Prompt: Write a romance story which involves a bracelet, 'unicorn', 'you're toast', delinquents, and a happy ending726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9eLeJdyCcn
This is the part where I say, I love you.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡexF365tAni
I open my mouth, draw in a deep breath, and am promptly knocked unconscious by a delicate china coffee cup disagreeing with my temple. I'm not sure which one shattered first.
Sometimes, I wonder what my life would be like if it were a story.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMT5fhK4CxG
First of all, it would be far more interesting; after all, stories are rarely as boring as my daily routine.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHEKbKyzN8I
It goes a bit like this: I wake up at six, I brush my teeth, make breakfast (usually cereal, leftovers from takeaway the night before, or Gladys'), catch an update on the radio, and - oh, stuff it. Even I don't want to hear about that.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzqt8QbeI6c
Secondly, I wouldn't always be so bloody miserable. Protagonists in books are hardly ever miserable, and I hope that someday I could amount to something more than the minor character 'annoyed guy across the street', no?726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmXe4WAbDPW
Thirdly, I should have had a happy ending by now.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhZaszbsSIT
I mean, seriously, I'm twenty-nine. And as everyone knows, the age of thirty is practically death. I live alone in a small apartment, have a crummy office job, and really not much else. Oh - I'm also in love. But since when has that turned out well in stories? Like, look at that Romeo guy. I think he dies or something.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYVNkCDjWgo
So honestly, I don't have much going for me, for my life. All my friends (ha! friends) guilt trip me about how lucky I am, but to be blunt I can't help feel every morning and every night that I'm on the short end of the straw. You know, the short side of the bendy straw that gets chewed on and spat out.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxVyP7MURj8
My mum unfortunately knows this too. She moved into the apartment next to mine to 'keep an eye' on me, to 'lend a hand if you need'. Now in the evenings I'm serenaded by the sweet sounds of her explosive diarrhoea. I'll be filing a thin wall complaint when I get the chance.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvMNP9KO9lT
Day in, day out, this is my life.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd1KQVFfsNl
So when is my story going to start?
This is the part where the boy escapes on a Unicorn.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6JpTvVkK8s
My favorite haunt is a tidy little coffee shop on the corner between work and home called Gladys'. The food is good, the coffee is great, and the service is stunning, thanks to a magnificent woman by the name of Ellie. I've memorized her time schedule and make sure to check in when she's around, which is why I'm an hour late to work every Monday and Thursday. Gorgeous brown eyes, little chocolate beads they are, and hair like a preened horse mane, which I assure you is a compliment of the highest degree. Her voice is just heavenly, although I do admit I've only ever heard her say 'The usual? Coming right up!'. She wears a lovely china bracelet too, little swirls of blue on white that she fiddles with constantly. I find it rather endearing.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR6zg8lACq2
It was a fine Saturday - of course it had to be a Saturday that was ruined. You see, I always like to watch Ellie make my coffee - I assume it's because I become slightly mentally unhinged when I am around her. This time, however, I could not enjoy my morning drink due to a particularly disturbing young man.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZgGoc3n43E
Now, he was clearly a criminal of some sort, despite looking no older than nineteen. Heavy leather jacket, metal studded jeans, and a swagger that exuded sheer unjustified arrogance. I noticed him approaching the counter just as I was taking the first sip of my extra hot coffee.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Q50WxWZje
'A piece of toast thanks.' He orders.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9H9tyD2Mbt
'...just toast?' God her voice sounds so soft I could sleep in it.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUD6nDAnnBT
'Yes. Just. Toast.' His, on the other hand, was so rough I could feel his vocal chords being sanded down as he spoke.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2rqWcLyw4E
I watch Ellie as she slips the slice of bread into the toaster, the way her curved finger pushes down the lever. The way she drums her fingers nervously as she waits. Why nervously?726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVyUMfRGMiO
ping!726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjRIKlGfOSd
