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A large vehicle came to an abrupt stop, kicking up dust and peddles when it drove past an open view of a lake, the van backed up a few centimetres until it eventually stopped. And where the dust settled, stood a motley coloured, vibrant van with its owners stepping one by one out.
The crazed drummer was the first to jump out, running tracks around the grounds right as the laid-back bassist stepped out next, telling him to be careful and to not run off too far where they couldn’t see him anymore. The Keyboardist of the bunch stood already way ahead than the rest, his head high up as he gazed upon the land before him. It was such a breath-taking scenery, they were surrounded by trees but in this view it was all clear and open with a picnic table further down the small hill. Another notable feature was the rough yet still stable basket swing hanging off one tree by the lake. The lake, oh how calming the atmosphere was with the bedazzling reservoir stretching across the fields.
Right behind the water did the forest continue in its length, trees lined up one by one at the end of the other side. The only thing standing out yet not ruining the atmosphere one bit was the small wooden raft in the middle of the lake, a few centimetres away from the shore.
Just what the band needed to get away for a while from their busy touring lifestyle. The past week their daily schedule consisted of waking up, eating, hitting the bars and clubs they were hired to play at, lastly eating again for dinner ending the cycle only to do it all over again by going back to sleep in their shared van.
Not particularly the best life to live in, but the band kept it going all for their fans plus their love for music. Fortunately, for a band like the mayhem a little RnR road trip was what they desperately needed to get their minds refreshed. And the trip they went under was to help them get reconnected with mother nature, it seems that over the past months they’ve really missed her call.
At times, Lips’s connection with practically everyone in the world came in handy, he called up a friend who was a local park ranger to ask him if there were any tranquil spots to camp in the park he worked at.
Luckily the ranger picked up the phone right away and recommended one spot, a special place down by the lake that guests loved mostly because of its serene yet bewitching atmosphere. How long they would stay here wasn't known, not even by the band.
They left destiny to control their every move, thus they were led to this place both for relaxation and for the next big step. What that step would be, they didn’t know. All that they needed to do was to have some fun, rest easy for a while and then hit the road in the early morning to see where the next string of adventure led them to.
Meanwhile the band promised each other to lay down with the technological devices and only make use of the stuff surrounding them, mainly Lips had to stay true to that promise.
The doctor inhaled the aroma lumbering in the air, a calming sensation coursing through his body. He pointed the beauty of the place out to his fellow members, leading Floyd to shrug at his comment with mixed reactions, at least it would be a nice change from the hotels and resorts they spend time in. The two stayed together, gazing upon the scene while the rest wended their attention to separate things.
Animal was already long gone, running wild from tree to tree to wear his energy out. The kind guitarist was equally enthralled with the nature around them, but she directed her eyes over to a flower bed.
Squatting down before it as she took in all the different species of floral, running her hand with a delicate approach through the outer flower of a cow parsley.
The texture of the blossom was white like snow, definitely up on her list of top favourite flowers. She would surely have a splendid time with now being back in the outdoors where her soul was meant to be. Her connection with mother nature was something that went beyond everyone else’s, for her staying true to the nature from where she came wasn’t just to promote a sense of calmness.
Rather, it was there for her to restore and rejuvenate her energy field. For her exhaustion and worry to fade away as she collapsed into Mother Nature’s arms.
It’s where Janice was destined to be and how disgraceful she would be if she didn’t follow along to nature’s call. We all come from ape-like descendants so why should we stay in this made up materialised world, destroying our beautiful world from whence we came.
Janice herself hated this ‘modern’ world, another reason she disliked these technological devices that only broke her energy and peace to bits. A lifestyle as a musician in a band, cruising nonstop through the country in their van, being at one with nature was the only thing she ever needed. Her inner serene relationship with nature reflected in her image.
With a handmade linen tank top, embroidered with lovely floral patterns. A necklace with smaller orange and white stones tied in with the rope, putting it with a round jade stone attached to the end of the necklace to top it all off. Her brownish maxi skirt blended in perfectly with the earth surrounding her.
Another noticeable feature was the lack of shoes.
As a noteworthy Vietnamese monk once said, “Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.”, which is what she was just doing. Not only her, but her fellow bandmates as well. They ditched the idea of their feet being contained in man-made objects and instead walked the earth with their bare feet to feel nature's pulse run like electricity through their bodies.
She marvelled at the different flowers, each one polar opposites of the other but together perfect and pretty, for perhaps another 2 minutes before her head snapped to the Trumpeter.
The eyes of her friends moving in sync at the sound of Lips’s voice. He gestured to one tree, further down by the shore where it stood out from the natural trees growing. This tree had something about it that made it specifically unnatural, it wasn’t just decorated with leaves, it had strange red and green objects attached to them.
It sort of looked like a- “Dis mo Bammle?” Lips wondered, Floyd figuring the mumbled question of the trumpeter out in no time flat,“That’s an apple tree alright.” he too had his gaze fixed upon the out of place tree.
How come an apple tree with, what looked like pink lady’s hanging from it, could have grown all the way out here. It would make sense if someone planted it but the band didn’t know for sure.
The apple tree wasn’t really that intriguing, they just left it as a little mysterious piece sitting in the back of their minds, for now they needed to unload all their cooking equipment out of the van to the picnic table if they were gonna eat for tonight.
Usually they switched from time to time on who would take the role of cooking if they were ever outdoors, now that role was laid on Janice who couldn’t be more happy over getting the honour. While on the way here she had made a list of tasty dishes she’d wanted to prep’. They would go ahead with separate meals throughout lunch and dinner, by the end topping it all off with sitting around the campfire, roasting some s’mores. Some of these cooking appliances ranged from simple enamel plates that only needed to be put aside, while stuff like the grill had to be set up above the campfire. Lips got the swivel grill they kept in the van for trips like these, planting it into the grass so that it could stand straight and right above where the flames would later blaze.
