'A prompt a day keeps insanity away' is a series of (excerpts from) short stories, written by me, inspired by one incredibly thoughtful act of a stranger during this uncertain time. I may not interpret the prompt the way it was meant to be, so get ready for a huge mess and enjoy reading.
prompt one: keep your eyes on the skies, and your feet on the ground
'Is there anything wrong?' You casually sipped on your coffee, her eyes set on the warm cup of chai tea, which sounded incredibly stupid to you since chai already translated to tea and she was basically calling her drinks a tea, tea. You knew this wasn't going to end well, so you instinctively reached your back pocket to see if you brought enough cash to pay for her drinks as well.
'Huh? Oh, it's nothing'
It's always nothing, followed by several minutes of uncomfortable silence, her going to the restroom—never coming back—and you paying the bill. Out of a dozen first dates you had been on, two offered to split the bill out of courtesy but you still paid in the end, one actually asked for separate checks, one insisted to pay but you paid for dinner and sent her flowers later on so you guys were even.
None of them were down for a second date, though. Oh, and apparently the girl you sent flowers to was allergic to pollen.
'Hey, uh... I need to go to the bathroom.' She hurriedly stood up from her seat, taking her cellphone on one hand and a tiny black purse on the other. You could never understand why women loved using such an impractical thing that barely served its own purpose, but you knew you had no right to judge when you, yourself, wore hats with hoodies for a morning jog.
'Yeah. Sure.' Your eyes watched her figure walking to the back of the diner, not to be seen again, ever. You had finished your coffee and wondered whether you should finish the stupid chai tea she left behind. Your mind was so occupied with chai you didn't realize someone else was already standing by your table, on her hand a slice of strawberry shortcake plated so meticulously it looked way more expensive than it really was.
'Is she coming back?'
She gently placed the cake on the table, her gaze a mix between judging and sympathizing but not in any way offending you. It was almost like she understood you and your crumbling love saga.
'I don't think so.' You looked up, sighing. Her eyes were blue, like a clear sky with no cloud, warm summer breeze, her scent an ocean. You knew her, sort of. On Sunday mornings when the diner was only a bit busy and your date left you behind, you had seen her serving warm pancakes and hot coffee. She always had her hair tied up, some of her curls graced the sides of her face.
'Tell you what,' she frowned, 'maybe you've been looking up to the skies for too long.'
The last thing you wanted to hear from a stranger, sort of, when your date had just ghosted you was a lecture—like that one time you called your mom and she went, 'maybe you should ask Lana's daughter out instead of going on dates with some gold diggers from Tinder.' But her eyes were so incredibly deep you just let your tongue slipped.
'...and what was that supposed to mean?'
She took a seat in front of you, sliding the poor cup of chai to the side, both hands on the table ready for an argument. Oh, that was new. 'My dad used to tell me to keep my eyes on the skies, and so I did. I kept looking up, looking for things that I couldn't reach.' She paused and quickly glanced at the cake, head tilted to its direction. 'It's on us, by the way.'
'Okay, so I went through a lot of downs and downs there was barely an up. I came to my dad crying and he told me that maybe he should've been clearer with his advice.'
You were so engrossed with her words you barely noticed yourself picking up the tiny fork, mindlessly nibbling on the sweet, sweet strawberry flavor. 'And then, what happened?'
'He said that there's more to it. He said that we should keep our eyes on the skies, but keep our feet on the ground. I failed to do the latter. I had no ground, no gravity to hold me back. I was just... floating. I had nowhere to go but up, but once I was up, I had nowhere to land.' You noticed the old lady, the owner of this place, throwing meaningful, slightly menacing glances at your table. Wouldn't it be rude to ask a young lady to go back to work when she was pouring her heart out like this?
'So, what I'm saying is, maybe... maybe you should find a ground to walk on first, instead of a sky to gaze upon. Once you got your feet on the ground, you'll realize that the sky will always be around, wherever you are.' It took you a good minute to process her words, another good minute trying to come up with something to reply her with, another good minute of staring at those deep, deep blue ocean that was her eyes.
'You're right.' Maybe a ground was what you needed all along.
—end
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