'Here you are.' She doesn't look him in the eye as she hands over a plate with a single slice of toast. 'Your toast.'726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpEcoF3hlEn
He doesn't touch it. 'No, Ellie, I've been thinking about those things you said to me - about how I'm too young, how I'm too, what, immature and irresponsible - and I've decided that no, you're toast.'726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPBCNFvYvKY
A question mark hangs in the air. 'Jonas, what do you mean?' She knows this ugly specimens?726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpI9Hk6skds
'Look.' He picks up the toast, and in one gloved hand, crumbles it into dust that falls meekly onto the counter. 'That's what I'm going to do to you for breaking my heart.' He storms out of Gladys', and, angered by the look of upset on Ellie's pretty face, I make quick pursuit with my coffee in hand.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNpYP1nspBr
'Hey! Hey, you!' He stops and turns around at the sound of my call.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Hb6kTEd2f
'What do you want?' He snarls.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtOn1jUtGuE
'I want you to keep your dirty fingers off that girl!' I snap at him in a feeble attempt at intimidation.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXzGSqzSPQ2
'No no no. That's not how it works. A girl turns down the Jonas Jones on a date, they pay the price.' An infuriating sneer, one clearly tempting me to make a move - and that is an offer I'm not going to turn down. I put my extra hot coffee to better use and throw the entire thing into his face, spoon and all.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl7XPhtvpUy
'AIEEEE! You're crazy, man!' His shocked eyes stare at me in disbelief, the attack having startled him enough to turn and flee. I watch as he rounds the corner and clambers onto his motorcycle - a painfully pink hunk of metal with the word Unicorn plastered on the side in blue and white.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKDJAsE8Sfz
Smooth.
This is the part where I try Robin Hood on my mother, an adventurous position to put myself in which involves feeling around the front of her dress.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrFeekjhJhW
My obsession with dear Ellie grows, as does my need to see her happy, after the strange encounter with Jonas Jones. I brainstorm gift ideas - she seems awfully fond of the unconventional china bracelet.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqCSrpjAmLU
My own mother happens to be quite the china connoisseur - her collection of bits and bobs all on display in an IKEA cabinet in her apartment.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡta7Q2FCg6N
Now, my average job of tedium was never going to pay for such dainty things, nor, I suppose, will Ellie's, so I felt no moral wrongness in the notion of pulling a Robin Hood on my mum and donating some china pieces to someone who no doubt needs them more. Ahem.
The heist begins with inviting my mum one meter down the corridor to have a 'life chat' with me, a strange ritual which she usually enforces on me once a month. Five laxative pills dissolved into the hot chocolate I've made so lovingly for her.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzfs2nVFNZy
I bear through the grueling first few minutes of the talk in which she tells me to 'assess where I want to be in three years' but, much to my pleasure, the rant is prematurely interrupted by a rather rude anatomical sound which I won't indulge with a description.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRp25rP2Sis
'Dear me!' She hobbles toward my bathroom, but I stop her -726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeV7y6ZDElN
'The flush doesn't work.' I smile.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfnrZQD2Aip
'Oh, dear, dear, dear!' She's hunched over, and she can't reach into the front pocket of her dress - in which lie her room keys.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Dn0mHBaKS
'Would you like me to unlock your apartment for you?'726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡutvVjYRhCj
'Please!'726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡglQsHIUTOK
What happened next was unpleasant but necessary. Suffice to say, I retrieved the keys from their storage place, remarkably near my birth place.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡip9DSYpj8q
The moment the door to her room was open, she hurried into the bathroom and locked the door - without thinking to show me out first.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeM7zCZP4sZ
I collect in a bag the nicest of her china collection - IKEA cabinets don't have much security. An assortment of cups and plates and animals, carefully picked to match the color scheme of Ellie's bracelet. Lovely.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqXalhOh4m8
I leave the keys on dear mother's bedside table, and quickly desert the premises. The unfortunate woman's bowel structure combined with the help I had given to her digestive system meant that she should be occupied for a while.