This fire was a simple one, nothing too fancy. Only a row of stones surrounding some old, burnt wood that needed to be replaced in order to start a new fire. Fortunately they didn’t need an axe, there was a pre-chopped pile of firewood laying further down the campsite that Floyd was sent to fetch.
Truly this day was a bright and free-spirited one, seeing that all the members were out and about processing in their activity at the campsite.
All but one absent-minded saxophonist who stayed behind to sleep in the van. Not only to sleep but another trait that made Zoot stand out from his friends was that he hated camping overall, especially in the summer when bugs and other insects would be quite literally squirming the place. Making it a total nuisance to sleep at night and during the day. The saxophonist wasn’t exactly eager to get a mosquito bite or bee sting today.
Principally since they had run out of repellent mosquito spray and weren’t getting any until the next grocery haul. To keep himself protected against those lousy pests, he stayed behind in the van to sleep the time off.
However, a peculiar keyboardist wouldn’t let him miss out on all the fun just because of a little bug fear. Strong pounds on the metal door startled the brass musician out of his slumber, rubbing his eyes as a frown grew across his face. He slid on the seats over to the door, opening it to come face to face with Dr. Teeth.
The stare said everything, especially the part with Zoot specifically stating that he did not want to get out of the safe vehicle.
“I said what I said and I stick by it.” he grumbled, legs dangling off the sides of the seat as the door remained open. “What? Not even to take the time and gaze at the bedazzling scenery?” he grinned, moving a bit to the side for Zoot to get his own glimpse at the view.
He had to agree, the lake radiated this calming sensation. And hopefully Zoot would acknowledge the basket swing hung further up by the lake. “I think there’s even a swing down by the shore.” there it was, that mischievous grin the doctor typically pulled when he tried to persuade quite literally anyone. With that on him Teeth wouldn’t stop in his attempts, not even if Zoot closed the door at this exact moment.
Zoot exhaled, stepping out of the van. The only one with Sandals on him that highlighted his clothing preference.
While the others were all in tank tops, bathing shorts plus Lips and the doctor being shirtless. Zoot was the odd-one out with him having his beige shirt buttoned all the way to the top and his respective signature puka shells hanging around his neck.
He was a bit risky with his legs though, wearing grey shorts that completely revealed his limbs therefore making them a vulnerable target for mosquitos. He didn’t have much of a choice, these were the only things currently available in his wardrobe. All their dirty clothes had been handed over to a dry-cleaning shortly before they drove up the mountain. Zoot reached back into the van, carrying a blanket in his hand and a pillow underneath his armpit before he slammed the door shut. Turning his head to Dr. Teeth, “But If I even get one mosquito bite, I’m blaming you.” he exclaimed.
Teeth put his hands up as he chuckled, shaking his head lightly as he made way for Zoot to pass him by. At least he got the saxophonist out of the van for a while, who knew how long he’d be asleep in the basket swing.
Right after Teeth assisted in helping Lips start the fire, Janice walked to the back of the van. Hopping into the open space where they took out some seats to make more room for their equipment, camping appliances and groceries.
Her hands wandered all around the cabinets and boxes, cautiously avoiding breaking the drumset apart. With a wild percussionist like Animal hammering down onto his drums, particularly when attending larger gigs, would often leave the set in shambles after gigs that needed to be re-assembled each time. The sheer energy and strong grip of Animal was nothing to turn a blind eye on.
Janice kept on inspecting the insides of their van, yet nothing.
She was searching high and low for certain things that she would need for later if she wanted to go through with cooking up the meals.
Her distress caught the Bassist by his looming interest to what the flower child was exactly looking for, he called Janice by her name. She instantly turned around with her face drowing in disappointment. Alarming Floyd who inquired to know if she was alright. She crashed down on the edge of the van, legs meeting with the floor beneath her. The Ingredients that she needed just had to be missing from their supply of nutrients.
“Don’t stress yourself.” Floyd whispered in a delicate tone, they were after all here to escape from the stress rather than run straight into its clutches. He further informed her of that store they passed going up the road to the mountain, surely they sold fresh ingredients there. Maybe even some drinks, now that he thought about it, they were kind of missing a few beers to tie this night together.
Janice’s smile did seem to improve, “Think everything will be alright while I’m gone.” Her eyebrows rose up upon seeing Floyd grin at her reply, “Sure, why wouldn’t it be?” He grasped hold of her hands with care, his gaze softening as the couple looked into each other’s eyes. “There should be some cash in the storage department.” he said, pushing himself up onto his toes to give the guitarist a gentle kiss on her cheek.
The two processed in getting the needed supplies, Janice boarding the van to take it back down the way from where they came. Waving out of the window to Floyd as she turned the vehicle around and left.
With the large block of painted metal being gone, a figure who must have stood for a while behind it, emerged from it only to spook Floyd.
Floyd quite literally jumped back, hand to his heart as he laughed nervously.
“Man, you scared me.” he chuckled, his laughter dying down once he observed Animal’s depressed expression, “Janice?” he sobbed, head looking up to Floyd for answers. That’s what he was so sad about, Floyd took his buddy into his own arms, ruffling through Animal’s hair to reassure him that she’ll only be gone for a few minutes and that Janice will be back before he even knows it.
To that reply Animal turned his body instantly back to the road where the van disappeared off to, the bassist should have clarified what he meant by that.
Floyd took hold of Animal’s shoulders, leading him to the picnic table to only be greeted by the same questions from both Teeth and Lips. Therefore Floyd had to explain everything that led up to Janice booking it with the van, calculating the time they spent driving up, she should be back in like 20 minutes or more.
For now, the band was ready to dive straight into the cold water. This being the highlight of their trip, the raging summer heat was nothing to sneeze at.
So crashing the night at a place with a big lake like this was like a special treat for the band, something they well-earned from the tours and gigs.
Floyd himself was ecstatic, earning him the rightful title of water rat considering he spends most of his free time around water. Diving, swimming and surfing were all greatly enjoyed hobbies of his. Surfing perhaps not so much, only a peculiar activity he would engage in with Janice.
