Work Text:
-Day 45. Afternoon-
Now that I have some time on my hands, I can finally update my journal again. The previous night had been one blur of escape and exhaustion. It’s been getting harder to remember to log my adventures and maybe once my job’s wrapped up, I’ll finally figure out where to even begin. But for now, I’ll write about something calm, something sweet. I’ve been told that the small, mundane joys are the ones worth writing about and I need to uphold my promise to write about as many of those joys as I can.
And so here I am in what’s called a “coffee shop.” I’ve never been in one before, but after asking some of the locals where I can go for a pick-me-up, they pointed me here to a small family-owned coffee shop. It has a cozier vibe than I expected–it’s pretty cute actually. The adrenaline’s long since worn off and I need something to last me the rest of the day until I can check into an inn later on. There are too many options on the menu and too many words that don’t make sense. I don’t know what to get…
xxx
Thank the gods for the barista (I found out they’re called baristas.) She was just the kindest and helped me decide on a good coffee drink. She laughed when I told her there weren’t any coffee shops under the sea and she reassured me that I wasn’t the first siren by far to visit her shop. After we talked for a bit— she wanted to know what brings me to town, my life in the ocean, my travels, et cetera et cetera— she knew just the coffee drink for me (who knew you needed to figure out someone’s life story to determine what drink they need?) Now I’m writing in this journal, passing the time until my “mocha” coffee drink is ready. Chocolate does sound pretty good. I hope it’s as good as she described it.
xxx
Ugh, how embarrassing! I fell asleep at the table and jumped out of my skin when the barista came back with my mocha coffee drink. She laughed but she wasn’t mean-spirited about it. She told me it happens all the time with the customers who come in here. At least I’m not the only one who’s embarrassed myself here.
Anyways, all it took was one sip to lift my spirits and now I see why the townsfolk really recommended this place! If it wasn’t so hot I would’ve downed the mug in one gulp. Gods, I needed this badly. Here I am journaling in a coffee shop on a nice afternoon with a nicer mocha coffee drink and my exhaustion’s poofed away! What a welcomed change of pace… I need to ask the barista how she makes such delicious mocha coffee drinks. I would love to learn how to make my own.
I’ll try and fill in another update later when I get to the inn. I want to savor every moment here while I still can.