Alone

It's a cool Chicago summer night. They stood on the roof as the moon lit up a trail on Lake Michigan. He leaned against the railing, she leaned along with him. Though they had just met, the conversation just wouldn't stop. She turned to him and asked him why he was still alone. He looked a little puzzled, at her frank question. He paused for a bit, thinking of whether he should give her some cliched line or be honest. He decided to be honest

'Well, honestly I'm awkward as hell, and I can come off a little strong in the beginning. But it's the hopeless romantic in me, I'm always writing that happy ending in my head. I know myself though, I know if someone can bear with me in the beginning, and see passed those initial flaws, I can be everything they need and more. But more often than not I scare people away. My friends keep telling me that there's someone out there that'll love that about me. But they're full of shit, that's just something they gotta say cause they care. It's become easier to just not put myself out there anymore. I'm tired of the false hope and expectations, getting excited when I think something is going well, just to get ghosted or given some cliche 'it's not you, it's me' bullshit excuse. I've given away so much of me, I don't have anymore to give.'

Vulnerable

Scene: East Village Rooftop at night, the skyline in view, he leans against the side just looking out, thinking to himself, cigarette in hand

It’s been nearly 3 years since my last real relationship. I’ve dated women in that time but nothing longer than a few weeks or one night stands. Relationships have never worked out well for me in the past and I’ve developed severe trust issues thanks to them. I’m to blame as well for those relationships not working out. I had more or less accepted that I’d probably never get into another relationship, considering it had been almost three years and had plenty of failed attempts in that time. I figured you only get so many chances at them, and I had used up all mine. I’ve been lucky in that I’ve never really needed online dating to meet women, I’ve always wanted to be able to tell my kids an actual story of how I met their mother rather than ‘we both swiped right’. Ironically, I met you that way. I’m not saying you’re gonna be the mother of my children or anything, we’re definitely not there yet but this is my first relationship in a long time, and I’ve never been in one where I met my significant other in that way. Not that that makes a difference, as I’m learning now. I don’t even remember how to do this if I’m being honest. Relationships had begun to freak me the fuck out, I had become so used to just doing my own thing, whenever I wanna do it, I don’t know how to fit someone into my life anymore. The idea of having to worry about someone else’s feelings, time, getting attached, it all just didn’t seem worth it anymore, it didn’t seem like something I wanted to burden myself with anymore, I was truly content where I was, until you. I’m afraid I’ll fuck it up and wind up back where I was. But I don’t want to be truthfully, it’s been a few months and I’m crazy about you. It’s been a while since I’ve wanted to go out of my way for somebody, to do things for them, to see them even just for a few minutes cause that’s the best fucking part of my day. Seeing that smile and kissing you and your cute nose. I didn’t think I could ever find someone’s sneeze face cute, but yours is fucking adorable. I genuinely wanna hear about your day, even the mundane things you think no one wants to hear. I had forgotten what it’s like to miss somebody but, if I don’t see you for a couple days, I miss you. I didn’t notice it at first but a nurse at work pointed out ‘Doc, you always get this doofy smile when you look at your phone, who is she?’. I catch myself smiling just thinking about you sometimes. I’m not great with feelings and talking about them, though I am an overly self aware and self critical person, so I’m cognizant of how I feel, but the words retreat from my tongue every time I try to get them out. I know you’re not either, so until we get better at that I’ll keep these thoughts to myself, I don’t wanna freak you out. I guess part of my hang ups with talking about feelings and what’s going on in my head is that it’ll make me vulnerable, though I know that’s not necessarily a bad thing but, I’m working on it. You’re as tough as they come but you don’t have to burden yourself by keeping everything locked in your head, if you ever need to vent, or just talk I’m here. It doesn’t make you weak, I won’t think less of you. I know how much courage it takes to do that, but it’s ok to not be ok. I’m not entirely sure where I’m going with this, my thoughts are all over the place. I’m sure you have your doubts and reservations as well.  I hope I can put them at ease with time.

The Danciest Duck

In the quiet town of Lake Chappadungo lived Damon Duckley. Damon was in gym class, playing dodgeball with the other ducks. Damon had made it to the end, he was the last one on his team. There were two left from the opposing team. Damon was determined to win, the two on the other team simultaneously threw their balls at him. Something rushed through him, his feet began to move, almost as though out of his control. He twirled and moved and caught both of the speeding blurs with such grace, and before he was done twirling he threw the balls back at the opposing team hitting them and winning the game. Damon was cheered and carried out of the gym. He went home and wondered what has gotten into his legs, so he began to research his symptoms online. It turned out he had been infected with a big, a very unique bug. The tap dancing bug. Damon wanted to pursue this further but had no tap dancing shoes. He went to the store to find tap dancing shoes but sadly no stores carried duck foot shaped tap dancing shoes. So Damon went to a fabric store and Home Depot to buy materials to make his own. He slaved over these shoes and eventually succeeded in making duck foot shaped tap dancing shoes. Damon was at school when he saw a sign for the local TV stations show 'Lake Chappadungo's Danciest Duck'. This was his chance to debut his tap dancing skills. He went home and practiced, day and night. The night of his performance came, his name was called. 'Next we have Damon Duckley!'. Damon walked out wearing a leather jacket, black jeans, sunglasses and his duck foot shaped custom made tap dancing shoes. The music started playing, his feet started moving, the click clacking of his shoes added to the rhythm of the music. The entire crowd on their feet, cheering and clapping. Before the last note, he twirled and stopped with his wing in the air, as he faced to the judges. The judges stared in awe of his epic tap dancing skills. Everyone gave him two wings up, making him Lake Chappadungo's Danciest Duck.

The Alpaca

In the village of Gumberadika lived an alpaca named Gerard. Gerard was like any other alpaca, he enjoyed knitting and reupholstering furniture. One day, in the middle of reupholstering a love seat, he was watching TV when he saw a Geico commercial. He saw the Geico Gecko walking across Brooklyn Bridge, and immediately he wanted to hangout with the Geico Gecko. So Gerard set out to get to New York. He tried to get a plane ticket but alpacas aren't allowed to fly on planes. So Gerard had an idea, he would by balloons and use them to get to New York. So he goes to the store and buys a helium tank and 563 balloons. He reached that specific number through extensive research whilst watching Goodwill Hunting.  So Gerard came home and inflated all the balloons and with the help of his friends they tied them around him. And he was on his way! He floated over the states, and slowly but surely reached New York. But he didn't think this plan all the way through because he didn't have a way to get down. So he started calling out to pigeons and seagulls. And they come to his aid, one by one popping his balloons and he lands gently on Brooklyn Bridge. Causing a massive traffic jam and people freaking out cause an alpaca came out of the air surrounded by a swarm of pigeons and seagulls and landed on the bridge. Gerard set out to find the Geico headquarters. He walked around the city, stopping to try local hot dog stands and falafel carts. He finally made it to the Geico building and as luck would have it, the Geico Gecko was outside smoking a cigarette. Gerard ran up to him and they high fived. Gerard told him of his adventure and became the sidekick of the Geico Gecko in all future commercials and eventually became the go to alpaca in Hollywood.