Stories Are Magical (Book of Short Stories)

Midnight Café

As the cold November wind pushed past me, I pulled my coat closer. It was barely snowing, but the street appeared as though it were paved with icy cotton. My hair started to fall in my face so I combed it out of the way with my fingers. After shuffling in the snow for a solid 20 minutes, I found the café had been searching for. As soon as I touched the door handle, I heard someone shouting.

"Wait! Excuse me, sir, please wait just one minute." the lady yelled to me. I stood there, waiting for her. She was running up to me. Never run in the snow without proper shoes. She was wearing a sophisticated cocktail dress and stilettos. Right as she reached me, her heel slid on this ice causing her to fall back. In one swift move, I caught her in my right arm. I notice her cheeks go a bit red. "Thank you." she says simply before regaining her balance. "I'm a clumsy person, always have been." A light chuckle escaped my lips. I opened the door and let her enter before me.

Once I'd ordered my drink, I see her in the corner, gesturing for me to sit with her. The moment I sat down, she jump started the conversation. "I'm Avalon since you didn't ask." she said jokingly. "I came from a holiday party at work. Man, it was a disaster..." she continued to tell me about her work space despite the fact that I hadn't added anything to the conversation except the occasional nod to show that I was still listening. I honestly really enjoyed listening to her talk, complain, and brag about her life. It kept me from talking about mine.

"Michael?" I heard the waitress say.

Avalon looked at me, grinning.

"Michael, huh? Now, I know your name, Mr.I'm-so-mysterious." I simply smiled and got up to pick up my drink, sitting back down as soon as I'd retrieved it. "Aw, c'mon. Tell me something about yourself!" she demanded. Hmm.

"I really like sweaters."

"He likes sweaters!" she exclaimed. She started to laugh once she had realized just how stupid my response was. "Would you like to further explain why you like sweaters?" she asked trying hold back her giggles. I began to laugh as well.

"They're just great. Christmas sweaters are my personal favorite because they're so festive." Avalon was laughing uncontrollably which caused me to smile and chuckle a bit."You know, I had a friend who was very passionate about this one sweater he owned. It had a picture of toast on it." I couldn't get halfway through that sentence before bursting out into laughter. Avalon was hunched over, clenching her stomach. Tears were forming in her eyes.

"I don't know why I'm finding this so funny!" she managed to say between laughing fits. "I think it's because it's so freaking late. Let me check the time." After wiping her eyes, she pulled out her phone. "Shit. It's 1am. Oh my god, how did we spend 2 and a half hours here?" she questioned. I shrugged in response. I really didn't know. I haven't been this happy in ages. "It's so late, I need to get home." she stood up, putting a $5 on the table as a tip. I didn't want this to end. I wanted to talk to her forever. "It was very nice to meet you, Michael."

"It was very nice to meet you, too, Avalon."