Spice Up Your Life Day

IT’S GETTING SPICED UP!

by PearlAnn SnowStar

In the Library, Father sat by his desk. He was holding a slip of paper, shaking his head.

“Why did this ever come up?” He sighed.

“Father?”

Father turned around to see Vincent standing at the entrance to the Library.

“Oh, Vincent! Come in.” He watched as Vincent approached him.

“I just wanted to let you know that everything is ready for Winterfest. I have a list of people who wanted to celebrate Spice Up Your Life Day during our celebration. They are excited to share something new and different at our gathering.”

Father looked at his son. “I have some reservations about ever agreeing to that special day.”

“Oh?”

“Well…I…”  Father sighed. “I was thinking that the person who suggested this should have picked a random date on the calendar…” He shifted in his seat.

Vincent gently reached over and took the slip of paper out of his hand.

He smiled as he read it. “We are too boring here Below, time to shake things up. Pick a day that celebrates something unusual. I’ll start – February 17 Spice Up Your Life Day … K…”

Vincent chuckled.

Father had a stern look on his face. “Since the actual Spice Up Your Life Day isn’t until after Winterfest, I didn’t think that some people would even incorporate their…ideas on that day of celebration.”

Vincent grinned at Father. “I believe you heard the children practicing their special finale for Winterfest?”

Father sighed and raked his fingers through his hair. “A rock and roll song. Why not Bach or Schubert or,” he paused, then continued, “and the adults!”

“The adults?” Vincent tried to contain himself. “We made rules to keep everyone from going overboard.”

Father looked at him. “But I fear that certain things the adults want to do are not appropriate.”

Vincent shook his head. “Father, what harm can there be? The adults will keep certain things private. Catherine and I are.”

“Don’t give me any information about that.”

Vincent gave the slip of paper back to Father, who sat back and sighed even louder.

“Vincent, I don’t know why the Council even followed this suggestion. After all, if someone wants to celebrate a certain day, that is perfectly fine. And if others don’t, that is their prerogative. But then some wanted to do something ‘spicy’ for Winterfest. Almost everyone agreed to that idea.” Father sighed. “On top of that, it wasn’t Kanin who suggested it. And the only other “K” we know is Kevin, who is eight.”

“Father,” Vincent said calmly, “I believe some of our Helpers also heard about ‘Spice Up Your Life Day.’ I heard that some of them are thinking of what they can add to Winterfest this year that would be…unusual.”

Father shook his head. “I hope we all remember, as adults, not to go too crazy. I had to stop Mouse with his idea of bringing snow down to have a snowball fight.”

Vincent laughed and kissed the top of Father’s head. “It’ll be all right.”

* * *

The day of Winterfest finally came. Catherine and Vincent were in their chamber. They were helping their son, Jacob, get dressed as an elf.

“Going to be fun!” Jacob excitedly giggled. “I, elf.”

“Yes, you are.” Catherine smiled. “Now we’re going to get you over to Rebecca so Daddy and I can dress up, OK?”

Jacob nodded and reached out his arms toward Vincent. Vincent came over and gently picked him up. He held Jacob close to him as he and Catherine left the chamber.

* * *

Michael, who was dressed as Robin Hood, was helping Father down the stairs to the Great Hall.

“Father, here we are!” Michael’s smile spread from ear to ear.

“Why did you dress up like that?” Father inquired. Father was dressed in his Tunnel best, a comfortable sweater and pants. “And why must I come down first, before the others?”

“First off, to spice things up for Winterfest, why not Robin Hood? Green is a color for the holiday seasons, and Robin cares for the poor!”

“Stealing from the rich, I might add,” Father grumbled. “And that’s another thing. I, myself, with others, usually check out the Great Hall the night before to make sure all is in order. Everyone, even Vincent, stopped me from doing so.”

“We all thought that a little routine change was good for you. Besides, it’s a surprise.” Michael grinned at him.

Father gave him a look. The voices of people laughing and talking made them both turn toward the stairs behind them.

