She is mortal danger to all men.
She is beautiful without
knowing it, and possesses
charms that she is not
even aware of.
○?○
................
"Biscuits", kathleen call out and Laura is excited on reciting the next word as she had decided to go with bus. They decided to play word games as there were no classes for Laura and Kathleen for the respective evening. They were in the middle of a game while Janice entered the room carrying some huge books and papers.
"Bus", she squealed in delight. Kathleen thought for a second and Laura began counting already.
"One, two, three...."
"Babies", she shouted with a jump. The girls were excited like kids while Janice crossed her arm over the chest with a frown that set her face on witnessing the girls.
"Barley", Laura let out a chortle while Kathleen exhaled sharply.
"Ahmm... mmm lemme think..... balloons", she said with a grin. The animated game had no stop and the girls continued to play ignoring Janice presence.
"Girls, hold on. What are you guys doing?", her voice harder than it intended to be.
"It's a game! Word game actually. This game can be played repeatedly, but it's the most fun when pulled as a surprise, with the other party not expecting it. That's how I started playing it with Laura", giggled kathleen.
"How do you play it?", Janice sounded confused.
"Simply say aloud a category of some physical thing, be it flowers, furniture, food...it can be anything for instance", narrates kathleen.
"Like babies, balloons, buildings.... hehehe... i got on a roll with alphabet B didn't I...? That's the game", exclaimed Laura.
"Once you have stated the category, we will immediately begin counting quite rapidly from one to ten; it should take you, only 5 seconds or less. The other person or for example you, you have only until then to name such an item with the same alphabet that we started!", explained Kathleen and Janice mouthed a 'Oh'.
"For example, I call out, 'Bamboo! 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10!' If the other player is on their toes, they may make it by the time "5" is called to shout out the name of a food—"blueberries" for instance.
I say "shout out," as, in the urgency presented, shouting is usually what happens. If they cannot think of something before the time runs out, they lose, and it is again the first player's turn to call out a category. However, if they beat the clock, it is their turn to call a category", chirped Laura.
"Ohh, really. You both act like kids", scoffed Janice.
"We are though", kathleen winked.
"Well then, listen Kath, laura! we have other issues to solve", announced Janice. Their eyes widen slightly before a confusion sets their face.
"We have to save something from demolition", confessed Janice taking out a paper form from her bag.
"What is that?", kathleen questioned eagerly.
"A building - a historic building indeed", Janice showed them the details regarding the historic building.
"Which one exactly?", Laura asked her scanning the sheet that lay on her lap.
"The Vance museum".
"For heavens sake, is it the Vance museum situated at outskirts of Alexandria?! It was built by the famous Chinese - American architect Mason wang in 1875. Are you talking about that historic monument?", gasped kathleen in shock.
"Yes. That's what I'm talking about!", she nodded.
"Oh my god, how could they demolish such a historic place. I have been there like few minutes while I was young", mumbled Laura.
"Buildings built long ago often have rich architectural features, design details, and unique layouts that have long disappeared from modern homes. Saving and restoring historic buildings allows us to keep these examples of fine craftsmanship alive. And as a future architect I'm in. I really love that interior designing", kathleen push back her hair from her forehead. The girls nodded agreeing to what just kathleen said.
"But how do you know about it and who is doing all this?? Who is trying to save that historic building?", Laura had no clue about this earlier. If it wasn't Janice, then Laura would have never knew it.
"My history teacher, Feral delany is passionate about saving this building and originally the project of 'saving vance' was started by Conard Wang, the great great grandson of Mason wang. My professor belong to the town Rosemont, Alexandria and he is really into this.
And he is the head of the community that is working behind this project along with Conard Wang. He thought how really important historic monuments are. And the project wasn't brought to our knowledge all these days as no one really noticed the pamphlets and posts in Instagram.
People ignored it as they thought it really wasn't important at all. And then finally professor feral wanted the students to be part of the project.
You know what he said :
'Listen, few people may ignore and would take it light about saving the Vance museum but we should fight to save and do all that we could.
Developers and community leaders can be too quick to tear down older buildings only to replace them with cookie cutter homes or another shopping center. By saving our historic buildings, we ll help our community retain its uniqueness.
Once if we are successful in this particular mission, we will be giving new life to a beautiful historic building. We will give the gift of history, culture, and education to future generations. We will be preserving a link to the past, while improving your town s future'", Janice told them the exact words that professor feral delany said.
