Project DROOP (Preview)

This is a short story of Himmel, Polly, and their friend. Please enjoy!

Himmel made a huge sigh. He was bored of reading his book, but that was the only entertainment that he liked. There was a tv in front of him, but he doesn't want to hear about "Germany's views on Donald Trump", or "Man vs Horse". There was nothing ever good on tv. Well, not for him, however.

Pjoy ran with her little stubby feet to the couch and sat on it. "Turn the channel to 37, quick!" she said with her deep man-like voice. "I'm not going to watch the weird sexting videos on tv. You cannot trick me again." "Nein! This is serious!" Himmel sighed again and did what Pjoy wanted. The News was on. Polly, Himmel's girlfriend, was on the news from a helicopter view of her running from some rich guy's house wearing a wedding dress. Himmel was quite shocked about this. "What is she doing?!" "She appears to be cheating on you, man." "But... That's sort of impossible. If us Droops have a companion, then they are most likely going to be there for the rest of time. Droops do not usually "cheat" on one another. There must be explanation on why she did this." Pjoy grabbed the remote and turned the tv off. "Uhm, How about we go and get something to eat? Take our minds off things." "I guess we could go grocery shopping." "That's the spirit!" Pjoy ran for the door. "Slow down, please." Himmel walked to the door but stopped to put his shoes on. "Why do you even wear shoes? You're an immortal being." Himmel looked up real quick and said; "I want to act as human as possible so that I can fit into this world." He stood up once he finished his sentence. Then he and Pjoy walked out of the apartment, Himmel locking the door. "But why, though? You have an ability to form into whatever you'd wish! Why would you want to be human?" Himmel put the keys back into his pocket, and looked down at Pjoy. "Because I don't want to hide anymore. It does me no good." "But humans are so cruel to us! If they find any one of us, we'll be... Uhm.. Whatever they want to do with us!" Himmel and Pjoy proceeded to walk down a short corridor, and walked down some stairs. "What my job is, is that I help Droops come out of their shell and into the open world. I am a teacher. I want to gather an army of us to stand up to the world so that we can become legal citizens and live properly instead of hiding like scared animals." They were both out on the sidewalk, and they continued to walk to their car. "That's great and all, but us droops are all wimps. Are you even getting paid to do this?" "Yes! I am getting paid twice as much as my old job in Oslo, and I worked a shit more hours than I did now." They both got into the car. "Besides, why are you concerned? I'm not your relative or anything. Also, you look like you could be my next patient, and you totally don't have to pay me." "Shut it! I'm never falling for that." "Hey, it's your loss, buddy."

As they were driving to the grocery store, there was a long, awkward silence. Himmel started singing to a tune that he liked. Pjoy told him to shut up. Himmel sighed and looked at Pjoy for a light second, and then he had to make a U-turn. "How... Much do you get paid?" Pjoy whispered this. "What? Speak up, please." "I asked, How much do you get paid?" "About €1691 per patient, Why do you need to know this?" Pjoy sighed. "Well, I sort of need a job." "Hm. I don't know what to do about that." "Can you hire me?" "Huh? As what?" Himmel took a left turn into the grocery store lot. "If you're going to say "a servant" or "butler", then no, I will not hire you as that. Give it some more thought. You only just recently found out that I am a teacher." Pjoy grunted. "I guess that's a good idea." "Excellent. What would you like to cook tonight?" "Me? Cook?" Himmel was driving to find a parking spot. "Alright, if you can't cook then you can help me cook. You have to at least do that." "Sure. I guess I can do that." Himmel Finally found a parking space. "Let's go." Himmel said, as he got out the car. He walked over to the other side to help Pjoy out of the car. Because y'know, Pjoy is the size of a four year old. "Sure."

