"Just Another Day" By: Ron-Weasley-4-Prez
Summary: A silly little one shot about a muggle named Charlie. It has a lot to do with the memory erasing that witches and wizards have to put up with to keep their world descreet. Very Laughable substance for a one shot, if I do say so myself. It also makes you think.
Notes: I got this idea from thinking about how one dreams every night, but sometimes they don't remember anything in the morning. Please Enjoy.
-Just Another Day-
Charles P. Sandman woke up with a slight headache, the Wednesday morning of his very important work presentation. He rubbed his forehead in aggravation, wiping sleep from his eyes and walking towards his window to greet the new forenoon. Opening the window, he realized it was a perfect breezy day, the kindof day that made a person feel happy, like nothing could go wrong.
Breathing deeply, he took in the fresh air, gazing at the ground below. The grass was billowing softly in the wind, and his neighbor seemed to be doing some gardening of her own. What an odd woman she was, with her strange clothing and her queerly shaped hat. She looked quite ruffled this morning, almost pouncing on the ground, trying to pull what looked to Charles like weeds from her garden. Why was she pouncing them like that, Charles thought.
But then, almost instantly, one of the weeds grew arms and legs and began to run about her cabbages. His eyes grew with excitement, as he whitenessed his neighbor chase after whatever it was running about her garden. It looked like some kindof wee gnome thing, but he couldn't tell from where he was standing. He tried squinting to see better, but he still couldn't make it out.
Then promptly, he saw his neighbor spot him. Her facial expression turned from anger towards the "gnome" to fear of Charles. He didn't know why she was so frightened or what she was hiding for that matter, but before he could think upon it any further, he saw something long and thin pointed at him.
It almost looked as if it were a wand of some sort! Was she pointing a wand at him?
Then, before he could blink again, there was a large flash of light coming straight for him.
-----
Breathing deeply, he took in the fresh air gazing at the ground below. He saw no one around and immediately thought it odd. Usually his bizarre neighbor, Mrs. Tobbs, was out in her garden at this particular hour.
Shrugging it off, Charlie sighed and made his way to the bathroom. The clock said 8:54.
He stared at it curiously. Hadn't he set his alarm for eight thirty? Surely he hadn't been standing by the window for twenty-four minutes...had he? How time flew these days!
He rushed through getting ready. He didn't want to be late for work, especially on a day like today, when a promotion was in sight. He needed today, needed it more than anything. This new promotion meant everything. A New office, a new label, and one of those golden name plates for his desk. He grew excited just thinking about it.
Stepping outside, he remembered that his car was still in the shop. He sighed, knowing the only possible way to get their on time was to find a cab of some sort. But where to find one?
Suddenly, as if hearing his prayers, A slightly disheveled car whipped around the corner and came to a screeching halt right in front of him. "Need a ride mister?" The cab driver asked him.
Charles smiled "Thank you, a ride's exactly what I need," He told the driver politely. Climbing into the back seat, he eyed the strange decor that lined the entire inside. The back seat was made of some sortof animal leather, and hanging from the rear view mirror was a shrunken head. Charles wondered if taking this mans offer was such a good idea.
"Where to?" The driver asked him. Charles noticed that he was curiously dressed, matching his car perfectly.
"Thirty-fourth, on the corner of Palt and Pine" He said, "Oh and I'm a bit late, if you please..."
The driver chuckled "All right then. Air express it is,"
Charles chuckled, thinking it a joke. He didn't fully know what he had meant by Air express, until he felt the cab take off. It was literally lifting off the ground, or was that just his imagination playing tricks on him? He took a gander out his window, just to make sure.
What he saw made his jaw drop. The tiny cab was no longer touching the ground. It was flying high above the city! Flying! Wasn't this impossible! Charles rubbed his eyes, blinking a few hundred times to try and focus. But he still couldn't believe them.
"Excuse me sir," He said, tapping the man on the shoulder. "I--well umm, h-how is this happening?" He stammered, his eyes huge with shock.
The cab driver only chuckled again "You muggles..." He told him, shaking his head and causing Charles to lift an eyebrow. What on earth was a...muggle?
He had no more time to ponder, as the cab came to a screeching halt on the pavement. He shook his head a few times and kept gazing at the driver.
He saw him pull something long and thin from inside one of his pockets. Pointing it straight at Charles caused him to etch back. "Oy! What are you going to do with that?" he asked, trying to pry the door open. He began to feel very scared.
Again, the cab driver only laughed "You wont even care in a minute," He told him. Suddenly, he was hit by a flash of bright light.
-----
"Your fee sir?" A voice was asking him, as he rubbed what felt like sleep from his eyes. Staring at his cab driver, he remembered that he had gotten a ride to work.