"Yes, he is right. Old buildings have seen a lot of history throughout the years. They have witnessed the highs and lows of your community, and may have even hosted some of these events. While we might not read about our town s history in textbooks, our historical building tells its story, and it would be a loss if our community couldn t hear it", implied kathleen.
"But how come Ms. Swan never talked about it in class?", kathleen was wondering on why her history teacher never talked about it.
"The country Court wanted to demolish it by the end of the next month! So we have to do something really quick. Local historians, community leaders, and past owners are doing their job perfectly but they have got no support from the big heads of the town and it really needs so much dollars to save the place", stated Janice.
"But why does the court wanted to do something like this? On what basis does the monument has to be demolished? I don't understand?!!", a scowl set Laura's? face.
"The historic building, the Vance museum has lost it's life and people are not visiting it anymore and it has not been under proper maintenance all these years. The wang family moved back to China during the 90's and they left the building under the surveillance of some Spanish agency.
But they left it like crap. And now the building is considered as 'not safe to visit'. And when Conard Wang receives a letter from court regarding the demolition, he flew back to US and thus the story began", Janice concludes a short part of the story with a sign.
"Let me tell you this, saving a historic building is not something we should attempt on our own. The project demands recruiting partners to join our mission. With passionate partners, we ll gain greater reach into the society and that increases our chances of success. I can say this as my dad tried to save my grandfather's ancestry house few years back", she informed them.
"So, what is our role here?", kathleen was curious about this project.
"Get people to sign this petition and if they are willing to fund the project, let's make sure that we collect the money and put it together then take it to my professor feral delany who would return it to the community working behind the project", Janice suggested and the girls agreed as it was a good idea to work upon.
"Funds, the most important part here. Funding our project is likely the most significant obstacle we are about to face. Restoring a historic building can be expensive — especially if it involves restoring, renovating, or moving the building. And yes, the funds collected here are gonna be useful for restoring the museum.
Fundraising for our project can take anywhere from 2 weeks to several months, but we can't delay it anymore. We need to rush and professor feral told us that many projects never achieve 100% funding. It s best to collect the funds from the top dogs of the city but, for that to happen we need their attention first.
And it's the community behind this project is working with a non-profit or professional fundraising consultant who is helping the plan and preparing a fundraising campaign", declared Janice and gave few papers to the girls to read it out.
"Whoa, you knew so much and how come you have time for all this?", signed Laura.
"Feral delany gave us every single detail and necessary information about the project 'saving vance' museum to his best five students and I'm proud to say I'm one among them", she smiled.
"That's awesome. Literally awesome", Laura appreciates her efforts and? eagerness towards the project.
"Have you heard about state grants?", kathleen asked them.
"No, what is that?", Janice narrow her eyes at kathleen for an explanation.
"Most states have historic preservation grants allocated for building restoration. Like they are funded by the state government", she said looking between the girls.
"While these funds are often limited and can be highly competitive, it can be a real boost to our project to secure one of these grants. Reach out to our state preservation office for advice and paperwork to apply for these funds. How does it sound guys", Kathleen's voice softened as she could see Laura and Janice staring at her eyes.
"Ahmmm...what?".
"Kath, it's the government who doesn't want the building anymore and how do you think they would be funding the project?", snarled Laura.
"Oh shit. I'm sorry I just... it was a random thought. We will think of something else", she affirmed.
"Mr. Feral said there is another source of funding which is through private foundations, philanthropic trusts, and individual donors.
The community already had a donor in mind as they pursued the project, but that donor isn't willing to help so that had to rely upon donations for God's sake.
So they wish a donor to appear seemingly out of nowhere. And they are ready to continue building relationships within their community and sharing the vision for the project with everyone they meet; but they haven't come across a donor yet.
They are hoping to know who might be the person to cut the final check", she shared the information that she knew.
"Mmmm, maybe we will try...try to the best we could ! Laura, you get students from your department to sign the petition and I'll do my part and Janice will do hers. We will gradually get help once we start this project", kathleen says with a tight smile.
"Let's begin this mission by sharing the details in our Instagram page and we will request people to re post it in their page. Likewise, if this continues maybe we will get some attention towards us. What do you think?!", Laura suggested it.
"That sounds great. We will start this mission tomorrow and will get everyone signed into this petition of saving vance museum", assured Janice.
.................
But these girls weren't aware of what awaits for them. This mission is gonna change few things in their life. Read the next few chapters to know more about it.