Zariah is heading towards her establishment, though on her way, she makes a quick stop for some iced coffee. Entering her regular café, with a manifested interior of polished brick walls and stone counters, she recognizes a familiar almond face, fiddling with the strings of his deep purple cargo jogger pants, waiting for another consumer.
"William? Is that you? Well, what are you doing here?", Zariah approaches the cash register. All eyes on the successfully well-known woman, thoroughly aware of the rookie's potential unnecessary demise.
"Oh! Uh-Yeah! I'm just here to learn more about how to do my job the right way. Hehe...", William titters and grabs a pen and notepad.
"Oh, really?! But why do you have a job in the first place?", Zariah questions, blatantly worried.
"Well, my mom wasn't going to be buying me anymore parts for the small machines I like to make. So, I'm just trying to save some money for all of the things I planned on getting, it's nothing serious or anything.", William, now with his head down, anticipates Zariah's next move, ready to jot his instructions.
"Oh. Okay, well then may I get my usual please? By the way, you look good in that uniform!", Zariah taps her fingertips on the sandstone table. The employee's uniform is a simple brown hat and apron, with the café's name, 'Relaxation & Recuperation Haven', embroidered in the center.
"Thank you. Um...y-your...your usual?", William asks, clueless of what he should do without the manager within his vicinity.
"Yes, please!", Zariah exclaims with a seemingly confused face.
Consumers in the café observes with chuckles of amusement. Since Zariah is a frequent customer, everyone in the café knows about her, the little tricks she likes to pull whenever she gets the chance.
"What is in your 'usual' exactly?", William examines the café, tapping his pen against the pocket-sized notepad, he notices the onlookers' reaction. He raises his suspicions of the woman in front of him.
"Nothing special. Just an iced coffee with some kick.", Zariah emphasizes, trying to make this last just a little longer.
"Zariah! Good morning! Would you like your...usual...order?", Jessie, the manager, slows down.
"Yep. My usual order please.", Zariah says looking at a smug-faced William who is, without a doubt, internally cheering she didn't have her way with him.
"So, 3 sugars, 2 tablespoons of cream and a tablespoon of cinnamon. Got it?", Jessie informs William.
"Got it!", William says with a confident oozing aura.
William brews Zariah's order and informs her of the price, "Five dollars in cash."
"I've got no cash on me right now, could you take care of this?", Zariah responds, raising the shard of an emerald.
"Of course! I'll return this.", William takes the shard and hands it to Jessie, who will cautiously cut off pieces of emerald, as they both walk towards the room not shown to consumers.
After receiving her receipt and shard from William, Zariah transports her to-go cup to the office of her building. She has a globally noted business, called Zari's Personnel, which professions in making personalized items, from cars to cups to clothes to computers; she sponsors, and occasionally gets sponsored by, her husbands' corporation.
"Hey William! Wouldn't want to be late on your first day, now, would you?", Jessie walks up behind him, taking William's hat off and placing it on the sandstone.
"H-huh? What do you mean by-. Oh, that's right! I still have school at eight o' clock! See you later! Enjoy your day!", William takes the rest of his uniform off, he sprints out of the café, stumbling towards his middle school.
"Goodbye, William. You too!", Jessie waves his hand.
With an empty environment, Abuela Labiba cleans the house; she mops and sweeps the floors, brushes all the furniture and appliances to test her new duster, washes the laundry and swiftly unboxes her new ocean scented air purifier. Once she completes her intense cleaning spree, Abuela Labiba prepares for her salt bath, all the while listening to her soothing personalized tunes. When she's refreshed, Abuela Labiba, after placing a white shirt on her velvety brown skin, under a bland turquoise tasseled shawl, along with gray biker shorts and spectacles on her hazelnut eyes, begins reading some of her long overdue put off books. Before she continues, however, she makes a glass of her favorite iced honey lemon tea as she then takes a seat in her reclining rocking chair. Soon as she gets comfortable though, Ricky finally awakes and begins his daily routine, manifesting Abuela Labiba's permanent pest. Dexter and Tangerine emerges soon after, unlike Ricky, they are the more well-behaved companions in the family.
Abuela Labiba inhales deeply, "What a wonderful morning!", and takes a sip of her homemade tea. As she checks her watch, Abuela Labiba notes to herself, "9:25? I probably have an hour left. Let's enjoy it!"
"It is, isn't it?", Ricky squawks in his scratchy voice, "But it'd be better if you gave me some of those berries in the refrigerator. I saw Xarieliz put some raspberries...some blueberries...a couple strawberries and all kinds of fruits in there. So, why don't you get up and put some in my bowl, alright?", he squawks again.
"Guess I jinxed myself, huh?", Abuela Labiba mumbles breathily.
"I need food! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! Is that not what you humans say?!", Ricky squawks, displaying his morning moody nature.
"LEAVE ME ALONE YA DANG BIRD! I don't like you, so leave me alone and get 'em yourself!", Abuela Labiba yells, waving her cane in the air, threatening Ricky with this new sword. She tries to focus back on reading the book in her hands.
Ricky sighs and patronizes, "Labiba, Labiba, Labiba.", shaking his head, "Let's help each other out, okay? Listen, I know you hate me and to be honest...I don't really like you either.", he keeps his head still, looking at Abuela Labiba, "But I can't open the door of the refrigerator. As you can see, I have wings and claws, as you've said, I'm just a 'dang bird' after all. I just need you to give me my food and I won't bother you anymore. You wouldn't want Xarieliz, your granddaughter to see her lovely bird on the verge of death because of starvation, now, would you?", he teases.
"You annoying little avian! Why did Xarieliz have to teach you, of all people, fluent English?!", Abuela Labiba shouts, squinting her eyes at the nuisance hanging in the corner. "Fine! Don't you dare bother me after this!", Abuela Labiba screams as she stomps over to the kitchen.
Ricky squawks hysterically, he shrieks "Excuse you, I am a scarlet macaw! The absolute best of the best! But as you wish. Just make sure you give me enough for the rest of the day, okay granny?", Ricky squawks defensively.
Abuela Labiba runs over to Ricky, "What?! Granny?! I'll show you what this granny is made of!", she grumbles, shaking Ricky's cage, before he pleads, "Stop! You can't hurt one of your granddaughter's closest friends just because of your emotions!"
Still slightly annoyed, Abuela Labiba composes herself, determined to finally have one day of peace without any children around. "Whatever!", she scoffs as she flings the refrigerator door open and launches a teen-made mix of nuts and berries down into Ricky's bowl.
Abuela Labiba stomps back in the living room and over to Ricky's living space. She tosses the bowl in his cage, tramps over to her chair and plops down.
"Geez, you don't have to be so rude!", Ricky exclaims, before sinking his beak into the variety of decadent dried fruits and fresh deshelled nuts.
"Good grief!", Abuela Labiba sighs, she sips her tea once more and continues reading.
YOU ARE READING
The Incidental Extraterrestrial War
FantasyA family lives a peaceful and content life, however, that peace is interrupted when they get involved in a war their kindred incidentally started. With their supernatural abilities, hidden strengths, and quirky features it is impossible to tell how...
