It all started with a microwave. A single larger than usual, cherry red microwave that my dear mother won from a party she went to as a door prize. And that silly insignificant microwave has royally screwed my life over with a hammer.
At first it was one of the crappiest microwaves I have ever used; first of all it took 15 minutes just to warm up lukewarm leftovers, and if the food was frozen well… it was best to not to even eat it and let it get freezer-burned and eventually throw it out. I can tell you this because; it takes more than 45 minutes to warm up, and by then you are sick of even waiting.
Our old microwave worked perfectly, a bit clunky and needed a rack to warm something up properly. It still worked. So, I used it and ignored the new one.
I tried to tell my mother how crappy the new microwave was but, she's as stubborn as I was if not more and she likes free stuff. She doesn't even mind that it takes forever to warm up food. I refused to use the microwave, even if it meant eternal grounding. I still used the old microwave, even faced with the threat.
So, here's where the problem begins.
It happened on a very rainy Sunday, I had woken up in late afternoon after a long all-nighter. My hair was a mess, and the dark circles under my eyes were extra noticeable.
"My head… Ugh. Why did I think it was a good idea to stay up all night pigging out on junk food and watching anime? I have school tomorrow and I have to catch the bus at 6 a.m. I am so screwed." I mutter clutching my head tightly.
My slippers scuffed against the tiled floor. I was starving, which added to my migraine. Sleep does weird things to my brain, so I forgot that the new microwave was crap, and got a pancake on a stick prepared to get nuked.
I opened the door, and gently set it down a plate inside. Pressed in the time and let the microwave do its thing. Soft whirring sounds came from inside. Resting my head on the counter, I wait until my food is done. My eyelids start to droop; the whirring was starting to lull me to sleep. I snap out of it after the first beep and open the door.
This is when the bizarre stuff happened.
My plate was gone. Like it never even existed in the first place, I rubbed my eyes and looked again. It was gone.
By this time, I was really confused. 'How could the plate be gone? I swear I put it inside! I even heard the buttons beep!' I thought aggravated.
So I did what I thought was a good idea at the time. Stick my hand inside the microwave. I scrounged inside; the cavity inside was larger than I thought it was.
"Huh? Weird…" I grumble with awe.
I reached farther in and felt something and, by then I was getting really pissed off. So I searched around faster. Shifting my hand around I touched something, it was hard and cold. Tugging at it was futile, it was attached to something.
"The hell…? Where in God's name is my damn plate!" I yelled while my poor stomach tried to cannibalize itself.
Pulling and pulling as hard as I could, was tiring my muscles out. My energy was just enough to make one last pull, I hadn't eaten and my head was starting to kill me. Digging my feet into the ground as best I could, I yanked it with all the strength I could. Then, I heard a loud rip, like from fabric.
Thinking I had my plate I pulled back until… something grabbed my wrist. So, I screamed bloody murder.
"LET GO!" I screeched. Yanking back my wrist as hard as I could, I felt that tears were running down my face. Wiggling and pulling my body back, the grip of something held me fast.
"PLEASE LET GO! I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING!" I choked out; my tears were making my breathing more and more rapid.
I then remembered the self-defense class they taught us in elementary school. The memory itself was quite fuzzy but, I remembered the technique to get out of someone's grip on your wrist.
Twisting my wrist so that my palm was face up, I clenched my fist and yanked my wrist toward myself. The grip let me go and I fell back into the cabinets. Slamming the door shut, I pressed the clear button.
"H-Holy Shit, oh God. What just happened? What the fuck!" I stammered. My brain was quickly going through each thought. What just happened? What or who grabbed my wrist? Why were they in my microwave? Where the hell is my food? Damn it, I'm hungry!
Remembering, I had something in my hand, ignoring the finger like bruises on my wrist. Quietly, I opened my hand. What was clasped inside freaked me out.
Running as fast as I could to the phone in the Living Room, my fingers flew over the buttons. The phone rang, drumming my fingers quickly over the dining table.
"Hello?"
"L-Lin? Are you there?"
"Roni, what's wrong? You sound scared. Did something happen?"
Lin's words were soothing, my fears were calmed gently. I took a calm deep breath and spoke.
"Something grabbed my hand when I went to get food from the new microwave. From inside of it, and my plate was gone! And… and…"
"Roni, are you sure you weren't imagining it, were you half asleep or something?"