“Oh, my God.” Father put a hand to his heart. “What the…”

The first person he saw was Mary. She was wearing a hot red pantsuit and a Santa hat. Next to her, helping her come down, was Vincent, dressed as Santa Claus.

And the rest of the people. Some were dressed as they usually did for this gathering. Others, however, hadn’t. They wore green, red, and/or gold dresses and pantsuits.

Catherine was behind them. She wore a long-sleeved red satin shirt, a miniskirt, and black knee-high boots. She had reindeer antlers on her head.

At least Peter was dressed in his usual suit and tie.

Sebastian was still wearing his magician’s black outfit. However, his black cape had candy canes attached to it.

Rebecca was dressed in a stunning green gown with a red cape. She had what looked like tiny Winterfest candles in her braided hair. Luckily, they weren’t lit.

Father just gulped as Vincent approached him.

“I see, Vincent, you’re not completing the outfit with a white beard,” was all that Father could say.

Catherine laughed. “His beard is just fine. No need for extras.”

Mary walked up to Father and smiled. “Isn’t this just lovely! I never knew how comfortable a pantsuit was. Catherine helped me find this special outfit.”

“Ho, ho, ho,” Vincent merrily said.

Father just shook his head.

Vincent and Catherine looked at each other and started chuckling.

Father cleared his throat before saying, “Vincent, please open the doors.”

William walked up to Vincent. He was dressed in a long brown tunic and pants. On his head, he wore a brown feathered cap. He turned to face Vincent. “Let me help.”

Vincent nodded. Together, they removed the wooden bar and carried it off to the side.

Before Vincent opened the doors, William spoke up. “Friends, let the splendor of the season be upon us!” William raised his arm, and Vincent opened the doors.

Catherine moved to Vincent’s left side. Vincent offered her his arm. She intertwined her arm with his.

William, standing before Father, let Vincent and Catherine enter the Hall first. It was then that some children dressed in green and red elf costumes ran down the sides and quickly ran into the Hall.

“What the…?” Father mumbled.

“Oh, we’re just doing a little change.” Michael grinned and winked at William.

Father gave them a look. Michael and William led Father into the Hall, with the others following.

Father’s mouth fell open in complete surprise at what he saw. There were the usual candles, tables, and chairs, beer barrels, and food. But there were silver and gold bells on red ribbons tied to the walls of the Hall. The ceiling had paper snowflakes starting from the walls and going toward where the chandeliers would be. The chandeliers sat on the tables unlit. Luckily, those snowflakes wouldn’t be too close to those chandeliers when raised up to the ceiling.

The children sang, “Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful. Since we have no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.” ¹

They only sang that one verse, cheering afterwards. Others were clapping.

“Shall we all now be seated?” Michael said loudly.

Vincent and Catherine walked up to a stunned Father.

“There’s more to come,” Catherine said, trying to hold back a giggle.

Father whispered, “More?”

Mary walked up to Father. “Father, are you all right? You look…”

“Like you’re going to have a heart attack,” Peter said as he came up to Father. “Better sit down.”

Father composed himself. “Yes, yes, sit down.”

Father sat down at the table. Vincent, Jacob, and Catherine were to Father’s right. Directly across from Father was Mary. By Mary’s right side sat Kanin and Olivia. Olivia had her hair braided, intertwined with red and green ribbons. Kanin wore his usual special outfit, but he also had a red ribbon around his neck, with a bell at the end.

Father noticed that the children dressed as elves weren’t sitting at the children’s table. A few children were there wearing their usual best outfits. Some of those children had silver bells on a green band around their wrists. Others wore red ribbons with bells on their waist.

“Father?” Vincent looked at him.

“Where are those children dressed as elves?”

“They’re here,” Vincent said.

He noticed that the back wall had a small area filled with musical instruments. The usual violins and flutes were on chairs. But there were also guitars, a piano, and drums. Next to a drum set was one unusual, colorful drum, with a chair behind it.

Vincent gently touched Father’s shoulder. “Shall we begin?”

Father whispered, “I’m glad they didn’t have too many holiday decorations.”