"Oh, right-" He said, sifting through his pocket and handing the man some money. "Boy, that sure was fast." He told him, before exiting through the back door. It seemed like only minutes ago, he'd even seen the cab pulling out in front of his house.
He checked his watch to make sure he wasn't late and found it to be 9:45. How was that possible? Were none of his clocks working, or were they all set to different times?
He had no time to worry about it. His meeting was in exactly fifteen minutes (if his watch was right), and he did NOT want to be late. Entering the building, he made his way towards the elevator, reaching it just in time and pressing a few buttons. The only other person inside the elevator was a small little man with a very long white beard and silver rimmed glasses. Charles really did think it odd for this man to be in a building such as this, but he was never one to ask questions. He liked to let things be.
Just then, he felt a jolt, as the elevator came to a jerking stop. He fell backwards, hitting his elbow on the rail and winced in pain, as he heard the little man mutter something about "muggle machinery".
"Excuse me," He said "But--what's a muggle?" he asked, thinking it some kindof new punk teen slang that he hadn't heard about. The wee man smirked at him.
"You sir, are a muggle..." He said, laughing slightly. Charles took it as an insult instantly afterwards.
"I beg your pardon?" He asked offensively. The man looked as if he hadn't heard him. Instead he watched as the little man pulled out something from his pocket. It looked like some sortof wand. Charles stared at it, interested. He watched as the tip of the wand thing began to glow. He took in a breath, raising both eyebrows.
"Is that a flare of some sort?" He asked. The little man raised an eyebrow at him.
"What's a flare?" He asked, before pointing the glowing stick at the elevator buttons. With a zap, the elevator had started again, and was now headed for his floor. Charles laughed, quite amazed with what the man had done.
"How did you do that?" He asked the man, but before he could pursue his questioning any further, the little man had pointed his 'flare' at him and had sent a bright light his way.
-----
The elevator finally came to a stop. Charles blinked and looked around, seeing only the bell hop present. The doors opened and the wee man looked up at him, smiling.
"Your floor, Sir." He said. Charles smiled and thanked him, removing himself from the elevator. Checking his watch, he saw that he was fifteen minutes late!
How was that possible! He tapped his watch a few times before sprinting to the meeting door. Inside he heard voices, but one drowned out every other-His bosses. He gulped, turning the doorknob and opening the door slowly so as not to interrupt the meeting.
To his dismay, everyone turned to look at him as he entered. He chuckled nervously. "Err," he began "S-sorry..."
It was all he could say. His boss turned back to his audience, sighing. "Anyhow-" he stated, as Charles sat down, avoiding eye contact with everyone, his face growing redder by the second. How could he have been late? How was he fifteen minutes late? How!
He suffered through the next forty minutes of the meeting, his boss not calling on him even once for new ideas. He felt horrible, and it only made matters worse when he didn't get his promotion. This had been the most important thing to him, and now it was gone.
After work, he punched out and slumped out the revolving door, sadness written on his face. He was confused as well, not knowing how forty five minutes could have happened so fast right before his eyes. Walking down the street, he searched for a cab and found none. Sighing as it began to rain, he walked towards the direction of home.
On his way, he spotted a very strange looking booth. A lady was selling what she called "Happiness in a cup". Charles grinned, approaching her booth. "Good afternoon ma'am," he said, tipping his hat "What are you selling?"
The woman grinned at him "You muggles," she muttered, leaving Charles wondering what in bloody hell a Muggle was. "I'm selling happiness. See, don't you see the sign? Right there, it says so." She pointed to the sign he had read not seconds ago. He smiled.
"Oh is that what it is?" He asked, deciding to play along. "All right then, one cup of happiness then, please."
The woman smiled, bending down and pulling a cup from what seemed like thin air and handing it to him. It was warm and smelled of flowers. He wasn't sure if he would like this or not. Shrugging, he took a sip. it tasted awful, but he didn't spit it out. Instead, he swallowed, hardly making a face.
"You wont make much money off of this," he told her wiping his mouth with his sleeve "It tastes awful!"
The lady only smiled at him "You wait and see," she told him.
Instantly, he felt better, as if he had truly drank happiness. Raising an eyebrow, Charles stared deeply into the cup and then back to the lady, who was pointing some sortof wooden stick at his face. before he could blink, there was a flash of white light.
-------
He felt better. The job didn't really matter, did it? His spirits began to rise like never before, as Charles walked up his front steps and into his house. It had never looked better, and for some reason, he felt like dancing. It was unexplainable! He took his steps two by two up the stairs, into his room, and right into the comfort of hisbed.
Just another day, Charles thought, pulling the covers over his pajamas and falling into awell deserved sleep.
How do you like them apples? Okay, so there weren't any apples in this fanfic. YOU know what I meant! Review please!