He lifted his arms up, pulling the t-shirt through his head as he threw it onto the table. Floyd hadn’t had much thought put into his wear, he merely put on whatever he could find, consisting of an orange t-shirt with a striped speedo. The Bassist was eager to dive directly into the cold water, having waited the time off in the van until they came to their destination and now he couldn’t contain his excitement any longer.
There was just one person who didn’t appreciate the wide bodies of water, a clear opposite of Floyd. The Crazed Drummer had followed Floyd all the way to the shore up until his brain forcefully warned him against entering the cold bluish substance. Animal came to an abrupt stop, in such fashion that he lost balance and collapsed to the floor.
Maybe camping for the night at a big lake like this wasn’t the best idea. Floyd’s eyes darted back to his buddy, worry setting in as he reached the trembling Animal.
His hand was outstretched towards Animal, who took it without any words exchanged to stick close to Floyd. Protecting himself by remaining behind Floyd’s back so that he wouldn’t have to come eye to eye with the water. Unfortunately, in his efforts to get Floyd to stay by his side, the bassist instead pulled him closer to the shore.
He merely wanted to show Animal that it was alright, Floyd kept a cool and collected position, taking steady steps into the water. The two stood on two opposite Surfaces, Floyd deep in the water with his feet looking as if they disappeared into the liquid while Animal stood behind where the grass met the sandy shore. Animal was persistent in his stand-point. He neither wanted to step into the water but also didn’t want to get separated from Floyd. He nervously played with his fingers with the wave of anxiety washing over him, Floyd however didn’t take his eyes off Animal for even a second. He wanted for him to take his time, to both help Animal see that the water was nothing to be afraid of and that you can even have immense amounts of fun in it.
After a good few seconds, they couldn’t make any progress in their attempt, the drummer only kept backing up. His feet meeting the grass.
Floyd now knowing him staying in the water wasn’t the best tactic to aid his buddy.
He stepped out of the cool liquid to near Animal, to stay close by him.
He laid his hands on Animal’s shaky arms, rubbing them up and down to soothe him. This little fear-overcoming session did grasp the other’s, Lips and Teeth were only a clear distance away from the rhythmic players, observing what took the bassist so long to join them in the water.
All while Zoot had personally left the area with the basket swing to aid Floyd. Around this moment did the wind start to pick up, pushing an unwanted amount of water up into a wave and advancing towards the shore.
This went unnoticed as Floyd had just gotten Animal to take a step down onto the sandy surface. Maybe a bit too big of a step as the current set in, the water reaching both the sand where Animal still stood and his feet. The cold substance caused the drummer to jerk and jump back out of fear over the liquid touching him.
Practically jumping so far that he landed right in Floyd’s arms. Animal clung to the Bassist’s chest like a monkey, head nuzzling deep into his chest.
He didn’t want whatever this weird freezing thing was to come get him, he desperately needed Floyd to reside with him, most importantly to protect him from the water. The Bassist held his frightened buddy close in his arms, rubbing his back up and down in an effort to ease his anxious soul. Whispering words of sweet assurance, that they were too far away from the deeper depths of the lake for this terrorising sea beast, that Animal imagined existed, to leap from the water and to reach out for them.
Floyd wouldn’t let that happen to his buddy, that’s just what he kept promising him as a tactic to put some comfort into the shaking drummer, his heart beat must be racing from the shock of coming into contact with the freezing liquid.
“Animal.” Zoot called out to him, waving to gain Animal’s attention with a bright smile plastered across his face.
When Animal did turn at the sound of his voice, his lightning heart beat slowed down with the fact that he was also here, here to help him. “Hey, It’s me.” Zoot's voice was as sweet and calm as the wind, maybe that’s another reason why Animal liked him so much. His voice was just the perfect mixture of contentment and warmth, keeping you at peace with his every sentence. “You don’t have to go into the water if you don’t want to.” He reassured him, letting Animal know that it was okay to be afraid and that he didn’t need to go in if he didn’t feel comfortable.
Zoot straightened his back, meeting the eyes of Floyd. “You and the others have fun, I’ll stay with Animal here,” he exclaimed. Perhaps the drummer remaining with the saxophonist would be the best option, they couldn’t really pressure him into joining them and neither did they ever want to do that. Zoot outstretched his hands to Animal in a slow motion, him taking his into hold in a rather quick grasp.
Arms clinging to Zoot instead of Floyd, speaking of the chill bassist, he forced back a slight chuckle escaping his lips from seeing how Animal wanted to remain in Zoot’s arms. And how swift Animal changed from him to Zoot.
The two members went their ways, Floyd telling Zoot to take good care of their little drummer while he went into the cold and refreshing water.
Zoot led Animal all the way back to the picnic table. He sat down on the bench first, Animal following suit with him collapsing into Zoot’s arms once more, digging himself into Zoot’s chest as he only wanted to stay with someone who kept him safe and would protect him from whatever lurked beneath the dark bluish surface. The saxophonist kept his hand on Animal’s head, with light and delicate motions, he brushed through the drummer’s wild mane with his fingers to keep him at peace.
Zoot kept his head high, a breeze flowing through his hair as he observed the four band mates going about their fun. He chuckled lightly at the scene that unfollowed before him. Once Floyd had reached the floating raft in the middle and got up on it, Lips pushed him right back into the water but not without Floyd pulling the trumpeter with him on his way down.
After their heads popped back up out of the water, did they lose themselves to their laughter.
Getting back up on the raft to play a small match of wrestling.
The goal in this game was to get the other person into the water. Being thrown down from the raft would give that person the title of loser and the one who succeeded in pushing them would get the honorary role of Winner. In their case, Dr. Teeth was the winner as he managed to push the two of them at the same time into the water. Caught them all off-guard. A rather humorous view to look at, Zoot himself snickered at the childish behavior of his fellow bandmates. Couldn’t blame them much either, they had spent most of the tour on the road and hitting bar after bar, a little fun and relaxation was the thing they just needed.
