling them out of the oven and arranging them for display.
For the party. Because every crazy party has gotta have beverages and food displayed beautifully.
A fifth of.
There was soy milk in ceramic containers! And the cookies went on little plates! The details are slowly flooding in. It’s a slow flood.
Memory game
"You have to wear a hat or a wig.”
Somebody definitely said this. It was the party organizer, and he was short. Almost like he wasn’t fully grown. In fact…
…got it! The Party Organizer was a four-year old! I can’t believe I forgot that part. It’s amazing what slides away from your memory unless you yank it back. Yeah, I got it now. Definitely a 4-year old behind it. The crazy parties usually have someone from that demographic pulling the strings. Speaking of strings…
Seven : time jump.
I remember tucking in the Party Organizer, and we’re talking in the dark and my eyes are closed but I can feel him gesturing as he’s excitedly making plans:
"…and we’re gonna have a big party tomorrow too, and everybody’s gonna dress up, and - HEY!!!
(he violently whispered)
Do you know what we should do!?!?"
Umm,
I rubbed my eyes, because it was post-party, and crazy parties can wear you down,
what do you think we should do?
He sat up. Literally sat up. In bed. In the dark. In the bottom bunk.
"Tomorrow, I should make -
he paused for the big reveal :
- tomorrow, I should make…paper animals. Out of paper and fabric!."
For the party?
I mumbled.
Isn’t that a good idea?
he whispered gleefully, almost waking up his slumbering younger sibling, who missed the party because he was…sleeping.
I’ll make paper animals for the next party! Out of paper and fabric. I’ll sew them."
Section Eight.
Scraps of the party. They’re kaleidoscope and my head still hurts from trying to recall the details. But these are the cutouts I’m getting :
cookies arranged on individual mini glass plates
shots of milk poured into individual mini ceramic mugs
crinklets of dialogue about Bill Gaither and Dennis Quaid’s birthdays
a thousand musical instruments led by baby xylophones doing interpretations of tracks from The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins, which of course are two of the biggest party movies ever
The nines.
There were a bunch of people - if I were to estimate, I’d say around five, including the organizer, who was wearing a bowler hat and dancing from attendee to attendee with effortless enthusiasm and directed attention. Everybody was gathered around a table, a tiny table, and there was a tablecloth, and I can almost remember there being a Curious George Makes Pancakes story being read aloud at some point. Might actually have been me. It’s so hard to remember when you go hard and then crash.
Ten spot.
The party might have been in London! I remember everyone, including myself, speaking in British accents.
That seems improbable, now that I think about it. My best guess places the party taking place about ninety minutes ago, so I’m skeptical of this idea the more I think about it. No…we were not in England. But…
…but, yes, I was right: everyone was speaking in English accents. I wasn’t wrong about that. I don’t even know why. It was just that kind of party, and let me tell you I cant even remember half what happened.
There’s so much cleanup. You don’t even know.
Eleven : back to the future.
So wait a second,
I said suspiciously, opening my eyes in the dark:
I was going to teach you how to sew. You’re telling me you already know how?
The intensity of his grin blasted through the dark:
Yeah, I just need you to bring me fabric in the morning so I can make stuff for the next party.
Turns out he’s been helping his older sister sew. "I’ve been watching her, and I know how to press your foot down on the thing, and how to cut the strings, so I’m pretty sure I can sew all by myself now. I just need fabric."
For the next party tomorrow?
I asked.
Yeah.
he said.
For the next party tomorrow.
——
I gotta sleep this off. I might not even get up tomorrow.
Except…
…got another party coming up.
——
