Cafe Luna: Prologue 2 (Death)

“I guess it’s time.”

The door swung open and a frail person with deep eye bags entered the cafe.

“Welcome to Cafe Luna, what should I serve you?”

I motioned for him to sit in front of the counter as I caught a glimpse of the card floating on top of him.

… Death, huh.

These tarot cards pop up and float on top of people and are usually the indicators of their fate. Death can be read in various ways, from positive ones to negative ones. But for this person…

I noticed slits on his wrists.

It’s not the positive one.

“U-U-Umm.. Where am I?”

He said, his voice trembling and his legs shaking. He put his right hand on his left elbow in a self hug gesture.

“You’re inside a cafe that only exists in imagination and dreams.”

I smiled and started brewing “Calmness” a type of tea that would, surprise, surprise, calm a person down. It doesn’t take long and before he could even reach the counter, I already had it in front of him.

“No need to be wary, it’s just you and me here, nobody’s going to hurt you.”

“O-Okay..”

He looked at me sheepishly as he took a sip of the tea.

“O-Oh, this is really good!”

His face lit up, even just for a bit.

“Glad you liked it.”

I turned around and went back to cleaning the cups and coasters.

“Umm, excuse me, Barista-”

“You can call me Hajime.”

“Oh, okay. Hajime, what’s this place and why am I here?”

“To answer your first question, this is a place that floats around the different parallel worlds that exist.”

I paused for a bit as I put the coasters and cups back to their place.

“This is also a bastion for people struggling with problems. Sometimes it’s much easier to tell a stranger about it than a close friend. For your second question, there are lots of reasons a person might end up here.”

I glanced again above him.

Still Death, no change.

“It’s only for you to say.”

I smiled.

“I see.”

Then he sighed.

He smiled for a brief second and started sipping his tea again.

“Actually, I do have a problem… just a little bit of a problem.”

He said, still holding the cup with both of his hands and rubbing his fingers on the cup’s outer surface.

“Ever felt useless?’

He said, with a trembling voice.

“Of course.”

“No, no, no, not that way… It’s like… everything you do just doesn’t amount to anything.”

He paused and sipped his tea.

“I’ve been in that dilemma for years now and to tell you the truth, it’s eating me..”

I stayed silent and nodded sympathizingly.

“My motivation is gone, everything is gone, it’s like… I don’t know. It’s unexplainable.”

He sighed again, but this time much deeper.

“Hmm, that’s true, it’s not always that easy to explain our griefs to another person. But it’s also not good to keep them all bottled up inside, you know?”

I paused.

“People are always on edge, believe it or not. It only takes one thing to push them over and make them commit things you don’t know they were capable of.”

He fixed his posture and placed his empty cup down as he listened to me.

“That’s why people take hobbies. They use this to escape the monsters haunting them consciously. People use these outlets to express themselves and relieve themselves of things they want to let go.”

I grabbed a nearby book.

“Such as writing. Writing can be a healthy way of relieving stress with the right doses. Same as any other hobby. Gaming, Music, Dancing. They’re all the same, they’re there to put your head somewhere else besides where it currently is.”

“Sure, I get it but… what are you trying to say?”

“Is there something you liked doing when you were young?”

He pondered upon the question while I took his cup and washed it.

“I guess I liked singing and composing?”

“Have you tried doing it recently?”

“… No, I was busy.”

I leaned a little closer to him.

“Busy with what?”

He looked at me, lips trembling.

“… stuff.”

I smiled at his reply.

“Why don’t you try it again? Even just for a bit?”

I passed him a paper and a pencil. He looked at me with eyes unsure of what he was supposed to do.

“Go on, just write something.”

He sighed and just resigned to his fate.

“… Fine.”

Right then and there, a masterpiece was composed. His pencil strode through the paper like a ballerina dancing on the stage with passion and full of emotion. Roses can be seen popping at the corners of the paper, symbolizing the love and the passion he missed from composing music.

And before he can even finish, his eyes welled up and tears fell down his cheeks.

“Why are you crying?”

I asked, even though the answer was clear.

“I don’t know…”

Yes, and that’s the answer.

There are a lot of things in this world without explanation, if you spend most of your time overthinking it, then you just wasted an opportunity. This young man right here, forgot his passion, forgot how it was to do something you really like, and forget about others even just for a bit.

He finished the composition and looked at me.

“…Here.”

He handed me the paper.

“No, that’s yours and it’s about time for you to share it with the world.”

“Share it to the world?! I-I can’t! I’d be too embarrassed for that!”

He hid the paper behind his back.

“Don’t worry, you don’t have to do it all at once. Slow and steady wins the race.”

I gave his shoulder a light tap. He looked at me and stayed silent.

“Do you want to see your future when you overcome this obstacle?”

He nodded.

I smiled and clapped. Our surroundings morphed into darkness, and into a stadium filled with people to the brim.

And in the middle, the young man. With his acoustic guitar in hand, he sang the composition he had in his hands right now.

“That’s your future.”

I smiled at him.

He looked at me in awe. Not even saying a thing, he just had his mouth open all the time.

“This… is me?”

He finally spoke.

“Yes, that’d be you.”

I replied as I caught a glimpse of the card on his head turning from Death to Star. The star represents the star that guided the kings who were seeking a child born in the manger. It is also a symbol of hope and opportunities.

“Anyway, it’s time for us to leave.”

I clapped and the surroundings morphed back into my cafe.

I see him holding onto the composition even harder, like something inside him has finally sparked.

“So, what would you do?”

I smiled.

“I-I’ll try…”

“Not enough confidence! What would you do?!”

“I’ll try!”

He said with full conviction and intention.

“Then it’s time for you to leave.”

I snapped and he was gone.

***

Sometimes, we’re so caught up with comparing ourselves to others that we have no time to actually explore ourselves. While competition can be beneficial, if you take it in the negative, it will be detrimental to a person’s well-being. This happens to all of us, no one is safe.

So take your time, maybe even go back to a hobby you missed doing back then. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll learn more about yourself.