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Today’s been pretty rough so far. Your friends set up a “group blind date” for Valentine’s day. You even bought a little box full of candy. It was rather disappointing when your date did not show up due to something that came up at the last minute apparently. You, not wanting to be the only one without a date, decided it might be best for you to just walk home. So far, today was far from being the greatest.
It started to rain too and you were not even half way home! Then it hit you- literally hit you in the face. You look at what has hit you and see that it’s a poster. You decide to read it more thoroughly. It says something about a shadow play? You thought it looked somewhat interesting and it was not even that far away at all. Actually it could even give you something to do on this pretty sour-tasting Valentine’s. Furthermore there was going to be plenty of time to dry off once you got there! So that was the new plan. What could go wrong?
-_-
‘Ok, maybe not off to the best start.’ You thought as you looked down this very dark and sketchy alleyway. But on a more positive note, you saw light coming from a doorway and a few posters with said shadow play on it. So you assumed the obvious, that you were indeed in the right place at least, and if anything happened, you had a phone on you.
As you walked in, a gust of warm air and the smell of popcorn hit you instantly. It was so much better than being out there. It appeared like there were not too many people inside, aside from the person at the counter and a few people were sitting in chairs, presumably waiting for the show to be closer to starting. Overall there were not that many people there, it was also just so quiet. You already had something to eat before, so you just went into the theater room.
As you quickly found a place to sit, you also got to take in more of the surroundings, and actually relax and dry off. The lights were on for now so you got a chance to admire all the sweet details! Like the beautiful stage, and the scary torn drapes everywhere, as well as the stranger in the corner seemingly staring at you- ok, now THAT made you jump and make a very audible squeak.
After that short shocking moment you heard the stranger give you a light chuckle. You could not see a lot of the stranger's details due to the cloak hiding his face, though you thought it only made the title of “the shadow puppeteer” even more fitting.
You couldn’t help but to stare at him as he sat down next to you, then another chuckle and a smirk.
“You're rather early aren't you? The show does not start for at least another hour or so.” He added on with another light chuckle.
You could only really give him an awkward laugh and nod in return. It took you another moment of awkward staring to actually say something.
“Oh- I just thought it could be something nice to do while I wait for the rain to stop, you know?” You smiled sheepishly. ”I don't have much on my schedule anymore after all…”
You said as you let out a heavy clearly exhausted sigh as you finally got to fix your hair. You made it so pretty and it was for nothing in the end.
Now you don't really know why- maybe it was just that you needed to talk to someone and tell them about your rough day- or maybe it was the fact that the puppeteer seemed to stay quiet and felt like he knew you had more to say, but you just felt the need to talk about your day. Even if it was just a random stranger. If they were willing to listen, it's kind of what you needed right now.
“It's just… Valentine’s never really been my thing.” You sighed but kept going. ”My friends have been trying to get me to go on group dates with them for the past few years and it just- It never works out… Something always happens and ruins it! It's not even because of all the romantic parts that's supposed to happen today. It’s just all the random things that pile up.”
You said as you paused again to see if he wanted you to stop talking. He looked like he was still interested at least. It was kind of nice…
You started to name off a short list of things that basically started to happen when you woke up today.The stranger gave off a chuckle at some of the more comedic things, which when you thought about it- actually really were funny to think about!
“I even bought this box of chocolates for whoever my date was supposed to be. They had something come up. I’m not mad- it's just now the candy is kind of going to waste…” You let out a small laugh as you took the candy box out of a bag you’ve been carrying around.
“Would you like a few to try? You can think of it as a ‘thank you’ for letting me be so chatty! I only wish they were not some of the cheap kind.” You said rather sheepishly at the end. Looking back up to him, was he giving you a bashful smile? You couldn't really tell, but it did look like he was rather happy.
“There really is no need- But I suppose it would be rude to not take your offer after all!” He stated as he took a piece. Even though they were cheap chocolates, it was still surprisingly good! But it was even better to be sharing it with someone.
You two sat there talking and eating more of the cheap sweets. It was fun talking and laughing with such an interesting person! When you thought about it- You much preferred this, than any of the other Valentine’s in the past.
It happened rather suddenly. But when you reached towards the box to grab another chocolate, it seemed like both of you were going to grab the same one and ended up holding hands. His hand was a bit rough, but you thought it would be weird to keep thinking about it any longer, while you two were still technically in a way “holding hands”.
Pulling back your hand and now feeling a bit embarrassed over such a small thing to even look at him. You heard him chuckle again, although when you did manage to look back at him. He did not meet your gaze or at least from what you could tell.
’Was he also just as embarrassed?’ You wondered about that to yourself for that brief moment of silence, then the puppeteer rather suddenly stood up.
“It seems like it’s almost time for the shadow play to start. So I must be going to get ready, I'm afraid. But it was rather intriguing spending time with you, I must say!” He said to you before he started to walk away.
“I do hope you enjoy the show… and who knows, who knows! Maybe when the show is done we could spend a bit more time together.” He added in with a wink and left you be for now.
It honestly did not seem like a bad idea. He was an interesting person. And at least he was also eager to spend more time together…
As more people started to walk in you started to think to yourself about the sudden events of today. How you never did get his name or how it seemed like he faded into the crowd like a shadow. Furthermore though, it really felt like this was not such a bad Valentine’s day after all! A bit weird surely, but one you would not mind repeating…