Categories > Original > Sci-Fi
A stranger walked into the bar and said to the bartender, “I bet you've never seen anything like this!”
"I have seen many an exotic creature, sir, that you may lose that bet," the bartender retorted.
From a cage half his height, the stranger brought out a tiny creature covered in feathers. He whistled and the animal started chirping delightfully.
The bartender laughed and applauded. “A nightingale! A rare find indeed! Yet, I already own one...”
“A different creature, then! A more magnificent singer!” the stranger boasted as he replaced the nightingale into the cage and brought out a larger creature, one with pinkish skin and fur on the top of its head. He commanded it and the creature sang hesitantly but beautifully, in a language unfamiliar to the bar’s patrons, about fools rushing into a love that they do not comprehend.
The bartender listened, entranced, to the delight of both stranger and singer. The singer switched its alien song and sang about the green, green grass of its home, hoping its emotions would resonate with the bartender. It had been years since its capture and slim had been its chances to escape the stranger.
“This is astounding!” the bartender remarked. “Such music!”
“Is it not magnificent? I found it in a distant land where its peers treated it royally!”
“How much for this wonderful creature?”
The stranger named a price and the diminutive singer's heart sank at the bartender’s reaction.
“... and how much if I just get the nightingale?”
END
"I have seen many an exotic creature, sir, that you may lose that bet," the bartender retorted.
From a cage half his height, the stranger brought out a tiny creature covered in feathers. He whistled and the animal started chirping delightfully.
The bartender laughed and applauded. “A nightingale! A rare find indeed! Yet, I already own one...”
“A different creature, then! A more magnificent singer!” the stranger boasted as he replaced the nightingale into the cage and brought out a larger creature, one with pinkish skin and fur on the top of its head. He commanded it and the creature sang hesitantly but beautifully, in a language unfamiliar to the bar’s patrons, about fools rushing into a love that they do not comprehend.
The bartender listened, entranced, to the delight of both stranger and singer. The singer switched its alien song and sang about the green, green grass of its home, hoping its emotions would resonate with the bartender. It had been years since its capture and slim had been its chances to escape the stranger.
“This is astounding!” the bartender remarked. “Such music!”
“Is it not magnificent? I found it in a distant land where its peers treated it royally!”
“How much for this wonderful creature?”
The stranger named a price and the diminutive singer's heart sank at the bartender’s reaction.
“... and how much if I just get the nightingale?”
END
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