After having a good night's sleep, I followed my routine again: waking up, having breakfast, and going to school, and once again, I ended up in the library, as there wasn't much to do at the orphanage.
Days passed like this. I spent most of my time buried in the library, reading countless books from various genres. My favorite was fantasy, but after a while, even reading so many books became tedious. This lasted until Ms. Margaret started spending more time with me, which I didn't mind at all.
"Checkmate!" said Margaret, capturing my king, surrounded by a bishop and a queen.
"You'll see, one day I'll beat you..." I said, with my pride hurt from losing twice in chess.
"I'll be waiting for that day with joy, Telê." she replied with a smile.
"So, are you excited for today's outing?"
"Ah, yes," I said as I arranged the white pieces on my side of the board once again.
The outing in question is something the orphanage does every two months. The last one was a trip to the famous Times Square, which was amazing for someone like me, who had never been there. Seeing hundreds of screens lit up at night was incredible, and we even had the chance to see a Lion King play.
It was something I really appreciated, since I've always liked music, and the play was practically all musical. In fact, I've always loved music—a lot. I'm not ashamed to admit that sometimes I'd sing in the bathroom when it was empty. But anyway, that's not really important right now.
"Where are we going this time?" I asked, starting another chess game against Margaret.
"You'll have to find out along with the others," she said, taking my pawn.
"Seriously?"
Margaret never tells us where we're going, as she loves watching us try to guess our destination. I thought that if she was focused on the chess game, she might let slip where we were going. Unfortunately, I was completely wrong.
"Yes," said Margaret, once again taking one of my pawns, and I quickly did the same with hers.
"Some things really don't change," I said, moving a pawn forward.
"If they didn't, where would the fun be?" she said, laughing, making a move that resulted in me losing yet another pawn.
"So, my dear, have you thought about your future?" she asked curiously, focusing more on me now.
"Honestly? I don't think I'll go to college. I'll just find a job that pays well," I replied truthfully.
Of course, there's the possibility of becoming a hero, but the chances of that happening are really slim. After all, as I've mentioned before, I'm not a super-genius, and I certainly don't have any powers or any stolen advantage like the systems characters from other fanfics I've read about in my old world receive upon reincarnation. In other words, it's just a stupid dream.
"That's a shame, really. I think you've got a lot of potential in music. You express that very well in the shower," said Margaret, with that same damn smile she always has when she exposes one of my secrets to someone.
"What?!" I exclaimed, louder than I intended.
My face turned red as I lowered my head, trying to hide it, while Margaret just chuckled, amused by the whole situation.
"You should've seen your face, Sebas, you looked like a tomato."
"No, I didn't!" I replied, like a child, joining her in the playful banter.
"But how did you find out?" I asked more calmly.
"Well, it wasn't hard, actually. My room is above the bathroom, and you don't exactly sing quietly."
"Ohhh." That was all I could say, realizing my stupidity. I need to control my excitement while singing.
"That's exactly the reaction I expected from you. You're really easy to read," she said, returning to the chess game.
Not wanting to continue the topic, I focused on the game, trying once again to beat her.
After another humiliating defeat, I went to the bathroom to take a shower, then headed to my room and approached the large brown wardrobe at the end of the room. I opened it, revealing various types of clothes: shirts, shorts, pants, and more, all donated by the public. I grabbed an orange shirt and dark blue pants. After getting dressed, I headed back to the bathroom to brush my teeth, which I had forgotten to do earlier, and then went towards the orphanage gate.
It was crowded, with all the children lined up in a single file, boarding a huge bus. I joined the line and noticed Margaret standing next to a middle-aged woman I recognized as one of the orphanage's helpers—Mrs. Abigail, with brown hair, wearing a plain gray shirt and blue jeans.
I boarded the bus, heading towards the second-to-last seat and sitting alone again. During the ride to our destination, I dozed off.
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"Telê!"
I was woken up by a familiar voice. As I gently opened my eyes, I realized it was Ms. Margaret waking me up.
"Are we there?" I asked her.
She nodded and then headed to the front of the bus to guide the other children. I sat for a few seconds to get my bearings before getting up and walking towards the bus exit. Outside, I found myself facing a very familiar park.