All except for one. Animal wasn’t much watching, rather he wanted to keep his head buried in Zoot’s chest. It came to a point where his legs had wrapped around Zoot as well. Going so far as if there was no way Zoot could ever escape Animal’s grasp on him.
It’s not like Zoot did even want to let go of the drummer. He knew how bad phobias and fears against certain things were, the only thing Animal needed was a simple person staying by his side to assure him that everything was okay. That he didn’t need to fear, especially not over the cool water, “Water, bad.” the drummer whined, the ruffle through his hair increasing as Zoot heard that.
He replied, “It’s very mean to you, isn’t it?” to which Animal only nodded, a quiet mumble as the only answer escaping his lips.
"I won’t let it get you.” that made the drummer’s soul rest with relief knowing someone had his back against that insufferable cold substance, his hug on the saxophonist only increasing.
Their embrace of each other went on for a little longer, the usual exhaustion kicking in with Zoot was wondering if he could nap for a short while.
A small closing of his eyes to get some shut-eye and Animal wouldn’t even notice. He didn’t have to notice though, he was occupied with something else.
It’s as if the previous fear and shock of coming into contact with the water washed away like a gust of wind. Instead, his voice bellowed out, “Jaa-nice!”, Animal’s head shot up after his eyes met with the guitarist, who equally had a big grin across her face at the sheer happiness in Animal’s tone to seeing her again.
Janice strolled down the small hill, nearing the picnic table where the ecstatic drummer leaped out of Zoot’s arms.
“Janice! Janice! Janice!” he kept on chanting, releasing his grip on Zoot and shooting up from the table to run to the guitarist. Zoot, not having taken into account over the second weight casted off him, shook his head lightly to clear his hazy mind as he turned around to see where Animal had run off to. Sure enough, there he was, bear-hugging Janice as she held him in her arms, laughing with pure joy. She patted Animal’s head, stroking through his hair as her tone was filled with laughter, “Animal!”. Nevertheless Janice kept her embrace around the drummer, “I missed you too, buddy.” She rubbed his back, ever so slightly tipping her head down to him.
He kept his arms secured around her torso, eyes closed while he took in the hug with all joy.
She practically had to shuffle to the picnic table due to how tight of a grip Animal had on her, though she couldn’t blame him. If either one of the band members was gone for a large amount of time, Animal would jump right up from wherever he sat, run over to said member and give them the longest and most love-filled hug they could ever get.
“Janice.” Animal’s noisy cheers of her name had reduced to light purrs, almost like a cat. His grip on her eventually died down and his mind completely changed from Janice to a squirrel that had run with lightning speed past their table. Animal began the chase, booking after it.
Zoot’s eyes widened as he processed what Janice had put down onto the table, he reached for it to see if it was dreaming, his hands meeting the cold exterior of the spray. It really was repellent spray against those noisy, agitating mosquitoes. He couldn’t thank Janice enough for this special remedy.
“You’re my savior” he breathed, immediately applying the spray all around his body. The Flower child awed at the sweet comment, she wouldn’t really consider herself a savior or anything of that sort, they had run out prior a few weeks ago and once she saw the spray on the shelf she just put it with the groceries. Thinking Zoot would greatly appreciate it. Which he did.
With her presence back at the camp, she questioned if there had been anything wrong going on. The Saxophonist rambled on, despite his best attempts at remembering every single detail he could only come up with the stuff that happened in the last 5 minutes, which was the whole thing with Animal.
Janice knew how much he disliked water, plus everything that involved getting wet, her eyes followed Animal’s swift movements across the campsite. His care-free and adventurous mood having come back to him, at least he wasn’t as anxiety ridden as he usually would get in the involvement with liquid.
Her attention, along with Zoot’s, turned to their friends splashing around in the cold water. Getting a good refreshment from the scorching heat. Zoot’s dislike of water wasn’t much of a fear like Animal’s, he simply just hated swimming, Zoot was more the kind to float in the substance. Sleeping as if he was floating on a cloud.
While Janice's ideal way of relaxation wasn’t getting herself wet or diving under water, yet surfing was a close hobby of hers, she leaned more to meditation and yoga to take her mind off of stress. Though it wasn’t just that, sometimes she engaged in art, specifically painting. She called Animal over to join them back at the table. Leaving both him and Zoot in intrusion of what she was planning, her little walk back to the van didn’t just contain transporting the cooking ingredients from one point to the other but a colourful amount of bringing small bottles of paint to the table did.
Zoot already began to argue against participating in Janice’s art session. He himself wasn’t a good artist, preferring photography, though he couldn’t escape Janice’s repeated words that having less of an experience with something didn’t mean that you were bad at it. It simply meant you were at a beginner level, the most important part was to have fun. She kept it at that, leaving the two to put their creativity onto paper while she began preparing lunch.
Animal hopped over the table to sit close by Zoot, who didn’t mind the drummer sticking close to him.
What Janice had laid out across the table were a few empty sheets of paper, miniscule tubes of acrylic paint, brushes of different sizes in a cup and even a plastic palette to put the colours in and to individually mix them.
The paint especially was an entourage of vibrant, bright colours.
Ones that could easily have a brush dipped into it and have the colours be slung all at once onto a canvas.
Zoot didn't put much effort or even motivation into his piece, taking a flat brush out of the cup to soak it up with the blue, switching between the light and darkish textures. He began fiddling around with the brush, producing lines and little swirls. The Brass musician retracted his hand to observe the paper in front of him, which looked like waves of water if you turned your head slightly. Zoot transferred his attention to Animal, upon seeing him use his hands instead of brushes to slap on colour onto his hands, he picked a skinny brush out of the cup and handed it over to the creative drummer.
Stating that he could paint with this instead of his hands. Zoot grabbed another brush, this time with a more roundish tip, dipping it into the purple and going back to the art.
