Luigi realizes that he’s out of chocolate ice cream, and was planning on having some for dessert. He was looking forward to enjoying a frosty treat tonight– better go out and get some! He slips on a pair of flip flops and some sweatpants– just enough to walk down the street, to the corner store.
On the way out of his apartment Luigi sees Jeff– his next door neighbor. Luigi says hi, but Jeff seems kind of hungover. Oh well! They’ll talk another day.
On the street Luigi sees a very cute dog. Looks like a golden retriever, but he doesn’t know enough about dogs to really be sure. He also passes the local bakery, which just made a batch of fresh pastries. Smells great!
Luigi remembers hanging out with Donkey Kong last night, at his apartment. They had a couple brewskies together, and watched the first few episodes of Stranger Things 2 on Netflix. It was fun, but he thinks he’d rather spend tonight by himself.
Here he is, at the store. Luigi picks up some ice cream, from the back. For a minute, he ponders getting vanilla, instead of his usual– classic chocolate. Maybe it would be healthier…
He decides not to, today. He’s not quite ready for a change like that. But maybe one day. Next week, perhaps.
Luigi decides to pay with quarters, instead of bills– he has a lot of change hanging around in his overall pockets, and he doesn’t much like the way it jangles and jingles when he walks. The ice cream is 3 dollars and twenty-nine cents. He pays with 12 quarters, two dimes, a nickel, and four pennies. Exact change!
Luigi arrives back at his apartment building. He takes out his keys– only to realize, they don’t fit in the door! When he takes a closer look, he notices– these aren’t his keys at all! A red keychain hangs off of them. On it are two letters: DK. Oh no! He must have taken Donkey Kong’s keys last night– which means somewhere, Donkey Kong has his!
Luigi pulls out his phone, and opens up his contacts list. He clicks on “DK”– typing out a text.
“Mamma Mia! DK, I need my keys back!”
Dk’s “typing” icon emerges. After a minute, he responds:
“Hanging out with the kid this weekend… can I give them back Monday?”
“Of course not”, Luigi thinks! However, he phrases it a bit more nicely, as he writes out the text.
Luigi notices– it’s begun to rain. This is awful! He didn’t even bring his hat, let alone an umbrella. A text arrives, from DK:
“Alright, fine. I’ll be there in a couple hours.”
Luigi’s heart begins to sink– sitting in the rain for hours, soaking wet? Not to mention his melted ice cream…
Just then, he sees something, at the next building over– his neighbor, Jeff, opening his front door.
“Luigi! What are you doing out there? It’s pouring!”
Luigi nods, to him.
“I lost-a my keys, Jeff!”
Jeff shakes his head, a bit disapprovingly.
“Well, you better come in here– that ice cream is gonna melt!”
Luigi stands up– surprised, at Jeff’s hospitality. He walks down the sidewalk, quickly– to Jeff’s apartment. He hurries inside, thanking Jeff as he dries off.
Jeff takes the ice cream from Luigi, putting it in his freezer. Luigi sits down at his kitchen table– shivering, from the cold rain.
“Here, Luigi. Have some coffee. I just made it.”
Jeff pours Luigi a hot mug of coffee. Steam rises from it, as Luigi sips it– warming up, already. He smiles at Jeff.
“You’re a-too kind, Jeff.”
“Oh, don’t mention it. That’s just what neighbors do.”
Luigi pauses. He realizes– in all the years they’ve lived next door, he’s never really been hospitable towards Jeff– in fact, he’s never even gone as far as to invite him over for a beer. Is that rude of him? All these years, he thought Jeff was avoidant– but perhaps it was him, Luigi, who acted standoffish.
He opens his mouth– breaking the silence.
“Say, a-Jeff… you don’t like Stranger Things, do you?
Jeff turns– looking down, to Luigi. He smiles.
“I love it! I just started watching the new season.”
