Unexpected Souvenir

Canada Mochi

Your mom had asked you to bring her home a bottle of authentic Canadian maple syrup, but you didn't realize it would be this difficult when you had accepted the task. It's not that you can't find any. Goodness, you had found enough maple syrup to drown half the population of Ottawa in the golden brown liquid. Your trouble is that there's so many different brands of syrup, and then each brand has it's own varieties, to choose from.

You've always been rather indecisive, and coming to Canada has been one of the only things you were really sure you wanted to do. Staying in its capital city, Ottawa, has been an adventure of its own, but this choice is something else all together. You wonder if, perhaps, you're making a bigger issue out of this than is necessary. Then you imagine bringing your mother the wrong kind of syrup, and how upset she'd be, which only reinforces the idea that this decision is important.

You glance back at the shelves full of glass bottles of different sizes. They're neatly lined up, and create a rather intimidating wall of choices that need to be made. You've been in this store for almost an hour, but have yet to make a selection. You gulp and take a tentative step toward the syrup. Maybe it won't be so hard if you get a little bit closer. Your foot brushes up against something on the floor, and you stumble back in surprise.

Unfortunately, you haven't been gifted with coordination to make up for your lack of decision making skills, so you end up falling over onto the floor.

"Ow ow ow," you moan as you rub the back of your head, which hit a moose figurine as you fell over. "What was that?"

Your eyes widen when you see the thing your foot had made contact with. A round, white object with bright blue eyes looks back at you. If you didn't know better, you'd think it's wearing glasses, but they're just lines around the thing's eyes. It also has a long curl that falls past it's face and a cute little bag shaped like a polar bear head.

"I-I'm sorry," it says in one of the quietest voices you've ever heard, which is saying something because you have a fairly quiet voice yourself.

"I-it t-t-talked," you stutter out. "P-please don't hurt-t me! I-I'm sorry I t-touched you! Please d-don't be mad!"

"I won't hurt you," the white object says. "Why would you think that?"

"I-I don't know," you admit. "I thought maybe you'd be mad or something."

"I'm not mad. I'm actually glad that you noticed me. My name is Canada Mochi, and it's very nice to meet you."

"Uh...hi. My names (y/n)," you say softly. "Um...if you don't mind...uh...what are you...exactly?"

"Well, I'm a mochi," Canada Mochi answers.

"I see." You're not really sure what that means. "What are you doing here, Canada Mochi?"

The little mochi's eyes widen. "Oh! That's right! I was here to get some maple syrup."

"Me too," you say in surprise.

"What a coincidence," Canada Mochi says with a smile. You've heard his voice enough to make a fairly confidence guess he's a boy. You're too embarrassed to actually ask him.

"Do you usually buy your syrup here?" you ask him.

"Yes. I come here often because I use a lot," the mochi says with a quiet laugh. "I like to put it on my pancakes."

"I'm trying to pick some to bring back home for my mom, but....um......well, I can't really decide," you admit sheepishly. "I don't know what's good."

Canada Mochi's eyes brighten noticeably. "I can help you with that!" he says excitedly. "I know all about maple syrup!" His voice doesn't actually get much louder, despite his obvious excitement. You find that kind of cute.

You stand up faster than you probably should have, and end up hitting your head on the moose figurine again. This causes Canada Mochi to become worried, but you smile to reassure him that you're alright.

"Don't worry about me. This happens a lot."

The two of you approach the shelves full of syrup, which is something you could hardly do on your own before. Somehow, being with the mochi is making you just a little more confident than usual. You pick up a bottle of syrup very carefully, so you don't knock over the others, and show it to Canada Mochi.

"Is this one good?"

He looks at the label and frowns. "Not unless your mom likes jalapeño flavored syrup."

"Huh?" You read the label of the random bottle you picked. Sure enough, it's jalapeño flavored. "Why do they even make this?"

"It's not bad," the mochi says. "It depends on what you put it on."

"You've tried this?" you ask him incredulously.

"Yes," Canada Mochi replies as he nods. "I've tried just about everything here."

"Wow," you say in awe. "You're a lot braver than me, Canada Mochi."

"You think so?" he asks with wide eyes. A blush creeps up his face.

"It's not that hard to do," you tell him. "I'm not even brave enough to pick which type of syrup I want."

"But you came here, right?"

The mochi's question catches you off guard. You turn to look at him, and he smiles kindly at you. It's one of the most sincere smiles you've ever seen, and you wish you could take a picture of him right here and now.

"You must be brave if you came to Canada all by yourself," he says. "Not everyone can do that."

"I guess so," you mumble. You're still not convinced.

The round mochi moves to sit right next to your foot. "You were afraid of me, but you didn't run away. I think that makes you brave too."

A smile tugs at your lips. It's nice how he keeps trying to cheer you up. "You're not that scary though," you tell him.

"That's true," Canada Mochi says with a quiet laugh.

You reach down to pick the soft mochi up, which causes him to blush again. "Help me pick out some syrup. Then we can go do something else."

"Y-you want to do something...with me?" he asks in surprise. He turns to look at you with wide, blue eyes.

Your brows knit together in confusion. "Yeah. Is...is that a problem?"

"Oh! Ah...no!" the mochi says in a very embarrassed voice. He squirms a bit in your arms. "It's just...people don't usually notice me, so I don't get invited to do things with them."

It makes you sad to think someone as nice as Canada Mochi doesn't get noticed. He's the sweetest person you've ever met. "Well, I notice you, and I'm inviting you to come with me." You smile fondly at him. "You could even come home with me if you wanted."

"R-really? You would let me do that?" He looks at you hopefully.

"I-if you want." You weren't expecting him to take you up on your offer. "Won't you miss it here?"

"Do you have maple syrup where you live?"

"Yes."

"And pancakes?"

"Of course."

"Then I'll be just fine," the mochi says with a big smile. "Let's go do something right now!"

"O-okay!" This situation is like nothing you've ever imagined. First you make a new friend, then he agrees to come home with you. You kind of like all the excitement. "Wait! Before we go..." You grab a bottle of the jalapeño flavored syrup. "Maybe I am a little braver than I thought."