Roseanne's Summer Vacation- Chapter 5
Roseanne woke up at 7 a.m. She immediately opened Spotify on her phone and played the gentle melody of “Harukanaru omoi”, the first track of Yukihiro Takahashi’s Once a Fool,… album. The musical piece reminded her of raindrops beating against a window when the flowers and trees have blossomed in spring. But the truth of the matter is, it was summer already. She wished she could somehow set up her vinyl record player to wake her up with music, but instead she had to settle for an app on her smartwatch.
Then the “Harukanaru omoi” transitioned to the “Fuyu no shiruetto” track. Roseanne spoke no Japanese, so she had no idea what the lyrics meant, but she enjoyed the ambient New Romantic Synthpop beats of Takahashi. Energised by the music, she got up and began making her bed. Enzo was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps Cho had already taken the dog out for a walk.
Having used the bathroom and changed her clothes, she went to the kitchen.
Her mother was already eating breakfast. “Good morning, my honey bun!” Liz exclaimed.
“Hello, Ma!” Roseanne approached Liz and kissed her on the cheek.
“Did you have a good night’s sleep?”
“It was okay, though my neck was a bit achy because of yesterday’s drive.”
“You shouldn’t exert yourself so much. Getting a driving licence isn’t that important these days.”
“It is to me, Ma. I believe we should have a car and a driver in case of an emergency. I know there’s Dad, but he’s busy on the road most of the time.”
“You worry too much, dear. Come, sit and eat toast with jelly.”
“I’m just thinking ahead. I don’t want anything bad to happen to us,” Roseanne leaned and kissed her mother again. “I’m gonna eat the toast, but first I’ll go to the post office.”
“Hey!” Liz tried to protest, but Roseanne had already dashed outside. Given the fact that they moved within Szwederowo, the old post office at which Roseanne used to pay the bills was significantly farther away now. Thus, she had to go to a new outpost.
The girl went down the street, crossed a big roundabout, and sprinted along the alleyway of run-down service buildings that contained a pharmacy, a bakery, and a pawn shop. Behind those, she manoeuvred through the maze of blocks of flats until the post office emerged on the opposite side of a small supermarket..
The inside was the same as in every other post office in the Land of Po; it was a space frozen in time. Roseanne hated it, especially the DUM-BUM DUM-BUM sound of papers being approved by the till. However, paying bills at a post office was the safest option for a working-class family. Once, her dad made a mistake in the account number when paying up online and wasted 200 Po credits on some scammy educational company called Analytical Locutus Organisation. He called them up, demanding the return of the said amount, but all he heard was an automated message thanking the caller for the donation and supporting the cause of sending children with Tourette’s syndrome to Earth’s orbit.
Needless to say, Roseanne has been paying by the post office window since then.
“Next!” the old clerk with a cancerous voice called.
Roseanne came up and gave all the handwritten pay orders for the utilities, such as the internet, TV, and phones. The clerk made tiny stamps under each and every order. The DUM-BUM sound ensued. Roseanne paid the total amount in cash.
Then she took out a thick envelope from her bag. Inside was the thing she finished writing last night. The girl wasn’t sure whether she should send it or not. She kept staring at the address she had written carefully with her own hand.
“Do you want anything else, sissy?” the clerk spat angrily, handing back the stamped copies of pay orders.
“Yes, I would like to send this package, please.”
“Is it stamped already?”
“Indeed, it is.”
“Then shove it to a mailbox outside. Next!”
Roseanne felt as if she had been slapped, but she should have known that was coming. It was the only quality of service you could expect in the Land of Po.
“You old bitch. I hope the malignant tumour in your lung will kill you!” she retorted.
And so, Roseanne came up to the mailbox, her hands were slightly shaking. The thought battle broke out within her. She didn’t know if she was doing the right thing. She kept telling herself it was better than doing nothing. If you do nothing, you get zero results. If you do something, there’s a chance you can achieve something. But what if they laugh at me? What if it’s all in vain?
The girl didn’t put the package into the mailbox.
***
She strolled back to her house with a sense of resignation. However, much to her amazement, she noticed the truck cab parked outside. Her dad came back from the road.
“Dad!” she screamed.
Roseanne barely made half a step inside when Robert Juzynski hugged her tightly. They haven’t seen each other for three weeks, but they wrote and talked together on the phone almost every day. Robert has been less worried about leaving the family on their own than in the past. Now, in case of any emergency, he had contact with two daughters instead of one, because Cho had been at home since last year.
“How was France?” Roseanne asked.
“Much better than last year. People in the south are very friendly.”
“Oh, I know something about that!” Liz called out from the living room.
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that. Have you heard about the monster Dominique Pelicot?” Cho asked while brushing Enzo.
“Stop with that true crime obsession,” Roseanne said. “Life isn’t like Twin Peaks, you know.”
