Chapter 5: Festival

A day to Cornfield festival, Jessica and I went to the nearby store to purchase some costumes. She said it was necessary for the festival and that many people would wear theirs. What I learned so far about the festival was that people would wear scary costumes and roam the streets of Cornfield during the day, and then throw a very big party at night in the Count's farmland. Initially, the festival was in loving memory of the founders of the land, Freddy Greenville and John Wilson who were hatcheted together with their families during the revolution that took place in the sixteenth century. However, things had partially changed throughout the later centuries and now the festival was celebrated differently than it used to be. In the olden days, there was nothing like throwing parties or wearing costumes. According to aunt Vicky, people would match around the streets chanting. Some would carry the portraits of Freddy Greenville and John Wilson as if protesting against tyranny… until gradually the tradition changed. Jessica selected her preferred costume, which was a voodoo poncho costume while I chose a white bunny costume for adults. I never wanted anything but she was persistent, you know? After shopping, we returned home. Aunt Vicky asked if that was all we needed for the festival and Jessica told her that was it. We spent less than seven hundred dollars. She must have expected us to spend more than that. While Jessica made calls to her friends, aunt Vicky asked if I needed more for the festival. I smiled and shook my head, "No, but I would like to know about the job opportunities here. I don't know if I can get a job" I gulped. "Job? What kind of job?" she wrinkled a brow at me. "Anything related to banking or finance," I said. "Hmm," she sighed and continued, "we don't have banks here. However, there is one in Mainland but I don't think they need any new staff, if they do they would advertise," she said. "Okay," I huffed. "But there are stores, I can get you a job in one. What do you think?" she said. "Well, not bad..." I said as Jessica chimed in, "Not what? What the hell are you trying to do, mom? Get her a job in those freaking shops? Come on, she's a college degree graduate. She deserves better!" she said and continued with her call. "Well, do you have any better option?" Aunt Vicky glared at her before turning back to me, "Laura, please don't mind her" she said, "I will see what I can do about your request. Go get some rest now" she plastered a smile on her face. "Alright, thanks aunt," I said as I positively nodded my head. "You are welcome" she uttered. When I went upstairs to my room, I couldn't help but think deeply about what Jessica said. It wasn't as if she was wrong, I also believe I deserved better, than working in a store but sometimes you just have to accept reality. If only my parents were alive, I wouldn't have found myself in such a pathetic situation. I wouldn't have even thought about relocating to the county. Aunt Vicky knew how much I hated the county before, she never thought I would honor her invitation to come live with her. One of my biggest dreams was to succeed financially and to be stable enough to live the kind of life I wanted. Being successful financially would make one independent and not dependent on anyone. You could also start thinking about starting a family. You, sure, would be respected by your spouse and nobody would look at you like a gold digger. You know, when a woman isn't financially men would look down upon her. One of the reasons I dreamed about furthering my education. Not bad though since I had a college degree already. Now all I had to do was wait for luck to find its way to me. People like Jessica were yet to further their education, she only had a high school certificate but didn't care because she could get whatever she wanted from her mother. It wasn't as if I would be deprived of the things I wanted in the house though, but being a niece to aunt Vicky I believed I was nowhere close to her daughter. People normally love their own kids more than other children, you know? That reminds me of Jessica's dream to study at Oxford. None of my friends there was able to provide reliable information about their scholarship to me, and when I told Jessica about it she groaned and never say a word about it again. I went through the things we shopped for, the costumes, and everything. Then I began wondering why I even chose the things I chose. What would people call me tomorrow when I wear my costume? Bunny? Probably. There were many good-looking costumes like those of lions, tigers, prom dresses from the 80s, and so on. But Jessica was a bad critic, whenever you ask her to comment and tell you if something fits you she would reply positively without even looking at you properly. Especially when she's busy. I had to pick the one my mind told me was okay. After repackaging the costume, I laid down on the bed facing the ceiling while thinking about how the festival would be. I had seen a lot of people buying not only costumes but also toy guns and other weapons. I didn't know what exactly they were going to use them for but Jessica said it was for pulling pranks and demonstration. Some bought horrifying costumes like mutants and zombies. As if that wasn't enough, some bought knockout too... casting fear into my mind. I was scared of knockouts actually, and the whole preparation seemed off to me probably because it was my first time. Perhaps I should change my mind about following Jessica to the streets, I should probably stay at home and watch everything on TV but would anybody film the event? I would like to see how the festival was done. I kept thinking when Jessica bounced into my room and asked if I was going to consider her mom's offer to find me a job in a store. "You know you can't do that, right?" she said glaring at me, "You are far beyond that, you need something better" she added.