He really wasn’t knowing what he was doing, but with the use of multiple colours he just hoped a pattern would develop on its own.
Must have been only a few seconds before his eyes landed back on the drummer.The saxophonist dropped his brush in disbelief, yet also with slight amusement. He called Janice over to which she turned around and felt the same mixed emotions he dealt with.
Her mouth hung open before it started twitching with the urge to laugh.
Right in front of the two sat the one and only rogue drummer who looked rather vibrant with his face being covered in all kinds of colours, red, blue and even yellow. Janice didn’t have any control over her outburst, she laughed as soon as her mind progressed about what had happened.
In her breath, she grabbed the cloth to try and clean off the fresh paint without water, “Oh, look at you” she muttered through the laughter, it eventually ceasing.
It’s when she turned his hands over that she put a hand to her forehead in disbelief, even his hands were covered in paint, “Animal..” she sighed, the contagious laughter slightly faded in her tone.
The Drummer however didn’t see anything wrong, his grin was still present, wide from ear to ear. Zoot should have been more specific with what he meant of ‘You can paint with this’ as he handed him the brush.
Janice’s brain was already putting together several explanations on how she would have to break this mess down to Floyd. Zoot himself had already apologised for not keeping a good eye on the drummer, he should have known Animal would process in colouring his face rather than the paper since he wasn’t told exactly where to paint.
It’s when Janice heard the respective laugh of the Bassist to know that she wouldn’t have to worry, Floyd had to take a second before his body allowed him to talk again and not to burst out cackling. He wiped the tears out of his eyes. The Bassist was currently the only band member on dry land, Lips and Teeth remaining for a while longer in the cool water.
“Bad luck for you, man. You know what this means?” Floyd snickered, Animal raising an eyebrow on what he meant. Upon the realisation dawning on his face, he jumped up from the table and booked it straight for the forest. Janice shouted after him, attempting to catch up but he must be already long gone with how fast he is.
In response to his nature of running away when it ever came to getting clean, Janice sat down and exhaled. All of sudden, there were hands caught on her waist.
Not resting on her skin but rather tickling it. The Laughter kicked in as she desperately tried to fight back the attack on her. Who else could belong these fingers to other than her loveable bassist, now he really did it.
Over her pleas of the cruel attack on her to stop, did she plan out one tactic of falling back into Floyd’s lap. It did cease the tickling though now the couple was caught up in the moment, gazing into each other’s eyes. A grin grew across the Bassist’s face, the two getting on their feet to rush after Animal.
Floyd had taken his shirt off the table with him, though he refrained from putting it on in fear of getting it wet. All they were focused on was to get Animal clean before the paint would eventually dry, who knew how long it would take then to get his face and hands spotless of colour. While they embarked on their journey, Lips and Teeth began to gather back at the site.
Questioning Zoot of where the two lovebirds were headed off to, all he replied with is that he didn’t know, almost like he forgot.
He simply laid his head down onto the table and dozed off.
The two, not wanting to disturb him, hooked up their wet shorts on the clothing line that they suspended from one end of a tree to the other. Wrapping their private parts in towels for the time being, mainly because they were short on clothes ever since giving the rest over to that dry cleaner. The Majority of the time spent tracking Animal down wasn’t at all complicated, they simply had to call for him once and he appeared like a magic trick before the couple.
Though he was persistent with that he really didn’t want to take a bath, acting like a real child with his pouting face and jumping up into a tree to escape the couple.
“Animal..” Floyd sighed, hands on his hips as he looked up to his buddy caught in the tree.
What else could they do than let him be, nothing exactly. Fortunately Janice was filled with determination on getting that paint off him, she really wasn’t keen on having to be the one to scrape the dried colours off his skin. Hopefully it wasn’t already dry.
An Idea shined bright like a light pulp on top of her head, “How about this, you promise me that you’ll wash your face and I’ll let you help me with the cooking?” that surely sparked the drummer’s attention. He was in love with Janice’s dishes plus the way she prepared everything with such a delicate touch. Getting the chance to help the master proceeding in her work would feel like such a dream come true, naturally he had to give in.
Even if it meant needing to go under water, he grimaced at the sheer thought alone.
“Would that sound good?” Janice asked out once more, Animal giving in and climbing down. Immediately getting met with Floyd ruffling through his hair, walking back to the campsite along with the lovers chatting to get his anxiety out of his mind while undergoing the needed bath.
Once back, Animal clutched to Floyd’s arm, keeping between himself and the lake a good amount of distance so that he would be protected from it. Janice took hold of the drummer’s shaking hands, leading him away from the lake to head to the outdoor faucet. Nothing big at all, just a pipe protruding from the ground, held up by an old piece of wood.
With her she held a clean piece of cloth, turning on the faucet to dip the fabric under it so that it could soak up with the water.
Now it was time for the moment of truth, she wringed the cloth eventually putting it up to Animal’s cheek first. Fortunately the paint came right off, thank god it had not dried.
Despite her steady and easing body language, Animal couldn’t help but flinch at the thought of the water touching his face. His discomfort didn’t go untreated, Janice tried her best with talking directly to him so that his mind was distracted from the water soaked cloth wiping across his face. Some of the paint had gotten caught directly into Animal’s hair, naturally they took a bit longer to get out and all the more troubling the drummer.
Janice ran into a slight problem once it came to cleaning his hands, she attempted to wipe the paint off in one go but it stayed on like an agitating pest. So it had dried. Just great.
She threw her head down, exhaling in an agitated tone that did get a worried glance from Animal. The guitarist reassured him that everything was fine, informing him that she’ll need to get a bottle of rubbing alcohol from their van.
Back around the table, other activities were starting to take place. The band members who had joined Zoot briefly after their cold fun in the water, each took the empty white papers to slap colour on them.
The dull, lifeless white getting transformed into motley messes of colour.