"No! It really happened! I swear it. I have a fucking State Alchemist's Pocket Watch IN MY HANDS."
"You could have just got it off of EBay, you know that right? Why should I believe you?"
"I'm telling the truth! It's a real one! I even have a scrap of fabric from the uniform it was attached to!"
"Roni, listen you sound crazy right now."
"SHUT UP! I know I do! Listen, I'm bringing the microwave to Anime Club tomorrow! I'll show you!"
"Wait! How are you bringing a microwave to sch-"
I quickly hung up the phone, annoyed by Lin's realistic output. The watch in my hand was proof! It happened! I wasn't crazy!
The next day, I had the microwave packed on the bus, I felt jittery. My anxiety was high; I had to prove I was right! I had to!
My classes passed quickly, I was impatiently waiting for club. My determination and stubbornness both propelled me and held me back. My bruise, the pocket watch and fabric, and the microwave itself were proof!
At club, I quickly set up the microwave in front of the projector.
"Oh Jesus, Roni your seriously doing this?" Lin groaned facepalming loudly.
I glared at her, I was determined.
Everyone shuffled in and took their seat.
"Roni, what's with the microwave?" Cat asked.
"I'm going to show you guys something." I grin. I then whipped out the pocket watch.
Many people, started to talk. 'Why would they be amazed by this? It's just a pocket watch!' I think to myself with a bit of disbelief.
"This microwave is magic." I laugh.
I could feel the stares of 'WTF' and hear the crickets chirping. The awkwardness was quite, intolerable. My eyes shifted around. No one kept my eye contact.
"Watch this!" I called out.
I set the microwave to 1 second. It whirred for a moment, beeped once and then I opened it.
The inside was empty, it looked entirely innocent. Like it had done absolutely nothing to me in the first place, I growled angrily. Many rude snickers were made behind me. I wasn't about to look like an idiot in front of my friends.
I started to wrack my brain trying to think what I did before I started to cook.
"That's it! I was talking about the bus and how I was going to get up at 6 in the morning! So 6 a.m. is 0600 in military time! So, 0600!" I gasp with realization.
More snickers behind me. Whoever it was, was being a totally being a douche. Tears of frustration wet my eyes.
"Hey, douche bags, Roni is trying to tell us something. So shut the fuck up and listen!" Lin shouted furiously.
Cat sealed the deal with smacking both Jeremy and Adam on the back of the heads.
I set the time, heard the first beep and opened it. Hesitating, I stuck my hand in, get pushing, I felt nothing but the air around me. Relaxing, I kept going, gasps around me made me notice; my arm was in up to my shoulder.
"Hey I bet I can fit my whole body in here!" I giggle like an idiot.
I take out my arm and crawl inside head first; it was like a long, white hallway inside, with a tiny area to crawl through to get inside. Crawling on my stomach I went inside, just up to my waist, with my purse dragging behind me.
I hear chairs being pushed out, and I feel shocked stares. Footsteps slowly coming toward me, I stop crawling. Staying still, I strain my ears to hear anything suspicious.
"Let's push her inside" I hear Jeremy whisper behind me.
Panic over takes me, I start to flail about. I feel strong hands on each leg. They started to push me through, hard.
"Hey, stop it! STOP! What are you doing? Let me go!" I start to panic. Thrashing about won't help me, and they get me past the opening. I hear the door closing, and a button being pressed. Somewhere in my head, I knew they were pressing clear.
They were trying to erase me. They were trying to KILL me. I bet they thought it was a joke right?
Wrong.
I started to fall, down into blackness. It was swallowing me; I couldn't decide whether I was dead or dying. My surroundings, was black, and far in the distance was a little white light. Was it heaven or hell?
Air rushed to me, cushioning my fall. Descending into the light, my feet first, the wind rushing up past me. Thanking myself for not wearing a skirt today, I laugh dryly.
I looked more carefully at the light; it looked like a… shopping mall? Color rushes back to me, and my pupils ache from the newfound brightness.
My brain clicks into place and I gasp in horror.
What I saw, was a fictional place. From a video game, no that was impossible! It couldn't be real!
I tumble out into the new world, my eyes widen. It was happening. This was real, and I was terrified. I had all of my belongings on my person but, that wasn't what scared me. Far from it, farther than you can think.
I was in Junes, from Persona 4, right in front of the TV that held the Midnight Channel
"Oh my god, what the hell is happening?"