This is the part where I abandon my preconceptions of love, abandon my apartment, and abandon my sanity in general.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxocwWPo7Wo
I decided I would not return to the apartment. Mum would surely kill me, or worse. So instead, it being a Monday morning, I headed down to Gladys' with a bag going chinkle chinkle tied in red ribbon and a notetag with 'For Ellie' in my finest cursive. Which isn't very fine, mind you, but it's the thought that counts.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWAaLzqhB9q
Gladys' was not the most active of places, and it was not difficult to wait for a moment when no one was looking to place the bag on the counter.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Mpra9amFT
I sit, and wait, and watch. Could it be that this might win her heart?726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmaeyaVanR6
She sees the bag, looks around confusedly, and opens it there on the counter. She gasps, looks around confusedly again, and closes the bag before placing it on the shelf beside her.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpx9TLMrgG0
I walk up to the counter.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGIjn5P6q85
'The usual?' Angelic.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrzMjWInb3g
'Not quite.' I say. In fact, I decide to abandon all of the usual. I wouldn't be showing up to work today, I wouldn't be doing anything of the sort I usually do.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSClwPi6JuD
Forget everything. This is the part where I say, I love you.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBwdgWy9GY
I open my mouth, draw in a deep breath, and am promptly knocked unconscious by a delicate china coffee cup disagreeing with my temple. I'm not sure which one shattered first.
This is the part where I emerge victorious from a deathly battle against cute fluffy creatures.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjkrLrF436J
'owwwww...' I rise from the floor with a grunt. Above me stands Jonas Jones, and his band of delinquents. I note the bag of china in his hands - the bloody nerve of him.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQadoxEbxtY
'If the JONAS JONES isn't good enough for someone, no one is!' He booms.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXH3mXbofPS
'Leave her out of this!' I protest, noticing Ellie cowering in the corner of the cafe, the few other people inside watching the course of events with an excited but strangely detached interest. 'Let's take this outside.'726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3g3HNFuIjI
'Let's go, big boy.' He cracks his knuckles.
RABBIT. UNICORN. PUG. They stand by their named motorcycles, Jonas in the center. 'Rabbit' was a tall and scrawny pimply fellow, whereas 'Pug' was a much more rotund beast, but just as unattractive as the former. To be honest, I couldn't catch the resemblance between Jonas and a unicorn, though.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYDtr4IY5TX
'You boys are going to leave Ellie alone. And her gifts.' Upon feeling a twinge of pain, I quickly added 'And me.'726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ02FpDPZDuN
'Make us.' Rabbit pulls out a knife from his pocket.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI1qXLl0NnG
'Now now, let's play fair - ' but my protest is cut off halfway through by a scream that made the windows of the cafe shake dangerously, threatening to shatter.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2iwS86zkeT
'WHEEERE IIIIIIS MYYYY CHIIIIIIIIIINAAAAAAAAAAA?!?!?!'726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyU6WKimkzU
I run into the shop, but the gang is stunned still - and I watch as my mother appears over the horizon, face inflamed red like a microwaving tomato ready to burst.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1qtpwRjQgi
She looks at the bag in Jonas' hands.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRBSRh90ptB
Jonas looks down at the bag in his hands.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6IQB4k7Vr4
Pug grabs the bag and hides it behind his back.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8zHO8s079v
Mother morphs into her final form and unleashes her rage.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR9cH2P0jKl
'AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!' I can't tell among the carnage who the sound is coming from, but I don't care - I turn around to face Ellie, and I grab her hands.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDpXSZySKa
'Ellie.' I say, eyes staring into hers.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ7Hh1xcZW1
'Yes?'726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzGceJfgNQ5
This is the part.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZAV3UyJQQX
'I...'726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeGlua5r8G4
'Yes?'726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzAWt9n8acR
'Ellie, I luh. I lughhhh. I, I, I lughhhhhhhh - '726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoQWFM5QH1i
'Oh, shut up.' She lunges forwards and places her lips on mine, and the people in the cafe cheer, drowning out the noise of the scene outside.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfq47t9PoTm
And so it is, that my story ends here for you, and just begins for me, with an unexpected kiss and a declaration of love.726Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4kavGkcGCK
I even think that mother might approve.
This, my friend, is the part where you stop reading.
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