Janice didn’t keep her furry friend waiting for too long, kneeling down onto the bare ground with her skirt. This is where it got tricky, considering Animal’s fear of water, she had to get his trust.
Her hands were open and free to be taken hold of Animal’s, who gave in reluctantly. She had dipped a small cotton ball with the rubbing alcohol, swapping between the drummer’s rough hands to apply the substance to him. Swabbing at the spots continuously, the next step was to draw circular strokes on the paint to coax the dried colours to come off. The Guitarist had to apologise to Animal several times due to her forceful scrubs since on some parts the paint has really settled into his skin.
“You have to trust me on this one, okay?” she took his shaky nod as a ‘yes’ and therefore slowly but steadily held his hands under the running water. The cold liquid instantly splashing down onto his hands, unfortunately the direct water link didn’t exactly have the feature to make the water that it dispensed any warmer. The Drummer’s eyes shut upon feeling the connection with the liquid, head turning away as he whined. Not wanting to stick close by the water any longer.
Which is why Janice had to be quick with this, the traces of paint were completely gone at this point. A slight dark shade of the blue he had put on his hands was still present, she just hoped it would fade away over the night. She turned off the faucet, wrapping Animal’s hands in the cloth to dry them off.
The two got up from the earth, the drummer breathing in and out to calm his heart beat from the small bath he was put under. Janice herself wrapped her arms around Animal, leading him back to the picnic table while rubbing his back up and down. He was a brave one to have sustained all that, Janice making sure he’d know of it.
Once they were back, Animal couldn’t hold himself but to fall directly into Floyd’s arms, the arms of comfort as he dubbed them.
The bassist chuckled, wrapping his arms around his buddy tight to keep him in his embrace.Having dealt with all that, Janice wended herself back to the meal. Lips and Teeth joined in to help her despite her arguments that today was the day she took control of serving lunch. The clock ticked further until the finished dish was officially done and laid down before the band, Lips having decked the table with plates and cutlery.
Janice’s special delicacy for this afternoon were servings of sweet potato fritters, not anything fancy for lunch or so but something that kept the band satisfied and pleased with the high level of sweetness.
Each member stumbled to reach for a serving to put down on their own plate, like little children fighting over toys. Janice sat next to Floyd with Animal to his left side, devouring his meal in one go.
The bassist couldn’t resist kissing the flower child on her cheek, both as a way to thank her for today’s meal and as a greeting. After the eventful day this was just what the band needed to bring their energy up.
The lasting hour was spent by eating round the table, chatting and laughing at each other’s jokes. The Remaining time they spent together brought a zen-like atmosphere to the area, a certain aroma that radiated off the band with their usual ‘mayhem’ like energy filling the campsite. They weren’t relatively doing much, both for now and later, the remaining time they had of the day would go to relaxation. Real relaxation this time, no further unexpected chases or events would get in the way.
Words failed them however. Having spoken of unexpected things, one joke that Lips pulled caused him to get chased down by an annoyed drummer, his mood wasn’t much to fear. Once Animal had caught up with the trumpeter and wrestled him to the ground, the two bursted into laughter with the accommodating cackles from the other members. Both of them got to their feet relatively quickly, running a few more circles around the grounds and their chase eventually landing them by the apple tree.
Janice’s eyes jumped from one sheet of paper to another, examining what her friends had put together over the time. This brought her to another idea, afterall they were here for a little creative pause but they never agreed on what type of break to escape from the busy touring life. Looking around this place felt so dull, washed out almost entirely out of colour.
This wasn’t mother nature like she knew, her inner vision illuminated the place with bright, intriguing chroma that she was eager to bring to life.
She got up from her seat, dashing towards the van to unload a few cans of indoor latex paint. The kind she could use on the nature surrounding her without directly inflicting harm. Floyd wandered over to help her with the cans, while Janice transported the brushes over to a specific tree. A larger yet enthralling tree that held its figure proudly above the rest of his wooden brothers, although as it looked like an ordinary tree to many people, Janice saw within it a poor, depressed soul that was in severe need of colour added into its life.
The Flower child had gone back to the van, getting the assistance from Zoot, Teeth and Floyd to aid nature. Before she could move on to painting the tree with lively patterns, she had to explain the steps to the rest of her friends since just being talented with their hands by playing instruments didn’t do much when it came to arts & crafts. The Butterfly mobile input was an easy one to complete, Floyd voluntarily raising his hand to create it.
First he had to draw the shapes of butterflies onto construction paper with colourful patterns etched onto them, thankfully he didn’t have to do it all by free-hand since Janice had already made a template in a butterfly shape. She handed it to him, showing him the further steps of cutting them out, taping them to the threads, glueing another cut out shape of the butterfly to the backside of the already taped one so that the thread would be sandwiched in between.
The choice of how many threads he wanted to create was his, seeing that they had a large amount of paper in different colours to go from. Though towards the end, he was needed to tie the top of the threads to the embroidery hoop Janice laid down next to him. An important detail for Floyd to remember is that the threads needed to be of different lengths, he simply gave a reassuring thumbs up and went right on to crafting.
Now the two others had to be taken care of, something to keep them busy at least. Zoot however wasn’t looking so fond of partaking, considering he was asleep. So the honour of painting a piece of wood with posolutely positive messages fell upon Dr. Teeth. Seeing how they were well sufficed, she attempted to wend back to the tree. Janice would have before another idea sprunk into her head.
The Tree stumps around the campfire had a serious lack of colour, she couldn’t let that slide off her mind even if she was wondering where to start first. She brought over the cans of paint to the campfire and began her work on the stumps. Her progress was looking real groovy if she had to say it herself, one stump was covered in flowers, the wide open area on the top being covered in a daisy.
Another trunk had lively swirls, a wave-like pattern plastered all over the previously bleak wood.
She continued on, time seemingly flying by as she was beginning to work on the last stump. Lucky for her there were only six of these stumps that needed to be painted.
Things were beginning to take form around the grounds, though two of the hexad were far away from their friends.
