“You sure you’re ok? You’re, uh, smiling a lot,” said Mister Frederickson, a six-foot-tall bluebird with a handlebar mustache and a scowl. He squinted suspiciously; staring at Joe from the corners of his eyes and took a long sip of his coffee.
“Just happy to be back, sir,” said Joe, and he made an effort to stop grinning madly at the bird. Mister Frederickson accepted this, grunted and waved his wing toward the office door and Joe, used to his boss’s intolerance for unnecessary conversation, walked out into the factory floor. He was greeted by a medley of ‘welcome back’s and ‘good to see you’s and ‘we were worried about you’s by a variety of woodland creatures looking adorable in human outfits. Joe smiled and thanked each one, until he finally reached his station.
As Joe had imagined, his station had been refurbished with brand new machines that stood out amongst the old, rusted metal that dotted the rest of the floor. When he looked up Joe could see his reflection in the machines, and he sighed at the human face looking back at him. When he looked down he could just make out the two-week old burn marks on the ground, and he decided this was the perfect incentive to focus on his work.
After work, Joe decided to walk home for the first time in his life. He wandered into a park that he had first noticed from a bus window four months ago and had always thought about venturing in. He used his fare money to buy a sausage from a greasy otter behind a cart; he pondered the internal hierarchy of nature while watching a dog wearing a suit walking a much smaller, four-legged dog; he guffawed while watching a sloth in a denim jacket slowly planting a sapling. Joe laughed so hard a goose wearing a bonnet and spectacles pulled her goslings closer to her as they passed by him, and Joe kept on laughing.
When he finally got home that night, Joe’s wife met him at the door. She was a fairy princess, with dainty wings and slightly pink skin and long purple hair that flowed to the floor. She was wearing an extravagant pink ball gown with puffy shoulders and a large bow in the front, completing the ensemble with a crystal tiara nestled cozily on top of her head.
“You’re late,” she sung in a soft yet rich voice and doves fluttered around her head and all the creatures of the forest gathered outside their windows to hear her. “I made spaghetti.”
The couple ate their spaghetti in silence. It wasn’t until the plates were resting in the sink and Joe and his fairy princess were left with nothing to distract themselves with that she broke the silence.
“The medical bills are piling up. We might not be able to pay the electrical,” she sang. A sparrow flew in and started to tie her hair into a bun.
Joe watched in fascination, a grin slowly spreading across his face.
“Joe,” his wife continued to sing, “are you sure you don’t want to see one of those brain doctors or something? You’ve been acting strange since the accident and your health is more impor—“
“I’m fine,” said Joe, “better than ever,” and they spent the rest of the evening in comfortable silence.
Joe couldn’t sleep that night, and decided to take another walk. The city was small and never active past eight so it was almost an hour before he encountered another soul. It was a lemur dressed up in rags and sitting in the gutter, struggling to open a banana. Joe stood on the sidewalk and laughed at the lemur; when the lemur began to curse and angrily shake his paw Joe laughed even harder at the poor, ragged creature.
The lemur leapt at Joe, screaming wildly, grabbing his throat and bringing him to the pavement, he began to beat him with balled up paws and Joe kept laughing. He laughed at the adorable creature savagely pounding away at his face, he laughed at a koala in a doctor’s outfit explaining to him that he had been in a coma for two days, he laughed at his wife and his co-workers and everyone around him becoming so furry and cute, and he laughed at memories of watching old Disney movies with his dad before he got into a factory accident of his own. Joe laughed and laughed, until the cute ragged lemur made him stop.
“Just happy to be back, sir,” said Joe, and he made an effort to stop grinning madly at the bird. Mister Frederickson accepted this, grunted and waved his wing toward the office door and Joe, used to his boss’s intolerance for unnecessary conversation, walked out into the factory floor. He was greeted by a medley of ‘welcome back’s and ‘good to see you’s and ‘we were worried about you’s by a variety of woodland creatures looking adorable in human outfits. Joe smiled and thanked each one, until he finally reached his station.
As Joe had imagined, his station had been refurbished with brand new machines that stood out amongst the old, rusted metal that dotted the rest of the floor. When he looked up Joe could see his reflection in the machines, and he sighed at the human face looking back at him. When he looked down he could just make out the two-week old burn marks on the ground, and he decided this was the perfect incentive to focus on his work.
After work, Joe decided to walk home for the first time in his life. He wandered into a park that he had first noticed from a bus window four months ago and had always thought about venturing in. He used his fare money to buy a sausage from a greasy otter behind a cart; he pondered the internal hierarchy of nature while watching a dog wearing a suit walking a much smaller, four-legged dog; he guffawed while watching a sloth in a denim jacket slowly planting a sapling. Joe laughed so hard a goose wearing a bonnet and spectacles pulled her goslings closer to her as they passed by him, and Joe kept on laughing.
When he finally got home that night, Joe’s wife met him at the door. She was a fairy princess, with dainty wings and slightly pink skin and long purple hair that flowed to the floor. She was wearing an extravagant pink ball gown with puffy shoulders and a large bow in the front, completing the ensemble with a crystal tiara nestled cozily on top of her head.
“You’re late,” she sung in a soft yet rich voice and doves fluttered around her head and all the creatures of the forest gathered outside their windows to hear her. “I made spaghetti.”
The couple ate their spaghetti in silence. It wasn’t until the plates were resting in the sink and Joe and his fairy princess were left with nothing to distract themselves with that she broke the silence.
“The medical bills are piling up. We might not be able to pay the electrical,” she sang. A sparrow flew in and started to tie her hair into a bun.
Joe watched in fascination, a grin slowly spreading across his face.
“Joe,” his wife continued to sing, “are you sure you don’t want to see one of those brain doctors or something? You’ve been acting strange since the accident and your health is more impor—“
“I’m fine,” said Joe, “better than ever,” and they spent the rest of the evening in comfortable silence.
Joe couldn’t sleep that night, and decided to take another walk. The city was small and never active past eight so it was almost an hour before he encountered another soul. It was a lemur dressed up in rags and sitting in the gutter, struggling to open a banana. Joe stood on the sidewalk and laughed at the lemur; when the lemur began to curse and angrily shake his paw Joe laughed even harder at the poor, ragged creature.
The lemur leapt at Joe, screaming wildly, grabbing his throat and bringing him to the pavement, he began to beat him with balled up paws and Joe kept laughing. He laughed at the adorable creature savagely pounding away at his face, he laughed at a koala in a doctor’s outfit explaining to him that he had been in a coma for two days, he laughed at his wife and his co-workers and everyone around him becoming so furry and cute, and he laughed at memories of watching old Disney movies with his dad before he got into a factory accident of his own. Joe laughed and laughed, until the cute ragged lemur made him stop.