Devon Free Day Post

Walking between aisles of toasted mochi and noodle shops, Emma Lesser was unable to feel the atmosphere of nervous anticipation we carefully concealed. We had just visited the bamboo forest—a towering congregation of swaying, segmented cylinders that made us feel quite small. We had explored the monkey forest soon after, marveling at the animals that reminded us so much of ourselves. We had still had much to do. It was Emma’s birthday, and before the trip had even started we had planned to throw her a surprise party at the hostile. It was my group’s job to ensure that her attention lay elsewhere, while the others prepared for our evening celebration. We went to a movie theme park and watched a ninja performance, among other amusing adventures. Following that experience, we took a trolley to the hot spring where we stalled Emma. Lying naked over the hot, open-air rocks, we slept, extending what was supposed to be an hour-long endeavor into three hours of pure relaxation. I took extra long in the shower, conditioning each strand of my hair with deliberate slowness. I made sure that the blow dryer was on the wrong setting so that it took twice as long to straighten my damp curls. By the time I exited the bathing area, it was already 7:00. We had stalled so well that we even missed the trolley back to the Utano area. We walked in 15 minutes late. We stepped into the room, and the energy exploded in a large cry of “Surprise!” The evening was filled with cake and merriment. After scrubbing our plates of their sugary coatings, we went to sleep with full stomachs and a lingering feeling of excitement from the day’s activities.