I decided to upload my writing onto this blog of mine~ *blows off dust and cobwebs* Forgive me for not being around for so long~~ >_>;
This is a collab I’ve been doing for the last few months with Selenaloong, a friend of mine from DREAM, SmackJeeves and Deviantart. So much of the ideas and suggestions also belong to her~
DREAM Manga Office Chapter One (pages 1 & 2)
The morning looks into the window and sees three women at their desks. The three women are physically very different from one another; and yet, they each share two things in common~ one being that they all work and live for the office they are presently hard at work for~ DREAM Manga Office.
It is a large room, with several doors leading to private offices, a large boardroom and a fully equipped kitchen. On the walls are large framed posters of the covers from the various DREAM Manga releases, as well as a large wall map showing the countries, with flags marking the locations of the various DREAM staff and manga-kas. There are also five different desks, as well as several comfortable armchairs surrounding a kotatsu (which is very popular during the chilly winters).
At one desk, the woman is listening carefully to the messages left overnight on the answering service, writing notes about the various messages and decisively deleting the messages that have nothing to do with the task at hand. She sits tall and straight, her hair arranged in loose curls and tied back with a perky bow. She is dressed in a plain Lolita-style dress, which suits her elfin beauty.
At another desk, the occupant is shifting through the mail and packages that had arrived after the office had closed the previous day; sorting them into piles according to the person receiving the item; as well as to the importance of the item. She is dressed almost entirely in black, with a pair of cat ears that seem to meld into the darkness of her black hair.
The third woman is not at her desk, as she is just emerging from the kitchen with three cups and a teapot on a black tray. She briskly bears the tray over to the woman on the phone and places it on the desk beside the phone. “Maika”, she whispers, “Here’s the tea for you.” Maika, still on the phone, frowns slightly and nods in thanks.
The brisk woman, slight and slim in her favoured dress, then approaches the other woman, “Catz!”, she says warmly, “here’s your tea.” Catz doesn’t look up. The brisk woman places the tray on the edge of the desk, and with her free hand, hits herself on the forehead. “Idiot! I forgot she can’t hear me” she murmurs to herself. She then reaches out to touch the other woman on her black sleeved arm. Catz twitches in surprise and looks up, “Oh Selena-chan, what is it?”
Selena smiles briskly at Catz, “Here’s your tea” and then she places the teapot on the desk, and picks up her own tea and leans against the desk. “Anything interesting in the mail, Catz?”
Catz nods and sips the hot tea and replies, “Yeah, actually, here are two new submissions for the online magazine. I wonder what they’re like? One seems to be from India and the other is from the US.” Selena looks interestedly at the two manuscript packages that Catz holds up for her inspection, “Oh great! I don’t think we have a Dreamer from India yet. Hope it gets accepted for the magazine.”
Just then, Selena’s sharp ears hear a ticking sound. She looks around the office and calls, “Maika? Do you hear that weird sound? What is it?”
Maika having hung up the phone, declares, “Stupid idiots, why can’t they leave a nice, short, easy to understand message!?” Then she looks at Selena, “Sound? What sound? Be quiet so I can listen for whatever you think you heard.”
The two women fall silent in concentration, as Catz looks on in puzzlement, sipping her tea. Maika suddenly exclaims, “it’s on Catz’s desk!” and rushes over to the desk.
Selena and Maika then hover over Catz’s desk, listening carefully…and Selena then touches a particular package, “This is where that ticking sound is coming from! Do you think it’s a bomb, Maika?” Catz on seeing Selena say that, pushes away abruptly form her desk, and says, “Come on you two~ I don’t think it is, look at the return address! It’s from Kid! Kid wouldn’t do something that stupid, would he?”
The three women look at each other then away from each other. Maika breaks the silence, “I think he would do something stupid, but Catz’s right, he wouldn’t do a bomb. Wait a second, remember that conversation we had with him the last time he visited?”
The other two women frown, trying to remember what Maika meant. Shaking her head, Selena replies, “What conversation is that, Maika? Kid talks so much, I’m not sure which one you mean.”
Catz’s eyes then gleam in remembrance and says, “I remember it now! Didn’t Kid say we were a weird office for not having a wall clock up in here? Do you think this is a clock Kid got for us?”
Selena nods, finally remembering. And the three women then look at the package, and then at one another. With a sigh, “Who’s going to open that?” Maika asks, with a resigned expression. The other two women shake their heads in decided negative. They weren’t quite comfortable with the idea of opening a ticking package, even though it was from their free spirited friend, Kid.
Just as the tension in the office mounted, the door opened with a bang, and a slim, boyish looking man bounces into the office, “Morning girls! How are you all today?”
Looking quickly at her stunned co-workers, Maika smiles sweetly at the newcomer, “Sol! How pleasant to see you today.” Shifting her weight slightly, she hides her face from Sol and mouths to the others, “He can open it for us!”
To be continued…
If you want to follow the story, and admire Selena-chan’s beautiful art, do join us here at SmackJeeves : http://dreammangaoffice.smackjeeves.com/
Enjoy~
Right now, we are currently uploading the DREAM Manga Office Christmas Special..I will upload my script of that once we are farther along in the story~
BlackCatz's Thoughts 