"Welcome to Central Park!" said Margaret with a smile.
I joined the small crowd of children at the park's entrance, waiting for Abigail to count everyone, making sure we were all there. Just glancing around, I could see that everyone was excited to enter the park. I admit, I was a little excited too. Even though I have almost no memories of my past life, the feeling of being a child and how everything seems easier is still incredible. So, I have to enjoy this moment as much as I can in this chaotic world.
"Everyone, follow me, in a line!" Abigail called out next to Ms. Margaret.
We followed her perfectly, making our way deeper into Central Park toward what I thought was our first stop: the Central Park Zoo.
We passed through the famous zoo gate that has appeared in several famous movies. Our first stop was the tropical zone, home to birds, reptiles, and small mammals. We spent a good few minutes admiring different birds like the Blue-and-yellow Macaw and the famous Indian Peafowl, which was stunning, especially when it opened its feathers. I was even hypnotized by its beauty at times.
Then we stopped at the flamingo section, standing in three rows, one behind the other, listening to Abigail and Ms. Margaret talk about the characteristics and curiosities of these animals. Well, I was trying to listen, but to my annoyance, there was a lot of irritating noise coming from a tree nearby. It was crows.
"Caw!" "Caw!" "Caw!"
Hundreds of them, actually. Each with their black eyes staring straight at me. The strangest part was that everyone else seemed to be ignoring them completely, as if they didn't even exist.
"Sebas, are you okay?" Margaret asked, appearing at my side, snapping me out of what felt like a trance.
"Yes," I said, stepping away from the tree and moving closer to the front.
After that bizarre situation, I was relieved when we left a few minutes later to see animals from temperate regions, like the adorable red panda and the snow leopard.
We spent about half an hour at the zoo before heading to the second stop of the trip: Belvedere Castle. This made me wonder—where does Margaret get the money for these trips? Even with the orphanage receiving government funding and her pension, it couldn't be enough to cover the costs for over a hundred children.
A real mystery that won't be solved anytime soon.
Inside the massive castle, I started reading about it on an informational panel. Belvedere Castle is a fortress built in 1865. Nowadays, it serves as a weather observatory. Some time ago, the castle was the secret lair of the villain Jackal before it was discovered and destroyed by Spider-Man.
Apparently, the lair also became a tourist attraction, which drastically increased the castle's popularity. But in my opinion, when we visited the lair, it wasn't anything special since everything was destroyed. They didn't even bother to rebuild it a little. After passing through the lair, we spent a few minutes on top of the wall, enjoying the panoramic view, which covered a large portion of Central Park. From up here, we could see the Turtle Pond completely.
And so the day continued like that. We passed by the Ramble, an artificial forest designed to resemble the forests of upstate New York, with a winding stream, dramatic rocky outcrops, and extremely dense vegetation. The Ramble is also one of the best bird-watching spots in the park, and once again, to my dismay, the damn crows appeared.
Next, we visited Bethesda Terrace, a plaza made up of two levels. At the center of the terrace was the artwork "Angel of the Waters," an angel atop a round pedestal, with baby angels in various poses below it, standing in a fountain. But my favorite part of Bethesda Terrace was the arcade, which had several old arcade games, including ones featuring the Avengers and other superhero groups. I spent several minutes hooked on the Hulk arcade game. It was so fun to smash everything in sight and especially to beat up villains.
Anyway, I'm going off track here. After all that fun, it was time for something else—a picnic!
Yes, after all, it wouldn't be a trip to Central Park without a picnic—and what better place to do that than one of the most famous lawns in the world, the Great Lawn? With its fifty-five hectares of pure grass, the view is nothing short of beautiful, and with the cloudless blue sky and the sun at its peak, there's only one word that can describe it: magnificent.
We settled in an area right near the center. Other kids my age or a bit older and I helped set up the picnic. My task was to place the food on the checkered blanket—which, by the way, was the biggest blanket I had ever seen in both of my lives. Once the others finished their parts, they came over to help me arrange everything, adding a few details to make it look nicer, and finally, it was ready.
We sat side by side, and as we ate, I looked at that small pocket of happiness, thinking that nothing could ruin this moment.
How wrong I was.