(Moki Bi)
"A journey…such a journey"
Date: ???
***???***
[The room was pitch black; nothing could be seen.]
TINK
Something metal was flung against itself, causing a bell-like sound to emanate throughout the room.
FLICK FLICK
A subtle click could be heard in the void; it was akin to a cat scratching frantically against a door. With each flick, a light would illuminate a hand for just the briefest of instances.
FLick FLickk.
More sparks flew, and this time, you could see a thumb on a very small gear.
FLick FLICK THUOOf
A flame alit in the darkness. The orange light illuminated just a hand with a black glove. The flame swayed like a hula dancer, gently yet dramatically, as if it belonged in some sort of mystery novel. And the flames' origin, well, that would be a steel lighter.
The lighter was in the shape of a rectangle and had very luxurious engravings on it. It had flowers, a white lotus, and a rose.
The illuminated hand was hovering over a wooden desk with an old-fashioned ink and feathered quill pen in its right corner. The hand slowly started to move, and it was ominously shaking for some unknown reason.
It was moving toward a candle on a plate, and as it reached it, it tipped the lighter's flame to the wick.
THUOOf
The candle was set afire, bathing the whole room in a warm and dark tangerine light.
[viewing the figure from the back, nothing could be seen of its face]
On the desk in front of the figure was a nameplate, "Sakura," it said.
The figure was sitting in a chair with a somewhat regal design. The chair was made out of dark wood, and it had an astonishingly tall back. The cushions of the chair were made from red silk, and they were puffy and soft.
The figure itself was dressed in a long, dark trench coat, wore a tall top hat, black gloves, a black button-up shirt, and slacks. The figure was draped in black, and the floor around it was littered with newspapers and open envelopes.
Its hand reached out and grabbed the feathered quill pen dipped in ink. As he took it out of the jar, no ink droplets dripped at first, so the figure began to take the pen fully out of the jar, but then it dripped a single ink drop. The figure groaned in an annoyed fashion.
???: ARUh!
It jerked the quill out of the jar and pulled it in towards its own chest. The figure flicked their right arm out vigorously, quill in hand, and shot their back straight. Their whiplash-inducing movement caused loose ink to be splattered on the wall to the right.
It was apparent that the figure had done this before. On the right wall, you could see hundreds of old spots of black ink on the earthy-toned wallpaper.
Suddenly, you could hear the quill start to make scratching noises.
Coming back to the figure, you could see them snap into a slouched position. Shoving their face into the desk as they used the quill to write a letter on old, colored hemp paper.
The figure was written with long, great, dramatic strokes; its form would flick and bend like that of an artist painting. By the way their hand moved, it was clear that they were writing in cursive. It was surreal how passionate the strokes of ink were.
The figure kept writing… and writing until…
The quill and the figure's hand stopped moving.
The figure skyrocketed into a standing position, the chair blazed backwards, practically leaving charred streaks on the wooden floor where its legs scratched. All in one motion from sitting to standing, to the chair virtually flying, the figure reached forward and ripped the black out curtains off the window….
…The room was bathed in red sunlight from a long day's sunset
. The figure dug her nail under the window seal and ripped it open, and whistled.
WUWOOO
A pigeon flew to the window seal, basked in the sunset, it was like a servant gracefully attending to his master. The figure slid the paper in the pigeon's talons and whistled once more.
WUwu
The pigeon took off into the sunset, flying directly toward the sun. Its silhouette was like that of a cowboy in the sunset as it set out on a new mission.
After that, the figure sharply turned to her left, neglecting to close the window through which the red sunlight emanated. The figure knelt in a snappy, almost melodramatic fashion with its arms at its side. It sat in that pose for three seconds, still as a dead mouse. Its hands snapped together in a prayer-like gesture, and it then whispered words indiscernibly and prostrated itself. The figure was surrounded by dozens of square boxes, with a circular stain in the center of all of them. All surrounded by candles.
***Moki Bi***
*ZZZZM ZMMMM*
[The phone on her nightstand buzzed with the tune of a message]
Moki bi: shooo ho shhhooo mm "later…later" mmm
Moki bi lay in her bed well past morning. The sun had long ago reached its apex, causing the room she slept in to be doused in the cherry red glow of the sunset outside.
