Two years out of school for this? I’ve been slouching down at my desk for basically half of the day and it’s been one of those days when my job becomes complete chaos. You see, I work as a courier service along with several other of my coworkers, we’re only a division in delivery so we don’t do any heavy work like packing or assembly. My position is “Groove Man”, I deliver small packages while also entertaining my customers. Now, to be honest, I’m not really a fun guy but I know when to have fun and one if not the only reason I have this is that it pays the most than the others.
Lately, though, not a lot of people have been placing orders for delivery and when there’s nothing to do everyone does whatever. My coworker, Ko, next office from me works in “Tropical Man” which basically means that he delivers over to beaches and coastal areas and he’s always playing his radio all the way up to eleven just so he can tell everyone, “Hey guys, look how much I love my job!” I mean, you think I’m just hating the guy, but to be honest, he’s one of the people I like. Luckily I was finally called for a package through my desk’s phone, I got up and my uniform started to jingle and jangle loudly. “Hey Callie, look’s like someone actually ordered for you,” Ko said to me, “and just at closing time.” I scoffed quietly,
“Yeah, I could actually go stretch my legs and get some exercise. I’ll see you tomorrow, Ko.” I replied with a wave.
Now just for your information, my name isn’t “Callie”, it’s Clark. Callie is only a nickname and it’s actually a shortened version of my middle name, Calliope but the nickname is pronounced differently. I’d tell you more on where Callie came from but even I don’t know. I was already at the entrance to outside and the receptionist gave me the package I needed to deliver, it was for Dusty West. I ran outside rather than take my time like any other delivery and got out my motorbike off the bike rack, I was actually kind of pumped out to meet Dusty again. Dusty’s one of my best friends and I only had two best friends: Dusty and Ivy. I knew Dusty since I was 9 and we were both in Twilit Academy, we were friends ever since I helped him brush his hair so he could see.
I realized I’ve been spacing out ever since I started up my bike and I was already on the outskirts of Cobble Court (Yes, that’s how most places are named, this isn’t really Earth) and into the countryside of the Fine Fields. I then saw Dusty’s wood house in the distance and of course, I still had to do what a Groove Man has to do even if it always killed Dusty of secondhand embarrassment. I left my bike running next to the lone tree we always hung out if Ivy was busy and I carried the package and my stereo over to the stoop, I knocked on the door with the stereo playing my personal CD. Dusty’s front door opened and it was him of course for someone who lived alone. He was already seeing me bust out one of the cheesiest moves I could pull off, and through my blank-faced mask, I could see Dusty with his Why-do-you-keep-doing-this-to-me facepalm to me. As I finished my dance that was originally from my job, I could see that Dusty had something to say, “Clark, I would pay you more to not do that for me.” he said with his head in the general direction down to mine,
“But you already pay more just to see me and deliver your stuff,” I replied with, Dusty knew I could do better dance moves since Me, him, and Ivy did our monthly sleepover that we still do to this day,
“Yes, I know that, but really I’ll pay at least twice the amount I already pay for you to not do that. Alright?” Dusty proposed, he basically wanted to bribe me,
“Deal. Now, here’s your package.” I said, I opened up the box for him and. Well, what do you know, another hairbrush and comb for horses.
Here’s what should have been told earlier when I first mentioned Dusty but maybe it would have sounded weird just saying that he’s a horse. Okay, you probably already know what a horse looks like but Dusty is different. The history of Dusty’s ancestors and this is coming from him personally, all the way back in the age when Satellos was just two orbiting planets, people on the sun side were starting to like horses and they really liked those horses. So when they started to have them live beside them, Dusty’s first ancestor started to get a little… obsessed. After eons of... I’m not gonna tell you the rest since you probably get the message and if you don’t, just forget what I said, it won’t be important. The only thing that is important about Dusty is that he looks just like a human but with a horse's coat and pattern. “So…” Dusty said to me,
“I know, Dusty, I’ll brush your hair again.”
“Thanks.”
There’s a bunch of reasons why I’m still friends with Dusty: 1.) He’s honestly nice, 2.) I don’t hate him, and 3.) He can’t survive without me brushing his hair and holding it up. No, I’m not joking, this has been going on since I ever met him. The teacher would always brush his hair in favor of Mr. and Mrs. Sagittarius’ note, but when we turned nine and in 3rd grade, the teacher, Ms. Brown mocked him and Dusty ran away crying. That’s when everyone in the class got on her case saying that if Dusty doesn’t get his hair brushed or combed once a week, then his hair would suffocate him, and his hair tangles easily. I decided to slip out during the commotion while Ms. Brown was trying to go backward on her insults, and I found Dusty crying in the bathroom looking like a hairball. I don't know if I felt sorry or I was actually kind of a nice person back then but I actually proposed to help brush his hair and he started to feel better. And that’s what I’ve been doing to this day and that’s what I’m doing in his house, brushing and combing his thick blonde hair. Now it’s gotten softer because back then it was almost like a spider web but when I started to let him join in in me and Ivy’s monthly sleepover, and he eventually caved in and started taking baths when he took a whiff when Ivy gave him her shampoo, conditioner, and soap because she couldn’t stand his smell.
Now I’m inside Dusty’s house and now brushing his hair with him curled up on the floor, the same way that I did since my first time brushing his hair. I finished brushing the last stray hairs and stood up, “Thanks, Clark, it’s nice doing this for old times sake.” Dusty said thankfully to me, I couldn’t help but smile at him,
“No problem, Dust. Anyway, I got to go back home now so I can get some sleep for the night.”
“Wait, before you go, I wanted to give you something since I was cleaning some stuff out. Here.” Dusty went over to his counter and came back with a small stuffed horse that looked like it had the same coat pattern as him and even the same hair color.
“Oh, thanks, Dusty. It looks exactly like you.”
“Thanks, my parents made this themselves but I know you like sleeping with stuffed animals more than I do so I just wanted to give you as thanks for taking care of my hair and even delivering my brushes and combs, it’s the least I could do, partner.”
“Well… it’s nice.” I tried to reply with not trying to sound creepy, I put the little horse in my carrier bag and went out the door, “I’ll see you tomorrow night for the sleepover.”
“You too.”
I simply waved bye and biked back home. Where I live is all the way on the “moon” side of Satellos, it’s in the middle of nowhere like Dusty, but I live in a more minimalist style, it’s just how us Lunarians live (Which is me and Ivy, not Dusty). I already got there and the sky was dark and was full of stars. I parked my bike inside and went inside. My house was enough for me and just big enough for me and my friends for our sleepover. I stripped off my uniform and went into nightgown and sleeping cap, I was a very still sleeper. I took out the stuffed horse and brought it on my nightstand, my bed already had two stuffed things on it: a turtle called Hero, and a goose named Luigi. Sure, I know it sounded a little childish to be sleeping with stuffed animals, but it actually helps me sleep and be used to being touched since Ivy and Dusty hug me a lot in their sleep. I put the stuffed horse next to Hero and looked at the three now, I starting to think they’re a lot like me and my friends: I’m Hero, Ivy’s Luigi and Dusty was the horse in which I couldn’t find a name for. Dusty would’ve made a great name but of course, like how it’s creepy to name your pets after your friends, it’s creepier to name your stuffed animals after your friends. I then thought of a name that would be the opposite of what the animal would be, so the horse was now called Neon. I went inside and went to sleep.
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