Adelaide Literary Magazine - 9 years, 70 issues, and over 2800 published poems, short stories, and essays

MACHIATTO & MISPLACEMENT: MANGO'S GUIDE TO A LOST BOOK

ALM No.73, February 2025

SHORT STORIES

Diana Cruz-Mosquera

2/2/20254 min read

Mango zoomed across the library, filling the library with nothing but the sound of his wings flapping in the midst of narrowly avoided bookshelves. I need to find Farlan. Where even is Farlan? Of course that fool is nowhere to be found once you actually need them.

Turning a corner with a desperate jerk of movement, the imp noticed the sight of green hair at the end of the hall and wasted no time, speeding up and barreling directly into the startled individual as their stack of books was dropped to the floor.

“Ow... Mango, why are you in a hurry? There’s still an hour before the librarian gets back. We’re almost done, aren’t we?” Farlan rubbed their shoulder, still standing whereas Mango bounced right off and collided with the hard, wooden ground.

Mango quickly sat up, still reeling from impact as their blurred vision slowly came to focus on their fellow imp, who had begun to pick up the fallen books with a concerned look in their amethyst eyes.

“...Mango? Are you concussed?” Farlan’s question seemed so genuine despite the ridiculous assumption, causing Mango to quickly shake his head as he hopped to his feet.

“No, you idiot. Quick, have you seen Myths & Mayhems: A Barista’s Guide to a Caffeinated Chimera or however that dumb title went?” He crossed his arms, tapping a foot impatiently against the ground awaiting an answer.

Farlan blinked and looked towards the bookshelf on their left, before glancing back at Mango with a shake of the head. “Could it have been checked out?”

“Why would you even consider that? No one would read that stupid story! It’s objectively trash, with a terrible premise and a terrible ending! They just end up having coffee together. When the entire conflict revolves around the chimera going crazy on macchiato,” Mango ranted, pacing in circles as the taller imp only watched with a defeated sigh.

“Very well, then. So, you believe it’s lost?” Farlan inquired.

“Of course it’s lost, idiot.”

“You don’t need to call me an idiot, Mango.”

Mango rolled their eyes, quickly turning away and beginning to stalk off with a huff. “Whatever, Farlan. Just look near the left side, okay? I’ll take right.” Not awaiting an answer, they hurried around the corner before taking flight. No time to waste on this fool. Andromeda is going to be back in less than an hour. Last time an assistant misplaced one of her beloved books, she was livid enough to rewind them right out of existence!

Flying around the shelves, the imp’s eyes scoured the contents as numerous titles flashed before their eyes. It was of no consequence, as this was the usual routine. Hurrying high and looking low, the nonexistent ticking of a clock plagued their mind as they quickly shook their head. Focus. Time may fly, but so do I.

However, try as they might, Myths & Mayhems: A Barista’s Guide to a Caffeinated Chimera was nowhere to be seen. Under any other circumstances, perhaps this would have been a blessing in disguise, but here? No, they couldn’t afford to keep things this way for a moment longer.

Gliding through the air absentmindedly as they continued to scan the titles, Mango was oblivious to the grand doors swinging open. They were—quite literally—in his face, causing the imp to be knocked out of the air and onto the floor once again.

“Ugh, watch where you—” Mango began to say, before a familiar voice interjected.

“Oh? I wasn’t aware that you frequented the floors now, Mango.”

Oh. Oh no. This was exactly what I was trying to avoid... Looking up in horror, Mango was first met with the sight of a familiar witch hat before they even registered the face beneath it. The librarian, Andromeda.

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you would be back so soon. Did something happen on your break?” Mango asked, his gaze searching her perfectly unbothered expression.

Andromeda smiled and ran a hand through her long, black hair. “Today? Of course not. It was just rather humid outside, so I decided to come back after picking up coffee to read a nice book with. I finished my macchiato, but I can’t say the same for the book. Regardless, time isn’t something I’ve run out of.” She couldn’t help but laugh for reasons unknown to Mango, who felt his heart sink with each passing moment as the imp rose to his feet.

Time is something the fool and I have run out of. Where even are they? As though conjured by the thought, familiar green hair appeared around the corner. Farlan approached to greet the librarian. Much to Mango’s dismay, they were empty-handed.

“Welcome back, Miss Andromeda. How was your break?” Farlan inquired, a soft smile on their face with a polite bow of the head to accompany it.

“Ah, you know how it can be sometimes when you live in a swamp. Humid, isn’t it?” Andromeda replied.

“Oh, did you decide to take a book with you today?” The green-haired imp seemed to be looking towards the book that Andromeda was holding. It was obviously a no-brainer, but of course you could expect the fool to have no brain.

“That I did! Have you read this one before? It’s called Myths & Mayhems: A Barista’s Guide to a Caffeinated Chimera, and it’s a rather riveting story!”

Wait, what? Mango raised his head, looking towards that familiarly disappointing cover that matched an equally disappointing premise. Sure enough, it was the missing book they had spent all this time searching for.

Farlan chuckled, shaking their head. “I’m afraid I haven’t, Miss Andromeda. Now, we’ll leave you to it.”

Amidst a dizzying whirlwind of thoughts, the smaller imp could only bring himself to sigh in defeat as their fellow assistant now guided him away. “I’m sorry for calling you an idiot, Farlan.”

“It’s okay,” Farlan reassured. “I guess it just makes two of us.”

Diana Cruz-Mosquera lives in Sanford, Florida. When she’s not writing, she can be found looking for fantasy books in the library.