Write a short story that includes a locket containing a mysterious photo, a sudden thunderstorm that disrupts an important event, and a character who has a pet parrot that repeats everything they say; the story should be around 300 words in length.
Alone, Nick was playing Zelda in his Lakewood apartment. Except, he was not actually alone: his parrot, Natalie, was by his side and looking toward the screen with him. “I cannot believe I paid seventy dollars for this game,” Nick said with an immediate echo of what he just said coming from Natalie. Outside the window, a gloomy overcast created the perfect cozy environment for the two to hang out and relax.

Just as Nick went to collect the final Korok Seed during his gaming session, the cozy overcast shifted toward an ominous thunderstorm, and a swift bolt of lightning made contact with the transformer his apartment was connected to. In a flash, everything went dark, including Nick’s TV displaying his recent achievement and the console on which he was playing.

Soon after, the power came back on inside Nick’s apartment, and he was able to resume his gameplay. The first thing he was going to do was screen capture the in-game menu displaying his complete collection of the Korok Seed collectibles, but he was met with a surprise. Not only was his seed counter incomplete, but his entire save file had also been wiped from the console’s memory.

Years later, Nick would have company over for the first time ever, and they would question one of his decorations. Concluding a long and drawn-out story full of alliteration and puns, Nick answered their interest by saying, “Anyway, that’s why I have what you called a mysterious drawing of the Zelda inventory menu in a locket. I collected every Korok Seed before they were taken away from me, and Natalie will back me up.” An echo came from the pet parrot again, although it did little to convince the present guests.