The room was darkened, as individual candles were lit.

Father looked around, then said, “The world above us is cold and gray, summer a distant memory…” ²

* * *

Catherine and Vincent were by the dessert table, helping their son, Jacob, pick out what he wanted.

“Vincent, it seems Father has accepted the little surprises,” Catherine said with a smile.

“Narcy here, too!” Jacob said, then pointed at a plate. On it was a chocolate pie slice.

“Yes, Narcissa is here,” Vincent said. He reached over and took the plate before Jacob could grab it.

Vincent, Catherine, and Jacob walked over to a small table. Vincent placed the plate on the table and picked up Jacob. Catherine sat down, then Vincent, who placed Jacob on his lap. Jacob reached for the fork and dove into his pie.

Catherine looked around and noticed Narcissa sitting at a table. Mouse was next to her.

“Narcissa looks so elegant,” Catherine said. “Did she come in here before us?”

“Yes, along with Mouse, and a few others. There’s a curtained-off part of the hall where they sat waiting until everyone came in.” Vincent chuckled. “When the chandeliers were lit and being pulled up, they came out to join us.”

“I’m glad she’s here. She looks lovely. All in blue. That Karabela dress and sweater cape are perfect. It seems that Mouse is helping her out.”

“Narcissa will play the Tanbou drum. Only this time, it’s not for a ritual,” Vincent said.

“I didn’t know she was a drummer!”

“Neither did I. When I told her what the children were doing, she decided to help them out.” Vincent spoke softly. “She said a spirit inspired her to do so.”

Catherine giggled.

“Mommy?” Jacob looked at her, his mouth and some of his face decorated in chocolate.

Catherine smiled at Jacob. “Mommy can’t wait to see Father’s face when the children do their…rock concert.”

She looked at Vincent. “Daddy and I both can’t wait.”

A few minutes passed by as everyone enjoyed their meal.

Narcissa, with Michael’s help, stood up. They went over to the chair behind the Tanbou drum. The children dressed as elves got up and went over to the orchestra section. A girl named Tina gave Narcissa a wooden stick and went over to the drum set.

Michael motioned for all to be quiet.

“As you heard, the children have two rock and roll songs they are going to play. Narcissa is going to help them with the last one. There were lots of rock songs to choose from. The children decided that each of them would write down one song on paper. That paper would be placed into a hat. A few weeks before Winterfest, they gave Vincent the hat, and he drew the first song. Someone found out that Narcissa used to play the Tanbou drum. The children heard of it and wanted her to join them, and she agreed to. The last song was a unanimous choice. Catherine helped us find a rental shop for the Tanbou drum. Unfortunately, we have no electric guitars, but we made do.”

Michael had a huge smile on his face. “Since Father and others may not like rock and roll, we have earplugs for your ears if you want them.”

Most of the people laughed.

Michael nodded. Jamie, dressed in her fringe jacket and brown pants, walked up to join the children. She picked up one of the guitars.

After a few tune-ups, the group nodded at each other. It got quiet, then Jamie started a solo guitar riff. After that, the group started out singing and playing ‘You Ain’t Nothing but a Hound Dog’ by Elvis. Loudly.

When done, there were whistles, cheers, and clapping.

Vincent looked around and noticed Father, way back by the tapestry. Instead of putting his head into his hands or having a stern face, he was smiling.

“You saw that smile, too,” Catherine whispered to Vincent.

Jacob was clapping.

“I noticed that during the song Father was actually foot-tapping,” Vincent whispered back.

Catherine had a shocked look on her face. “NO!”

“YES!” Vincent laughed.

“YES, YES!” Jacob yelled.

The group, with a pleased look on their faces, nodded to each other. Tina got up from the drum set. She walked over to Narcissa and said something to her. As Tina walked back to her drum set, Narcissa  began  playing her drum. After a moment, Tina drummed in. The others picked up their instruments and pelted out, “I don’t want to work, I want to bang on the drums all day….” ³

* * *

Catherine and Vincent were back in their brownstone apartment. They were sitting on the couch laughing.

