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thoughtsinblue · 8 months

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Vietnam #1 - Piggy

Piggy had a pair of racist dogs.

Now, there are so many ways I could remember Piggy - kind, thoughtful, oddly mature for our age, and sure, a little tone-deaf at times, but, unlike his dogs, he wasn't racist in the least. Yet, I specifically chose to remember him for his racist dogs.

This is a story about many things, but above all, it's a story about friendship.

In the summer of 2017, I, along with a group of people from around the world, was teaching English in Hanoi, Vietnam. That's when I first met Piggy. Of course, that's not his real name, but I don't think he'll complain about it either.

Piggy and I became fast friends. By the end of my stay in Hanoi, we were the best of friends. Piggy loved cursing. Looking at his face, you'd never expect him to dish out such profanity, but hey, that's Piggy, a true curse connoisseur. He had a pair of dogs that did not like anyone who wasn't light-skinned. He swore he hadn't trained them to be that way, that they were somehow inherently racist. Either way, I found it to be really hilarious. He also had a red scooter and two matching helmets, and boy did Piggy drive like a maniac. Late one night, after some beers, I walked a friend back to her hostel. On my way back home, in the usual fashion, I had my phone in my hand and my earphones plugged in. Just as I was about to turn a corner, I heard a scooter approaching me. Before I could react, I got robbed of my phone. I quickly reached home and dropped a message to Piggy and another friend. Immediately, they sent me a bunch of second-hand phone listings.

The next day, I sent Piggy the listing that I liked the most. He agreed with my choice of phone, but there was an issue. The listing was from a town 2.5 hours outside of Hanoi. I quickly decided to pick a different listing, but Piggy, truly a man of wisdom beyond his years, said, "Fuck second choices. I like the phone; let's ride." And so it was decided.

We left around 5 pm. The only problem was, we hadn't checked the store's operational hours. Turns out, the store closed at 7:30. So here we were, riding at top speed, clear roads, the beautiful countryside in the background. Had either of us been replaced with a woman, that would have been one hell of a romantic ride, but we didn't have time to think about any of that; we were running late. Piggy drove like a maniac, whizzing past cars. It was monsoon season back then, but Hanoi being Hanoi, the humidity had ensured that it was sweat-season. Even then, with how fast we were going, I genuinely could've used a hoodie. With a bit of luck on our side, we actually ended up reaching the store just 15 minutes before they closed.

Piggy did all the talking; all I did was pay up. We were in and out in less than 10 minutes. We decided to take it slow riding back to Hanoi. On the way back, the roads were still empty. We had time; we could take it easy. We enjoyed the countryside, with its (and I'm assuming based on stereotypes) rice paddy fields stretching into the horizon, the colors of the sunset just starting to fade away. Again, it would've been hugely romantic had it not been two dudes on a scooter.

Suddenly, Piggy saw something. He pointed it out, and I could swear we saw this creepy silhouette, and we panicked. Both of us thought it was approaching us, so I screamed for Piggy to hit the gas, and we were again riding at the speed of light. We were absolutely mortified. We only slowed down once we entered Hanoi. We decided that we had to get a few beers in us, and when we finally sat down at the beer stalls, both of us were white as ghosts. We laughed about it, but we both knew that had we lingered around for even a second longer, we'd have shat our pants.

Piggy was probably the best friend I could ask for. Right up until my last day in the country, he made sure that I always felt at home. If I ever needed any kind of help, even during the ungodly hours of the night, he'd be there. (He'd curse me out, but he'd be there.) Piggy was also wise in matters of love.

I had a thing for one of the girls I was working with. Looking back at it, she knew. Obviously, I told Piggy about it. On our last day in Hanoi, he told me that I should probably tell the girl. He drove me to where I was supposed to meet her. He stopped outside and encouraged me.

"You have to try; who knows, maybe it'll work out. I've seen the way she looks at you. I think there's a chance."

"I know, right! I've got this!"