“Diane, 8:21 a.m., July 5th. Entering the district of Szwederowo,” Cho said, imitating the voice of Agent Cooper.
“Will you stop that?!”
In the kitchen, Robert laid out on the counter all the gifts he brought with him. Liz opened up her package, which had a big, stylish golden-brown bag, just as she wanted. Cho, on the other hand, received a brand new laptop for studying. Last but not least, Roseanne unwrapped her box and discovered a strange-looking device. It was white and compact. It wasn’t a laptop for sure because there was no screen, but it had all the letter buttons sticking out.
“What is it?” Roseanne asked.
“It’s a typewriter,” Robert explained. “An early birthday gift from me to you.”
“A typewriter?”
“It’s like a computer keyboard. But instead of writing on a computer, you write on a piece of paper,” Cho winked.
“Ah, I get it! Like in the old movies.”
Roseanne closely examined the machine. It’s quite mind-blowing to think that, before the digital age, people used something like that to write non-handwritten texts. The model in front of Roseanne had the popular QWERTY layout; however, the positioning of some letters was off in some places.
“I know it’ll take some getting used to, but you’ll get the hang of it,” Robert said as he embraced his daughter. “All the great writers used to have typewriters. They don’t require power or batteries, and they are not as distracting as PCs or phones. Did you know that American students use typewriters to exchange letters with that actor Tom Hanks?”
“Tom Hanks?” Roseanne tried to recall the celebrity’s movies from her memory. “I’m not going to chat with the saviour of Private Ryan.”
“That wasn’t my intention, sweetie. I know you love writing fiction, and I know how much you care about your hobby,” he said. “Now that you have the typewriter, you can call yourself a real pro.”
“Oh, thank you, Dad,” she said, kissing him. “I will try my best.”
***
The rest of the morning passed idly. Liz started reading a new book. Cho sat down to set up her new laptop, whereas Roseanne tried to learn how to use the typewriter by trial and error. Unfortunately, YouTube tutorials weren’t very helpful.
Robert came into the room, rolled the paper into the machine, and began showing her the key combinations.
“That’s how you make ż ź ć… It’s a typewriter for the Po language, but I found it on the French market. Talk about a coincidence.”
“Okay, Dad,” said Roseanne. “To be honest, I’m more keen on writing in English. I can still do that, right?”
Robert looked at her and smiled. “Sure! Then just disregard the combinations for Po diacritics. But you need to be careful with line indentations. In this machine, there’s a nifty feature apart from the tabulator: If you press the margin release button while returning the carriage, the new paragraph will start with an indent.”
Roseanne stared into the abyss of a blank page, trying to understand what she had just heard. “I’m sorry, Dad. It’s too much to take in for me at first go. Office 2007 is much easier,” she sighed.
“I know, sweetie. But you’ll learn with time. Here, let me demonstrate. My grandma taught me back in the 1980s.” Robert straightened up in front of a desk and began typing.
PARENT/LEGAL GUARDIAN CONSENT FOR PARTICIPATION IN A TRIP
Roseanne Juzynski
(surname and first name of the trip participant)
I, the undersigned, give my consent for my child to participate in the school trip
scheduled from July 8, 2025, to July 11, 2025.
I declare that there are no contraindications for my child to participate in this type of trip.
I take full responsibility for any valuables my child brings on the trip.
I consent to the administration of painkillers or motion sickness medication if necessary.
In the event of an accident or illness during the trip, I consent to the provision of medical assistance or outpatient treatment.
I take responsibility for ensuring my child gets to the meeting point and returns home after the trip.
I accept financial responsibility for any material damages caused by my child during the trip due to non-compliance with the rules.
I confirm that I have read and accepted the trip regulations.
Signed by
Robert Juzynski
“Hold on a minute!” Roseanne nearly jumped. “What is it that you are writing?”
“I got a phone call from that head parent or whatever. A businesswoman type. She told me about a school trip to Gdynia. I think it’s a great place for you to visit.”
“You know, you could have just told me,” Roseanne rolled her eyes. “And it’s in three days? But I wanted to go with Nat to a military camp next month!”
“You’ll go, dear, you’ll go. But in the meantime, you can spend four days at the seaside with Nat as well.”
“Wait, Natasha is coming too?”
“I spoke with her parents. But you can call her to make sure.”
“How many people are coming? Who is in charge of this? I’m not going to put up with any crazy Gremlins.” Roseanne realised that her father had decided for her. Why did he want her to visit Gdynia of all places? If she could have made this decision, she wouldn’t have gone out of laziness. Being with Nat is one thing, but being with social rejects only stirs unnecessary trouble.
“I don’t know, sweetie. It’s just an excursion,” her dad said. “Just stick with your friends and enjoy the sights.”
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