I waited in the town hall as I combed my pink feathers and applied some scarlet lipstick to my beak. I wanted to look my best for tonight, because I'll finally get to see my old friend, Totakeke. I remember the night we first met clearly. It went a little like this:

'As always, I was working the night shift in Animal Town's town hall, and, as usual, I was bored as hell. At least, I was until someone walked in. He was a dog who had pure white fur, thick eyebrows, and eyes as black as the night sky outside the few windows in here. "Hello, sir. What may I do for you?" I asked, as I do with everyone. Only, I never looked anyone in the eye while saying that before.

"I'm just trying to find a way to stage some concerts here." He said cooly. I then noticed the acoustic guitar on his back.

"Okay, and how many bells are you willing to pay?" I know that the town usually doesn't let people perform here for free. I hoped he knew that.

He looked like he did, but he just sighed and shook his head. "It's always about the money, huh?" He asked. "Well, I would pay, but the problem is that I barely manage to get by. I don't really have a job other than this."

Now this bewildered me. "Wait, aren't you a musician?" He nodded. "But aren't musicians supposed to be rich? How much do your albums sell for?"

The dog then told me something I won't soon forget: "Those industry fat cats try to put a price on my music, but it wants to be free."

He said that as if it made up who he was and what he stood for. He was a free spirit. Both ways, too. "I'll see." I replied. He thanked me as I searched the town's free locations on a nearby computer. "There's an opening in a café under the museum called 'The Roost' every Saturday from ten o'clock P.M. to eleven. They won't advertise, and rarely anyone goes there, especially at that hour, but it's all we've got."

To my surprise, he smiled. "Perfect. I'm sure that anyone whose soul hungers for music will have their heart lead 'em there. I'm not much for performing in front of large audiences, anyways."

I was happy for him, although he was quite...strange. "Okay. All I need is your name."

"My name is one forgotten by many, so I go by a stage name: K.K. Slider. Will that work?"

Unfortunately for him, it wouldn't. "Sir, I need your real name."

Slider replied, "And I need yours."

I rolled my eyes and smiled tiredly. "It's Phyllis. Now give me your name."

"Totakeke, but please, just call me K.K., m'kay?"

I typed it in. "Totakeke. Got it."

"Cool. When can I perform?"

I checked the clock. 10:10 P.M. exactly. "Now, if you want, but you'd better hurry."

He gave me a toothy grin. "Awesome, thanks!" He said, before turning around and asking me: "Wanna come listen?"

"I want to, but my boss said-" He cut me off.

"Phyllie, look at the time! Do you really think anyone will find out? They're all sleepin'." K.K. had a point, so I agreed and followed him.

After listening once, I fell in love with his music. Every Saturday night after that, I came down to The Roost secretly so I could hear him play. I eventually became attracted to more than just his music...

Anyways, my boss found out, so he found ways to make sure I don't sneak out again, as well as punished me by cutting my already low salary down to half.'

A voice instantly took me back from my trip down Memory Lane. "Phyllis, why are you sighing like that?" I looked up to see another pelican with white feathers and pink lipstick on her beak.

"Uh... Sorry, Pelly."

"You should be! You're almost late!" my friend replied.

I thanked her and immediately rushed out the door to meet my appointment while Pelly covered for me. She and I go way back... Wait! Phyllis, no more flashbacks! The readers are probably already bored by now! Bad self! Bad!

Anyways, since the universe just LOVES messing with me, guess what? There's a blizzard blowing through town! Joy. I struggle to keep pulling through, but it gets worse, until eventually, I can't even see my own wing in front of me. The white dust howls instead of its usual whisper, and it stung as if bees from a hive that fell off of a tree that I shook caught up to me and attacked, only with stingers covered in ice instead of venom.

My clothes were not made for this kind of weather, so my purple blouse was instantly soaked. I shivered. I was going to die in this blizzard, and I knew it! That is, until a beautiful but familiar melody rang through my ears. The guitar soothed my soul, and the voice of the singer made my heart flutter. I knew that it was him. I followed the music, until finally, I could see the lights from the museum, with the silhouette of none other than K.K. Slider standing in the doorway with his guitar, singing a song I recognized as "Go K.K. Rider!", a favorite of mine. He stopped when he saw me, and looked at me with a shocked look on his face. "Whoa, Phyllie! My heart knew you were in that blizzard, but I didn't know that you were in it for that long! Get in here!"

"W-what the hell do you think I'll d-d-do?" I managed to say. My old friend chuckled a bit and led me inside.

After a lot of ignoring the owl running the place lecture me on how I shouldnt've been out there, and even more coffee thanks to the café's brewer, we finally sat down and talked.

"So, why did you call me over here?" I asked.

"I wrote a song for a girl I like as more than a friend, and I want you to see if she'll like it or not."

Before he said that, I had,the tiniest feeling that he felt the same way that I did about him... But I agreed, anyways. I take any opportunity to hear him play, after all.

He sat down on the stool on the stage, and played his guitar to a slow song. He whistled to the melody a bit, before singing.

"As I sit here on this stool, all I think of's you. You stole my heart, and I'm affected now. While I stay here in the roost, you can't come too. While you're away, it breaks my heart every day."

My cheeks turned red as he sang that. 'Just maybe he wrote it for...' I push the thought aside. Totakeke's my old friend. He just wants me to see if it's good enough for that girl he likes. Surely him being away and never being able to see that girl is just a coincidence... He likes me as a friend, and...nothing more... He continued to sing.

"In the town hall, I thought I saw it all until I glimpsed your gorgeousness. I asked what your name is. You tiredly smiled and replied, 'It's Phyllis.' Oh, Phyllis!"

I couldn't believe my ears. If I heard right, he said my name! MY name! I gasped and stared up at him. He blushed and smiled. "So, do you think she'll like it?"

I was in shock for a while, until I finally decided to jump up and give him the greatest kiss a bird could possibly give. He was shocked at first, but soon kissed back.

We shared that passionate moment together for a bit more, until we finally broke apart. The blizzard let up, so I went back to the town hall after another kiss.

Pelly asked me tons of questions, like why I was gone for so long or why my lipstick was smeared. I just said that I'd tell her later. She sighed, left, and I went back to work, smiling to myself.

...Maybe I could get her to fill in for me again next Saturday...