Famous last words.

Later, he took me to my favorite kebab place in town. He never liked that place, but he understood that a man just had his heart broken; you can't compete with that. As we sat down to eat, he quietly let out a sigh.

"Well, while you were talking to her, I thought of something."

"Yeah, what?"

"I think you would've been better off not fuckin' telling her."

I just stared at him with a confused look on my face. It was his idea for me to confess after all.

"Look, I'm not saying this is healthy, but maybe if you hadn't told her, you could still be thinking about what the could've been. You could still hold on to hope for a while, and eventually, you'd forget about her, and things would return back to normal."

"So, what you're saying is…"

"Yeah. You had your heart broken for no goddamn reason."

We didn't speak for a while. We concentrated on our kebabs. Maybe it was the heartbreak, or maybe it was what Piggy said, but the kebab didn't taste right. Looking back at it now, I guess we were both processing what had happened. After a while, we looked at each other and started laughing.

Racist Dogs: I only met his dogs once when we all went over to his place for a party. He had to chain one of them because I swear as soon as I walked in, the dog's eyes lit up with fury. I never thought my first racist encounter would be with a dog. The other dog was chill, but he never let me pet him.

Epilogue: Piggy and I had a lot of adventures during my time in Vietnam. And like I said in the beginning, there are so many ways to remember him, but I guess I like to remember him for his racist dogs because it makes for a funny description. We don't talk often. But every time we do text, it's like we start right where we left off.

Oh, and he gave me an update on his dogs.

#comedy #writing #friendship #funny #short story

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jaurnals · 3 years

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New Year’s Day // Wanda Maximoff X Reader

Summary: A New Year’s Eve Masquerade Ball takes a turn on the reader’s life. [1.262 words]

There's glitter on the floor after the party

Girls carrying their shoes down in the lobby

Candle wax and polaroids on the hardwood floor

You and me from the night before but…

The night before feels surreal.

Tony had the brilliant idea of hosting a Masquerade Ball for New Year's Eve. I wasn't the most thrilled about it, but everyone seemed so excited about it that I couldn't pass up the opportunity.

However, Avengers Tower was quickly filled with what seemed like hundreds of people, which I was not happy about.

Beautiful girls.

Men.

Heck, I bet Batman was there too.

As I finished dressing up in a red velvet suit, I made my way back to the Grand Hall. Since I couldn't find my best friend Wanda, I started making my way towards Steve and Thor (their masks clearly couldn't hide their muscles and their funny accents). As soon as I took a seat next to them, my eyes caught the sight of a beautiful woman who stood at the top of the long, spiral staircase.

She looked around for a few seconds then her eyes locked with mine. She looked familiar and at that moment;

I felt infinite.

I couldn't figure out who she was, which bothered me, but I couldn't help but feel as if we were the only people in the room. She smiled back and I felt myself spinning. I immediately turned away to Steve to ask if he knew who she was. He mentioned he's never seen her before and that I should go introduce myself to her.

So there I went.

I shocked myself at the speed I took off towards the woman.

I couldn't help but wonder who she was so I mentally made a list of potential candidates.

Natasha Romanoff? No, she's at the bar.

Maria Hill? No, she's talking to Natasha.

Carol Danvers? She'd rather be caught dead than be caught wearing a dress and she hates parties.

As soon as I reached the top of the staircase, I held my hand out to her.

The song playing was slow so I thought the perfect moment couldn't come any sooner.

"May I have this dance, my lady?"

"You may."

Making our way down the staircase. The crowd began to dance, but immediately stepped away when we stepped onto the floor. The orchestra soon realized what was happening and started playing a ballad I've never heard before.

Soon enough, I realized I wasn't the best dancer.

Not only was the woman beautiful, but she was the best dancer I've ever met.

Don't read the last page

But I stay when you're lost and I'm scared and you're turning away

I want your midnights

But I'll be cleaning up bottles with you on

New Year's day

So we kept dancing.

