Project Songbird

Chapter 23

"Hey Jack, do you want to help decorate?" Hailey asks.
Her question brings me out of my concentration and I take notice that Jack had joined us. He shakes his head no, taking a seat nearby.
"Amy kicked you out for some fresh air huh?" Wade guesses. Jack shakes his head in a yes motion before he reaches forward and fiddles with one of the decorations in front of him. He has bags under his eyes and his skin was looking kinda clammy. I was certain if it wasn't for everyone force feeding him, he probably would have lost a few pounds.
It pained me to see him so hurt.
"Has Amy given you any good news about Mark?" Hailey asks. Jack mutters some words and then makes a motion with his hand.
I have no idea what he said.
"He said that Amy believes Mark is doing better than he was but he is healing at an incredibly slow rate. The strain on his body is not good either." Wade elaborates. Angie makes her way into our decorating area and takes a seat next to Jack. She was holding a book, "Jack, could you give me a hand with something?" Her voice is tender and it seems to pull him out of his dissociation. He nods his head slightly.
She opens the book, "I found this in one of the shops and I was trying to decide where these should go." She holds up photos. Curious, I make my way over to look. She has pictures from the last few days of everyone being happy and excited.
"Where'd you get the camera?"
"I found it." Angie answers, making a small motion to shoo me away. I step away from the table and just watch from afar.
"Could you help me put together a photo album?" She smiles softly.
Jack tilts his head and grabs a photo, "I guess so." He frowns in concentration.
"I'm trying to keep his mind off of his upsetting situation." Angie let's me know with Wade's help. "Also I wanted it to be a wedding gift for when we can put together their dream wedding."
That's nice of you to do. I turn away from them and go back to my decorations.
"A heavenly light appeared before people to what??" Hailey questions.
"The villagers were trapped in blinding snow, unable to find shelter in the storm. Afraid they were going to die, some cried out to the heavens for help; the heavens answered with warm lights bright enough to see for miles allowing them to find shelter." I recall from history class. Hailey wandered over to help me with my decorations, "Do you think if we ask for help, the heavens will answer??"
I merely shrug, "Your guess is as good as mine." I didn't really want to get into beliefs and different religions. I usually sit on the fences anyway, not sure which way to lean.
"Wow Jack, you have quite the eye!" Angie smiles as she picks up the photo album, flipping through the pages that Jack just got done with. Jack lays his head down on the table, letting out a heavy sigh, "I don't know if I want to celebrate anything."
I felt bad. Mark was shot during our escape plan. We both insisted that we save them, but maybe I should have left Jack behind? He wouldn't have been used as a tool against Mark.
"C-can I help?"
The small voice breaks me from my muddled thoughts and I look around and then down at the tugging on my clothes. It's Bob's little one.
"Of course." I smile warmly before handing the little boy an extra streamer, "Do you think you could hang that in a super special place?" His eyes light up with the thought of being in charge of something special. He grips the streamer with his tiny hands and nods his head furiously, swiftly making his way away from us.
"You sure have a way with kids." Angie smiles as she watches the little one run by. I laugh a bit, "Oh, not really. I'm not completely a fan of children."
"Really?" She sounds surprised.
"I never really had time to deal with kids," I recall my musical career.
"How come?"
"Well I was a musician, I housed a lot of important musical instruments and pages of music in my house. Kids would probably run a muck and just make a mess of the place." I grabbed my decorations and went to finally hang them. Hailey follows to help me.
"What about now?" Angie asks.
"Now what??" I didn't understand her question.
"About kids now?" She elaborates on her question. I stand on a chair and grab some nails to hang the decorations.
I thought about her question and then just shrugged. I didn't know how to answer her. I didn't really lean either way with kids.
"So what day does the festival start?" Hailey breaks up the small silence. She's on another chair, hanging the other side of the decoration I was working on.
"I think it starts tomorrow night." I glanced outside to see the sun was still shining.
"Ooh! How exciting!" She moves her body in a way that looks like she's trying to do an excited dance.
"Ethan, do you drink?" I hear Wade ask.
I drank a little bit, why?
"I thought for the festivities, we could all relax with a nice cold drink so I went to the store to get some alcohol." He answers and I tilt my head a bit.
I guess if we are responsible about it, it should be fine.