Nobody Home
Usagi woke up to her alarm. She groaned, rolled over, and fell back to sleep. No one came
to wake her.
*****
Davis finished running the track at 9:15. He wondered why his mother hadn't come to tell
him to get to school. He shrugged, and decided he'd just pretend to forget about the time
until his mom came down to yell at him. He'd probably be able to get in a few more laps
before having to go.
His mom never came down to get him.
****
Faded wasn't her real name, it had been long since forgotten, but it worked for her. She
was a small woman-a girl really-who lived alone in a tiny apartment and hid from the world.
Almost invisible to those around her, no one had ever taken much notice of her. That was
the way she wanted it to be, and that was the way she wanted it to stay.
She hardly even noticed when she went downstairs to get a coffee at the vendor in the
street ant there was no one there. She only noticed when she tried to pay, that there was
no one there to take the money.
*****
Ryan was the sort of guy who knew what he wanted. He was a fantastic guitar player in a
popular band, and he planned to play professionally when he grew up. One day, he woke up
at ten in the morning. His parents had already left for work, so he decided to lounge
around at home all day and think of song lyrics. He lay in bed practicing guitar and
singing verses, and at six in the evening he got dressed to pretend he had gone to school.
He waited for his parents to get home from work.
****
Usagi yawned at the clock through blurry eyes. Once her eyes came into focus she realized
the clock read 4:49.
It must be really early in the morning.
Sunlight was shining through the sheer curtains at her window.
Is it the afternoon? Is it Saturday? Hmmmm.
She decided to go downstairs and look for her parents. "Mom?" She called, but the house
appeared to be empty. Usagi shrugged, and guessed it was Saturday, and the family had gone
out. She checked the calendar.
Thursday.
"What?" She said out loud to herself. "What's going on? Where are they? Why didn't they
wake me up?" Usagi got dressed quickly and hurried out the door, worried. She saw cars
stopped in the middle of the road, and doors open, but no people. The whole street was
deserted. She began running toward the Shrine where her friend Rei lived, but as she
passed streets and buildings, she saw absolutely no one. Her stomach began to knot with
worry, and a growing feeling of dread passed through her. She stopped running.
There was no one at the Temple. She knew.
Everyone was gone but her.
There was not one person left.
*****
Ryan began to get worried. He called his mother's office, but the answering machine picked
up. When he called his father's workplace, the same thing happened. He slammed the phone
down on the receiver and swore loudly. He half expected his mother to come into the kitchen
and scold him for his language.
She didn't.
He left his house, and walked down the street. He figured they must have gone out without
telling him. Well, he could do that too. He decided to take the bus to Treadwell's, a
guitar store about fifteen minutes away. His walk to the bus stop was extremely quiet.
There was absolutely no noise. He sprinted the last few metres when he saw the bus had
stopped and seemed to be waiting for him. The door was open, so he climbed in, but there
was no one there to drive the bus. There were no passengers, either.
He stepped down out of the bus, and noticed that there was no one anywhere. He couldn't
see where everybody had gone, but her decided to find out.
The keys were still in the ignition.
*****
Faded wandered around for a while, trying to figure out what she should do. All the people
and the animals had disappeared, and she seemed to be the only one left in the whole city.
The next logical step was to do what? Find people? Cry? Go mad?
Of course not.
The next step was simply to go to the nearest mall and take all the clothes, shoes, and
whatever else she wanted so she could be ready for when all the people came back. Perhaps
she would even find a better place to live.
Then she would find more people.
It was about 11:30, and she was walking to the Kagami Mall. She was slightly
surprised when a bus pulled up beside her and the door opened revealing a boy about her
age. "Need a ride?" He said grinning. She thought for a moment, nodded, and climbed in.
*****
"I'm Davis," he said to the small girl who climbed aboard the bus.
"Faded." She replied.
"My name's Usagi." The pretty blonde sitting across from him had said to the new girl. She
had looked extremely relieved when the bus had pulled up beside her, but this new
girl-Faded-looked only slightly happier.
"So where are we headed?" Faded asked the boy who had introduced himself as Ryan.
"Well, we were headed to the mall."
"Hmmm." She nodded in approval.
"Take a seat." Usagi warned. "He's a bit of a wild driver."
Faded sat apprehensively and turned to Davis.
"So. There's nobody left, huh."
"Seems that way doesn't it."
"I wonder where they all went?" Usagi said looking fretful.
"Don't worry." Ryan called back after completing a frightening turn. "I'm sure they're
fine!"
Davis wished he could agree. He gazed around at the occupants of the bus.
Ryan, who had found him wandering around on the road, seemed cool enough. He seemed to
enjoy the fact that everyone had disappeared. It was he who had suggested looting the mall.