The crowd came back to reality and danced as if it was the last night of their life.

The woman and I made small talk for hours.

Her voice, her smell, and her eyes looked too familiar and I put off asking for her name.

It was clear we were both too shy to say anything else.

The time was now 11:31pm.

Everyone made their way to their seats, while the woman and I made our way outside to catch a taxi.

You squeeze my hands three times in the back of the taxi

I can tell it's going to be a long road

I'll be there if you're the toast of the town, babe

Or if you strike out and you're crawling home

We decided to head to my apartment.

It wasn't too far from the tower, but the ride there felt eternal.

My eyes constantly locked with the woman's eyes and we'd giggle whenever we'd catch each other staring at the other.

Her giggle was so familiar.

Why does she feel familiar to me?

Glancing at my phone

the time now read 11:53pm.

Hold on to the memories, they will hold on to you

And I will hold on to you

I grew impatient.

I had to know who she was before midnight.

I felt as if this was Cinderella and she'd run off because the spell would break then.

So I took her arm and we ran to my apartment.

11:59pm, December 31st

12:00am, January 1st

We kissed.

We heard fireworks in the distance as our lips met in a slow, passionate kiss.

Then I couldn't feel her anymore.

She took off the moment we needed air.

And I've never this empty before.

Please don't ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere

It's now New Year's Day and I'm back at the tower to help clean up the mess from the ball the night before. My mind kept drifting off at the thought of how her lips felt in mine. I asked the team to help me find the woman, but there was no use.

She left no trace.

Wanda finally appeared behind me and broke the silence as I was sweeping the floor.

"I had to chase a girl in the hallway out of here. She was completely knocked out and she looked so scared so she took off barefoot" She giggled.

Her giggle.

It sounded like- wait no, knock it off Y/N.

"So what happened with you last night?" She asked.

"I took off with a stranger. Where were you?" I asked.

"I also took off with someone" She stated.

"Oh? What happened?" I curiously asked.

"I got scared and ran away before anything else could happen" She said.

Then it hit me.

Like the bus hit Regina George in Mean Girls.

Wanda might be the beautiful woman from the night before.

There's glitter on the floor after the party

Girls carrying their shoes down in the lobby

Candle wax and polaroids on the hardwood floor

You and me forevermore

"So, did you get their name?"

"No. But Y/N, they felt so familiar. It was like I've known them forever. I wish I could kiss them again."

I picked up a polaroid of a couple and to my surprise, the woman from last night and I were in the background dancing.

"Wanda, look. Who are they?"

My heart started racing when she took the polaroid from me. I could smell her perfume.

The woman from last night's perfume.

"Oh my god, that's me. And that's the person I left the party with."

My eyes widened.

I found her.

The woman from last night.

"Wanda, that's me."

She slapped me.

So I cupped her face and kissed her.

Don't read the last page

But I stay when it's hard or it's wrong or we're making mistakes

I want your midnights

But I'll be cleaning up bottles with you on

New Year's Day

I couldn't even begin to express how it felt to have her lips on mine again.

I didn't notice that I was longing for her touch.

I needed it.

I needed her.

And she needed me too.

Hold on to the memories, they will hold on to you

And I will hold on to you

"I thought I'd never find you."

"It's always been you."

"I love you."

"I love you more, my lady."

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A/N: Hello! I’m Angel and this is my first Wanda one-shot and it’s based on one of my all time favorite Taylor Swift songs “New Year’s Day.” I’m kinda nervous to see how this will go. Thanks so much for reading and please feel free to send requests! I can’t wait to write more. This one-shot is also on my Wattpad (same username) so show some love there too if you’d like! Ok bye~ 💛

#wanda x you #wanda x reader #scarlet witch #wanda maximoff imagine #wanda maximoff #elizabeth olsen #elizabeth olsen x reader #elizabeth olsen x you #wanda maximoff x reader #scarlet witch x reader

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