Chapter 10 – Last Day
Sorrowfully, the girls got ready. The 6th Graders were the gloomiest crew, as they were not ready to part with Baixue yet.
After breakfast, the bus shipped them to a shopping street where they could purchase souvenirs.
The shopping street had no cars; it was strictly for pedestrians. There were street stalls as well as shops and department stores.
Their first attraction was a street stall that sold hair accessories. The girls were amazed at the surprisingly low prices.
“Look! Those beautiful ribbons are two RMB for three! I’m going to get some, for sure,” exclaimed Alice.
“Well, what about those headbands?” replied Alexis. “They’re perfect for me! And only three RMB for one!”
The girls crowded around the stall. The proprietor was delighted with all the business, and tried to maintain order as the girls were all trying to make purchases.
The girls sauntered down the shopping street, stopping to look at interesting stalls and engaging shops, making desired purchases.
There was one shop that sold beautiful, authentic, Chinese dresses. The girls spent a great deal of time there, modelling dresses and picking their favorite dress to buy.
Then, there was a massive department store. There was one section of authentic Chinese products. There were Chinese fans, elaborate chopsticks, paintings, jewelry and snacks.
The girls gaped at the products, then picked up shopping baskets and chose souvenirs for all their friends and family, and of course for themselves too.
Merry chatter filled the store. The Bringham-Jones sisters put their money together to choose gifts. “We’ll get this pendant for Mother, then. Did you say we’d get fans for all our sisters? All right, then let’s get those four. What about Daddy? Oh, yes, we were going to get him that lovely painting for him to hang in his office.” And so on. The other girls chose in much the same way.
There were only two girls who did not participate. One was Baixue, who did not need any souvenirs. The other was Lizboa, who did not have any money to buy gifts.
Baixue noticed Lizboa, who was glumly tagging on to the sisters, and staring into the distance whilst they chose gifts. Baixue approached her.
“Why aren’t you buying anything, Lizboa?” asked Baixue. “Come to think of it, you haven’t spent a penny this whole morning!”
“I don’t even have a penny,” replied Lizboa. “I was sponsored for this trip, remember.”
“Come on, girl,” said Baixue. “I won’t let you go back without a souvenir. I was going to get you each a gift anyways. Go choose something you want. Tell the others too!”
“Oh, no,” said Lizboa. “I don’t have a gift for you!”
“Never mind that!” said Baixue. “Just choose something!”
Lizboa chose a pretty pair of jade earrings. The others had already chosen the souvenirs they wanted, so they put one into Baixue’s basket, with a teary thank you.
The girls paid for the gifts they had chosen. The school bus shipped them back to their hotel, so they could pack their trunks.
“Where is my tooth brush?” cried Lizboa, as she packed. “And I know my swimsuit was hanging in the bathroom, drying with all your swimsuits.”
“We took them down, Lizboa. They’re on that armchair,” said Alice.
The trunks seemed much smaller than when they had brought them over! The things just didn’t fit. Somehow things were jammed into the trunks, and each trunk had to be shut by all six girls sitting on it.
“There!” said Alexis, as the last trunk was shut. “I just hope they don’t explode in the middle of the flight, that’s all!”
After packing, they had a very nice lunch – their final one, too, for that trip. There was Roasted Beef, Beggar’s Chicken (which was cooked by roasting a chicken on an open fire, but after covering the chicken in mud), Peking Dumplings, Steamed Fish, and a pigeon.
They drove to the airport after that. Baixue hadn’t left them yet. The girls asked why. “I’ll see you off at the airport before I go home.”
The girls cherished the last minutes they had with Baixue on the bus – but soon they were at the airport, and the farewells must be said.
“I can’t believe how quickly the time has gone,” said Baixue. “It’s already time to say goodbye to all of you. I wasn’t with you at school for a very long time – but we had so many happy memories!”
“We will all miss you very much, Baixue,” said Evelyn. “When we go up to the senior section, we’ll miss you when we’re in the common room, talking about the adventures we’ve had abroad. And then when we tell the others about our trip here, we’ll think of you and miss you so very much. We’ll miss your merry laugh and your candid comments, and the straightforward way you own up when you’ve been mischievous.”
“I’ll miss you immensely too, Baixue,” said Alice. “I confess that when you first came, I thought you would say something like ‘Me is a girl. Me eleven years old,’ when you introduced yourself to us. But once I knew you better, I felt you were very likeable and respectable. I’m so sorry you can’t continue on with us – but of course, you do belong in this place. I wish you all the luck and happiness here.”
“I’ll never forget,” said Alexis, with a giggle. “The way you keep us all up in the middle of the night the first night after you come back after the hols. You’re always jet-lagged, and you toss and turn, and cry in frustration.” She paused, smiled and gave Baixue a hug. “That bit of you I won’t miss – but I’ll miss every other bit.”
Lizboa smiled at Baixue. “My opinions of you have changed a lot from the hatred I had for you when you scolded me bitterly after I had messed up an English class last year. You told me that you wouldn’t care a jot if I failed all my finals, but I wasn’t entitled to upset your classes and cause you to get bad results too. You made an impression on me as a very honest girl, and towards the end of the term, I sincerely liked you and wanted you for a friend. And you have been a marvelous friend, and I’m sure you’ll continue being one – but we can’t be together anymore. Oh, Baixue. I wish I could tell you how bitterly I will miss you next year. I only hope that you will miss me too.”
