He woke up just before noon with a headache and a dry mouth. His pillow was damp and he was slightly disturbed but mostly relieved to find it was from sweat. He was back in his hotel room and as he slowly rose, and the headache worsened, fragments of the evening were fleeting through his semi-consciousness.

Shots! At some point, he'd found himself drinking shots of Jägermeister. Like an idiot 20 year old who'd just discovered alcohol, he thought with a bit of regret, but a smile still formed on his face.

He reached for his phone. It was dead - he'd forgotten to plug it in. Actually, head couldn't remember with certainty how he'd gotten back. He'd never have cycled in that state. Would he have? No. Definitely not. He felt a flush of embarrassment. Couldn't have. No matter what had happened last night, he'd never be so careless.

He plugged in his phone and headed for the shower. As he washed, more fragments floated back to him. It had actually been a great night; no drama, lots of laughs, a bit of partying. They may have had more mushrooms and definitely took a couple of toke breaks.

He quickly brushed his teeth and allowed himself to air-dry while he turned on his phone. They'd added him to a group chat they had going in an app he'd never heard of, called Signal. No new messages today, but a couple of blurry selfies of the group from last night. That smile returned.

#microfiction #fiction #tootfic #flashfiction #amsterdam #bar #Europe #mushrooms

https://askdna.coffee/pr11

He'd never tried mushrooms before. It just hadn't come up - though he couldn't help thinking there's no way he would have done this before.

They biked to the venue, of course. When he said what he had planned, everyone went along with it so easily. What a stroke of luck to meet such lovely people, he thought. Somewhere along the way, he realized he couldn't trust his senses anymore. Things he knew to be far away seemed to be so large and up close while things right in front of him were so small and far away. He only had to pull over and be sick once, and he didn't feel too bad about missing the canal because Matty did the exact same thing, moments before.

When they arrived at Tolhuistuin, they were wired and weird; all smiles and silliness. He could have died happy that night.

#microfiction #fiction #tootfic #flashfiction #amsterdam #bar #Europe #mushrooms

https://askdna.coffee/pr10

The other two were lovers. They were young but didn't carry themselves with that annoying puppy love. They acted like a couple who had been together a long while, sharing a secret language of barely noticeable glances and gestures. Old souls, he supposed. Jan hadn't left Berlin until he was in his twenties - odd for a European with inexpensive access to half a dozen nearby countries. He'd finally left to go to Australia a couple years back and met Jen. She was a veteran traveller who'd backpacked through Europe, frequented Taipei, spent a while tending bar in Shinjuku, volunteered in Benin, toured Brazil, hiked through Chile, and had a functional understanding of something like eight languages. They'd fallen hopelessly for each other.

Nothing about Nat seemed to him to be cool enough to be included but when he was seated at the table next to them at the pub, he quickly found himself drawn into their conversation.

Jan was an absolute riot; one of those naturally funny people with a disarming charisma. He and Matty never stopped talking. It wasn't until they'd left the pub and shared in a handful of mushrooms Jen had produced from a fanny pack that he remembered he was supposed to go to a concert.

#microfiction #fiction #tootfic #flashfiction #amsterdam #bar #Europe #mushrooms

https://askdna.coffee/pr9

While grabbing a quick supper before the show, he'd met some other travellers: two more Canadians, one Australian, and a German. They were a bit loud but very friendly. the brothers, from somewhere on Vancouver Island, had been travelling for the last six months. Matty was tall, bright, and energetic, with shoulder-length, light-brown hair, a neatly-trimmed beard, and a fairly muscular build. Justin was just as tall, a bit less toned, quieter, shorter hair, glasses, and had a bit of unshaven scruff. They'd come from Norway, hiked and hitched through Denmark, then Germany - where they'd met the other two - and now here they were. It sounded like the four of them had been partying for weeks. It made him feel his age, but they were so warm and inviting, he couldn't help but like them.

#microfiction #fiction #tootfic #flashfiction #amsterdam #bar #Europe

https://askdna.coffee/pr8

Now that he'd been there a few days, he was starting to pick some favourites; routes, restaurants, cafés, *cafés*. The weed wasn't as good in Amsterdam as he'd expected but the vibe in some of these places was so nice it made him wonder if he could stay in town forever.

He'd amassed more records than he'd been aiming for. He also developed a new affinity for 45s. There were so many artists he'd never heard of releasing material a 7-inch at a time. He flinched when the post office had told him the cost to send everything home but that was just because he was cheap. He could easily afford it.

Throughout his time there he'd stopped to appreciate a few street performers, but still hadn't seen a proper show. As he passed a bulletin board, he decided it was time to change that. After a cursory glance online at some of the listed acts, he picked Ari Abdul at a place called Tolhuistuin. He'd never heard of either but the venue looked cool online and Abdul seemed like the right vibe for a Friday night.

#microfiction #fiction #tootfic #flashfiction #records #vinyl #amsterdam #cafe #ariabdul #tolhuistuin

https://askdna.coffee/pr7

He couldn't help but feel light. It was the first time he'd truly been happy in weeks. Maybe months.

