The Drunk Giraffe
William Archnell owned a medium standard restaurant. He knew the layout of his restaurant by heart. There was the bar by the left wall and the bathrooms behind it. There were the four booths and the ten tables. He could get around blind. He knew his customers too. There were the elderly ladies who came with their sons and husbands. There was the newlywed couple who dropped by now and then. There was the rotation of a few normal families. There was the stylish girl and the goth teenager. There were a handful of construction workers now and then but that was it.
The restaurant would have a crazy Monday every other week because William was of the impression that Mondays were a force that needed to be fought with any means possible. On crazy Monday the third meal was free (per person) and the sixth drink was too. Now, you're probably wondering who would eat that much but there are quite a few people who'd stuff themselves just to get free stuff. Crazy Mondays also featured dancing. After ten the tables were pushed to the sides and music played. William Archell was an odd person, but everyone who'd gone to his restaurant had to admit that it was fun. It certainly boosted customers (not regulars unfortunately)
This Monday William watched as his devoted waiters pushed the tables aside for the dance that was soon to start. His bartender played the music and people started dancing. It was a rather lackluster dance though and the people seemed too embarrassed to truly enjoy themselves.
After half an hour of unenthusiastic dancing, William was considering shutting down Crazy Monday early. He was halfway to the bar to turn off the music when a man burst through the door.
"Am I late?" He yelled between huge breaths. He was oddly dressed with a bight blue bowtie and red suspenders. His hair flopped over his head and his bowtie was annoyingly crooked. The dancing stopped as people turned to look at the cause of the noise. The man seemed oblivious to the fact that he seemed crazy and poorly mannered besides. Noticing people staring he started talking again.
"Oh! Sorry to interrupt, Amy just made me leave so I decided to go dancing but the man who ran the dancing place with the lovely girls said to go somewhere else. The delightful lady with the cat said she ate here and there was dancing?" The man should've probably kept his mouth shut. William was sure he was barmy.
"You…you aren't late if you want the Monday dancing." William stuttered.
"Ahhh! Monday dancing!" Exclaimed the man. "That sounds amazing!"
William Archell gestured weakly to the floor of his restaurant where a handful of people were staring at the odd man.
"Fantastic!" Cried the man and crossed over to the center of the floor. He began dancing in an absurd manner. His arms flailed about and his legs jerked in complete disorder.
William Archell looked on in stunned disbelief. Surely the man realized how ridiculous he looked?
"Music!" Yelled the odd man. "This music is awful!"
The music was hand picked by William. He had tuned into a radio station he assumed was "Hip" because it played songs with words like club and discotheque. In reality, the station was a horrible mimicry of the popular pop stations and only played songs by undiscovered artists.
The insult to his music insulted William and he protested loudly.
"This music is the height of good music."
William looked at his customers, all of whom were trying very hard to look as if they liked the horrible music. None of them were particularly convincing.
Before William could say anything else the odd man pulled an even odder device out of his pocket and pointed it at the stereo.
The object made a high-pitched buzzing sound and William's music faded away.
"Much better" declared the man.
"You can't just turn off my music!" objected poor William.
"Now, for some better music." Said the odd man, completely ignoring William.
The man pulled a large, square device out of his pocket. William stared at the device in astonishment, as it was much bigger then a normal pocket.
From the square device, a beautiful melody burst into the awkward silence. The longing song quickly turned upbeat. Deep beats restated through the floor.
The odd man pointed his device at the lights and beautiful patterns of lights swirled over the floor and walls.
Everyone, William included, stood in astonishment. The odd man threw his hands over his head and began dancing in a horrible, gawky manner.
Despite the awful dancing making the center of the floor a hazard, people joined in. The door was open and pedestrians flooded in after time. The bar quickly turned into a buffet and the money made that night rivaled the amount made William had made in a month.
Bodies twirled and jumped and danced, leaving the odd man a large berth in the middle as his long arms and legs were jerked out precariously close to anyone who came near.
In fact his dancing was so bizarre that it was nicknamed the drunken giraffe.
"That explains Drunken Giraffe Night!" Exclaimed the little boy sitting in his bed, listening to his Grandpa's tale.
"Indeed it does." Laughed the old man.
The little boy squirmed around before one again placing his hands beneath his head and listening intently. William chuckled before continuing with the story.
William was overjoyed with how many people flooded into his little restaurant. He too joined in dancing. I believe his equally awful dancing was named the Headless Chicken.
Before William realized it, it was one in the morning. The mysterious man had gone but the lights still projected beautiful patterns and the otherworldly music still played.
The next week when William turned on the lights, the beautiful patterns, which had turned off when the last person left, were back.
The music player with the single silver button, which had also stopped working, turned on all by itself.
The people who hadn't come back for the rest of the week slowly made their ways inside.
William felt he owed a debt to the mysterious man so he named Crazy Monday after him, more or less. Because he didn't know the man's name, with prompting from his grandson, he named the day Drunk Giraffe Day.
The little boy laughed.
"I'm creative, right?" He poked his grandpa who smiled at him.
"You sure are." William assured the little boy.
"Why did the Giraffe man come?"
"I don't know." Said William Archel honestly, because he really didn't know. The "Giraffe Man" was a miracle and a mystery.
"Good night?" asked William, unsure if his unruly grandson would want to go to bed.
"Night." Replied the little boy burrowing into his covers.
William kissed him in his freckled forehead and walked out of the colorful bedroom. William wondered again who the man could possibly be before making himself a cup of tea and settling down for bed himself.
Far, far away, floating in deep space, a particular Time Lord smiled as he thought about his night of dancing. With a start he realized he'd forgotten his music player which he'd acquired from the sound market of Kildis Eon. The Time Lord decided not to go after his stereo, the gift of dancing and happy memories made of for it anyway. The Time Lord prepared himself a cup of tea and settled down for a night of reading, wondering briefly who's restaurant he'd changed forever.