{Chapter One}
Mason rose early with the golden sun to open up his clock shop when he found a pink envelope lying ominously on his coffee colored doormat. It was an invitation to another one of Remie Oddie's randomly occurring tea parties, the type that were far more than a simple gathering for tea and biscuits.
He grabbed his signature brown cowboy hat after having dressed up for the day, implementing at least thirteen different clocks and watches in the garments of his outfit.
Mounting his cranky clock-wheeled bicycle to head to the strange little teashop, he hoped that this time he would arrive back home in one piece.
Warm greetings were thrown at him as he rode through the bizarre streets of the little town; from the bakers, the three fairies flying overhead, the clowns, the sheriffs and a few other townspeople going on about their day.
He whistled the cheery tune of 'Early Bird' by Sunny DeGroot as his feet continued to pedal away, the rays of the slowly rising sun washing over his back.
Suddenly, a small, fuzzy orange creature leaped right in front of his path out of the blue. He yelped, taking a harsh and panicked swerve to the right to avoid running the creature over only to come crashing right into a person he had not seen within his peripheral vision.
Mason was thrown off of his bicycle, slightly bruising his gloved elbows where he had mostly taken the fall. The person from the ground groaned, less in pain and more in annoyance.
"Do you not look ahead when you're biking, you asshole?" He spat bitterly as he attempted to straighten up.
Clumsily, Mason grabbed his round, thick-framed glasses, pushing them onto his face as he scrambled to his feet over to the guy. "I'm sorry, I was just- there was...somethin' in the way and I-I panicked..." he said, the thick Southern accent seamlessly rolling off his tongue.
He trailed off at the sight of the small orange creature walking over and climbing up the man's arm to his shoulder, nuzzling its fuzzy face in his round cheeks. Kitten. It was a tiny, black-eyed and much too adorable kitten.
Mason also recognized the man; big, pine green, curly hair, piercing yellow cat-like eyes, and of course, what sold it was the long zebra-patterned coat he was dusting off.
He extended his arm to help him up as he spoke, "You're the zoologist, right?"
The man stared at the extended arm, his face twisted in a look of annoyance. He scoffed while pulling himself up, leaving Mason to awkwardly retreat his outstretched arm.
And just like that he began walking away with the tiny cat on his shoulder while muttering something under his breath.
Rude. Mason thought, his cheery grin dying down as he dusted his own clothes and picked his hat back from the ground, placing it over his blond hair as he mounted his bike.
Only when he stepped on the loose pedal had he realized that the chain had been busted. He jumped off, checking in his sack for any possibility of tools that could help him fix it on spot, but all that was there was a pair of scissors, a sketchbook, clocks and more clocks.
He sighed. Looking ahead of him, he realized that the zoologist was walking in the direction of the teashop.
Had he also been invited? Would Remie even invite him? He seemed like a pretty bitter person to be around, so it was hard to imagine him at a tea party, let alone, a Remie Oddie one.
Mason began dragging his bicycle while making his way across the path of smiling flowers. Once the man noticed his presence behind him, he halted his step. He turned on his heel to face Mason who stopped walking in return.
YOU ARE READING
Bonkers Town
Fantasy'The Land of the Dead'... That is the name given to the afterlife of those who have had their very lives snatched away, taken unfairly from the cruel world and a life that was once promised. But as death claimed their souls so mercilessly, a new. b...
