Serenity Day

"*Serenity Day is a big deal. The entire population turns out, which reminds me of a medium-sized wedding on a TV show. We drink lemonade and eat hot dogs, and listen to speeches about how great our town is, and how lucky we are to live here.*"
—Description of Serenity Day by Malik Bruder, *Masterminds*

**Serenity Day** was the annual holiday of Serenity, New Mexico. It was intended to celebrate the founding of the town, which had supposedly been in 1937. Every year, there was food, speeches and fun activities for the kids to enjoy.

## Description

### Activities

A typical Serenity Day started with family picnics in Serenity Park, and the ceremony began around two in the afternoon. Felix Hammerstrom, the mayor of the town, would start by holding up the Serenity Cup for the residents to cheer about. After that, the speeches began, with the speakers being introduced by their formal titles.

Next, the fun activities happened. There was a Fun Slide and a Bouncy Castle for the kids to play in, as well as several competitions, including an egg-and-spoon race, a three-legged race, a beanbag toss, a ring toss and a horseshoe toss. People could also choose to get their face painted.

Following that was a big water polo game that the students competed in, as water polo was the main sport played in Serenity. Prior to the match, the citizens of Serenity stood at attention for the national anthem and a song called "Serenity, My Home". The two teams were named Community and Solidarity, and at the Serenity Day in 2015, the game ended in a tie. After the game, it was around dinnertime, and barbecues were set up.

There was an annual Surety-versus-Plastics Works tug-of-war that took place in a muddy pit. However, the Surety always lost on purpose so to show good sportsmanship. The Surety also did a drill team parade, which Eli described to look "like someone spilled grape juice on the Grenadier Guards in front of Buckingham Palace".

In the days leading up to Serenity Day, the kids worked on projects related to the town, which they could choose to do with a partner. For their last Serenity Day, Tori Pritel and Amber Laska made a mural of Serenity, Hector Amani and Malik Bruder built a scale model of Serenity Park using Legos, and Eli Frieden made a timeline where the histories of America, New Mexico and Serenity were laid out together. These projects were presented on Serenity Day itself at the Serenity school, and awards were given to the best ones. Tori and Amber were awarded plaques after winning first prize for their mural.

Finally, when the sun had gone down, everybody settled down in the park to watch the fireworks. During the last known Serenity Day, the display lasted exactly twenty-three minutes.

### Food

Hot dogs, lemonade, ice cream, cotton candy and soda were consumed during Serenity Day. Steve, Elizabeth and Tori Pritel also made homemade ice pops in the shape of the Serenity Cup, which they used to eat on their porch after the fireworks.

## History

### 2014

For Serenity Day in 2014, Amber Laska was planning on getting her face painted, drinking real soda, and eating cotton candy until she threw up. She kept her to-do list from that day, which was unique because its contents didn't have anything related to practice or school.

### 2015

In 2015, Eli, Tori, Amber, Malik and Hector planned to escape town during the fireworks, wanting to get away from Project Osiris. They worked their way through the activities like normal, although they were determined to appear the most enthusiastic until the fireworks began. Tori and Amber won first place for their Serenity Day project, and during the water polo match, Solidarity and Community tied, garnering wild applause.

When the fireworks began, the five kids snuck out of the park and to the Plastics Works, where they intended to destroy the satellite dish that was on top of one of them so they could get past the town barrier. Bryan Delaney and Alexander the Grape, two Surety members, intercepted them, but were knocked out. Eli then proceeded to drive the truck out with the others riding along, and they leapt off as the truck crashed into the valley at top speed.