march 24, 2021

rodt had just finished re-stocking the shelves with fukst 
packets. fukst, the sweet, black powder that goes 
particularly good in desserts and candy. with a scent like 
maple mixed with molassis, and a taste similar to melted 
honey, but it had a bit of a tang to it, almost like fresh 
pine. fukst was delightfully easy to detect.

on his way home, rodt heard someone call his name; it was 
tin. a child with long, red hair and bright, black eyes.

"rodt! how was the store today!"

"good, thank you!"

"did you sell lots of stuff? how's the painting going? do 
you have any extra scarves? i think i'd look cool in a 
scarf!"

"no. good. yes, i'll give you one tomorrow"

they walked a few meters. rodt appreciated the slightly 
speedy conversation, but he knew why tin was here: tin had 
taken a particular interest in his fairytales.

"hey kid, do you want a soda?"

"oh, yes!"

"excellent!", rodt took two coins out of his pocket and 
stopped at a vending machine to buy two cans of "kierall", a 
popular lemon-strawberry soda. he gave one to tin, cracked 
the other open, and tried his best to put on his 
"mysterious" voice.

"tin, have you ever heard of 'the singing machines'?"

"like... a stereo?", tin asked.

"haha! not quite. they say that if you finish a can of soda 
and go out to the field during the evening, when the sun is 
at its hardest, if you put the empty can on the ground and 
listen closely, you'll hear the machines under the ground 
singing to each other. if you're really lucky, the machines 
will notice you, and sing you a song that will answer all 
your questions."

"that's not true!" tin replied.

"of course it's not. none of my stories are, but that 
doesn't mean they aren't real!"

after some awkward silence and an awkward goodbye, rodt went 
home and slept.

...

the next morning, rodt took the scenic route to his store. 
he passed by the park so that he could see the lonely, 
empty can of kierall on the ground.

rodt wondered if the machines had sung to tin.