It seemed as if she came home late and threw herself into bed fully dressed. Strangely, her body was adorned in a wrinkly, fitted white button-up—which was slightly unbuttoned—and a loosened black tie. Her neck carried a sleek, black choker. Her legs wore all black slacks, and she still had her black socks on like a psychopath… continuing…. Her left ear had several gorgeous piercings. The first two were shimmering studs on her lower lobe and mid helix. The last one was a double helix hoop piercing on her upper ear. She was indeed stunning; her gorgeous face and silver hair were complemented by beautiful turquoise eyes.
Her room lay in disarray. But if analyzed, you would realize that the moki bi room is always in a state of ordered chaos. Look at the foot of her bed, you'd realize that to the relative top left corner of the room, she had her dresser and nightstand in that corner of the room, and at the foot of them is an amalgamation of all different colors of clothes, that were unironed and surely not folded. The pile looked akin to the bins you'd find at a thrift warehouse, but those clothes were not dirty; they were, in fact, clean.
In the top right corner of her room, by the window, lay another pile of clothes that were quite obviously dirty. Scrubs stained by coffee, casualties of the morning rush, probably, dirty shoes and sandals were also in that corner.
Directly across from the foot of her bed was her TV on top of another dresser. The dresser was shrouded in tons of jackets. A red one, a white one, a blue one, a black one, and a beige one; all of those jackets were hung chaotically from the dress and off the corners of the TV.
*ZZZM ZMMM*
Moki bi: "later…Later, I said' shoo ho shoo ho.
Her snoring was so unbelievably obnoxious you'd think it was a literal pig if she were out of sight. In fact, by the door she had noise complaints for, quote "a suspected animal living in her apartment disturbing the neighbors." On the complaint, there was a quote from her landlord saying.
"Moki bi i know you work long shifts, but if you could, for the love of Christ, get a CPAP or at least an inclined bed. I'm losing money here, help out a sister— Yours truly, The Landlord".
Alas, here we are, in Moki Bi's room. She is still snoring like a beast, and she is also running late for something, but she couldn't tell you what she was late for.
ZMM ZMM ZMM ZMM ZMM ZMM
Moki Bi's began to ring with a phone call, causing her to rise out of bed like a vampire out of its coffin. Her white hair was frizzy and covered her eyes. In all honesty, she looked like the type of girl to crawl out of your TV in a horror movie.
As I awoke, the water in my eyes had yet to clear, making my vision blurry. My eyes were still stiff, and every time I blinked, it felt like I was trying to fold cardstock paper. The ridges of my eyes were covered in dried tears; I could feel the grains of salt laced in the ridges of my eyes, and it felt grimy. But I am lucky enough to say that those dried tears were not from sorrow or grief but rather…
Moki Bi: "ahhh~ that was a damn good sleep, Argghhh!"
With that, Moki Bi gave a loud yawn and stretched, but it wasn't a regular stretch; rather, it was the type of stretch that you could feel in the bridge of your feet, the type of stretch that made your calves loose and quads tight. That was one type of stretch that made you groan. The stretch was rather blissful. And then she shot backwards, trying to nap more.
Moki Bi:Urghh "finee~uh"
With reluctance, Moki Bi Reluctantly pushed herself upright on one arm, and in one dramatic and groggy motion, threw herself across the bed, and in one motion she…
FluMp
Came pathetically short of the nightstand, she fell face-first into the bed covers…....in all honesty, you could throw a person-shaped water-filled dummy farther than she jumped across that bed….no jumped is a strong word, you could flop a dummy farther than she went.
Anyway…
Her arm continued to grab onto the covers like some sort of crawler zombie. She traveled in a time frame that seemed like eternity as she made her journey across the great distance known as… "across the bed, three feet."
As her hand began to approach the nightstand, she stretched her fingers as far as she possibly could. Her fingers came short numerous times, and you could hear her nails drag against the white nightstand as she continued trying. After four or five failures, she gave up…as the buzzing stopped.