Usagi, whom they had found crying at the side of the road was really very pretty, but she
didn't seem very bright. He thought he'd probably get bored with her quite quickly.
And now there was Faded.
He was sure that wasn't her real name, but he didn't want to ask what it was. Her name
really did suit her, though. Her clothes and shoes were faded and worn, and she looked
sort of unkempt. But he knew a smart girl when he saw one. And this was a smart girl.
*****
Usagi glanced at her bus-mates. They were all older than her by at least two years, and
they all seemed very calm and collected.
One wound think that, since she had been the one who had fought battles and died a few
times, she should be the most calm. Obviously she was wrong.
She drew her knees and studied each of the people in the bus for any hint of danger.
Ryan, the driver, seemed the craziest, and yet the least dangerous. Davis seemed rather
unaffected by her, and didn't seem to take much notice of her. Faded, on the other hand,
was someone she felt she would have to watch.
For a long time, Usagi had been somewhat able to read people. Perhaps it was an after
effectof using the ginzouishou for so long, perhaps it was just in her nature.
Faded's aura was dark, and it gave her a feeling like there was very little compassion
inside that girl's heart.
Usagi did her best to be kind to everybody, but it would be a great effort to be a friend
to somebody who she knew wouldn't care.
Her eyes wandered to the two boys-almost-men.
They slid across Davis and onto Ryan, who met her gaze in a mirror inside the bus.
"Watch the road!" She almost shrieked, and he narrowly missed hitting a car in the mall's
parking lot.
*****
"We're here." I say, as everyone, well alright, all three people behind me get up.
"Where should we start?" I hear that girl-Usagi-say. She hasn't spoken much the whole trip,
and me being the nice guy that I am, I don't really want to spend too much time with her if
she's gonna be all depressed and stuff.
"Well, how about we split up?" Davis says. "Ryan and I'll be one group, and you two girls
will be in another. We're more likely to get into all the stores we want to if you go your
way and we'll go ours." We all nod in agreement.
"How about we meet up in… What's that furniture store down at the west end of the mall?
Floomans! We'll meet there in 2 hours and get some sleep, cause I know we all need to. We
can continue out shopping in the morning." My plan was smart, and everyone agreed. I
watched the girls go, and eventually Davis pulled me into some shoe store. I really wanted
to get to guitars.
*****
Valentine smiled at the picture he was seeing. He could see the whole world through his
little mirror, and he was pleased. There were about a thousand humans left on the planet,
and they were spread across the globe. The spell had worked, and his priest was to be
congratulated.
"Good job, Ebenezer. That was a formidable spell you performed." He kicked the priest he
had just killed. "It's a pity you left people there. You could have been great." He kicked
the old man again. "Poor old Ebenezer."
*****
It has been four days.
I feel really bad. Faded convinced me to take a few things from the stores, mostly just
stuff I know i'll need. Some clothes and toiletries. I know it's wrong, but they won't take
me home, and I don't want to be by myself. We seem to be living in the mall for now. it's
wierd.
I've noticed that things seem to be in a perpetual state of, well, Goodness. I don't know
how to say it, but the food in the grocery stores don't go bad, and the weather hasn't
changed since I woke up that Thursday afternoon.
My friends-I guess that's what I'll call them-are getting edgy, as am I. They seem to
think that we're somehow special, that we're the only ones left on the earth. I know that
whoever, or whatever made everyone dissapear didn't make us stay here on purpose. Neither
of the guys has any sort of magic that I can see in them, and Faded? She may have some
miniscule amount, but nothing that could do any harm from what I can see.
I feel like I'm in hell.
I miss my friends and parents so much! But I also miss my
Mamo-chan. I feel like if I had him and the girls here we could figure out exactly what
was going on. But they're not here, and brains isn't really my department.
"Lee?" I feel bad, but not nearly as bad as Ryan does. He keeps crying out for someone in
his sleep.
Maybe it's his girlfriend.
I wonder if we'll ever see them again.
I wonder if we'll ever see anyone again.
Usagi woke up to her alarm. She groaned, rolled over, and fell back to sleep. No one came
to wake her.
*****
Davis finished running the track at 9:15. He wondered why his mother hadn't come to tell
him to get to school. He shrugged, and decided he'd just pretend to forget about the time
until his mom came down to yell at him. He'd probably be able to get in a few more laps
before having to go.
His mom never came down to get him.
****
Faded wasn't her real name, it had been long since forgotten, but it worked for her. She
was a small woman-a girl really-who lived alone in a tiny apartment and hid from the world.
Almost invisible to those around her, no one had ever taken much notice of her. That was
the way she wanted it to be, and that was the way she wanted it to stay.
