#chillpill

Ah yes, Autumn time. The time when the leaves turn into a golden crispy brown and falls to the ground. You step on it and it leaves a crunchy sound. That poor leaf, the circle of life is so cruel sometimes. It's poetic, in a way. Not just that, the air gets cooler and with a gentle breeze can give life to the leaves once again. Flowing in the wind. Again, it's poetic.

You know who else likes poetry? Ms. Lovelett. The school teacher in Duckington Kindergarten. She's been teaching here for quite a while now. She's mostly educated in English arts, loving to read Shakespeare and any fairy tales she can get her hands on. Not to mention during her teen years she read some Edgar Allan Poe, but that's a little bit of an embarrassing subject.

Today she wasn't teaching, she had Ms. Applegate substituting for her, which doesn't seem like her style. Why was she doing this? Well, her co-worker, Mr. Tapster, needed some help decorating the library. How could she say no to that sweaty, pink face? A face so pink that she could've mistaken him for blushing. Or maybe he was, either way, her face was also flushing.

Mr. Tapster is a fairly new school librarian, transferring between schools due to the previous principals having... A little accident, to put it lightly. But he already liked his job, despite having a little bit of anxiety. Handling kids was way more easier than dealing with adults at Barnes & Noble. He remembers when he accidentally got into a fight with one of the customers at his previous job there... Physically.

What Mr. Tapster loved most about his new job is that he got to decorate his work space! The library was basically his second home, he always loved to read. Ever since he was in kindergarten, he remembers when his father gave him his comic book collection and that's when sparks flew. He's been obsessed ever since. So, being a school librarian just made sense.

What didn't make sense was this ladder he had. It was extremely crooked and on its last leg of life. Mr. Tapster was pretty short, standing mighty at a whopping five feet and three inches. A short king, isn't he? But that's exactly why he needed to use his friend, the ladder.

Ms. Lovelett was standing beside him, holding up the fall decorations for him to grab onto. Ah yes, she stood there politely. Rather tall at a lovely six feet and three inches. A whole foot compared to Mr. Tapster, and that's why he also needed her here. No other reason at all. Just two co-workers helping each other out, all alone. In the school library. One away from teaching duties and the other just... Looking at her.

She had bright, shiny pale skin. Freckles were spread across her face. She wore a long, sky blue dress that was patched with tangerine orange cloth on her sleeves and skirt. On her face rested ovular red glasses, quite huge. And that shade of red was Mr. Tapster's favorite. But that wasn't anything compared to the shade of pink her face was turning, her lips moved as if she was saying something.

"Mr. Tapster... Mr. Tapster..."

That's when Mr. Tapster realized he was staring at her for a bit too long, he jumped, causing the ladder to shake!

"WHOAH WHOAH WHOAH!" Mr. Tapster shouted, completely losing balance.

"MR. TAPSTER YOU'RE ABOUT TO FALL AND PASS, I'LL BE THERE IN A FLASH!" Ms. Lovelett shouted, completely dropping the decorations on the floor.

Her long tawny brown hair flew right behind her as she dashed right underneath Mr. Tapster and... By a miracle, caught him.

Ms. Lovelett had caught Mr. Tapster, he was saved. But Ms. Lovelett's arms could give out by any second, just like the dying leaves outside.

"That would've been dastardly! You can't just be on that flimsy ladder haphazardly!" Ms. Lovelett said to Mr. Tapster, struggling to keep her strength up.

"Heh, I guess you're right, Ms. L! Thanks for the catch though!" Mr. Tapster thanked Ms. Lovelett.

It was then in this moment the two realized what was going on. Ms. Lovelett was holding Mr. Tapster for quite a while. Then, the faces on these two glew with a rosey pink. Thank goodness no one was here to see them. They'd just die of embarrassment.

Just then, the library doors swung open.

"Ms. Lovelett I just CAN'T continue teaching your class, Cindy just pulled out the axe from the--" Ms. Applegate came barging in, ranting only to then see whatever Mr. Tapster and Ms. Lovelett were doing.

"UH- HEY AMELIA, HAHA WOW YA CAME AT A UH... TIME?" Mr. Tapster awkwardly laughed.

Ms. Applegate stood there, silently. Fuming with rage on the inside like a tea kettle.

"Oh Ms. Applegate what a surprise, i was just about to leave! This whole decorating thing is making me heave!" Ms. Lovelett then dropped Mr. Tapster on the ground and sprinted out the library, walking right by Ms. Applegate who gave her a death glare as she exited.

"Thomas, you're a loser." Ms. Applegate then promptly left the library.

Wow, that was a lot, so much for getting decorating done. Mr. Tapster had to continue decorating all by himself now, this didn't go as planned.

His original idea was to decorate the library and ask Ms. Lovelett out, as a reward for decorating together. Maybe they could've decorated a wedding cake in the future? But now, he won't ever know.

Maybe next time. He needs a wingman, maybe one of the kids would help him.

He then looked at his busted up ladder.

Man, he really needs a new ladder. That one's broken and could've cracked his skull open if Ms. Lovelett wasn't there.

Man. This sucks.

Man...

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