Shooo ho shooo ho shooo ho
She fell asleep in that catastrophe of a bed, snoring, again…..
Bling Bling
…. Until the buzzing began again.
Moki Bi: "erughh again?? Fineee~ "
She pulled her face out of the covers once more, with her eyelids only halfway open, and pulled herself closer to the nightstand once more. Stretching as far as she could, her hand barely snags onto the bed and into her hand.
After such a valiant battle, she fell onto her back with the phone still in her hand beside her. After her eyes stared at the hypnotizing movement of the ceiling fan for a moment, she brought up her hand into the air above her, phone in hand, in a loose, wavering motion.
Looking at her phone in front of her, tapped the screen lethargically, and you could hear her nail tick against the screen.
*Tack tack*
nothing
*Tack Tack *
The screen was still black.
TAck TAck
Moki Bi: "OH COME ON!"
¡SMACK!
Moki Bi took her phone and pitched it against her four fingers and her thumb and smacked it against the palm of her hand.
¡SMACK!
¡SMACK!
¡SMACK!
ZMMM ZMM
The phone finally hummed to life, its screen turned from black to a picture of a sunset over the ocean, which was indeed her wallpaper. And in the center of the screen was a notification from her message app that appeared to say
"50 missed messages"
Moki Bi: " Oh my… what the hell's going on?!"
ZMMM ZMMM ZMMM
The phone's wallpaper was replaced by a call screen, and the caller's ID read "Landlord." Moki Bi hesitated to answer the call; her thumb hovered over the hang-up button for just a moment before bracing herself. She clenched her eyelids shut and curled a little before answering the call and shoving the phone against her ear as if flinching from a deadly strike. Her voice spoke ecstatically.
Moki Bi: "Well, hello, my rainbow!"
Landlord: "MOKI BI!!!"
The landlord's screams gruesomely pierced Megumi's ears.
Moki bi just smiled and spoke.
Moki Bi: "That's me! To what do I owe the honor!"
Landlord: "MOKI BI! OPEN YOUR WINDOW!"
Upon hearing that command, Moki Bi sat up straight in her bed with confusion, her white eyebrows lathargically furrowed.
Moki Bi: "Wait…wha?"
Landlord: "I SAID OPEN YOUR WINDOW NOW! GO HURRY YOU LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!"
Moki Bi's eyes shot wide open in shock as she darted up, standing on her bed.
Moki Bi: "HUH WHAT DO YOU MEAN!"
Moki Bi started quite literally running off the top of her bed. She didn't have to move far, as she was already near the edge; she only had to jump off after one step, and in that one step…
Moki Bi: "WAIT WAIT WAIT! AHH!"
Moki Bi began to trip over her feet, but she still had a chance to recover. Bending back and forth like one of those inflatable dummies outside a dealership, she began to recover. Flailing her arms, her arms around in a full circle, cartoonishly, she looked like a poor excuse of a helicopter. If her arms spin any faster, she may have taken flight, actually. As her body bent back and forth one more time, she almost caught her balance; she just needed to take a step back. Taking her foot off the bed, she moved it back and…
Shuffle
THUMP!
"AHH"
In some sort of backwards miracle, and in a feat of pure athleticism, her foot MISSED THE BED! She quite literally took a step on the edge of the bed, THE MOST UNSTABLE PART! This was quite literally a slap in the face to all athletes; it was borderline sacrilegious to all gymnasts. Not only did she miss the bed, but she landed on the bed, bounced off the bed, flipped, and landed on her FEET! It had to be a joke,
Through some divine providence, she landed with a look of sheer determination in her sharp eyes and sprinted toward her window as if she had planned it all.
Upon reaching the window, Moki Bi grabbed the translucent curtains and, for some odd reason, quite literally ripped them off the wall. Neglecting to undo the latch on the window, she dug her nails under the window seal and tore the window up latch and all. And when she did
BOOM!
Soaring through the window came a pigeon. The bird sent Moki Bi flying backward as it shot into her chest. The force launched her so far back as to send her rocking into her bed once more, causing the bed to creak and all the clothes that were stacked on the nearby nightstand to fall off. Her mind went blank, and then her vision blacked out while she lay slumped against her bed..