Lips and Animal have practically taken refuge in the tree, making use of it like a climbing rock. They weren’t just there to have fun but Lips specifically had wanted to pick some apples off the branches, they were rich with their dark red shade, quite ripe as well with further examination. The trumpeter had pondered the idea of baking up an apple pie. His mind brushed the apple pie plan away upon seeing Animal quite literally drop himself back but continuing to stay on the branch thanks to his legs wrapped around it, Lips couldn’t help but awe the daring drummer, how he managed to easily hang himself from the branch like that, even picking some apples off the separate thinner branches while remaining in his position.
“Nho way!” he mumbled in interest, Animal laughing as he swung his body lightly while dangling from the branch. The Trumpeter gave in, following Animal’s movements that he had observed to jump up onto the thick branch and to wrap his legs with steady steps around it. There was a fault in his plan, however, he failed to take into account Animal’s fast swing on his way down that helped him keep his balance.
Therefore, Lips fell a bit too far back, and before he knew it, his back connected with the soft grass underneath him. The Fall itself wasn’t that big of a distance between the grass and the branch, still it must have been a forceful impact since Lips tapped out. Animal hopping off the branch to help his friend, inspecting with careful motions around his limp body. He was figuring if he should call his friends over to help him, or if he should stay quiet for now and see if the trumpeter would wake up on his own. As luck would have it, consciousness did kick back into the Trumpeter and he jolted his upper body straight up into a sitting position.
Throwing The Drummer off his feet with shock, it was like seeing a zombie arising back up from its grave. Lips mumbled something in tongues, taking a quick pause to laugh before he got up from the ground. They left it at that, Animal’s expression contorting into an annoyed glare. For a second he really had him worried, but now he was back on his feet with such ease.
Lips cracked his back, a bit wounded from that fall but nevertheless he felt amazing. Picking up the apples from the floor to bring them back to the campsite for the apple pie.
The Drummer was relatively lost for words over what just happened, agitated a little bit as well. However, he kept his mind to himself and instead followed the trumpeter along. They had so far everything they needed to make an apple pie, knives and peelers, plus the Dutch oven were all practically begging to be used. And Lips wasted no time in getting to work, he would jump into the process and for later even to serve it to his friends as a little dessert. And treat, why not.
Just right in front of their van was a foldable table set up with the equipment remaining on it that Janice had used earlier to make that delicious meal for lunch. The Pink lady apples were the perfect kind to cook together in a pie, they have a great balance between the sweet, crispy taste that’ll only accelerate once they’re baked.
A set of black eyes following his every move caused the Trumpeter to wend his attention to the Drummer. Hands clutching the edge of the table as he looked at what Lips was doing.
The Brass musician chuckled lightly under his breath, “Shou wanna helhp, buddey?” he asked through his mumbles. He could sense the curiosity in Animal based purely on his body language. The Drummer acted like such a 4-year-old kid whenever he got in contact with things he didn’t know or were new to him, either curiosity or destroying said new things. There’s never an in between to those possibilities.
Animal reached for an apple, picking it up and observing it. Lips had offered to bring him a peeler so that he could help, and only a peeler since Animal couldn’t be trusted with knives any more because of that incident in Minnesota, but he didn’t have to make another trip to the inside of the van after Animal broke the apple into two bits, with such ease and a perfect break between the two too.
That works too.
The two got to work, having peeled all the apples to then start on the actual pie shape itself. Luckily Janice had brought back from her grocery run a bag of flour, a true saviour indeed, Lips couldn’t have made further progress on the pie if that one key ingredient was missing.
The Drummer and Trumpeter engaged in their baking activity, Animal’s interest in the preparations of the pie fading away in an instant, searching for something new to do he ran off to Janice who was in the middle of colouring the Tree. Leaving Lips to laugh at the short attention span the drummer had, guess it was just him now preparing the pie. He didn’t need any further help though, seeing as the majority of the work was already done.
Back at Janice’s side, she went on with outlining the heart shape onto the wood, though one just wasn’t enough. She processed in making the shape larger, using different colours to round out one heart shape above the other. And once she got to colouring each form out, the heart shape looked as if it was the heart beat from the tree.
Bedazzling anyone who would pass by. The first heart she painted was plastered on with ordinary red and white, the one surrounding the first would be a more bright orange with a blackish outline. Additionally, the one that closed this all up would be bright blue, a brownish outline to match with the wood. Truly one of her best works, though if she only had a ladder on her, she could have easily worked on painting separate flowers on the far top that would have surely tied this whole piece together. Nevertheless she was happy with the heart, taking a step back to marvel at her work.
Her mood got slightly spooked by the presence of Animal jumping out of his hiding place from behind the tree, Janice’s smile grew from ear to ear upon seeing her favourite drummer.
She neared him, walking to the back of the tree where he was pointing at. There it was for her on full display, Animal’s paint stained handprint on the wood.
A dark red colour to match the crazed wildman. Janice wasn’t mad, just happy to see that Animal underwent his own little art project.
Fortunately, this did give her a new idea.
She shouted for her friends, each one following after her call, heck even Zoot was awake. Floyd and Teeth carried with him their creations and Janice was sure to comment on their works but for now, she needed everyone’s involvement with her next step. Each one dipped their hands into their respective colours, pressing their hands at the exact same time onto the back of the wood.
Writing beneath it with a flat tip brush ‘Mayhem’, glittering stars and lightning bolts accommodating the signature to really bring out the band’s inner meaning.
The band stepped back from the tree, eyeing the work with great delight. Teeth headed to the front, wrapping the sign he brought with him around the table using a leftover piece of robe they had wanted to get rid of. Now they have found a use for it. Not only Teeth put his finished creation up, Floyd himself handed the finished butterfly mobile to Animal so that he could jump up on the tree and attach it to the thick branch hanging right above all their hands.
