First off, know that I hate coffee. What's more, I hate what coffee shops have _done_ to coffee. Say what you will about the stuff, at least coffee has character. A bitter, nasty character, yes. But character nonetheless -- character that gets _emasculated_ when it's turned into some frothy mocha half-caf monstrosity designed to be sucked down by wanna-be writers and real estate agents. I don't like coffee, but I pity it for what coffee shops have made of it. So, you ask, if I hate coffee so much, and hate what it's become even more, why am I waiting in line _in_ a coffee shop, $3.15 in hand for a _piccolo_-sized Mochatatic Blast? The answer is separated from me by two customers and a register and, I suspect, entire genres of popular music. Her name is Carolina, she's the coffee barrista, and she hasn't the slightest idea that she's the reason I suck down overpriced, humiliated bean water three times a day. Let me tell you about the first time I saw her, and how this madness all began... 2007-12-24T17:21:11Z http://ficlets.com/feed/story/12 <p>You could have described me. I despise the bitter brew.</p> http://ficlets.com/stories/12?basename=30003 2007-12-24T17:21:11Z Metaphoric Spurs http://ficlets.com/authors/anonymom <p>I love the character&#8217;s complexity and the openness of the Ficlet.</p> http://ficlets.com/stories/12?basename=11811 2007-09-13T15:35:41Z Alexa ♥ http://ficlets.com/authors/alexa1018 <p>You&#8217;ve got a talent for description &#8211; &#8220;humiliated beanwater&#8221;? That line has me about as close as I&#8217;ll ever get to rolling on the floor laughing.</p> http://ficlets.com/stories/12?basename=1252 2007-04-26T14:10:45Z Tygertrot http://ficlets.com/authors/tygertrot <p>I&#8217;ll leave the prequels and sequels to finer wordsmiths than me, but I did wish to state that this is an excellent ficlet for launching other ficlets from. Open-ended and semi-directed, one could conceivably go anywhere with this piece. Brilliant.</p> http://ficlets.com/stories/12?basename=969 2007-04-09T16:46:04Z Nick http://ficlets.com/authors/white1975 <p>Ok&#8230; I wrote my sequel&#8230; next writer up, please?</p> http://ficlets.com/stories/12?basename=543 2007-03-25T00:04:06Z Coz http://ficlets.com/authors/coz <p>I wrote a prequel to see if I could.</p> <p>What happens if a string of prequels and sequels wraps around and connects? ficlets.com explodes? That would rock.</p> <p>Thanks for this interesting hook!</p> http://ficlets.com/stories/12?basename=85 2007-03-14T20:04:32Z Justin Thenikov Tyme, Jr. http://ficlets.com/authors/firewriter <p>Scalzi, you didn&#8217;t leave much room for prequels, did you. :-)</p> http://ficlets.com/stories/12?basename=80 2007-03-14T18:12:44Z Dossy http://ficlets.com/authors/dossy <p>Stacey, you&#8217;re perfectly free to write your own sequel&#8212;you don&#8217;t have to follow anyone else&#8217;s direction.</p> http://ficlets.com/stories/12?basename=72 2007-03-14T14:20:27Z Scalzi http://ficlets.com/authors/scalzi <p>I probably should have looked a little harder to see if someone had already picked up the thread here before I started adding to the story&#8230; my bad.</p> <p>Is there some way you/I could erase that?</p> http://ficlets.com/stories/12?basename=70 2007-03-14T12:20:07Z Stacey Franchise http://ficlets.com/authors/monponsett <p>Lost my first draft. Damn.</p> http://ficlets.com/stories/12?basename=43 2007-03-13T20:26:04Z Nick Stump http://ficlets.com/authors/user_318 <p>Very nice. Many possibilities to where it could go.</p> http://ficlets.com/stories/12?basename=36 2007-03-12T17:26:16Z StrugglingWriter http://ficlets.com/authors/strugglingwriter <p>For everyone who reads this piece&#8212;the idea here is to have you folks write a sequel Ficlet; that is, to pick up the story from where it&#8217;s been left off. And then when you&#8217;ve written yours, perhaps someone else will pick up where you left off, and so on.</p> <p>Have fun!</p> http://ficlets.com/stories/12?basename=8 2007-03-07T20:58:51Z Scalzi http://ficlets.com/authors/scalzi