Tickled Tales: Laughter at Every Turn

It was a normal Tuesday morning in a local coffee shop named "Java Nirvana." Tim would always get there and settle into his familiar spot near the window by the time this creature of habit and caffeine sat down with a laptop, headphones, and his giant cappuccino, geared up to tackle the inbox.Across the room was new barista Lisa, having her first day on the job. A sharply enthusiastic but endearingly clumsy as a baby giraffe on roller skates type of girl, she had already dropped two cups, spilled an entire sugar dispenser, and had mistakenly served a chai latte to a customer who specifically said "anything but chai." The manager, a man named Greg who seemed to be always under pressure, was beginning to manifest some kind of nervous twitch.Just when Tim was about to enjoy his first glory sip of caffeinated bliss, getting ready to suck it all down, here came Lisa, approaching him with a tray of drinks headed for the table beside him. The tray wobbled like a toddler on a pogo stick. Tim froze; disaster was imminently imminent.Boom, and there it was: a beautifully balletic lofting cup taken on the dance floor of the air and driven like a heat-seeking missile onto Tim's laptop."NOOOOOO!" Tim screamed, as if trying to pierce the world through his tragic opera voice, making everything hush.I am mortified! Sorry! I'll fix this! stumbled Lisa, rushing to absorb everything with a napkin, dab-dab-dabbing at the keyboard. The laptop was starting to froth like a cappuccino and hissed ominously in a series of beeps."It's all right," Tim lied behind a mask of almost bursting with rage. "Not like my whole life was on there or anything."Lisa, with the hopes of making things better between them, offered Tim a free replacement coffee. She marched to the espresso machine but accidentally pressed the wrong button. The machine hissed and sputtered before blasting out a geyser of scalding milk foam that nearly covered Lisa but hit Greg straight in the chest.Greg stood there like a deer caught in headlights, dripping, mouth open wide and looking like an extra from a disaster movie. "Lisa," he said slowly, "please...just go take a break."On the other hand, Tim's laptop had given up on him, with its screen displaying what looked suspiciously like a sad face emoji. To save everything that was going to go wrong, Lisa turned up again, laden with a tray of pastries. "Here! On the house!" she beamed.Just then, at Tim's reach toward the croissant, a small child from the next table found it the best time to practice his ninja skills. With a high-pitched battle cry, he leaped on the table, making the croissants fly, besides Tim's dignity.Loud laughters filled the whole café. Not even Tim, who was now covered in crumbs and coffee stains, could help but giggle. "You know what?" he says as he wipes his face. "I think I'll just stick to tea from now on."