MidReal Story
Whispers of the Enchanted Stamp
Scenario: Otrzymałem przeyłkę z długo oczekiwanym znaczkiem koekcjonerskim, który przedstawia piękny surrealistyczny balon na powietrze. Z niecierpliwością otwieram kopertę, żeby jak najszybciej zobaczyć znaczek.
Create my version of this story
The postal service worker, a stocky woman with short curly hair, handed Emily a box at the mailroom.
She had to use both hands to carry it.
"Thank you, Sarah."
Emily said, smiling.
Sarah Lee gave her a big smile back.
"You're welcome, Emily.I hope it's that stamp you've been waiting for."
"Me too." Emily's heart raced with excitement.
She would have to wait a few hours to open the package.
But she knew she couldn't lose the box anyway.
It was a special stamp, from a special series, and she had been waiting for it for weeks.
Her friend Alex had promised to meet her for coffee at 10 am, just two hours away.
The stamp was supposed to be here on Tuesday, but she didn't get it until Friday afternoon.
She was sure it would arrive during the week, and she had told Alex to meet her today.
It was going to be such a surprise.
She couldn't wait.
She practically jumped up and down as she waited for the elevator.
"Hey, Em." Her friend said.
She didn't even hear him coming up behind her.
"Oh, Alex." She said, embarrassed at being caught jumping up and down in anticipation of a stamp.
"Hey, what's up?"
"It's here." She said breathlessly.
"The stamp."
"No way." He said, his eyes lighting up.
She nodded and grinned up at him.
He was an amazing guy: tall, with glasses that made him look even more intellectual than he already was, and with brown hair that usually stood up in all directions as if he were constantly running his hand through it.
And he was one of the smartest people she knew—something about being able to read two books at once—so that was saying something.
He was also the only person besides herself who collected stamps like hers: beautiful, breathtaking stamps with hot air balloons on them.
The stamp she had ordered was magnificent, with a balloon made out of gossamer threads that looked like a spider had spun them as its passenger floated above the world on a gondola made out of lace.
It was a little smaller than a one-cent stamp and had a bright red border that looked like a heart that had been cut out of paper.
She had seen pictures of it online and in books, but she really needed to see it up close to appreciate its detail and color.
And to make sure it was perfect so she could add it to her album right away.
Alex followed her into the mailroom, where Sarah Lee was sorting letters into mailboxes on a shelf that ran down one wall of the small office space.
"Hey, Sarah." Alex said.
"Hi, Alex." She answered with a smile.
"Is Emily's package here?"
Sarah glanced at Emily and winked at her.
Emily nodded enthusiastically and grinned.
"I'll go find it."
Sarah went behind the counter and fished out the box Emily had been waiting for all week.
"Thanks so much for finding it."
It was a small, rectangular box with Emily's name scrawled on it in Alex's handwriting.
Sarah asked as she handed it over to Emily. "Is it for your collection?"
"Yeah," she answered as she took it from her and carefully cradled it in her arms.
She wondered how much Alex had told Sarah about their stamp collection and how much she would have to explain about why this particular stamp was so special to her.
But Sarah's eyes twinkled merrily as she handed over the box, so maybe he had told her everything already.
"It's what we've been waiting for."
Emily practically bounced with glee as they walked back to the elevator together.
She could not wait to open this box and see what was inside: a beautiful new addition for her album of hot air balloon stamps to go alongside all of her other beautiful hot air balloon stamps, all of which Alex had helped her find over the years.
This one was going to look perfect with the others she had: floating balloons made out of snowflakes, balloons that looked like giant fish coming out of the ocean, balloons made out of leaves, balloons made out of books…
And this one was going to be even more perfect and beautiful than all of them put together: a hot air balloon made out of gossamer threads that looked like a spider had spun them… with a passenger floating above the world on a gondola made out of lace… all surrounded by a bright red border that looked like a heart that had been cut out of paper…
Her stamp collection was her most prized possession.
And this one was going to be even more special than all of them put together because it was just for her—and because it was going to arrive early!
Sarah keyed in her code to unlock the door to the mailroom and let them out so they could go back to their desks, and Emily hurried back to her cubicle to open her package as soon as she got there.
I'm not sure what this one is." She said as she carefully placed the box on her desk next to her coffee mug, which was shaped like a hot air balloon with a little basket hanging beneath it with a cat inside.
She'd gotten it from Alex for Christmas last year so she could think of him every time she took a sip of coffee at work (which was at least once an hour).
But it made her think of her stamps instead—every time—so it wasn't doing what it was supposed to do.
She would have to tell him that so he could think of him every time he took a sip of coffee from his matching mug at his desk and so he could see her face every time he thought of her instead of his own face (which was probably more handsome anyway).
She picked up her letter opener and carefully sliced through the tape on the box so she could see what was inside.
Just a few seconds longer and she would be able to see it!
She yanked the flaps open and peered inside—and there was another box.
But it was a smaller box!
That must be where they put all of the protective covering so nothing happened to it.
She pulled that box out of the other box and cut through that tape with her letter opener and opened it up and there was another box.
It was smaller still!
There was one more piece of tape to cut and she quickly cut through it and opened up the box and there is a little plastic cover with a stamp inside.
The stamp was about two inches square and was in a protective plastic cover that was closed around it on three sides with a flap that she could lift up on one end.
It was a brand new stamp and it gleamed under the lights of the office—its colors bright and its design intricate.
She had only ever seen a picture of it before and she had heard Alex describe it to her in detail but she never thought she would be able to see one up close and personal like this!
It was even more beautiful than she had imagined!
The middle part of it was yellow like the sun but had orange and red highlights on its surface like a painting of flames while the edges were purple like a bruise but had blue highlights on its surface like they were made out of water.
There were strange white lines crisscrossing over the surface like they were roads or walls or fences while there were other white lines that went straight into it like they were arrows or raindrops or darts.
And then there was a hot air balloon hanging right in the middle of all of those lines with its round shape filling up most of the square as though it might burst out at any moment.
The balloon part was yellow like gold but clear like glass while there were dozens of white circles painted across its surface like they were clouds or snowflakes or balloons.
There were two large white ovals painted onto its surface like they were windows while there were two smaller white circles painted onto its surface like they were portholes.
There was a little white heart painted onto its lower half that looked like it had been cut out of paper.
It was so beautiful and so interesting and it told such a wonderful story!
The passenger in the gondola must be floating above the world because it was flat and there were no people to be found anywhere on it.
There must not have been any gravity there either because there were no clouds in the sky and there weren't any strings attached to the balloon to hold it up either.
But it didn't matter.
The passenger could float wherever it wanted to go and do whatever it wanted to do.
It could float across an endless sea of white paper while hanging onto a string that had been wrapped around its wrist.
It could float through an endless forest of green plants that had been made out of paper mache.
It could float past an endless field of red flowers that had been made out of velvet.