***Moki Bi***
As I came to the world, it seemed fuzzy and white like a fully pomeranian. All my ears could hear was ringing, slowly, through the open window; sound seeped back through. It was the noise of the city below my window. The late-night club rush was in full swing. Horns could be heard blaring angrily as I came to. What caught my attention the most was…
COO COO
Moki Bi: : "is…THAT A PIGEON!! WHY ARE YOU IN MY HOUSE?!?"
In surprise, I threw my arms down on the wooden floor and curled my neck away from the pigeon on my chest. The floor was warm from basking in the sunlight for… wait, how long? What's even happening!?
COO COO
Moki Bi: "WHAT'S GOING ON DID I DRINK TOO MUCH AGAIN?!?"
???: "STOP SCREAMING YOU'RE GOING TO BOTHER PEOPLE"
Moki bi: "LIKE YOU'RE ONE TO TALK! YOUR SCREAMING JUST AS LOUD!.... Wait… My landlord… where are you, Sakura? What are you doing in my house?
Sakura: "I'm not in your house, goofy! Look in your lap or around there, probably…"
Looking around the bird on my chest, my eyes scurried across my lap to find nothing. But right next to my left leg was a phone. And it said
"Calling Landlord"
Moki bi: "Wait, why are you on the phone? Why is there a crow in my room? Why am I on the floor, slouching against my bed? Why are my curtains ripped off my wall? Wait! What the hell is happening, sakura~~~! Why is my bed frame cracked too…"
Letting out a little satirical cry, I ask my most important questions…
Sakura: "damn, Hmm, I guess I gave you amnesia by accident."
Scratch that! There was a bigger one, actually!
Moki Bi: "HOW DO YOU DO THAT ON ACCIDENT!?!"
Sakura: "Ehh, whatever, now read the note in the pigeons' feet."
Moki Bi: "Oh..this little thing.. Oka`ya"
When I grabbed that letter, I was definitely curious to see what it said, although it looked old, very old, actually.
Moki Bi: "Sakura, why does the note look like it was ripped out of the hands of a dead pirate?"
Sakura: "Don't worry about it, just read."
Moki Bi: "oka'ya"
Reading the note, I saw it was written in some fancy cursive, but the handwriting was terrible, to be honest. Anyway, it said.
My dear Moki Bi, I must warn you that I have ordered penance on you for your rambunctious behavior. Your snoring is the pinnacle of disruptive behavior. I declare that henceforth you will have to watch out for the wrath of Zeus, Buddha, and my favorite fast food chain, Poppa Joms. You must never snore again, or else we will intervene on behalf of Sakura and her three hundred other restless tenants. You may ask why? Well, it's because Sakuraa is at risk of losing all her tenants and, therefore, her income. Oh, and because Sakura is awesome. You have been warned— the Deity.
Moki Bi: "Sakura…this is your handwriting…"
I said with a smile
Moki bi: Wow, Sakura is a crazy girl. It is kind of funny, though. She acts like I can't recognize her handwriting. I can practically hear her hands flapping up and down with beads of sweat flying everywhere already, haha, Haha.
Sakura: nuh–nuh–nuh–na–noa- no it's not! That's clearly not my handwriting, I don't loop my Js! And I don't even like Papa Joms!
Moki Bi: "sakuraaa~ how'd you know he looped his J's, only on call hehe, and I know your floor is covered in Papa Jomsrightt now ha ha"Nuh-nuh-na-no it's nottt! I don't even loop my J's! And i ha-ha-ha-ha hATE Papa joms!"
Moki Bi: "sakuraaa~ now howd you no they looped their J's~? And last time I came over, your floor was littered with pizza boxes. He he, you're so cute, sakura hehe, but where did you get the pidgeon?'
Sakura: " NO NO! It's not my Pigeon! And I hahaha-HATE pizza"
Moki Bi: "I literally have a picture of you eating two pizza boxes, sakura, on my nightstand!"
Sakura "NUH UH!"
Moki Bi dubiously grinned as she tapped her fingers together, scheming.
