*Trying to start a little short story series, one of the millions of projects I have floating around in my head -sigh-

"I thought I left the keys on the table in the kitchen."

"You never leave them there; they're always in the bathroom, on the edge of the sink."

"How do you know?"

"Just go check." A sigh escaped the lips of the voice over the speaker.

A pause, then. "I found them!"

"There you go."

"Thanks, Rat."

"Your forgetfulness is not thankful at all, Sheep."

Sheep smiled and waved at the phone sitting upon the small table by the door to his apartment. "See you there, Rat!"

"See yah", came the somewhat sleepy reply.

The call ended with a blip and the screen glowed bright beneath the single bulb hanging from the ceiling over the doorway. A pair of sneakers was sprawled beside a neatly set pair of black dress shoes, sneaker laces tangled, Oxford laces tied to perfection. A single dust bunny puffed in a corner, behind the umbrella stand that held only a bunch of loose pieces of carved bamboo tied together with twine. The wood floor suddenly erupted in a storm of pattering bare feet as Sheep appeared from the narrow hallway that led to the small bathroom and bedroom, accompanied by the jangling of keys.

He was dressed in a pair of well-worn jeans and a print t-shirt, large font characters splattered across the entire canvas, paint spots of a myriad of colors here and there. There were colorful smears of paint all over his jeans, as well as a few on his bare forearms, a single dot on his left cheek. Blue eyes, as blue as the sky on a clear day, dazzled with unstoppable energy, the creative energy of a painter that never sat still. Hence, the forgetfulness. A mess of dirty blonde hair danced about his skull, a single hair band struggling to keep it all in place, behind his neck, out of way of his paints and brushes.

The now darkened phone on the small table jumped to life in a series of consecutive vibrations and melodic syllables. Sheep reached with one lanky arm and leaned his back against the wall, eyes trained on the bright screen.

Rat: I just let him know

Boar: He better hurry up. I'm pulling into the parking lot.

Rabbit: Texting while driving, are we?

Boar: Silence >_>

Rat: Sheep, you seeing this?

Rabbit: Drive stupid

Rooster: I'm here with Tiger already. Hurry up y'all

Dragon: On my way

Horse: You guys have fun. I have a business meeting. Can't make it.

Rat: Good luck!

Rabbit: Good luck~

Rooster: Have fun there lol

Boar: Good luck bro

The bubbles of conversation flowed in a continuous wave as Sheep scanned the replies. He smiled to himself, eyes illuminated by the ghostly white screen, and blinked as his fingers flew over his keyboard.

Sheep: I hear yah. On my way.

Rat: Geez. Don't forget your keys

Rat: Again

Rabbit: Again? I'm here, btw.

Rooster: Rabbit, come on in. Back corner, usual spot.

Boar: Where's Ox?

Rooster: He went with Dog and Snake to that job fair thing, remember?

Rat: That three-day convention thing.

Boar: And Monkey is probably asleep already.

Dragon: I'm here.

Boar: Sheep, you're last.

Sheep: Yes, yes I hear yah.

Rat: We're waiting

The messages kept racing down the group chat, the word bubbles color-coded to each member of the chat. A rainbow of thoughts in text surfaced, shimmered, cracked, and then resurfaced. Sheep smiled again as the colors danced in his eyes and Rat's final message floated to the surface.

"I'll be there." A whisper, a shuffling of shoes, and the sound of a door clicking shut to a key turned in a lock. The wall clock above the small wooden table ticked silently in place, each notch into the space of time, one second after another, echoed. Then, with a final click to complete the hour, the clock heaved on miniature gears and flipped the hour hand to the next cycle. It was nine hours past noon and 3 hours to midnight.