The Letter [Adventure Time]

Act 1

Jake sniffed the air with his dog-snout as he sat down to enjoy a plate of freshly-made bacon pancakes. His mouth watered as he poured syrup on top, imagining the beautifully conflicting mixture of sweet and salty he was about to consume. Only a select few wise connoisseurs could accurately describe the taste or why the combination was so delicious, but Jake did not care to digest the nuances of culinary critique, but only to digest the heaven-sent stack of fat and gluten in front of him. He cut a tender piece with his fork, stabbed the steaming slice, and brought it closer to his open mouth.

The Cosmic Owl burst in through the window, scattering broken glass all over the room. Jake dropped his fork in astonishment, accidentally bumping the wooden table, and knocking his plate of bacon pancakes onto the floor. If he had been alone, he may have burst into tears.

"What do you think you're doing? All crashing into my dream bubble like that?" Jake barked at the Cosmic Owl. "Can't you respect a man's dream privacy? Sheesh."

The Cosmic Owl said nothing, but hovered in place, clutching a rolled up piece of paper in his talons.

"Hellooooo," Jake called, trying to get the Cosmic Owl to respond. "What's that you got there? Is that for me? Is this like, a carrier pigeon kinda deal or what?"

The Cosmic Owl remained eerily silent.

"Okaayy," Jake said, feeling uneasy. "I'm just gonna make more pancakes for myself. You can go mess with someone else's perfect dream." Jake muttered malcontented phrases to himself while he fetched the ingredients to make more delectable bacon pancakes.

"Wait," the Cosmic Owl hooted. "This letter's for you. It's...it's from a friend." The Cosmic Owl dropped the paper it was holding and flew up through the ceiling, sending dangerously sharp chunks of wooden planks everywhere.

Jake stepped cautiously to where the Cosmic Owl had dropped the paper. He picked it up and examined it. It seemed to be an old parchment. It smelled strangely like curry. He carefully unrolled the letter and read the contents.

And that's when he woke up—screaming.

"AHHHHHHHHH," Jake yelled as he sat up, sweating. "HHHHHHHHHH," He continued yelling as he frantically searched the room for Finn, with no luck. "AHHHHHHH," he began again after taking a deep enough breath to last running down the stairs into the kitchen. "Oh hey, BMO," he said calmly as he passed the adorable little guy in the hallway before resuming his belting. "Good morning, Jake," BMO replied, but only after the stretchy dog had left the room.

Finn sat, face plopped into a bowl of his morning mash, catching up on the sleep he lost getting up at 4AM to do advanced stretching exercises.

"FINN," Jake bellowed as he snatched Finn's head from the bowl and smacked his cheeks. "FINN, FINN, FINN!"

"Aahh! Dude, stop slapping me, man," Finn said as he protected his face with his hands. "What's going on? Why are you smacking my jowls? And...why are you so sweaty?"

Jake struggled to catch his breath. "Bacon pancakes...and the Cosmic Owl...and I dropped my...and the letter...curry!" Jake frantically tried to relay the dream he'd had, but instead nearly fainted from overexertion.

When he'd gathered enough strength to stand, he took a deep breath and said, "The Cosmic Owl was in my dream and he gave me this letter and said it was from a friend and it smelled like curry and it's freaking me out, man!"

"Woah. Hold up, Jake. The Cosmic Owl was in your dream?"

"He crashed in through the window and made me drop my pancakes. My poor, sweet, bacon pancakes..."

"And he gave you a letter?"

"It wasn't just any letter, compadre, it was a loooove letter."

"A...A...A love letter?!" Finn suddenly remembered the letter he had written for Princess Bubblegum. He kept it in his backpack in case he ever worked up the courage to give it to her, but the Princess had broken his heart too many times, and it was doubtful he'd ever deliver it. It embarrassed him thinking about how he still held onto it instead of throwing it in the trash like she did with his feelings for her. "Do you think it was from Lady Rainicorn?"

"I don't know, man. She doesn't usually do stuff like that, you know?"

"Well, do you know who it is from?"

"I've got no idea. But it did smell like curry, and the handwriting was really neat."

"Maybe Lady got someone who likes curry to write the letter for her?"

"I guess that sounds possible..."

"Hey man, if this letter is bugging you out, you can bet on me to find the bug what wrote it. Let's go."

And with that, Finn and Jake left the treehouse, in search of the author of the mysterious love letter.