The Storytelling Game

The rat gave the platypus a high five and the cantaloupe laughed as he sat up and mumbled something about the caterpillar being a "butt-faced jerk," to the rat's admiration and shouts. He chuckled to himself once more before returning to his seat.

With a simple roll of his eyes, the giraffe instructed the caterpillar to exit once more, which it did, albeit grudgingly. The accordion settled into its seat with ease. The giraffe took the manila folder from him, opened it, and distributed sheets of paper to each person seated at the table. "Excuse me?" Bibby asked before starting to read from his own sheet.

Silently, they all gazed at her. The giraffe remarked, "Oh, right," after a moment of awkward silence in the booth. Would you please get us additional drinks? These are our cups. While the caterpillar was attempting to finish the coffee he had already had, he picked up their mugs from the table.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" The caterpillar grabbed the giraffe's cup and screamed at him.

The giraffe said, "Here you go," and handed Bibby the mugs. She held them in a precarious tower, one on top of the other.

"What am I supposed to do with these?" Stumbling beneath the changing weight, Bibby asked.

"Well, you're a waitress, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not. She said, "I just came across the room to join you. Would you mind taking these back? The longer I hold them, the heavier they get.

"Oh! I apologize; I assumed you were employed here. The giraffe took the mugs and put them back on the table, saying, "I'll take them." The caterpillar reached for his cup, but it was now empty, and attempted to sip from it. It departed for the coffee shop.

You are welcome to have a seat. The accordion called out to Bibby, "Everyone scoot over," and everyone shifted to give her space by the giraffe.

According to Bibby, "Oh, no, that's all right," "I am in good standing. You don't need to give me space.

When the giraffe said, "Come on, you can join our game,"

According to the cantaloupe, "Yeah, it should be... interesting," The platypus laughed and stopped itself by shoving its front paws into its mouth.

"Well, okay," answered Bibby. "If you really think it'll be all right." After pulling herself up onto the seat, she stood on the seat, raised herself onto the tabletop, and sat down after noticing she couldn't see over the table. A blank piece of paper was slid to her by the giraffe.

She said, "What are we playing?"

The rat remarked, "The best game in the world,"

He was ignored by the giraffe. "We're engaging in a narrative game. Are you familiar with how those operate?

"I apologize, but no. Absolutely not.

He was handling the paper and stated, "We basically just go around the table clockwise and take turns telling a story, and whoever tells the best story by the end wins."

"It's really fun," mentioned the cantaloupe. "We think of so many improbable things. It's fantastic.

A pause occurred. A rodent said, "So who's starting?"

The giraffe said, "I think—uh," but then stopped. I apologize, but I have no idea who you are. What's your name? He looked across at Bibby.

She realized it might not have been wise to disclose her name "Barbera" at all because people might now call her that regardless of what she said. "Oh, my name's Barbera, but people call me Bibby," she said.

She was mistaken. The rat remarked, "Ah, see, you're smart," "You know how to make people happy but still get your point across."

"Yeah, that is truly excellent. The accordion said, "You mentioned your name and what people call you." "So now we'll know how to get your attention."

"Okay, so, I think that Bibby should start, since she's new, so she can see how the game is played," the giraffe replied.

This suggestion prompted Bibby to ask, "How does it make any sense? How would I watch you play if I were at the beginning?

"I apologize. That's not what I said yet. In order to avoid being at a disadvantage because they didn't hear everyone else's stories until the very end, the giraffe stated that although they begin with the first person, they share their story last.

"But isn't the next person at a disadvantage if you do that?" Bibby inquired, perplexed. Whoever started was always at a tiny disadvantage, thus moving the beginning point further down the line wouldn't solve the issue.

"No. We considered that. The person next to the starting person goes second to last, then we shift it to the next person to go first."

"But that still doesn't help the problem," Bibby murmured, unable to understand how any of this made sense.

The platypus remarked, "That's precisely why the next person after them goes first." "But we've noticed that even then it's rather uneven, so the next person goes first instead, but then they're in a bad position, so the next person is really the one who goes first."

Confused, Bibby counted this out on her fingers. "Doesn't that start back at me, then?"

"Exactly," the giraffe replied. "So, naturally, since I'm sitting to the left of you, I'll be the one to start."

