Build a story together
Rules: I'll write the first paragraph, you continue with the next one, then I continue yours. No planning ahead, no deleting plot twists, and we're not allowed to kill the story just because we've run out of ideas.
The story begins
He didn't know who she was.
He clicked her profile. Empty. No posts. Just a username: Riri-Racheal
And that night, for the first time in months, Vic opened his laptop again.
Your turn. 👀
@thebookpolitics Oh wow it’s build a story today😊🤭nice
She didn't leave any real info, just her username: Riri-Racheal.
He clicked it and laughed as the profile picture was literally just a fat ginger cat sitting and staring at the camera.
He hadn't opened it because it was his small business page for fixing minor household related issues and had been dead for months, ever since he stopped posting.
But the only message sitting there was from her sent 3 hours ago:
"Hi, please do you fix nets? My cat tore mine trying to escape and now he is missing. Your number is not going through."
He stared at the empty profile again. Riri-Racheal.
Next turn
@jhemye “how bad was the tear” he sent back, hoping it wasn’t shredded since that will almost be impossible to amend.
The weather felt chilly somehow and if he wasn’t so curious about riri-Racheal a nap would have been nice.
His phone chimed as he was thinking of a nice tea and he stared at it “don’t really know what can be done to this” she sent with a video attached. Yea it was bad bad.
@thebookpolitics Vic clicked the video. It was worse than bad. The entire lower corner of the net was ripped open like someone used scissors, and sitting right in the middle of the hole, licking his paw like he had done nothing wrong, was a very fat ginger and white cat. Apparently he had been found.
He couldn't help it, he laughed out loud. Then he typed: "Yeah, this one is finished. I can't amend this, I will have to change the whole net. I can come tomorrow morning if you're around.
Free for the cat's stress.
He hit send and then realized what he just wrote.
@jhemye Vic stared at his message.
Freeforthecat'sstress.
"Jesus," he muttered, shutting close the laptop
Her reply came almost immediately.
"😂😂 So you offer free therapy for cats now?"
He smiled before he could stop himself.
"Only the ones with criminal records."
Three dots appeared.
Then she sent: "Tomorrow morning, then. But don't let him fool you. He's wanted in three houses already."
Vic laughed.
For the first time in months, he was actually looking forward to work.
your turn
i saw the last one and was so interested. Saw it today too and now i just had to join lol😅
@karimahThe day went smoothly, suspiciously smoothly, as if anticipation was fueling it.
A knock interrupted my workflow. I dragged myself to the door.
"Hi hi," Leo's voice came. The one I'd recognize anywhere.
He walked in like he owned the place and flopped onto my bed, casual as ever. Talking about something like, "are you busy tomorrow morning?"
My mind immediately went: my tomorrow is tight plsssssss.
And then I caught myself.
Wait.
What is wrong with me?
@thebookpolitics “Tomorrow morning?” I repeated, trying to sound like someone whose mind wasn't already three streets away, fixing a stranger's cat damaged window net.
Leo raised his head from my pillow. Yes, tomorrow morning. Why are you looking like I just asked you to donate a kidney?
I'm not looking like anything.
Right. He grinned. Anyway, I need your help moving some stuff. And before you start giving me excuses, you're literally the only person I know who owns a toolbox.
I stared at him.
A toolbox.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the city, a woman with an empty profile and a criminally large cat was probably expecting me at nine.
Can't you borrow one from someone else? I asked.
Leo sat up slowly, his grin fading into suspicion. “Vic. Who are you meeting tomorrow?”
@karimah I froze.
"No one," I said. Stupid lie.
Leo narrowed his eyes. No one doesn't make you pack your bag the night before. I saw you checking the mirror twice.
It's just a client, I said. Her cat tore her net. She messaged the page.
"HER?" His grin came back. The empty profile girl? So you ARE going.
"It's just a job," I muttered, but he was already holding up my net roll like a trophy.
"Vic is back in business. Because of a cat."
😂😂
@jhemye “I’ve been in business ever since” i sighed trying to hide that he might actually be right
“Yea yea business whatever that means, I begged you to come check ma’am kuti’s sink for a huge pay”
he stared at me and I could feel his eyes burn a hole on my face
“I was occupied then” I lied further
Im really a bad liar
“You know you’re a bad liar right?” He asked
“So you’re going to see the cat girl right?” He smirked
“Yea.. I mean no, but yea to fix her net of course”
“Yea net” he laughed and I could feel my face hot red with embarrassment.
@thebookpolitics I barely slept that night. Not because I was excited, obviously. I was just curious about what she wanted to show me.
By 8:15 the next morning, I was standing outside her apartment with my toolbox, staring at my phone.
One last message from her read: I'm opening the door. Please don't be scared.
Before I could question that sentence, the door swung open.
And behind it stood a woman who looked nothing like what I'd imagined.
She stared at me for a moment, then glanced over my shoulder.
"You're alone, right?"
I nodded slowly.
She stepped aside, revealing the fat ginger cat sitting on a table beside a broken picture frame.
Then she whispered, "Vic, I need you to fix something else. And you cannot tell anyone you saw it."
@thebookpolitics Will definitely be here next week, the story could make a good book 💪💯