“Of course I will miss you, Lizboa, more than you think. And I’ll miss every single one of you just as much too. And I hope that when you use that souvenir I got you, my name will leap to your mind. When it leaps into your mind, I don’t want you to be sad because you miss me. But I want you to smile because of all the happy memories we have had. Send my love to Esther and all the other girls who weren’t so fortunate as to go on this tour. Goodbye, Lizboa! Goodbye, Alice! Goodbye, Alexis! Goodbye, Evelyn!” said Baixue, giving each of them a hearty hug. Evelyn, feeling the warmth of Baixue’s skin, couldn’t help but let her tears run out. “Baixue, I do wish you didn’t have to go!”
“It’s not like we can’t communicate each with each other after you go back home,” said Baixue, patting Evelyn’s shoulder. “We can Skype and e-mail! And my parents promised me that I could go to Florida next summer. Perhaps we can meet up!” These words comforted Evelyn. Baixue continue. “I’m sorry we have to say goodbye. You all better go now. Mrs Jenkins is getting pretty furious.”
Reluctantly, the girls said their final farewells, bit their lips in grief, and went with Mrs Jenkins. Evelyn suddenly ran back again, hugging Baixue another time, then joining the rest of the choir weeping.
The flight this way seemed much longer to the 6th Graders. They were all pining the loss of Baixue. Lizboa was sitting on her own. On the way over, Baixue had been there to talk to and to laugh with. But she wasn’t now. Lizboa felt miserable and leant her head against the window.
Alexis and Alice managed to maintain some insipid conversation to divert their feelings. Evelyn, who was sitting with Cynthia, was made really indignant by Cynthia’s plans of complaining to the school. She was in a bad humor to start with, and Cynthia’s spoilt ungratefulness made her extremely vexed.
It certainly was a gloomy
flight, but as the end of the flight drew near, cheerful thoughts occupied their minds. They had left school just before the Easter Holidays were to start, so by the time they came back it was already in the Holidays. Most parents had driven up to meet them in the airport, and the girls were all anxious to see their beloved parents again.
That happy thought shook the 6th Graders out of their nightmares. They landed in LAX airport at night (local time). They were weary from the flight, but they went through immigration and collected their baggage as quickly as possible in order to see their parents earlier.
As they got to the Arrival Hall, the girls nudged each other. “Look! I see your mother, but I can’t see mine!” “She’s there, silly. How stupid of you not even to see your own mother!” “There’s Lizboa’s mother! Isn’t she pretty? And how alike she and Lizboa look!”
They ran to their parents. “Daddy! Mummy! You’re both here!” cried Lizboa as she approached her parents, giving each a bear-hug.
“Yes, we are,” said her father. “We have missed you dreadfully, my dear.”
“So we did,” said her mother. “But we were so glad when we heard you could go on the tour. I couldn’t bear the thought that you would be deprived of the pleasure! I hope you had a good time?”
“Of course I did!” exclaimed Lizboa. “We had delicious Chinese food, we went to all the historical attractions in Beijing, and, guess what? We came second place in the competition!”
“You can tell us all about it when we drive home. But first, we have to report to your conductor – Mrs Jenkins, isn’t it – so she can tick you off her list. And I want to talk to the Bringham-Jones. Mrs Bringham-Jones said you could go and stay the last week with them again. She said the sisters really wanted you to. We shall have to arrange that!” said Lizboa’s mother.
They went to Mrs Jenkins. “Thank you,” she said, ticking Lizboa’s name off the list. “Happy Easter!”
Then they went to the Bringham-Jones family, and arranged Lizboa’s stay. “Thank you so much for hosting Lizboa at your house every holiday! Why, you’ve invited her during the summer, Christmas and now Easter holidays!” said Lizboa’s father.
“Well, sir, it seems as if my girls can’t do without her!” said Mr Bringham-Jones, looking fondly at his daughters, who were chattering merrily with Lizboa.
“Looking forward to seeing you soon at our house, Lizboa,” said Alexis. “Can’t wait to beat you at tennis!”
“You won’t!” laughed Lizboa. “Oh – my mother is telling me it’s time to go. Goodbye, Evelyn – Alexis – Alice! See you all very, very soon!”
“Bye, Lizboa,” cried the sisters together. Lizboa took her mother’s hand and went off.
They got into their own shabby car. Lizboa told her parents about every bit of the holiday. There was not one single detail that escaped her description. She didn’t even miss out telling her parents what room number they were in!
Whenever she mentioned Baixue’s name, a collection of feelings confronted her. But she remembered Baixue’s words: When my name leaps into your mind, I don’t want you to be sad because you miss me. But I want you to smile because of all the happy memories we have had.
So Lizboa, instead of pausing and being dominated by the power of grief of losing a friend, smiled to herself in the dark car and continued with the vivid narrative of the trip.
When she had finished relating all of the trip, she concluded with this: “I am sad that the trip should be over – but I think that when you get a treat, it isn’t the actual treat that is the most precious, but the looking forward to it and the memories of it that make it precious. The treat itself is only a rock. But looking forward to it and remembering it makes it a diamond.”
Very well said, Lizboa. Let that diamond of your trip to Beijing forever shine brightly inside your heart. You will have many more diamonds inside your heart, but this one will never be duplicated.
* * * * *
A Final Word
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