NEON

How I met NEON

It was carnival. I had gone out alone because all my friends were busy or sick, and I thought if I stayed home I'd regret it. I put on a cheap eye mask I'd bought at a corner store and went to some random bar, ready for a couple of drinks and to head home.

At the bar, next to me, there was a guy in a cat costume. But not a makeshift one. Full body suit, mask, gloves, tail, everything. We started talking by chance, one of those conversations that begin with "waiting for someone?" and end up lasting hours. The guy was hilarious. He talked fast, jumped between topics, knew genuinely weird things, and had a sarcastic answer for everything.

We ended up hitting five bars together that night. We laughed, drank, met people, and at no point did he take off the mask. I thought it was part of his bit. The guy who doesn't break character.

When dawn was breaking, we walked out of the last place. We were both leaning against a wall, heads spinning, laughing at nothing. I took off my mask to say goodbye properly. I told him:

"Come on, take yours off too. After a whole night you owe me at least a look at your face."

"This IS my face, bro."

I laughed. Waited. He didn't take it off. I insisted a couple of times, half-joking. In the end I walked over and gently pushed the mask to pull it down. There was no mask. His eyes were blinking. His mouth moved when he spoke. His fur was real.

I stood there staring at him, not knowing what to say. He shrugged and ordered another beer, like nothing. That was the weirdest and funniest night of my life. I wasn't sure how much was the alcohol and how much was real. But before I went to sleep, and before I sobered up and started doubting it, I offered him a job. I knew if I slept on it I'd back out.

He accepted without asking the salary. He said it was enough for him that someone let him talk. That all his life people told him to shut up, and a place where he could talk without anyone shushing him sounded like paradise.

Now he's at FaceWTF. He talks. A lot. And he knows genuinely weird things.