Page 12 of Curtain Call
Parking on the side street, they walked a block to their destination. Riley saw the black post with a maroon circle and white writing hanging in front of the expanded museum. Concord Museum.
“No way,” Riley hit Colin across the chest with the back of his hand out of excitement.
“Yes, way,” rubbing his chest, “and don’t beat me when you get inside.”
They both shared a lingering look with natural smiles.
“Come on,” Colin begins walking up the brick sidewalk leading to the entry.
“Wait! Do they still have –,” Riley’s eyes widened with anticipation when Colin turns around.
“I wouldn’t have brought you here otherwise.”
Colin and Riley visited the little museum every Christmas season while they were in high school. It was their little tradition. Just the two of them hanging out. They would talk about everything from family crap, not that Riley had much of that, but sometimes he felt like his parents wanted him to go to college for more stability since being an actor was not going to be easy, and he had a better chance of winning the lottery than landing a leading role on Broadway. It was a conversation that was often brought up any time Riley talked about New York.
Riley’s favorite part of the little museum at Christmas, besides spending time alone with Colin, was the family Christmas trees spread throughout the museum. The museum has been doing it for over twenty-five years. Families in the community would decorate a tree based on a children’s book of their choice and it would be displayed throughout the museum. Each year there are different trees on display. It’s always fun to see the creativity of the families and how they interpret and bring the stories to life. There’s a scavenger hunt to find different objects hanging on the trees. Every year Colin makes it his personal challenge to beat Riley but never has succeeded.
Colin walks up to the admission counter and gets two tickets. Riley is all smiles behind him. Maybe this is Colin’s peace offering. Riley is happy to accept the offer and walks over to a little magazine rack holding a bunch of yellow and white printouts. He takes one from the stack and walks over to the large tree in the center of the foyer.
“I see you grabbed the scavenger hunt form and started without me,” Colin jokes as he steps up to Riley’s side holding his own form.
“You know I always beat you,” Riley replies while bumping into Colin’s shoulder with his own.
“We’ll see,” Colin says while pointing to an object near the top of the twelve-foot tree, “white dove next to the rainbow.”
“Cheater,” Riley replies with a grin and turns the dove tab down on his hand out.
“Come on Eagle Eye,” Colin leads the way through a doorway and into a bluish-grey painted room housing several artifacts from the 1700s. The musket carried by Josiah Meriam in 1775 displayed in glass welcomed them into this part of the museum.
There were no trees in this section of the museum, but Riley took time to look at the objects on display and read several placards. He pulled out his phone, snapped a few pics, and was about to take a selfie when he glanced up and saw Colin staring at him.
“Ready to continue the hunt, princess?”
“It’s your royal highness,” Riley retorted without a skip in beat, “and I suppose.”
Riley shoved his phone back into his pocket as they made their way through another entry leading into a hallway. Several wreaths lined the walls. Books sat on stools underneath them. Riley pulls out his phone and snaps a picture of a wreath decorated with herb labels, watering cans, flowers, and a doll sitting on top. The book displayed under the wreath says Lola Plants a Garden. Riley smiles, bites his bottom lip, and snaps another pic after zooming in.
From inside the room, Colin is already ahead of Riley in finding the objects on the list. Riley has only found four, including the watering can from the wreath.
“Riley, you coming?”
Riley’s mind was running a million miles an hour with a fabulous idea.
“Yep,” he said walking into an almost empty room except for a few art pieces on the wall and four trees. He instantly spots the next object from across the room, “butterfly.”
“Where?”
Riley steps up to a nature-decorated tree, “Here.”
“Now who’s cheating?” Colin smiles while turning the butterfly tab down on his paper.
Walking through the museum together, not much conversation is going on. It’s quiet. Too quiet. The library during midterms kind of quiet. Kids and adults are winding their way around displays and scoping out objects on the trees and folding tabs on their papers. Pure excitement is displayed across the faces of little kids as they find them.
Colin is standing across the room searching for a ball of yarn with knitting needles, but Riley has already spotted it while walking around. He doesn’t let Colin know. He has a bigger plan to thank Colin for this outing. He takes a few more shots with his camera, turns the camera around, and takes a selfie in front of a vegetable tree. A carrot hangs by his right ear.
Riley shoots the picture over to Colin.
Riley: Having a great time. Thanks for this.