Bibby no longer even made an effort to comprehend any of their regulations. Leaning forward onto the table, the giraffe began to tell his narrative in a low voice. "All right, so one day I passed two small trees while strolling down a route in a forest. Normally, I probably wouldn't have noticed them, but because I was feeling creative, I thought of them as the enormous door's frame. Naturally, when I paused to examine them, I could see that they weren't a doorframe and that a door wasn't hanging there. I was rather let down because I had envisioned a huge door made of the finest wood, with elaborate patterns all over it. If it had been real, it would have been a pretty cool door, but—" (The giraffe missed the specifics because the rat called for him to hurry up.)

"Anyway, I stopped in front of these trees, since I thought they were a doorframe, and guess what happened!" (The rat told him to hurry up again after no one guessed and he kept waiting.)

"Monkeys leaped from the skies at me! Or from the trees—I was too shocked to be truly listening, so I couldn't tell. I simply sprinted out of the way and raced as quickly as I could from there. Then there were more monkeys as I rounded a bend in the route! They continued to pursue me even after I did the only thing I could—run into the heavier forest! However, I was fortunate enough to tread on a mushroom, which sent spores into the air everywhere, hiding my escape behind a smokescreen. For whatever reason, I occasionally believe that they are still after me, even though I just narrowly escaped. Therefore, be on the lookout for monkeys that seem strange.

After completing his tale, the giraffe returned to his chair and awaited a reply. The other regulars at the table gave him a few kind nods, but Bibby was staring at him as though he had gone crazy. (This was a humorous idea, she realized later, because he was a giraffe and shouldn't have been able to tell a narrative at all.)

The platypus sat up slightly so they could all hear him as he nodded to it and began telling its story in a high, nasal voice. "Okay, so one day, I was going Christmas shopping, because it was getting close to Christmas, and I hadn't done my Christmas shopping yet." With a laugh at its deliberate repetition, it went on.

"I was planning to get some things for my mom this time around—" (The others shushed the rat when he said that it was rude to not give your mother a Christmas present.) The platypus went on with his tale. In any case, I'm trying to purchase a gift for my mother, but I'm having trouble finding something that will work for her. So I searched some more and finally found her a really large book. This book was also quite popular. He laughed. "And I mean huge."

In an attempt to demonstrate its size, it sat up and extended its arms widely, but it was unable to do so. Unfazed, it took a seat again to carry on.

"I purchased this book and brought it home. When I got it home, its pages moved like a mouth as it opened and began speaking to me. When I discovered that it would provide an entirely accurate response to whatever question I posed, even if I was unsure of the answer, I began responding to it and we began a dialogue of sorts. I verified its claims, and they were all corroborated by other books that had also begun to speak to me!

"After a while, I realized that the book would only provide answers to my concerns about life, the world, happiness, and similar topics, but it was accurate in every case, and I quickly discovered that the book was always correct, even if I didn't agree with what it stated at times. It turned into my favorite friend. I eventually gave them a smaller print of the same book, which they could keep as little friends, because the ninjas down the street were constantly attempting to steal it from me. I gave them a waterproof print and sent them off when some fish stopped by one day to chat to it because I didn't want them to get it wet.

"It was like a typical book until one day it froze into a single, set draft. As I read it, I discovered that it contained chapters on topics I had never inquired about before! Every time I read it, it speaks to me even if it no longer speaks to me directly.

The others seemed to enjoy this narrative more than the giraffe's, although Bibby found it less unbelievable. The caterpillar then reappeared holding a full mug of coffee.

It shouted to no one in particular, "Hey, what's she doing in my seat?" However, the coffee shop suddenly lurched violently, and Bibby thought it was rising. The caterpillar spilled its meticulously filled mug onto the floor. He turned around and left the table peacefully once more, muttering something under his breath.

When the giraffe told the rat, "It's your turn, then,"

"Yes! "It's my turn!" exclaimed the rat with delight. "Okay, which one should I tell…" He paused to think about this while petting the fur beneath his chin.

"Get on with it," the platypus commanded.

The rat answered, "Okay, fine," then extended his arms and began to tell his tale.

"So one day, I was walking down the beach, and I saw this lady who—"

With a collective "NEXT," the other tablegoers turned to face the floating cantaloupe.

The rat cried, "I didn't get to finish!"

The accordion remarked, "That's because we all know that you were going to tell something bad, rat,"

"Fine."

Given ample opportunity to come up with a story, the cantaloupe began by announcing, "This"—paused for effect—"is a true story." "These are all assumed to be true stories," the rat muttered.

The cantaloupe gave the rat the most terrifying look a faceless melon can have, then relaxed, turned back to the other cantaloupes at the table, and started telling its story.

"One day, I met a guy from Japan who went by the name of Jorje."

After finishing its story, it switched to the accordion.