[Three-Topic Short Story] Short... No, Make It Grande | Grassland. Return. Penne | Short-Short

Title: The Due Date at the Grassland Cafe

At the edge of the world, there is a library specializing in returns.

It is not a place to borrow.

It is a place to return things.

Books you have finished reading.
Dreams you have finished using.
Regrets you no longer need.

A mysterious library for returning such things.

One day, I set out on a journey carrying something I had forgotten to return.

A mistake from my youth.

I had kept it deep in my heart for a long time.

On the way to the library, I wandered into a vast
grassland.The wind blows.

The sky is blue.

In the middle of it, there was a small cafe.

The sign read as follows:

"A Shop for Memories and Light Meals"

I went inside.

The owner was an old man with white ears.

"What would you like to order?"

I looked at the menu.

Short size.

Tall size.
Grande size.
None of them were drinks.

They seemed to be amounts for organizing memories.

I hesitated for a moment and said,

"

Short... no, make it a Grande size."The owner nodded with satisfaction.

What was brought to me was steaming


penne.I don't know why it was penne.But every time I took a bite,

old memories began to unravel.

Embarrassing mistakes.
Words I couldn't say.

Events that made me shrink just by remembering them.

They slowly changed their shape.

Not into wounds, but into stories.

By the time I finished the penne,

my heart felt a little lighter.

The owner said,
"Returning something doesn't mean forgetting it."

Outside the window, the grassland swayed.

"It means changing how you carry it."

I headed to the library.

I gently placed my old mistake into the return slot.

Then the receptionist smiled.

"The due date was long past, wasn't it?"

I gave a bitter smile.

That's true.

I had held onto it for far too long.

On the way home,

the wind on the grassland was a little gentler than when I arrived.

And for some reason,

I never forgot the taste of the penne until the very end.

The End

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Thank you for reading until the end😊 Suzu