His rental bike had a strategically huge basket on the front. He leaned the records upright inside and tried to place the cable lock in the basket in such a way that it would prop the LPs up. It didn't really work. He re-secured his headphones and found one of his earliest faves from Bandcamp: Ablutophobia EP by Sheep, Dog & Wolf - a curious and creative one-man multi-instrument project.

He managed to hit three other shops that day: Zap, Red Light, and Platypus. Each had their own charm and character, complimented by the interesting buildings they occupied. He was surprised how long a place could be, while being so narrow.

Along his route, he would occasionally pull out his phone and snap a picture. The architecture fascinated him, and there were photogenic people everywhere.

In many ways it was so like home, but he couldn't get over the number of bicycles. He'd never been that into cycling, but now he couldn't stop snapping little arty cell phone pics of wheels and baskets. He'd never been that into photography either. Maybe it was time to start up a Pixelfed account.

#microfiction #fiction #tootfic #flashfiction #records #vinyl #records #sheepdogandwolf #bicycle #amsterdam #pixelfed #photography

https://askdna.coffee/pr6

It took all the willpower he had, but he avoided picking up incredible albums he'd always wanted like Mingus' The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady and Tom Waits' Heartattack and Vine in favour of something that surprised him.

He'd chatted a bit with the store employee and ended up with a small pile of recommendations he'd heard little or nothing of before. There was some funk and hip hop, a couple electronic selections. All good, but when he heard the first few seconds of Promises by Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra, his eyes widened.

A simple, repeated idea. Lightness. The the saxophone.

The whole world stopped. He just stood there, motionless, afraid that if he were to move, even slightly, he'd wake up back in his Mile End apartment.

He'd never felt so alone.

Something stirred in him so deeply it was as if everything around him was simply carried off on the wind of the Pharoah. It didn't really exist. This sound was all there ever was.

The track hadn't actually ended, or maybe it just flowed seamlessly into the next, but he came to his senses and removed the headphones. The world came rushing back to him. NWA was now playing in the store. This was exactly what he'd come here for.

When he checked out, he picked up Mingus and Waits anyway.

#microfiction #fiction #tootfic #flashfiction #records #vinyl #records #pharoahsanders #floatingpoints

https://askdna.coffee/pr5

He'd spotted a few individuals wearing headphones while cycling, and no one seemed to concern themselves with helmets here. It wasn't much different from Bixi Bikes back home, but it still made him a bit nervous. When he set out the next morning, he thought, "Fuck it!" He made a quick playlist on Bandcamp, grabbed his new wireless cans and headed out.

The city was so vibrant in the daytime. There were people everywhere. He'd slept in. It was shortly after 9 in the morning and it was a weekday, so he kind of expected things to be a little quieter. Still, he found a nice spot for breakfast and some prime people-watching.

He wasted little time with his meal, downed a quick cup of coffee, hopped on his rental bike, and headed to the first of several shops: Waxwell Records.

He locked his bike at the nearby canal, among hundreds of others, and headed to Maxwell. The staff greeted him warmly and he nodded politely, removing his headphones. They were playing Aretha Franklin. Online reviews had promised a great selection of jazz, soul and hip hop. He felt right at home as he dug into the new releases section.

#microfiction #fiction #tootfic #flashfiction #amsterdam #cycling #bicycle #records #vinyl

https://askdna.coffee/pr4

He couldn't remember the last time he'd been on a bicycle, but he was determined to experience Amsterdam properly. He dropped off his luggage at an inexpensive hotel he'd found while on layover, and hit a nearby rental shop.

He picked up a 3-speed from a place aptly named Black Bikes. It was already afternoon, so he figured he should sneak in a bit of sightseeing while his adrenaline was still winning over the jet lag. He pinned his hotel on a map app and set out in no particular direction. For a weekday afternoon, the bike lanes seemed furiously busy and were more than a little intimidating.

There was a list of record stores to hit while in town. If he would happened to have found one on the first night, so be it.

That night, he laid awake in his hotel bed, legs on fire and back aching more than usual, plotting out the best routes to hit as many shops as possible. He had no intention of impulse-buying everything that caught his eye. He just wanted to dig and find some gems.

Tomorrow was going to be a great day.

#microfiction #fiction #tootfic #flashfiction #amsterdam #cycling #bicycle #records #vinyl

https://askdna.coffee/pr3

He spent a good portion of the flight second-guessing himself: What the hell was he doing? He'd never been overseas. He'd never even been to Halifax.

He'd purchased noise-cancelling headphones from a vending machine in the airport. They were overpriced, but that wasn't really a problem now. Besides, they were worth every penny. Having worked in offices for the majority of his adult life, he'd always had headphones or earbuds of some kind, but only now that he'd spent 12 hours locked in a flying can, one row in front of two young, rowdy brothers, did he realize the value of active noise-cancellation. At least they weren't chair-kickers.

When he transferred flights in Zürich, he rearranged his carry-on to accommodate the bulky cans.

#microfiction #fiction #tootfic #flashfiction

https://askdna.coffee/pr2