The Drummer wrapped the embroidery hoop to the branch with the little thread that was attached to the opening of the ring. Hopping off the branch with grace, unlike a certain brass musician earlier. The six musicians took in with joy their finished piece. A beautifully decorated tree, heart painted on it like a heartbeat that brought the wood's inner beauty to shine.
A sign attached that read ‘Tree of love’, the butterfly mobile hanging like a shining ruby above it all. And, if one were to take a look behind the tree, they would surely be informed of the people who were reasonable for turning this dull piece of nature into a parade of colour and love.
Satisfied for the afternoon, the band settled down on the picnic table to devour Lips’s personal baked apple pie. That will have to cover their dinner for the night. Though they didn’t complain one bit, they were just happy to get to spend this time together. That was the greatest gift that could have ever asked from the universe, ever since Floyd and Dr. Teeth met did it spark something in the two that would lead all of them on their journey of rock ‘n’ roll, peace and love.
Around the later time in the evening, the dark had started to settle in with the sun lightly fading away in the horizon. Wishing everyone a good night as it dipped out for its well deserved rest, the moon took over its shift of making sure the people of the world slept pleasantly. The Band, however, remained awake for a while longer. Sitting around the campfire on Janice’s custom painted tree stumps, wrapped in blankets from head to toe to elevate their body temperature on this cold night. It amazed the band at times how the heat during the day could simply fade away like that during the night, leaving a freezing atmosphere as if it were winter.
Dr. Teeth sitting alone on a wider stump that was held up by two smaller cut trunks underneath, while the saxophonist had his head resting in the doctor’s lap. Already long gone to the fatigue.
Lips kept himself by both the doctor’s side and the couple. He preferred the soft ground rather than the hard wood to sit on; a stick covered in five marshmallows was held by him above the flames. The Trumpeter being the only one who wore his customised denim jacket above his shirtless figure. The two lovebirds themselves sat close together, Animal fast asleep in between their embrace. The separate blanket they hogged was wrapped around the two lovers, both to keep the three of them warm and to form a little protective circle around the exhausted drummer.
They kept themselves in this formation around the fire for a while longer, time ticking on and eventually they had to get back into the van. Lucky for them that their van had moveable seats, being allowed to move the seats back so that a large bed could form out of them. Years spent being a band who cruised around the country caused them to get closer than a normal friend group would be. So that they really didn’t mind sleeping together in one enclosed space if they had to.
It must have been close to midnight when the bassist stirred in his sleep.
The extra weight of a passed out drummer was gone in his embrace, where Animal laid was now an empty blanket and pillow.
Floyd rubbed his eyes to get that blurry vision out of his eyes, once he got his clear sight back he felt the shivering breeze of the cold air outside. He went to stretch his arms only to find that there wasn’t a closed door meeting his skin, that was odd, he remembered falling asleep right in front of the entrance. He lifted himself up, proving his suspicious right as he saw that the door was wide open. Floyd hopped out and in search of the wildman.
He must have run off again, a typical late night game the Drummer engaged in whenever he couldn’t fall asleep. The Bassist didn’t have to search for long as his eyes fell upon his agitated buddy, hissing and growling at something. Floyd took a moment to observe the scenery, although it being dark he could not make anything out, not even the picnic table that stood only a few centimetres away from them, “I don’t see anything, man.” Floyd yawned, rubbing the back of his neck as was already on his way to crawl back inside of the van. He announced to his little buddy to just go back to bed, he likely must have heard a squirrel.
In an effort to direct Animal back to the van, the drummer stood still, observing the lake with the hair on his back standing up. It’s when Floyd climbed back into the van that his eyes widened with a jarring aroma looming the air, the doctor of the soul and heart was missing.
He had to wake his friends to inform them of his disappearance, the bandmates splitting up in separate directions on a hunt to find their keyboardist.
Animal was persistent however, once Floyd had tried to move him he stood frozen like a rock. What kept Floyd intrigued of whatever caused Animal to remain so distressed, turned into a clear sign that involved Teeth’s disappearance.
There he sat, the doctor of the heart that kept the band on their feet was seated down by the shore of the lake.
“Doc!” Upon not answering Floyd's call, the bassist neared the keyboardist down by the lake. The rest of the band members catching up with the both, now that the heavy load on their heart was casted off with the knowledge that Teeth was fine. Floyd grasped hold of the doctor’s shoulder, he must have been deep in his thoughts as he flinched from the touch away. Turning around only to view the worried gazes of his friends.
“What’s going on, man? I called for you.” Floyd exclaimed.
The answer must have been in the sky, since the doctor was gesturing up to the darkness clouding over them. However, on this special night, not a single shed of darkness was plaguing the campsite.
Instead.
The quintet’s breaths equally came to a halt, choking up practically upon viewing the lit up sky. There went one fast minuscule dart across the azure, then another following along. One by one, white little stars sped past.
The realisation dawned upon the musicians, a meteor shower.
What a night. The rest joined the doctor on the grass, keeping their eyes peeled on the night sky above them. Each little meteor passing was a reminder that the hot stones were on their way as well, they were cosmic debris not different from us people as they had somewhere to head off as well. Following along to the call of nature
So much so for relaxation. This day has surely been nothing but filled with separate activities that left each member in need to catch their breath.
Though, now that it all tied beautifully together.
A meteor shower like this.
It put the rest at ease, watching the meteors seemingly fly by their orbit. The band took to the outdoors, grabbing their blankets and pillows to rest underneath in the healing night. Though in the earlier morning they’d have to get a move on things, with them being short of cash they had rented the campsite out only for the noon. Including the evening thanks to Lips’s connection with the ranger.
And with the passionately painted stumps, the decorated tree with vibrant signs of peace and love, would surely let others know of the mayhem’s footprint they left behind. Whoever would next come to stay at this particular site will be quite surprised by the many decorated little pieces. But they have accomplished their plan of enjoying this day with all its glory, leaving behind their marks so that when they would go back they can follow this trail of their footprints to reminisce on the good times they had together.