A Costume Conundrum

Mission:

Oda arose the next morning with leaves and twigs still sticking out of various places in his uniform. He arose, quickly washing his mouth out with some mouthwash and grabbing a piece of toast. He was tired today, but he took some time on the edge of his entry way to stop and breathe. Hallows eve was a fun time as much as it was a spooky time, and he needed to bring 110% today for this kid.

He thought back to his own missed opportunities at celebration. His parents often enlisted him to help set up decorations or advertise, and so he never had the chance to really fully enjoy this holiday. He gave a big sigh at the thought of those hard years, missing out on his childhood, fighting for scraps. Maybe it was the eerie mist that spread through the town, looming over Oda as he walked along the path, but he couldn’t shake those thoughts of his past for some time.

By the time he reached the house from the night before, Oda had meditated and quieted those thoughts for now, and he was clear and present in the moment with nothing but a determination to succeed at the mission. He gave one final bite on his now cold and burnt toast, wiped his hands of any crumbs, and knocked on the door.

The door quickly opened to a cacophony of cries and noise. The young child was clearly having some sort of meltdown. One parent was hurriedly putting on his work clothes and the other was answering the door while some food cooked in the kitchen, almost beginning to burn.

“Yes! Oh Oda- sorry- hun can you move that- Yush-Yushi!” The mother was clearly being beset on all sides by tasks and responsibilities, so Oda remained quiet while the chaos ensued. The husband approached, now fully dressed and looking rushed, he gave his wife a quick peck on the cheek before squeezing by her and saying “I’ve gotta go, love you” As he walked by Oda he gave him a quick handshake “Thanks again for your help Oda” Oda only had time to simply nod before the man was off to work.

With the child reigned in now and standing next to his mother, the chaos of the household had subsided a bit. The child stood next to his mother, face red from crying. The mother finally composed herself again and spoke “This was going to be a pretty straightforward task for you at first,but-”

The child interjected in a burst of emotion “My costuuuuuume” He held up a costume splattered in juice stains.

“-yes honey shh it's ok.” The mother consoled her son before returning to what she was saying “Our son's costume got a little damaged, so now instead of just getting some accessories for the costume, I need you to help him pick a whole new one out.” She gave a slightly embarrassed and pensive look, as if she was asking a lot. After seeing the child's pickiness with pumpkins, Oda understood why.
No matter how picky he was, he deserved a good hallows eve, thought Oda. He beamed a big smile at the mom first “Not a problem ma’am!” He looked down to the kid and lowered himself to eye level with him, the kid sniffled and was continuing to cry albeit less so than when Oda arrived.

“I’m somewhat of an expert at costumes, when I was a kid me and my family would always win our village's costume contests!” He lied.

The lie had its intended effect, and the kid lit up with competitive zeal, “Really?!” they said.

“Yeah really!” he replied, the kid got a big grin on his face and a determined look that was all too familiar to Oda.


“Oh shoot!” The mom said suddenly as the smell of burnt food wafted through the house. As she turned back to go to the kitchen she gave her son a hug and told Oda when they should be back. Oda nodded and he and the kid left to go to the market for costumes.

The market was bustling with holiday festivities and it took some focus for Oda to not lose the kid in the fray as he would excitedly run to a store or look at some costumes at a street vendor. The kid lived up to his reputation, and costume after costume wasn’t good enough. The ghost costume was too basic, the fishermans costume didn’t have enough metal for some reason, the samurai's armor was the wrong color. This went on for a couple hours, and Oda fought to remain cheery and positive. The kid, none the wiser, was having a blast. Ultimately, that’s all that really mattered to Oda anyways.

Their big break came in the form of a halloween game, with the first prize being an incredibly made costume of a Dragon, with a long tail that articulated on hinges made of finely crafted wood. The costume was designed for an adult, but the kid was relentless, insisting on that one being the one. Oda locked in, it was time to win a prize.

The game was deceptively simple, using a very light ball made of some kind of bamboo, the person had to throw the ball at the bats and attempt to knock them off their strings. There were 8 bats, and first prize required hitting 6 of them off. How hard could this really be? Oda thought to himself, he threw the first ball and frowned, he thought he threw it hard enough but on contact with the bat it barely moved the thing. The bat wobbled and moved from side to side, mocking Oda. That's when he realized why the super light bamboo ball would be a problem, it simply didn’t have the inertia to move anything around.

Oda took the next ball and focused, if force was simply Mass times Acceleration, then he would simply have to increase the acceleration. He threw the ball as hard as he thought he could, spinning around from the momentum. Complete miss. He was down to 5 Bamboo balls and 0 misses left. Focus up Oda He thought to himself.
Maybe the trick wasn’t necessarily how hard he threw it, but the sort of spin? He thought as he looked at the ball and the bats, thinking of how to approach his next throw. He decided on his approach, and wound the ball up, throwing it with powerful force but now he twisted his hand at the last second of his throw. The ball went spinning, hitting the bat with force and knocking it off the string. He and the kid cheered and Oda excitedly grabbed the next ball, “Kid, get ready to be a dragon for hallows eve” The kid cheered in response.

Oda knocked on the door to the house, this time it was much more tranquil as the mother opened the door. That tranquility ended with Yushi running through the door, donning his hard earned Dragon costume and roaring.

Oda gave a sheepish laugh and a grin “Eh…sorry, it's the only thing he wanted” Yushis mother gave him an understanding look and nodded “Thank You so much for your help today Oda.” She paused before closing the door “Oda, I’m sorry to ask so much of you, but would you mind taking Yushi trick or treating tomorrow?” Oda gave a smile “Of course ma’am! I’m here to serve the village!”

With that, he made his way back home, meandering through the busy market as the festivities continued in full force well into the night.

[Exit]

WC: 1275

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