[ #59 ADVENTURE ] Sitting lonely, wedged between buildings and in the deep, reeking underbelly of this underworld - a pair of wayward twins, a silently powerful fighter, a lost boy. A foreboding storm. And these things - the good, the bad, and the in-between have one thing in common. They are made from lightning.

Boy meets magic. Boy meets death.

In Tokyo, where the System siphons thought, emotions & memories, a literature student meets a strange psychic girl and they embark on an escape from mindless agents, dream worlds and reality itself, in a soul-searching journey for love, for identity and what it means to be human. But all that remains is a peculiar coffee shop order. The novel examines the human condition, perception, socio-political systems, capitalism and consumer culture, incorporating paranoiac conspiracy theories, surreal cosmic visions, circular symbolism and shifting parallel worlds, with profound discussions of coffee, art, literature and music. [Dystopia, Magical Realism, Philosophy, Literary] #1 Sci-Fi, Spiritual; #Wattys2014 Award Winner; Featured on Wattpad, IndieReader, @DIGonUSA "Struck me to the very core of my being." "Very interesting concept of reality... Thought provoking.." "I have been turned to a whole new way of thinking because of you." "Like a seven course meal full of spice and illumination... One does not listen to a classical piece to get to its ending. No. It is the ride, the moment by moment...a genuine Masamune among stories." "It was both personable and philosophical. A rare breed of good story and thought provoking ideas... A virtual standing ovation would not be enough to encapsulate the absolute awe I have of you." "It's not a regular thing to find a piece of work that oozes sophistication and embodies literature and art." "The world Takatsu has created opens to the deeper awareness of another, the draw of another." - Mary L Tabor, Wattpad author, essayist, professor "Offers acute, almost painful observations of the minutiae of life, if life took place in a Murakami snow-globe." - IndieReader Insiders "Vapoury style that seems to hover off world at times...haunting and strange (which is good)...You're on to something different, striking." - B.W. Powe, York University English Professor, award-winning author, poet, philosopher http://EspressoLove.tk

Sometimes all you really need is a place to call home. *** Claire is lost and scared and utterly alone. Her family is in shambles after the death of her older sister Ina, and she's left to pick up the broken pieces of herself as her life heads into a downwards spiral of loneliness. Her heart leads her to 5:48, a little cafe by 33rd street, where she finds her new home. With a broken heart and a speech disability, Jasper has his heart and mouth sewn shut by the winding threads of hurt and fear. Painting and serving coffee in cafe 5:48 are one of his last few saving graces, but the smile he's been painting on himself will soon fade away as everything he's ever held dear slips away from his grasp. Ezra is out-of-sync and oddly cold by the way life has treated his young self. Abandoned by his single mother at an early age, he has grown up thinking that he is a mistake. His constant shaking hands are a reflection of what he often thinks of himself, but the delightful pastries he bakes for 5:48's customers are a reflection of what others see of him. Drew is a quirky rarity. He is a dash of loud, a pinch of exuberant, and a cup of eccentric - just like the meals he serves in the cafe as the only chef there. Behind his playful grins and outlandish clothes, however, are his jutting ribs, hollowed cheeks, and too-thin arms. Sometimes he cannot stomach being in his own skin as much as he cannot stomach food. This family has gone a long way from finding each other, and they'll be going a long way together too as reality comes catching up to them, threatening the newfound happiness they've found with each other. Secrets are revealed, pasts become presents, and lives are changed. Slowly but surely, they find their way back home. *** NOTE AS OF 08/2026: This is the old version of the story from 2012, posted in FULL. Another story that will be considered a reprise of this old version is in the works, and will be posted under the name "Hiraya House."