Later that evening, Himmel was cooking Saumagen, and, of course, Pjoy was helping. "Hey Pjoy?" "Yes? Do you need something?" "2 cloves of garlic, and also I would like to ask you something." Pjoy handed him the cloves of Garlic. Himmel began to squeeze the garlic into the mixture and asked; "If you ever need to act like a human, or, y'know, shapeshifte into a human adult, you sort of need a Human name. Or a nickname. "Pjoy" is not a name." Himmel put in a little salt and pepper to get the flavors right. "Alright, how about Pj?" "Okay, I now need the marjoram. Also that's sort of considered as a nickname." "Okay, how about... Paul Jerry? A.k.a Pj." Pjoy handed Himmel the herb. Himmel mixes the herb into the rolls and with the eggs, and then he ends it off with cuffing everything into the pork stomach, and then he closes the third aperture. He places it all in hot water. "The last name is a bit off, but, uh, I think you're good." "Great. Now what?" "We wait for two hours." Himmel turned the temperature a bit down. "We have to be careful to not let the water boil." "What happens if you do?" Himmel went over to the sink to wash his hands. "Oh, it'll probably just taste weird." Himmel dried off his hands. "Again, why the human things?" Pjoy had her legs tall so she can work her way around the kitchen, but now she had shortened them back to her normal height. "What human things did I supposedly do this time, Pj?" Himmel called her that for the first time so she can get used to being somewhat a human. "You washed your hands! You told me us Droops have cleanliness in our skin cells, or whatever cells you said." "Oh, I haven't noticed. I guess i've gotten used to doing that." Himmel and Pjoy heard the front door opened. Nobody from there said anything, however. Himmel walked out of the kitchen, but peeked next to the wall that was in between the small kitchen and the front door hallway. "Polly? Is that you?" Himmel was slightly worried. "Oh, yeah. It's me. What's cookin'?" Himmel stood beside her now, telling her what's up. "We had just made Saumagen for dinner!" "Saumagen?" "Oh, well it's a dish that consists of.... A lot of Pork. Including the stomach." "Sounds gross." Polly pushed Himmel aside a little and walked through. She was wearing her wedding dress. She didn't even bother to take it off, or change clothes. She just sat at the couch, looking extremely tired. Himmel, being the gentleman he is, decided to go over there to offer her a drink. "Sure, I could definitely use some water." Pjoy ran over to the couch with a glass of water. She gave it to her, and said to Himmel; "We have a situation in the kitchen." Pjoy practically dragged Himmel to the kitchen. Well, not really, since she is much smaller than him. Himmel looked around, and then down at Pjoy, and said; "What is the situation?" "The situation is, is that I have a question." "What is it?" "Could you tell me about the human anatomy?" "I can only tell you about males. Why?" "Just curious." "Well, Next week, I will be having a class involving a very shy student and also Polly. Polly would explain the female anatomy part." "Great. When is it?" "Whatever time we can all get together. Also be gentle and don't yell, and try to tone down your voice. This guy is a little embarrassed about doing this class. Take it easy, okay?" "What does he have to be embarrassed about?" "Well, he has a knack for... Um. Long story short, he's gay. But he also wants to know the other anatomy as well. His job involves a lot of disguises." "I see." "Yes. So please, have a positive attitude and encourage him to not be embarrassed." "Yeah, yeah, I got it." "Okay, good. I'm going to read." "Okay, tv for me then." They both went to the living room with Polly and hung out until Dinner was ready.

Once they were at the table, Polly was a little nervous about eating this. "So... Stomach, huh?" Pjoy was already scarfing down her dish. "Do not be afraid to try it, my dear. It's all good." "Well, where I come from, we don't usually eat the insides of animals. Unless it's lalready processed into burgers or something." Pjoy swallowed some of her food. "Say, where are you from, anyway?" Pjoy said, then took a drink of lemonade. "America." After himmel finished swallowing his portion, he asked; "Oh? What is it like?" "Yeah. What's the deal with your orange potato bitch president?" Pjoy gets sort of a reminder about America and the President. She's very political. "Um, well. I haven't been there in a while. And honestly, compared to the rest of the world, except for Washington D.C or NYC, it's pretty boring to me. Also I was not there in time for the election, sorry." "Oh." Himmel was surprised at the results. "Good for you." Pjoy said this in a non-sarcastic way. "Try your food, dear." "Okay..." She took a bite. This was not as bad as she expected. "Oh, I like it." "Thank you. Can I ask something?" "Sure." "Is the country America all just one part or, are there like... Little parts in it?" "Well, yeah. They're called States. I'm from California." She kept eating her food. "Cool." Himmel was done with his food, and so was Pjoy.

