Machinations with a Mantis
Hugh hunched further into his leather jacket as he walked down the bustling street, moving between the foot traffic with the ease of someone who's lived in a busy city for many years. The young man shoved his hand into the right pocket of his dark denim jeans and brought out his mobile, not for the first time, and glanced at the message with a sigh.
It had been many years since his high school friend had been in touch. The last he'd heard, Prai had been spotted in a hostel in India by another one of his friends. Apparently he travelled throughout the country in an attempt to 'find himself' but Hugh wasn't too sure what may have been found along the way.
While Hugh had been living in Sydney for many years, there were still parts of the inner city that were still unknown to him and even towards the end of school Prai had a knack for finding hidden alleys and quirky stores that didn't seem to even be marked on Google maps.
After thoroughly reading through the directions in the text once more, Hugh's hazel eyes looked up and spotted the first street he had to take. After taking two wrong turns and winding up in a dingy dead-end street, he spotted the bright blue sign above the café he'd been searching for.
Stepping through the doorway, Hugh's suspicions were confirmed. Another hipster café. Reasonably crowded, the smell of Ethiopian sourced coffee beans wafted among the wooden mismatched stools and potted fern plants. The music playing in the background sounded like someone was sitting in the café playing a guitar but after glancing around Hugh put it down to a very good surround sound system. He moved towards the back of the room away from the natural light streaming through the windows where the wall had an interesting mosaic made of old pressed tin cans arranged in the shape of an abstract tree.
That's when he spotted Prai. His friend looked like he'd changed up his look a fair bit since high school. He was wearing wooden-rimmed glassed, mustard jeans, a baggy knitted beanie and he'd set his laptop up on the table and tapped into the free wifi. It was easy to spot Prai Mantodea in a crowd, as he was also a gigantic green praying mantis.
"Hey man, it's been ages!" Hugh smiled and gave his friend a hug.
"I know it's just been so hectic for me," Prai sighed, rolling his big shining eyes.
The pair sat down at the table, with Prai closing his laptop and picking up a suspicious-looking purple glass in one of his bright green limbs.
"Uh, what's in that?" Hugh asked, pointing at the glass.
"Oh they also have the best cold-pressed juices here you won't be able to find any better in Sydney. This one's a mix of quinoa, blueberries and banana. It's so good for you, it's a super food you know. You going to grab a coffee or a juice or something, man?" Prai sipped his drink.
Hugh saw a space at the counter and decided to order his coffee before another line formed. After speaking with one of the most desultory attendants he'd ever met, Hugh settled back into his seat and ran a hand through his sandy blond hair.
He nodded at Prai and gave a grin.
"So what's been going on with you? Last I heard you were in India! Think the last time I saw you was... four years ago was it?" Hugh said.
Prai leant forward, shifting his thorax on the stool. "Oh my god, it was the best experience, man, you totally need to go. After we finished up with school I just felt so empty, like I was totally missing something. So I decided to go on a journey and find who I really am. The food, the culture... I just wish I could go back right now," he clicked.
Twenty minutes later, Prai was still prattling about the many countries he'd travelled through in the attempt to find that 'missing something' and Hugh realised that his friend hadn't changed one whit. If you arranged to travel somewhere, Prai had been there first and would tell you all about it. If you discovered a new favourite food, too bad because it had been Prai's favourite before it had hit the shelves.
Hugh smiled. "Well man, that's so good to hear. What're your plans now?"
The green bug shrugged and sipped on his cold pressed juice. The sudden scent of incense partly blocked Hugh's nose and he sneezed into his hand. He cast a glance around and noticed more people had streamed in and were waiting to pick up coffees.
"After all of my experience I just feel like I need to give something back, you know? Our city is just so flawed. I'm just starting up this blog where my opinions will really make an impact on the community," he said.
Oh God that sounds horrible, Hugh thought.
"Uh okay cool, good luck with – "
A voice called out from the other side of the room, cutting Hugh off and as he saw who the voice belonged to his heart sunk.
Sophie walked across the room with two girlfriends in tow, with her long bubblegum pink dyed hair swaying. Hugh inwardly groaned but plastered a smile on his face and waved back. If there was anyone he didn't want to expose to Prai, it would be Sophie. He'd been hanging out with the punk chick since she started working with him at JB HIFI and was one of the cutest girls he'd ever had a crush on.
When Sophie finally reached their table she gave Hugh a hug and smiled at Prai.
"Hey Hugh, I didn't really expect to find you in a place like this. Who's your friend?"
Before he could reply, Prai cut in over the top.
"My name's Prai, sup?" he casually adjusted his glasses.
Sophie politely introduced her two girlfriends then turned back to Hugh, her petite face filled with excitement.
"It's so good to see you. I just got back from my trip to Byron Bay! So I guess it's back to work for me tomorrow, urgh how will I survive," she laughed.
Hugh grinned and opened his mouth to ask how her trip was but unfortunately was too slow.
"Huh, Byron Bay? Yeah that place has just turned into such a crappy tourist spot," Prai sniffed.
Sophie glanced at him and raised an eyebrow, glancing from Hugh to Prai.
"Uh, well yeah it is pretty popular now... but still it's so beautiful there, with the beaches and fresh foo-"
"If you're into that really safe and mind numbing type of spot then yeah," Prai stated.
Hugh resisted the urge to throttle his friend who was quickly alienating his crush and her two girlfriends, who had started to whisper to one another and cast incredulous looks at both Hugh and the big green bug.
Sophie tucked a stray strand of hair behind her pierced ear and gave Hugh another hug. As she was pulling away she gave him a knowing smile.
"It was so good to see you and I can't wait to hang out with you this week. I'll stop bothering you guys with my stories and leave you to it."
Hugh smiled back apologetically and said his goodbyes to Sophie and her friends. The trio picked up their soy lattes from the take away counter and left the café. The young man rubbed a hand across his forehead and sighed. Great, now her friends probably thought he was a know-it-all jerk by association.
"She was pretty, but she doesn't have much going on between her ears. And who has bubblegum pink hair these days, that's so done already," Prai scoffed, finishing off the last of his cold pressed juice.
"Anyway," the praying mantis concluded, "I need to get going to catch the bus home. My housemate wanted me to taste test his first attempt at macarons. We should totally catch up more now that I'm back in town," he gave Hugh a pat on the back.
Hugh said he would and said farewell and sat with his now cold coffee in the quirky café, a small frown creasing the spot between his eyebrows, thinking.
No-one would ever know better than Prai, as it had always been since high school. It occurred to Hugh that he may leave it another four years before their next catch up. Just to be safe.