Give Me All of You: Ch.1- Bonvoyage

Call it stupidity or fate, in the most unfortunate situation, or perhaps just plain bad luck. Whatever the case, life certainly sent Jackson Overland the most unexpected and spontaneous bonvoyage trip to the next realm.

Life wasn't always full of surprises, aside from North's explosive announcements of his latest inventions.  He always had something up his sleeve, even when presented with the most simplest objects, he always found a way to make it interesting. At their first encounter, the brown haired male blew off his gift as some sort of bluff, that is until he made a bet with him about making a toy with the given supplies on his office table. He would never forget that shining glimmer in his mischievous azure eyes or the curve of his lips once he had mentally assembled the pieces in his head like a simple jigsaw puzzle. With just his office supplies, consisting of a pen, rubber band, paper clip, and scissors, he created a manual bebe gun. Aside from his supplies and paperwork, North loved to keep a jar of colorful nonpareils for guests, especially for the many young children who visited him after a long day at a neighboring school. Opening the jar, his large hands pinched for a bead for several attempts with growing frustration before he decided to slant the jar and spill a couple confections on his hands. He had instructed Jack to keep his mouth down while inserting a white confectionary inside the contraptions. Ignoring his discomfort, he plucked the retractable cap and released it with ease, as if it were a bow and arrow to begin with. Sure enough, the small confection landed inside Jack's mouth without harming the aghast guest. Since then, Jack had never doubted the aging man's creative inventions. It came to the point that his spontaneous inventions were apart of the normality's in life, no matter the situation. He always knew that a day was never complete without hearing North's roar of excitement.

North resided at the northernmost counter part of the complex, owning the biggest room due to his endless creations of inventions--he was the dorm manager after all. The east wing was shared between Tooth, a college freshman, and the cold-hearted, narrow-minded sophomore, Bunnymund. He resided in the west wing with his animated neighbor, Sandy.

He got along well with everyone, except for Bunnymund. They had their moments, but as years passed, their disputes have cooled to the point that they would have drinks together on the roof. Although neither were sure of what had catalyzed the beginning of their heated rivalry, they did learn something from these short meetings: their similar quality in personality and hobby. It was thanks to this that Jack had found someone to turn to when ever he was in need of a critique of his work of art.

He couldn't recall the last time he called out to Bunnymund for advice or a critique. His love for art had shut down the moment spring had rolled around the corner. He had kept his utensils safe and locked away since then.

Everyone in the complex had been pestering him for days, and up to this point. When the doorbell rang, he knew automatically it was Sandy. Despite his disabilities, the young boy, with the brightest gold of hair and a pair of optimistic bronze eyes, always had something to keep him entertained. He loved playing charades with the fellow due to his animated gesticulations and expressions. When Sandy expressed himself, it was as if he was pouring his whole being into it--he was never ashamed to express such silly reactions, let alone consider people's judgmental minds to discourage him. His carefree and childlike attitude were infectious to the point that Jack was drawn to see the world that Sandy saw with his glowing amber eyes.

Today he was supposed to go out with Sandy and visit the orphanage on their usual runs but because North needed Sandy's assistance for the day, Jack had to visit by himself--not that he minded in any case. Before his departure, Sandy presented him an orange recycling tote that contained several small packages filled with assortments of chocolates and cheap plastic toys like he always brought with him during his visits. He waved a small sticky note in front of Jack animatedly with the words SORRY printed on it with black bolded letters. On his right hand, he crushed the note as if it were a tissue and began dabbing it just beneath his right eye with an audible sniffle.

"You want me to tell the kids that you're sorry for not coming to the point that you are miserable," Jack translated.

Sandy nodded as he opened the crumpled note and used his left hand to pinch the corner of the paper to wave it vertically. Despite its stiff physique, it came off as graceful as a real tissue.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be safe. I'll tell the kids too."

He blew a kiss towards Jack.

Jack snorted as he replied, "Love you too, Mom." Then to his other roommates, "I'll be back later, guys!"

After hearing their muffled goodbye's he headed out the door with a small smile on his face. But once outside, that smile collapsed to a grim line. He had been visiting the orphanage once a week on a Friday afternoon after school. It had been a long habit of his ever since he had left the orphanage at the age of fourteen. He had decided to leave on his own, unhappy with the idea of living under the roof where he and his sister were together. Everything and anything about it, reminded him of his sister, Joey. Guilt resided at the pit of his stomach after he had made that decision, and he realized that this selfish decision left him to abandon all the friends he had made there. He was surprised that they had accepted him with open arms, and he hasn't stopped visiting them ever since. Now he was eighteen years old and ready to attend school in the upcoming fall. But first, he needs to focus on the task at hand.

As his eyes squinted down the sunny streets of Burgess, Jack spotted the scarlet bricked orphanage with strong assurance and growing eagerness. For a split second, a wave of uneasiness picked at his guts, but Jack had brushed it off with a firm squeeze on the tote bag and marched forward.

Several minutes in his venture, there was a loud gasp, followed by a shrill, and another who hollered "It's a young woman!" as she pointed at the cream building on his left. Perturbed by the bystanders reactions, he stood in place and questioned their reactions until a silhouette shrouded over his vision. When he looked up, he saw a human girl. Deathly pale with a sense of acceptance expressed on her closed eyes and firm lip.

He didn't remember anything after that.