Other Microstories

[Parrot Parfait]

I had something magical in mind.

You know, when I was younger, I used to have a close friend of mine that I'd always play with. Though, she was a bit... special. She hardly spoke, hardly ate, and hardly went outside. With that being said, nobody was her friend (minus me), but she didn't mind being alone. Actually, she usually preferred it. I still remember her hostiles stares when I first approached her those first couple of times. All those things definitely set her apart, but what made her really special was her "gift". It was a parent's day that my friend's mother saw us interacting. Probably because she wanted her daughter to develop more, my friend's mother asked my mom if I could come over to play. One thing led to another, and I ended up on a playdate with my friend the same day. I vividly remember being impressed when seeing my friend's house for the first time, but what really stuck with me was when we began actually playing together. At first, I thought we were just going to draw or to play with toys like we did in school, but instead, we did something we never did in school: origami. While borrowing one of her books, I followed along (albeit, with a struggle), and both of us began folding multiple different shapes and animals. On our seventh origami, however, that's when her gift manifested in front of me. Without warning, the paper crane she made as a demonstration shuddered. At first, I thought it was just my imagination, but after shuddering again, I paid closer attention to the little crane. In just a few moments, the paper crane began to convulse before bursting to life, flying around the room like an actual bird. Immediately, I tugged on my friends shirt, pointing out that the crane she made was flying, but she didn't even bat an eye and just continued making more animals. One by one, each of the origami animals she made began springing to life as she continued to make more. By the time she stopped, there were more than 20 different animals. Birds, monkeys, tigers, elephants, it was an entire menagerie of paper animals. Of course, I just had to play with them. They distracted me until I noticed that my friend had stopped, and that's when I saw her expression while she was holding one of her animals. Even to this day, I still have a hard time explaining what I saw, but the best way I could describe it was this. It was an unfathomably loving and yet despondently forlorn. I never interrupted her whenever she was like that. When our playtime was up, all her animals gathered to the table before unfolding and uncreasing themselves perfectly in their original, neat paper squares. From then on, I can't remember the count of how many times I visited her house. It's a shame. If she hadn't moved, then maybe... Nevermind. I'm getting ahead of myself.

 

[Parrot Parfait]

Just wanted to write about a fictional location I like to day dream about
You know, there's a place that I like to visit all the time. Though, if you'd try to look it up on google maps, you wouldn't be able to find since it doesn't exist on Earth. Don't tell anyone, but my house's attic door is actually a portal to another world. Dunno where it is in the multiverse, but that doesn't really matter.
Ah, yes, the location. It's somewhere off the coast of some unknown continent with tall cliffs and crags connected to each other by swingy rope bridges. However, what's most amazing about this place is that atop those cliffs, there are small meadows that house hundreds if not thousands of little doo-dads, ranging from wind-chimes, pinwheels, and other decorations that move with the wind. On one of those tufts, however, there's the small, traditional Asian house. That's the one my attic door connects to. It's a rather quaint abode, and seems to be a kind of "home" for whatever manages the toys that cover the green turfs. Though, of all my years going there, I've never seen the caretaker, even out on the rocks, but I know for certain that somebody lives there as the house and toys are in pristine condition. I don't know much beyond that though...
I'm getting ahead of myself. What I wanted to talk about was how much I love the place for its... peacefulness. The sea bream smell perfuming the cliffs, the crashing of waves rumbling the air, and the gentle wind rolling through my hair, I just love it here. Oh, and my favorite part is when the big gust happens when the sunset happens. While watching the sun dip below the horizon, you get lulled into a sense of calm when suddenly, bam! A sudden gust hits your face. When it happens, all the toys on the coast just go nuts, creating a sonorous symphony of wooden and metallic clanging paired with wild dancing in the red, warm glow of a sunset. Then, the wind just stops, and everything falls asleep. That's usually when I go home. If I don't, I stick around to watch the stars. However, I never stay to sleep over. I find it a bit rude to whoever's living there.

