The Perfect Day

WARNING: This story has 13 movie/TV/book references hidden within the story itself. At the bottom are the answers to all 13 in the order they appear. Can you find them all?

Beep Beep

My alarm woke me up on a bright snowy morning with the weather just below zero. I wake up and get ready for the day, even though eight o’clock was too early after a long hospital shift. I grab my clothes and jump in the shower as I blast my Disney playlist on my speaker. Today is a busy day full of classwork and meetings before coming home and taking a nice long bath. The life of a PA student is just never easy. After getting dressed and braiding my hair I head to the kitchen to find a vase full of snowdrops in the middle of my kitchen counter. The first thing that ran through my head was the limited list of people with keys to my apartment. I go to get a closer look and see a card addressed to me.

Dear Yvain,

Now that it is the day after Valentine’s Day you won’t think this is too cheesy. I am sorry you had to work last night and I hope you got at least a decent amount of sleep before leaving for class. Today may not be a special day but because we could not be together on the most cliché holiday of the year I thought I would bring the cliché holiday to you! Yes, that is right be prepared Ms. Monroe because today will be filled with all things sappy, and trust me it will be embarrassing. I am starting the day with your favorite flowers, Snowdrops. Not only do they bring luck and protection from witch’s magic, but they are surprisingly beautiful during the wintertime. Don’t forget to do what stars do best…shine!

Yours truly,

Tristan

I laugh to myself as I put the letter back in the envelope. Oh, Chloe, what have you gotten yourself into? You are dating a boy that references movies, and that is why you are keeping him. I smell the flowers one more time before grabbing a bagel and heading out the door. As I drive to school I am curious as to how Ryan is going to pull everything off today. I don’t think about it too hard because I am a big lover of surprises. I roll into the school parking lot and run into the PA building just before my first class starts. As I walk up the stairs I can hear the song, Wind Beneath My Wings, and didn’t know if I should laugh or cry. I swear if that boy played this song on purpose he has another thing coming.

Human Anatomy and Genetics went by quick which is nice because my eyelids were starting to get heavy from information overload. I grabbed my things and headed to the campus café where I usually meet my best friend Tree and catch up on life and the drama on the other side of campus. Tree is a lawyer and her classes are all on the East side of campus while all of mine are on the West end. Lucky for us the campus café is right in the center.

Tree sat down and instantly gossiped about her classmates and how their mock trial is a disaster. Just as we were about to order dessert Joan our waitress brought over a chocolate shake with two straws and a letter. I giggle as I open the letter.

Dear Laura Jean,

When Tree told me you guys meet every day at the café for a gossip session I saw this as the perfect opportunity to remind you of all the times we spent in an old-fashioned ice cream store sharing chocolate shakes while waiting for our moms to finish shopping for our siblings. It’s the moments that we had all to ourselves and we would just sit there, and you would talk about the latest movies coming out or new books you heard about. I could sit there and listen to you talk all day. Now enjoy this shake with Tree and get back to your studies you little book worm.

Always and Forever,

Peter

I laughed and proceeded to drink the shake with Tree which she enjoyed just as much as I did. After my final class of the day, I had to hustle over to the bookstore to catch a meeting with my mentees. Bella and Luke are two new kids in the church youth group and they wanted a one-on-one bible study time, and I agreed I would meet with them once a week to dive into God’s word. When four o’clock hit we were just starting to pack up when over the intercom I hear, “Chloe we have a special song request for you.” I smack my hand to my forehead as I am thinking about all the ways to murder my boyfriend. The song, When I See You Smile by Bad English, plays loud and proud as my face flushes with both embarrassment and flattery.

As the song ends the barista comes over with an envelope in his hand. I open it eagerly:

Dear Anne,

Haha, you thought this was going to be a different movie reference, didn’t you? Well sorry to burst your bubble but when you are in a book store you have to reference one of your favorite love stories. Sitting here watching you mentor those kids fills me with such joy and it makes me proud that you are mine. Your determination and passion remind me of Anne Shirley Cuthbert, and although you can have a slight temper you are a gentle soul and you care about others more than yourself. Just don’t change that part of you. You will always be my Chloe with an E.

Love,

Gilbert

P.S. Meet me in the special spot at 6pm I have something special for you.

I look up at the bar to see if he is still here, but of course, he left right at four o’clock knowing I would not be paying attention to anyone else but Luke and Bella. I look at my watch and see that it is 4:15. Perfect I still have time to go run my dog and take a shower. I hustle home and get my dog only to see brand-new flowers on my kitchen counter. The tag reads:

To my Pretty Woman :)

Dang, I have completely lost count of how many different references have popped up in the last eight hours. After running my dog, I gave him some food and then grabbed a small snack for myself before jumping into the shower. As I am braiding my hair I hear Shadow bark in the other room. I go out to investigate and see Shadow wagging his tail with a rose in his mouth.

The tag read:

Hurry Cinderella! Midnight is upon us!

I finish my hair and slip on some nice blue jeans and my Mickey Mouse sweater. I put Shadow in his kennel and I head out to the water tower. Our town may be small but the view from the water tower is breathtaking. It is my favorite place to just sit and release all my thoughts. When Ryan and I were younger this would be our secret place. As I finished climbing the ladder there was a letter stuck to the top rung. I open it and read:

Hey there Blondie,

This is your final stop of the evening! I hope you have enjoyed our journey through many movies, books, and TV show references. I love playing these little games with you, but most importantly I love YOU! God has put us together for a reason and although we may not know where our future leads I hope to be right there with you every step of the way. The day I met you I knew we would be best friends, and thank goodness you felt the same. I have everything I need right here with you because you are my new dream. Now come around the corner and let’s send off one last wish TOGETHER.

Your New Dream,

Flynn

My heart is beating out of my chest as a couple tears slide down my cheeks. I go around the corner and there is Ryan with a floating lantern in hand and the song I See the Light from Tangled playing on his phone.

I get closer to him, “You are pathetic you know that right?”

“Yes, but I got you to smile so mission accomplished. Now, all we need to do is write down a wish and send it off.” I look at the lantern and think long and hard.

Then it hit me. “Ok genius let’s write down baby names you write the girl’s and I will write the boy’s” He smiled at me as if I have just given him the world.

I knew immediately what to write because I have wanted this name for years. I grab the marker and write down Peter Parker Bond on my side of the lantern. “Ok, I am ready!”

Ryan laughed, “Of course you are. Do you want to share names?”

I nod my head very aggressively, “I want our first boy to be named Peter Parker Bond.”

Ryan chuckled again, “I knew you were going to say that. I wanted to name our first girl Trixie Racer Bond.”

Now it was my turn to laugh, but deep down I loved it. This is why I chose him, I thought, because he knows how to make me laugh and the way to my heart.

“Shall we release it?”

I nod, and we both hold on to one end, light the bottom, and slowly release it. As the lantern floats away I move into his arms and watch our dream fly into the night. I was just about to say something cheesy when all of a sudden more lights from below were released from different areas in the town. As each one was lit and released the lanterns made a heart shape as they floated to the sky.