I lay there, motionless, watching the fluffy clouds slowly drifting by in the pastel blue sky. The day seemed perfect except for one thing.

“Hey, get back up!” I felt someone nudge me on my left but I was fully incapable of standing up by myself. You might ask why. All thanks to the all-too-serious-about-life-and-money Geun Young, I am now a penguin, for real. I cannot even communicate verbally with others without shouting because the material for this old, stinky mascot costume is unbearably thick.

Moving my flippers frantically like a penguin gone mad, I think I finally got the message across. With the help of the owner and another staff, I felt myself being pulled to my feet.

“Hold on tight to the balloons this time. Don’t let them fly off again,” The owner gave me a fierce warning before heading back into the candy shop. Trust that woman to make me work at a candy place and not be able to touch the candies. I do not even know how she managed to make me agree to this. She must be secretly evil.

“Oh! Mummy! Mummy! There’s a penguin over there!” Yet another child shouted excitedly, attracting more attention from the other children, before they somehow dashed towards me from various directions all at once. Feet on ground, knees slightly bent, I thought and prepared for the attack. I got lucky this time and managed to maintain my balance. After distributing probably a million balloons and taking another million photos with the children, I saw the familiar face through the eyes of the old, unwashed penguin costume.

“I hate you for making me do this,” I shouted but it seemed like she could not hear me.

Waddling rapidly towards her, I was determined to make myself heard. I think I caught her attention at the very least because she started staring at me and laughing so hard till she was grabbing her tummy seemingly in pain. I was barely three metres away from giving her a piece of my mind when I felt a force knock into me from the left causing my penguin pseudo-body to lose balance. My elbow hit the ground first and I squealed instinctively in pain before rolling back on my back. I could not even rub that injured elbow due to the constraints of the costume. Once again I find myself staring at the clear blue sky.

Then there were multi-coloured balloons.

“Oh crap!” I exclaimed upon realizing my mistake and was pondering over what excuse to use when Geun Young’s face came into view. “I hate you for making me do this,” It barely qualified as a scream. The day’s work must have drained me.

“What?” She asked and leaned in closer while biting back a laugh at my pathetic state. I was too tired to repeat. “Come on then,” She said with a rare cheeriness before reaching out to pull my flippers. The next moment, she was lying right on top of me with cheeks stained a cherry blossom pink. Now this is awkward.

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