 

[Parrot Parfait]

This one changed quite a bit from the original. Was originally going to be about a boy watching people clean up in a fantasy forest village, but that somehow, the story turned out like this!
Old Gerald lounged in his little chair, bundled up in the ridiculous red and green knit his old hag made for him that winter. As he sipped from the warm cup of bitter, unsweetened coffee, he gazed outside, observing the city workers cleaning up the mess from yesterday’s festival. All the workers looked miserable in the freezing cold, which caused a creeping smile to form on Gerald’s face. Then, as if the worker's suffering couldn't get any worse, it began snowing again. The workers groaned at their misfortune and Gerald cackling at their pain. When one of the workers noticed Gerald's laughing, the worker flipped a bird, but Gerald just laughed harder. Such was the pitiful creature that derived small pleasure from the suffering of others. While the decrepit old man brought the cup up for another sip, his neighbor’s daughter, a plucky little girl, came outside from her little abode with mugs of hot chocolate. A sneer formed on the old man’s face as the worker’s expressions melted into smiles at the little girl’s arrival. Her parents probably sent her with those, the old man thought, most likely to butter up the slaves to spread good rumors about themselves. Disgusting, shallow sycophants, Gerald thought as he swigged the coffee into his mouth, only for it to enter the wrong pipe and cause him to have a coughing fit. He cursed as he stood up wiping his shirt before moving his chair to the fire and grabbing Watership Down from his shelf. The nasty, old man's twisted enjoyment was spoiled by the goodness of one kind, little girl.

 

[Parrot Parfait]

"You know, I used to never understand why people liked 'cozy locations' and such. I always thought that all was needed was a place to stay and some decent food to eat. Though, after going through last year, I now can certainly see the appeal of such places," the guy with a neon green beanie chattered before sipping his chamomile tea. I dunno who this person was, but as I was just minding my own business sitting on Kafe Kalina's bean bags, this guy just sits down in front of me and begins a monologue. Wanting to send a message across in a subtle way, I avert my eyes towards the neighboring skyscraper and down at the seemingly tiny walkways with seemingly tiny people scurry to and fro. Alas, my subtle cueing want completely over this guy's head before he started again.

"Last year, started a job at West Computing, and boy, is that place nasty. They make everything there sound so glamorous and prestigous, but in reality, those guys just work you to the bones with very little time off. Makes sense why they're one of the top software developers these days, they basically steal work from all those losers," he continued. I couldn't hold back a frown at that last part. I was working at West Computing and oh so reluctantly confirm everything he remembered about that accursed place. Hovercraft bosses, sudden deadlines, death marches, you name it. Whatever those guys wanted you to do, you'd have to do it.

"Where was I? Oh yeah, after working about 5 or 6 months, I quickly found myself breaking down with the stress and workload of it all, especially with me having practically no friends. My brain was a mess, all my good habits gone, and got real sickly by the end of it. However, you know what saved me? Well, you'd probably guessed, it's Kafe Kalina! Story is that I was quick haggard while wandering round the skyways, practically was skin and bones at that time. When the shopkeep saw me, she was appalled! She quickly brought me in and served me a cup of chamomile free of charge. We talked and such, and after finishing, I went home and came back the next day to unwind and talk here. Then, the rest is history. Quit my job at West Computing and picked up one with better work, but I continued to come here to Kafe Kalina, mostly to talk with Kalina and random strangers like you. Hope you'd like my story!" With that the man got up before leaving the shop with his chamomile tea. I was a bit weirded out that he chose to talk to me of all people, but it was a bit nice hearing his story. I looked at my latte and took a small sip. It was warm. I gave out a small sigh before looking out the window, mind empty as a hover car drove not too far drove past.

 

[Parrot Parfait]

Without so much as looking at her, Blake placed the tea onto the table. He stared at the water-stained table with a blank expression before turning away to the chair behind him. With one stiff movement, he sat down with closed eyes, giving a soft sigh as he did. His guest shifted uncomfortably in her chair, her eyes locked onto him with a calm gaze. Jen didn't quite know what his problem was, but she did appreciate of the effort Blake put into inviting her to a tea date. The cookies were meticulously arranged on the platter, the shabby room was well cleaned, and every window in the house was opened. However, Blake's preparation didn't change the fact that she wanted to go home. There was homework to do along with oboe practice plus aerobics class, and it didn't help that her parents wanted to show her a new restaurant, today. She loved it all, but with everything happening all at once, she couldn't help regret that she accepted his invite...

To tell the truth, Blake was very nervous. The back of his neck was tense, and his eyes were averted, and his hair was prickling. He wanted to apologize and call the whole thing off, then suffocate himself with a pillow for asking Jen something so stupid. Why did he so impulsively ask her on this tea date? If he hadn't done so, he would be happily playing games while screaming his lungs out after headshotting someone. He took a deep breath... though his desire to quit was great, his fear of the outcome was even greater. It was already bad inviting Jen out, but if this tea date flopped, Jen more likely would spill the beans on how bad of a host he was, and he'd become the laughing stock of the school. He didn't want that. As such, he nervously straightened his back and let out the first words of the conversation.

"So... how's the weather like today?"