Moki Bi: "Okay, okay, it doesn't matter because I have a solution… to prevent me from divine~ INter~VentiOn~ or whatever"
Sakura: Whatt! Really! Tell me, tell me I'm DYING here!
Moki Bi: I have to get blacked out drunk hehe"
Her solution was met with earsplitting silence. Even the car horns outside comedically ceased. For what felt like hours, no words were spoken….until…
Sakura: "You have a drinking problem, Moki."
Moki Bi: " YES! But it's useful. Anyway, I'll see you at the bar in ten."
Sakura: wa-wa-wa-wait! Me!? IM YOUR LAND LORD NOT YOUR CHUFEER TAKE YOUSELF!
Moki Bi: "yea yea yea. If you don't come, I'll drive myself home. Don't blame me if I accidentally run into your building. Anyway, see you there. Bye-bye"
Sakura: "WHATR WA_______"
BEEEEEEEEEEEEP. The call ended, and Moki Bi hung up.
***Moki Bi***
[An hour later]
In the middle of a cool night under purple street lights, Moki bi stood outside of a set of twin doors. The doors were grandiose and tall. The wood had engravings in an Art Deco style. As she slid her fingertip across the engravings, she could feel the grains of the wood flow top down. She hesitated for just a second, looking down at her feet and closing her eyes. After she took a second, she pressed her hands against the wood, took a short breath, swayed backward, and busted through the twin doors.
BOOM
Bursting through the doors, kicking up the dust off the floor, it looked like a scene out of a western movie; her voice sang as if it were in a choir.
Moki Bi: "SAKURAAA~! Where are youuuu?"
The bartender looked at her, his head moved in a jagged motion, very slowly. As if in slow motion, his eyes widened, and the glass in his hand dropped onto the floor. Comically, the wine he was pouring into the glass kept on flowing as he was in pure shock; it created a stream from the bar to the floor, straight into an expensive puddle.
The bartender's arm whipped out and threw its finger out straight, pointing directly at Moki as if she were an edritch horror.
Bartender: "GUYS, GET DOWN! IT'S THE BEER BEAST!"
***Bartender***
It can't be her, it can't, it's not, it just can't. The Tab Reaper. Maybe if I don't move, she won't notice me.
***Moki Bi***
The bartender's face was frozen, and so was his body. His finger was locked in an extended position, pointed directly at Moki. In response, Moki turned her head and gave an ear-to-ear smile, although from the bartender's perspective it was rather horrifying, as her eyes slowly tracked his shivering body and her head erratically twitched at him with—what was to him— a smile a killer would give to its victim. The smile on her face was like that of a rabid dog's snarling teeth. The reason for his horror is….
Bartender: "You-you-you gotta leave! Every time you come here, you get blacked out drunk and some guy hits on you!"
Moki's face smiled after hearing those words.
Moki: "What are you scared of, your crush getting taken or whatever? Hehe"
She said those words with her tongue out while winking; she certainly was a troll.
Bartender: "HEY! Where did you get that idea!"
Moki: Aww, look at you. You're blushing."
The bartender's face was certainly as red as beetroot, his face was completely flushed….but
Bartender: "CAN YOU QUIT THAT!"
That was because Moki was annoying him on purpose again, and his face was flushed with annoyance.
Moki: "Fine, fine, what does it matter if I get hit on, though?"
Bartender: "You know exactly what happened last time! They ended up knocking each other out over it!"
Moki: "Huh, guess I was too hammered to remember. Oops"
Bartender: "HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT SO PROUDLY!?"
Sakura: "Can y'all calm down?"
Coming from the side of the bar was Sakura's voice; it was sweet and yet stern. Frankly, it was rather confusing to determine what type of person she was based on her voice. Her voice sounded like that of a nurturing young woman, but the words she used were aggressive, and her tone was rather intimidating. To simplify her voice was like sugar cane, but her words were like a whip.
Moki bi: "When did you get here??!!"
Sakura: "I've BEEN HERE THE WHOLE time, Hussy!"
Moki: "Heyyy, I ammm not a hussy."
