Storks: A Human And Her Stork

Chapter 3

Junior's POV

"You do know what our purpose is, Ryker. Don't you?" I pinch the bridge of my nose for the last time.

"Yes sir!"

"THEN FREAKING STOP KEEPING THE BABIES ON THE DOORSTEPS!!!!"

Ryker flinches back, topples over a wire and does a chicken wing dance and steadies himself.

"You alert their house an hour before the delivery, you go to the house and ring the damn doorbell" I jab my finger "And give the baby in the hands! To the parents!! You got it?! Not on the doorsteps as if it's some greeting cards for your crush you're too scared to talk to!!"

"Uh okay, Boss!"

"Alright. Get back to work"

Ryker gives me a quick nod and flies out of my office. Huh, younger generation these days!

Wait a minute, did I just say younger generation? I run my wings over my head and look into the mirror hastily. Okay, I haven't grown old like I thought I was.

I hum to myself. I pick my phone and begin to dial Tulip's number. I halt. She would be in her school. I sigh and keep the phone on the table. I walk to the edge of my office look over the vast sea.

It's been really a long time. I couldn't talk to her much. Trust me, being a Boss is really draining. I think that's the reason why Hunter went nutter. Speaking of Hunter I think, he might have been dead. We didn't go in detail to look for him. Even if he is alive there's no way he could be accepted anywhere because he openly attempted to wreck the machine possibly causing danger to million babies' lives.

Are we meeting today?

I type and backspace it. I sigh and throw the phone on my chair and watch outside the office.

The Cornerstore factory plummeted and crashed to the sea with Hunter and we really needed one extra place to work on stuff and the Stork Mountain is kinda getting smaller.

I'm building it more for our workers relaxation spot because Man! delivering babies is really a tough job. I also hired some psychologists so the storks could keep intact with their duty and don't go off the track like Jasper did.

Speaking of Jasper, he was tried for what he had done eighteen years ago making Tulip an orphan and not fulfilling his duty. But he was given a second chance for his help in the end. Well, my board officially thinks that Jasper is the perfect walking example of what could go wrong if you engage emotionally with your package. I mean the baby.

But somewhere in the depth of my heart I'm glad that Jasper sorta messed up with his duty. Because if he hadn't I wouldn't have met Tulip at all.

I still remember the first time I saw her. That was my first joining day in the Cornerstore. I was surprised to find a human on the Stork Mountain I mean come on! how's that even possible? Humans are strictly prohibited.

She was carrying a wooden box full of junk items and was balancing on herself on the rail. Her red hair was wild and open and I kinda...Okay I kind of stared at her. I mean. It's not that...uh alright, I found her cute. Not in that cute cute way.

It's like Aww, look at that tiny human with red hair admiration way.

Anyway, I was brought back to reality by a tiny voice whose owner I had to look all around me only to glance down and find him. Pigeon Toady. That's what he called himself.

"You must be Junior, bruh?" He looked at me with what seemed like sleep deprived eyes.

"Uh, yeah? That would be me..I guess" I force my eyes away from the girl I was looking at and turn down at Pigeon Toady.

He gave me a stare which stilled my heart. Did he notice that I was looking at the human girl?

"Okay, this way, bruh" he turned and scurried away.

I gave a quick glance at the girl who had tripped over something and lied on the floor face first. The items were spilled all around her and she was getting up rubbing her head. I turned at Toady and follow him.

In a year I gained all name and fame. At the same time I had this bloom of desire to talk to Tulip. By now I had heard everything about her and it really made me sad. But I wouldn't stop refering her as 'Orphan Tulip' because that's how everyone called her and I didn't want to be excluded. And lemme admit it, I was a jerk.

I wanted to talk to her but I didn't because I was too engrossed in climbing the hierarchy. And I thought if I make any close affiliation with her it's only gonna make way for my downfall.

Besides, Hunter really hated Tulip. I didn't want to get on his wrong side. And yeah, Tulip was really odd and quirky. Most of the stuff she'd do would lead to one or the other disaster. But let me be honest here, I low key liked her.

But the way she behaved oddly around me kinda made me hesitate. Beside, I was a raising star with the highest delivery rate in a short period. So eventually there were things that made me stay away from her.

As the time passed I sooner forgot everything about Tulip and focused more on my work and my loyalty to Hunter. Geez, I was looking forward to become a Boss like him.

What I feel about Tulip always put me in worry. Because the things I feel about her are quite unconventional. And the fact that Jasper could meet her more frequently than me kinda made me feel really bad. And jealous.

"Hey boss?" I hear a voice behind me.

I turn around to see our new IT guy.

"It happened again" his head is poking inside the door.

"What?!" I gawk at him.

"Four times sir!" He creeps looking bothered. "The babies are being delivered at wrong places"

"But..I thought we fixed it!"

"We did" he nods looking lost "But it's happening again"

I sigh in despair. "Where are the babies now?"

"The Storks are bringing them back so we could try and see where exactly they belong. I mean it's quite problematic but my guys are going through all the times of the orders and stuff. But that's not the problem"

"What is?" My voice croaks.

"These new addresses we are getting on the beacons are quite weird. They'd be of some abandoned factories, eerie looking alleys and parks etc. The sorts of places where people don't usually order babies"

"What does that supposed to mean?"

I don't want him to say that. I don't want him to say that.

"It means that someone is deliberately doing it, Boss" his voice is grave.