Green Bliss

A Café Beneath a Green Sky

Tortine sat at a cafe of plants beneath a green sky, sipping smoothies made of dried bananas and strawberries.

“Why dried?” she wondered. “Why dried?”

Then all at once the ceiling opened up to a giant waterfall.

“We water the plants every hour,” cried out the host. “Pick up your umbrellas.”

Poor Tortine was grossly unprepared. The ceiling started to rain, pour like a giant cascade.

The dried bananas and strawberries became plump.

Tortine became soaked.

Soggy and green, Tortine sipped her smoothie soup.

Small fish began to swim at her feet.

“Take care of your shoes,” cried the host to the patrons.

The tiny piranhas nibbled at the dry skin around her toes.

Immersed in a swampy green heaven, Tortine finally found her bliss.

A story by Pemba Umoja