Moki's voice was still playful; this banter was normal for them. It was the way Sakura expressed affection…
Sakura: "Then why are you fixed up so well? You know exactly what you're doing with that black button-up and choker. You're gonna get us in trouble with guys again."
Moki: "Hey, hey. No need to worry about me, you're here to scare them away."
While they had their exchange, the bartender's eyes juggled them both, one in a Long white fur coat, and the other in a black button-up.
Sakura: "What are you trying to say…"
She said with a glare.
Moki walked up next to Sakura and plopped onto the adjacent stool.
Moki: "Don't worry about it, haha… anyway, Sir, can we get four shots of Bacardi?"
The bartender was flabbergasted at the insane request. His jaw dropped to the floor.
Bartender: "Who said you could drink!"
Moki: "Pleaaasee"
Her voice was light, and she smiled, but to the bartender it was a bone-chilling glare.
Bartender: "HCK, okay."
The bartender virtually warped to the alcohol cabinet as he hastily poured.
Moki: "So, how has your business been doing, Sakura?"
Sakura: "Well, my bottom line has been falling, so I was thinking about taking out a few HELOCs against my high appraisal properties, and setting up some new rentals. I might even get an agent to share them on an MLS."
Moki stared at her blankly; you could practically hear her mind Flush white.
Moki: "What the hell does that even mean…"
Sakura: "Haha, sorry, I've been talking to business partners all day. It basically means I'm going to use expensive buildings to buy more property, then get an agent to advertise them."
The lights in her blank head flashed on as she smirked. Her fingers made a pensive L gesture on her chin.
Moki: "So it's like gambling."
Sakura: "HOW MANY VICES DO YOU HAVE!"
Moki: "Whoa, whoa, not that many"
Sakura: "shopping, drinking, gambling, sleeping, eating, snoring…"
Moki: "HEY! Snoring is not a vice."
Sakura: "It is when it causes people to MOVE OUT MY BUILDING!"
Bartender: "Ladies, let's try to calm down. Here are your drinks."
Her eyebrow twitched as she shot the man an ice-cold glare, and the air around her became a purple smog of malice.
Sakura: "dont…tell… me to..calm down…when… I'm ABOUT TO GO BANKRUPT!"
Bartender: "HCK, sorry, sorry"
After apologizing, he laid the pair of shots down on the bar. After he did that, Sakura began to reach for her two shots, well, at least she tried.
SNATCH CLINK CLINK CLINK CLINK
Moki snatched all four shots.
Sakura & bartender: "WHATTTT!"
Both their jaws dropped in unison as this rum guzzling monster downed four shots at once.
Moki: "Four more for her."
Sakura: "WAIT WHAT?! FOUR?!"
Clink
The bartender already had all four shots ready, plus some more for Moki.
Moki: "Bottoms up!"
Moki shoved the glass into Sakura's hands, and Sakura obliged
Clink Clink
Sakura: "ACK! This tastes like Bleach!
Moki: "One more round!"
Clink Clink
Moki: "One more round."
Clink Clink
Her title as "The Tab Reaper" was well earned
Clink Clink
Their brows and eyes became dreary
Clink Clink
Their cheeks flushed beet red
Clink Clink
Sakura started laughing at absolutely nothing, and Moki started laying her head on the bar.
Moki: "Heuy, I whanna sleep."
Sakura: "You already sleep too much, boop."
Moki: "HEY?"
Sakura: " HAHA! Your nose is cute".
Moki: "Thanks…hussy."
Sakura: "heyuh im not a hussy"
Moki: "yuh huh"
Sakura & Moki bi: "Bartender, two more shots."
Both their Foreheads lifted for just a second before dropping back onto the wooden bar.
Bartender: "Yeah, I'm sorry, but I think that's enough drinks, you can't even lift your necks, and I'm not trying to have y'all die of alcohol poisoning. You need a cab, girls?"
Sakura: "Hahah, a nah I spent all my money."
Moki: "I'm brwoke as shwit."
Bartender: "Your two personalities have completely swapped. What kind of magic is this? Anyway, I've got to close up, stay safe, girls.'