Songs, Coffee and Visions
The rain was pouring in Monstropolis one summer's day, but that didn't stop the monsters that lived in the city from getting to where they needed to be, including a certain one.
From a distance, this particular monster didn't look out of the ordinary, it just looked like any other reptile monster, but different. This monster was a female, with dark purple skin, except for her underbelly, which was a lavender colour. She had three fronds on her head and a very cat like tail. She had gecko like fingers, but she had retractable claws on her feet. Her striking blue eyes made her look very mysterious and beautiful, to the average monster.
She walked in a hurry to her new job, trying her hardest not to get too soaked. She was starting as a new Scarer at Monsters Incorporated, a job she's wanted since she was a kid. She made her way across the large parking lot and into the building. She shook out her rain coat at the door before proceeding inside. She was amazed to see how big and how clean the building was. She was so distracted in fact, that she didn't notice the janitor's pail in front of her, until she bumped it, knocking over its contents.
"Oh my, I'm so sorry!"
The janitor, a tall, brownish teenager, stopped mopping the floor and apologized instead.
"I'm sorry," he said in a loud and squeaky voice, "I should been paying more attention. Say, your new here aren't you?"
"Uh...yes?"
"Well," he said in a much lower voice as moved his hat to the side and looked at her, "I'm Needleman, and you are-?"
"Hey, are you done moping the floors yet? Cause we gotta get done to the scare floor," another teenager asked. This one was small, green and bared a strong resemblance to a slug.
"Smitty, can't you see I'm talking to someone!" Needleman yelled as he pointed in the new girl's direction. When he looked back however, she had disappeared. While he looked for her, she had reappeared at the front desk and was trying to get the receptionists attention. When she did notice her, she asked,
"You're the new girl aren't you? Miss Audrey Birman, right?"
"That's correct. Can you tell me where the new Scarers go for training?"
"Sure, it's down the hall, take your second left and it's the second door on your right."
"Thanks."
Audrey scurried across the lobby, making sure that Needleman didn't see her. She managed get down the hall and she found her turn easily. After a few minutes, she made it to the training room before it closed on her.
'~*~'
Randall Boggs was having a very bad day. Not only did the lack of sleep and rain annoy him, he wasn't able to drink his morning coffee, making him more irritable than usual. He stormed into the main lobby and headed straight to men's locker room. He didn't want to deal with anyone at the moment, not even Fungus. He went into the locker room, made his way to his locker and slammed it open.
His locker contained very few objects. In it, were a set of keys, some spare change and several dust bunnies. Randall managed to shove his jacket into the small space before he shut the locker door.
"Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the nest this morning."
Randall cringed before muttering, "Wazowksi."
"What's the matter Randall? Your morning helping of flies not crunchy enough?"
"Can your accusations be anymore lamer? For one, I don't sleep in a nest, nor do I eat flies for breakfast."
"Whatever, see you on the Scare floor, and prepare to get your butt whooped."
Randall heaved a heavy sigh when Mike left. They had been enemies since grade school and ever since James P. Sullivan had become a Scarer, who was ranking high on the score board, Mike had become more unbearable. Fungus yelled from the door that there was a two minute warning to shift. Randall groaned as he made his way to the door, not willing to work at all that day
'~*~'
Audrey had been listening closely to her instructor's lesson. It was near the end of the day and they were almost ready to show their stuff in the simulator. The instructor, Miss Flint, was a tall snake monster with fins on her eyes. She called the first monster up He was a small, orange, fuzzy monster with huge antennas. He got as far as closing the door behind him before he saw the sleeping kid and ran screaming from the room. The second monster was a tall, skinny, blue monster with large teeth, which were so big he couldn't properly close his mouth. He did fairly well, though when he did get close enough to the kid; his roar sounded more like a high pitched squeal. The third monster was a dark green slug creature that screamed and curled into a ball when the kid screamed.
The instructor was getting very annoyed and frustrated with them so she simply motioned for Audrey to go. Audrey moved to the door and took several breaths before blending into her surroundings. The trainee's gasped at the illusion of her 'disappearing'. She snuck into the room, making sure the door closed behind her. She walked slowly to the bed and hid fairly close, but not too close. She made a hissing noise to wake the child. When he looked in her direction, she reappeared and let out a terrifying roar. Not only was the kid scared, but so were the trainee's who ran out of the room screaming.
The wall was elevated and the instructor was applauding Audrey.
"Good job, Miss Birman! One of the best performances I've seen in years!"
"Thank you," Audrey replied politely.
"Yes, it was a very impressive performance."
Audrey looked to see Mr. Waternoose was standing at the door, with a huge smile on his face."That was a perfect scare, and from a beginner on her first day."
"Thank you, sir."
"We could use a Scarer like you. How would you feel about becoming a full time Scarer?"
"Really? Well, yes I would like that very much."
"Great! You can start tomorrow then, if you don't mind."
"No, it's fine with me."
"Splendid, I'll see you tomorrow to show you to your floor."
Mr Waternoose left while Miss Flint congratulated Audrey on her achievement. She dismissed her, than told Audrey to go to another desk to get her I.D. Audrey stopped in the ladies locker room to get her coat before heading to the desk, where she met an unpleasant looking slug named Roz.
"Here you go one I.D. badge and your set of keys. Your locker number is number 71 and the combination is on the back of lock, so make sure to peel away the sticker. Your assistant will be introduced to you tomorrow. By the way, your being assigned to Scare floor F for the time being. Understood?"
"Crystal," Audrey answered as she gathered her things. She left and made her way to the lobby. By then, a lot of employees had gone home, which left the place practically empty. She made sure that Needleman wasn't there before she walked to the doors. It was still raining outside, so Audrey reached for her coat, but she didn't have it.
"Oh shoot, I must have left it back at Roz's desk."
Audrey scurried back to the desk and was about to make her way around the corner, when she ran head on into someone. She fell to the ground with a thud, causing her to turn blue and gray. She looked up to see another reptile like her. This one was blue and purple with four legs and four arms. He only had three fronds on his head and no talons or a cat like tail.
"Hey, watch where you're going next time, stupid oh..."
"Hey, didn't you mother ever teach you not to call a girl stupid?" Audrey asked irritably as she got up, "And to watch where you're going?"
"Uh yea... um..."
"What's the matter? Never seen a girl before? Now can you please move to the side, I need to get my jacket from Roz."
"Oh, you mean this?" Randall asked as he held out her jacket.
"Yes, did she give it to you?"
"Mhmm, she said that you might be back for it and since I'm heading out anyway..."
"I get it. Thank you," she thanked him as she took her jacket and put it on.
"You ah...are walking home?" He asked.
"Yes, are you?"
"Yep. Where do you live?"
"I just moved into the Golden Lily apartment complex a couple blocks from here."
"Well I live in the same area, so...wanna walk together?"
"I don't even know you," Audrey said as she began to walk towards the lobby.
"Well, my names Randall Boggs. What's yours?" He asked as he followed her.
Audrey gave him a look before replying, "Audrey, Audrey Birman."
"I see. Now we know each other."
"I still don't know you. Besides, I'm going to visit a friend who lives in the other direction," she told him as she went to open the front doors.
"I thought you just moved here?"
"I did. She's just lived here longer than I have."
"Oh... well... some other time then?"
"Maybe," Audrey replied as she walked in the other direction towards her friends place, with a slight grin on her face.
Chapter 1 of many! I'm actually excited to do this, since I'm taking a break from the usual stories I've been doing. The title? I know it sucks, but until I can think of anything better, it says. Please R&R!