“I can’t get over that last song. Narcissa can play a mean drum!” Catherine was laughing so hard she was crying. “But the look on Father’s face was priceless!”

Vincent was also laughing so hard he had some tears streaking down his cheeks.

After a moment, they both got quiet.

“Father said that was the last time and that we are going back next year to a simple Winterfest gathering.” Vincent shook his head. “But most of the others loved it. They were suggesting folk songs, perhaps, or maybe a reggae.”

“I never knew Narcissa was a drummer. Or that Jamie can play a guitar.” Catherine looked at him. “Mouse and his ‘snowball fight’ with the cotton balls!”

They both started to laugh again.

“Father and William didn’t like the cotton balls falling all over the place.” Vincent chuckled. “Mouse, along with others, did volunteer to help clean things up.”

Catherine giggled. “And some of the snowflakes fell down from the ceiling.”

“I think Father was just upset some fell into his food.” Vincent smiled. “You said that tonight we have our own spicy thing?”

Catherine nodded and got up. “Give me a moment.” She was blushing.

A few minutes later, there was the sound of music. It was ‘The Stripper Song’, written by David Rose.

Vincent’s eyes widened as Catherine came out in a red robe and opened it. She was wearing only a red nightie, which she slowly stripped off.

Vincent started feeling hot and spicy.

* * *

“Spice Up Your Life Day, over and done with,” Father said as he walked towards his chamber. “Couldn’t this K have chosen ‘Random Acts of Kindness’?”

“Father?”

Father turned and noticed Mary. Thankfully, she wore her usual attire.

“Yes, Mary, is there something I can help you with?”

Mary just blushed, for some reason. “No, I suppose not.”

Rebecca showed up, looked at Mary, and said, “Mary, that pantsuit was perfect for you. You must wear something red more often. That Santa hat was also the nicest touch.”

“Thank you, Rebecca,” Mary said. “I really went out of my…comfort zone.”

“Well, you have a nice figure to pull it off, right, Father?” Rebecca glared at him.

“Yes, yes, well, I’m off to bed, you two, have a good night,” Father said quickly. He entered his chamber.

“Good night, Father,” Rebecca and Mary called out.

Father waited a moment before putting a lantern outside his chamber. Sighing, he went to sit on his bed and saw…it…a comic book.

“What the…” Father picked up the comic book. “Marvel Comics. Hmm, Doctor Strange.” Father sat down on his bed. “Let’s see what kind of doctor he is.”

Father started reading and groaned. “Of course, he had to be a metaphysical superhero.” He continued reading. “Hmm, originally a physician, mustn’t have been as good as me. Lost his mind getting into paranormal flimflam. This should have been given to Narcissa. But no, she can’t read, due to her eyesight.”

Father continued to read. He couldn’t put it down.

After a while, he said very loudly, “Of course, there’s a cliff hanger.”

He got up and carefully placed the comic book into his drawer. He placed some clothing on top of it.

He looked around. Finding a pencil and paper, he wrote down, ‘Get the next issue – # 20.’ He placed the paper on his desk.

Turning carefully, he walked to the entrance of his chamber. He noticed that no one was in the passageways. His lantern was still there. He went back into his chamber and shook his head.

He moved towards the desk and looked at the paper. He picked it up. “Must be the day, I’m out of my mind. Though the comic book was OK.”

Closing his eyes, he said, “Let’s not get started with this nonsense.”

He tossed the paper into a small garbage can. That was as spicy as he was going to get, ever.

Later that night, as Father lay asleep, the paper popped out of the garbage can. It ‘floated’ out of the chamber.

* * *

On a desk in Vincent and Catherine’s empty chamber, there was a crumpled slip of paper next to a notebook.

Laughter rang out, then a voice was heard saying, “Spice Up Your Life Day should be every day!”

___________

1. “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow” written by Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn (Concord Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.)

2. From Beauty and the Beast 1987 TV Show, Season 2, Episode “Dead of Winter”

3. “Bang the Drum All Day” by Todd Rundgren 1983, sung by Todd Rundgren