This is a short story I wrote in an online writing event: Stories Unraveled 2.0
Writing Prompt:
In a quaint town nestled between rolling hills, there exists a cafe where creativity flows as freely as the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. One rainy afternoon, a stranger walks in, carrying a tattered notebook and a pencil worn from use. Little do they know, this cafe holds the key to unlocking their dormant creativity. Write about the unexpected encounters, friendships formed, and the artistic wonders that emerge in this cozy haven of warmth and cheer.
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Manga Mochas
Manga Mochas. It was the intriguing name of the most popular Cafe in the country. The Cafe was more popular than the teeny town it was situated in, Goku. Not to mention, Goku the tiny town was a beauty in itself. Sandwiched between two lovely hills, it was pleasant weather all throughout the year. Hardly a hundred and fifty folks lived in the town herding cattles and farming vegetables. But one thing was odd though. Everyone in the town was illiterate except for one guy, Kal.
Kal was the owner of Manga Mochas Cafe. The cafe was popular for its eccentricity. Walls, tables and chairs painted with the most famous mangas; One piece, Berzerk, Dragon Ball, and many more. The servers dressed in their resplendent manga character costumes. As soon as you enter into the cafe, one would feel they got sucked into an anime world or manga book. With just three weeks since it’s installment, the cafe was the talk of the town. And six months down the line, the literacy rate in the town shot up drastically. Everyone wanted to read a manga and understand what’s going on in an anime show! Thus began, Kal’s indefatigable journey and his incredible mission of educating the town. To make everyone literate.
Kal was born in the town of Goku. Unfortunately, Kal lost his parents in a mountain landslide, at the age of five. So, his apathetic relatives sent him to live in the cities, far away. He grew up with foster parents and was well educated. He went to pursue his dreams of creating worlds through sketching. In the town of Goku, there were a plethora of caves in the hills alongside. And there were historic cave paintings inside all of them. Every cave had many stories to offer through these cave paintings from the ancestors. It was a ritual for the townsfolk, to bring their infants to visit the caves every year until the age of seven. And so, Kal had seen these cave paintings every year until he was sent away from the town. He had perceived the different worlds the caves revealed through those rudimentary sketches. And evidently, he followed his childhood curiosity and became a sketch artist. He never forgot the roots of his passion and that was because his foster parents always told him where he came from. The odd little town Goku where no one was educated.
Thus, started his new dream of educating the whole town when he learned more about this birth place. He wanted an unique approach to expose education to all his townsfolk. He didn’t want to allow corporations to come and take over his town; building fancy schools, colleges, libraries, etc. luring the younger generation to a grade-based system. Instead he wanted an attractive way to educate all the residents of his town, people of all ages, from the kids to the elders. And he found the golden key in his passion.
He re-drew the cave paintings and published them as mangas in the town. These mangas were an instant hit with the people of town for two reasons. One, everyone was familiar with the cave paintings. And then the second reason, these magna never had any dialogues. They were Silent Mangas. No one had any difficulty reading them. They were just pages of sketches, a paperback version of cave paintings. Thus having made the people familiarized with manga books, Kal now established the Manga Mochas Cafe, which had the most famous mangas of the world, with dialogues.
To be continued…
Note: This is a raw copy of what I wrote in the online writing event.
MaddiE's Note:
If you find any mistakes or need for improvements please comment or reach out to me.