Mao Mao Tales

Letters From The Atlantic

Boss Hoffstrich grunted as he lifted up another piece of debris and tossed it aside. He wiped the sweat off of his brow, and continued, sorting through the junk and trash, looking for something edible that the rest of the Sky Pirates could eat, other than just...imagining things. He was also looking for some cash to get groceries, although the chance was highly unlikely.

With a massive heave, Boss Hoffstrich lifted up a big piece of rubbish and rolled it out of the way. "Phew..." He breathed in exhaustion, and he rummaged through the scraps that lay underneath. He grumbled in frustration as he didn't find anything useful, and he angrily kicked at the pile. Suddenly, something tumbled from the heap, catching Hoffstrich's eye.

"What in the..." He picked the object up, and his eyes widened as he realized what it was. "I can't believe it!" He laughed in joy, and without thinking of anything else, he giddily ran back to the Sky Pirate's shipwreck, his mind racing. He practically kicked down the door and rushed in, almost bumping into Orangusnake.

"Woah!" Orangusnake hissed. "Watch where you're going!"

"Oh, uh, sorry boss." Hoffstrich apologized. "I'm kinda in a rush, so if ya don't mind me..."

"Did you find anything?" Orangusnake asked as the ostrich made his way to his room.

"Uh, no." He answered. Entering into his room, it was still a mess, as the crash jumbled and broke many things, leaving pieces everywhere. Try as he might, Boss Hoffstrich couldn't tidy everything, and so there was always that feeling of discontent at the ruined orderliness. Amidst the aftermath of the crash, he couldn't find his two most treasured objects which added to that feeling.

But he managed to find one of them, although it was a little bit dented, it still managed to work fine. All that he needed to find was the other one, and then he could finally hear it. The tune that brought him away from the present to the past. The song that brought him back to her.

Hoffstrich blew off the layer of dust that had settled on the album, revealing the familiar artwork and those faded but nostalgic letters.Nervously and carefully, Hoffstrich slipped the disc out from the nook of the album, holding his breath as he examined the record for any damage. He breathed a sigh of relief as he only saw little scratches and nicks. Not perfect, but perfect enough. He placed the disc to the side and dug out the gramophone.

Gently, he placed the record on the spindle, and shifted the tone arm, resting the pointed stylus on the disc. Taking a deep breath, he clicked the switch, and awaited for the melody to start.

But, without warning, the entire phonograph suddenly collapsed on itself, the horn falling straight on the record and crushing the tone arm and the elbow snapped in two.

"What the- No!" Boss Hofftstrich stared in shock at the broken phonograph, dismay filling his face. "No, no, no," He murmured frantically as he picked up the horn and looked beneath it, seeing the fractured spindle and tone arm, and big slash across the vinyl record. "No..."

"Hey," Came a knock on his door, and Ramaraffe and Ratarang peeked in. "We heard something break in here." Ratarang said. "What happened?" Ramaraffe asked, looking at the destroyed phonograph. "What's that?"

"Uh, it-it's nothing." Hoffstrich said, waving them dismissively. "It's just that this stupid thing broke, and I kinda..." He sighed. "I wanted to listen to something."

"Why don't you turn yourself into a DJ and play the music?" Ramaraffe suggested.

"No, it's not that simple." Hoffstrich looked down at the horn. "It's just that...well, I'd prefer listening it to it on this." He gestured to the phonograph.