Later that night, they were all asleep. It was a peaceful night. Himmel woke up when he heard russling. "Polly?" He said, with an extremely dry mouth. "Oh, I thought you'd be asleep." Himmel sat up and rubbed his temples. "What are you doing?" "Packing." "What?! Where are you going?" "Back to America, with you." "With me? What?" "Yeah. I got you tickets." "But... Have you even considered talking about this with Pjoy?" "No. Based on his views lately, I'd say that he doesn't want to go." "Polly, you can't just do that!" Pjoy came into the room angry. "What the fuck is it now?! Can't I get some sleep?" Himmel, as he was speaking, was using hand gestures as a way to apologize while he was saying stuff. "Pjoy, listen. I had no idea about her plan, but apparently we're going to America. Uhh, you wanna come with?" "Fuck no." Polly paused her packing to look at Himmel. She said; "Told you so." Himmel groaned. "Okay, fine. Pjoy, let me get something for you." Himmel got up to rummage around in his pants for his wallet. Once he found it, he gave Pjoy enough money to pay for the rent for two months. "You'll need this. Also get a job, please." As Himmel was getting dressed, Pjoy said her thanks and left.

Himmel was falling asleep. He didn't want to, but he couldn't help it. He was used to his human schedule. "Hey, stop that. We're almost there." "I can't help it..." Polly sighed. "I'm sorry, I forgot." "It's okay." As the quiet was turned on and kept staying like that, Himmel slowly fell asleep.

Polly woke him up once they parked the car. "Hey, stinker. Get out." Himmel yawned and then groaned. "Oh, come on." Polly helped Himmel get out. "Get everything out of the trunk." He had no comment to that. He did as he was told and walked to the elevator with Polly. Later, they went through airport security. Then they waited in line. And then they went to the waiting lounge. Himmel set the stuff down and instantly sat in a chair. "There's no point in falling asleep. We only have to wait here twenty minutes." Himmel didn't listen to her. He went asleep anyways. "Alright, fine."

As he was sleeping, he dreamt he was back in Norway and that this was all just a dream, that it was all fake. He realize that all of his friends, even his girlfriend, weren't even real. "Polly was fake? Oh. I didn't even know her real name. I'm just going to imagine that her name was Caulie." He now dreamt himself being shaken. It was actually Polly who was shaking him.

"Ah!" "Hey, we have internet service up here. So, if you want to call Roy and tell him that the teaching lesson is off then you can do it now. You'd have to do it quick, though." He noticed that he was on the plane. "Alright." He grabbed his phone out of his pocket to call Roy. The phone was ringing. "Hallo?" "Hey, Ich bin es, Himmel." Roy seemed surprised. "Warum rufst du mich so spät?" "Ich wollte dir nur sagen, dass dein Nachhilfe zu einem anderen Datum verschoben werden muss. Ich bin auf einem Flug nach Amerika." "Oh. Nun, das its in Ordnung. Danke, dass du es mir gesagt hast. Gute Reise." "Danke. Gute Nacht." "Gute Nacht." They both hung up. Himmel looked at polly, who was on her phone playing Uno. "Hey, Polly?" She turns her head to him. "Yes?" "What's your real name? If that's not too personal." "It was Pauline. I changed it." "Oh, okay." He turned his head to the seat in front of him. "I imagined in my dream that you name was "Caulie" or something." "Oh, that's pretty close, actually." Himmel sighed, his eyes were closing. "Goodnight, Polly." "Goodnight, stinker." And after that he fell asleep. He wonders how his time will be once he gets to America.