Tales of a Peculiar Pirate

19. A Night at Melonpan and a Grilled Cheese Lesson Plan

Polly couldn't have asked for a better experience than the one she enjoyed at Melonpan Motel. Though it may have been a dirt cheap place to stay, the quality of the place was the furthest thing from dirt possible.

Melonpan Motel was a small establishment painted in the warm yellow of the average melonpan with an interior as warm as freshly baked bread. The travelers more than welcomed the heat for on their short walk to Melonpan Motel, they had been besieged by a sudden chill that could've frozen over a vat of boiling oil in an instant. Polly was obviously cooler than a vat of boiling oil by more than a few degrees, so she felt the effects of the frosty wind greatly.

Upon their entry, Polly, Wiki, SAT, and Ed were greeted by a lovely lady as sweet as cantaloupe. She didn't ask what they were up to, looking for a room at such an atrocious hour, and simply told them how much it was to room per night. The rate was so cheap that Polly, in a rare fit of philanthropy, booked a separate room for the kiwis. There was also the fact she was in the mood for some alone time as most are at some point in their lives.

Polly had never considered living out the rest of her days from a single space before, but the Melonpan's bed was quick to change that. The bed offered at Melonpan was less a bed and more a very, very, very large beanbag. Taking up nearly a third of the room, the plushy puff was piled with a heaping of pillows and a mountain of blankets. It was like something straight out of Polly's wildest dreams. Her every expectation and more were met as she sank into it when she was finally ready to hit the hay.

Given how outrageously comfortable Polly was tucked in bed and how if she were at a phone she would have been at 3% battery, low power mode, it came as a surprise to no one except herself when she slept through practically the entire day. When she woke and the sky was a dusky gray rather than bright blue, she wondered for half a minute if the end of times had arrived.

"And here we thought you were never going to wake up," cawed SAT when Polly had stopped by the kiwis' room to see if they were still alive. The colorful bird sounded less sad about Polly never waking up than Polly had expected.

"What time did you guys wake up?"

"Not too long ago, actually. We're nocturnal folks, didn't you know?"

Polly who was not in the habit of studying the sleep patterns of other species, had not, in fact, known.

"Oh shoot, do you guys think that Mr. Croix has been waiting on us? I sure hope not, I'd feel mighty bad about it if he has been."

"Well not much we can do about it now," chirped Wiki. "I guess we'll just have to stop by his shop and see how things go."

x x x

By the time the quartet arrived at Croix's place, the sky had transitioned from dusky to full on indigo. Yet Croix was there, in his run down store that had surely seen better days, as if he had not moved an inch since the four had last seen him.

"Good evening Mr. Croix, hope we haven't kept you waiting for too long or anything," chucked Polly, with a smile that she hoped hid her nervousness.

"Not at all fellas. I know I said today around noon, but I won't lie, I kinda I just opened up. I'm mighty glad I'm not the only one with trouble stickin' to a schedule."

"Not much traffic today either, eh?"

"That's about right," sighed Croix. "If you couldn't tell, hasn't been for a while."

"You said something about us helping you promote this place?"

"I sure did. I was hoping you outsiders would have some outsider ideas about getting me some sales. Can't say the usual tactics have been working, I mean, if they were I wouldn't be on this side of town."