She hardly even noticed when she went downstairs to get a coffee at the vendor in the
street ant there was no one there. She only noticed when she tried to pay, that there was
no one there to take the money.
*****
Ryan was the sort of guy who knew what he wanted. He was a fantastic guitar player in a
popular band, and he planned to play professionally when he grew up. One day, he woke up
at ten in the morning. His parents had already left for work, so he decided to lounge
around at home all day and think of song lyrics. He lay in bed practicing guitar and
singing verses, and at six in the evening he got dressed to pretend he had gone to school.
He waited for his parents to get home from work.
****
Usagi yawned at the clock through blurry eyes. Once her eyes came into focus she realized
the clock read 4:49.
It must be really early in the morning.
Sunlight was shining through the sheer curtains at her window.
Is it the afternoon? Is it Saturday? Hmmmm.
She decided to go downstairs and look for her parents. "Mom?" She called, but the house
appeared to be empty. Usagi shrugged, and guessed it was Saturday, and the family had gone
out. She checked the calendar.
Thursday.
"What?" She said out loud to herself. "What's going on? Where are they? Why didn't they
wake me up?" Usagi got dressed quickly and hurried out the door, worried. She saw cars
stopped in the middle of the road, and doors open, but no people. The whole street was
deserted. She began running toward the Shrine where her friend Rei lived, but as she
passed streets and buildings, she saw absolutely no one. Her stomach began to knot with
worry, and a growing feeling of dread passed through her. She stopped running.
There was no one at the Temple. She knew.
Everyone was gone but her.
There was not one person left.
*****
Ryan began to get worried. He called his mother's office, but the answering machine picked
up. When he called his father's workplace, the same thing happened. He slammed the phone
down on the receiver and swore loudly. He half expected his mother to come into the kitchen
and scold him for his language.
She didn't.
He left his house, and walked down the street. He figured they must have gone out without
telling him. Well, he could do that too. He decided to take the bus to Treadwell's, a
guitar store about fifteen minutes away. His walk to the bus stop was extremely quiet.
There was absolutely no noise. He sprinted the last few metres when he saw the bus had
stopped and seemed to be waiting for him. The door was open, so he climbed in, but there
was no one there to drive the bus. There were no passengers, either.
He stepped down out of the bus, and noticed that there was no one anywhere. He couldn't
see where everybody had gone, but her decided to find out.
The keys were still in the ignition.
*****
Faded wandered around for a while, trying to figure out what she should do. All the people
and the animals had disappeared, and she seemed to be the only one left in the whole city.
The next logical step was to do what? Find people? Cry? Go mad?
Of course not.
The next step was simply to go to the nearest mall and take all the clothes, shoes, and
whatever else she wanted so she could be ready for when all the people came back. Perhaps
she would even find a better place to live.
Then she would find more people.
It was about 11:30, and she was walking to the Kagami Mall. She was slightly
surprised when a bus pulled up beside her and the door opened revealing a boy about her
age. "Need a ride?" He said grinning. She thought for a moment, nodded, and climbed in.
*****
"I'm Davis," he said to the small girl who climbed aboard the bus.
"Faded." She replied.
"My name's Usagi." The pretty blonde sitting across from him had said to the new girl. She
had looked extremely relieved when the bus had pulled up beside her, but this new
girl-Faded-looked only slightly happier.
"So where are we headed?" Faded asked the boy who had introduced himself as Ryan.
"Well, we were headed to the mall."
"Hmmm." She nodded in approval.
"Take a seat." Usagi warned. "He's a bit of a wild driver."
Faded sat apprehensively and turned to Davis.
"So. There's nobody left, huh."
"Seems that way doesn't it."
"I wonder where they all went?" Usagi said looking fretful.
"Don't worry." Ryan called back after completing a frightening turn. "I'm sure they're
fine!"
Davis wished he could agree. He gazed around at the occupants of the bus.
Ryan, who had found him wandering around on the road, seemed cool enough. He seemed to
enjoy the fact that everyone had disappeared. It was he who had suggested looting the mall.
Usagi, whom they had found crying at the side of the road was really very pretty, but she
didn't seem very bright. He thought he'd probably get bored with her quite quickly.
And now there was Faded.
He was sure that wasn't her real name, but he didn't want to ask what it was. Her name
really did suit her, though. Her clothes and shoes were faded and worn, and she looked
sort of unkempt. But he knew a smart girl when he saw one. And this was a smart girl.
*****
Usagi glanced at her bus-mates. They were all older than her by at least two years, and
they all seemed very calm and collected.
One wound think that, since she had been the one who had fought battles and died a few
times, she should be the most calm. Obviously she was wrong.
She drew her knees and studied each of the people in the bus for any hint of danger.
Ryan, the driver, seemed the craziest, and yet the least dangerous. Davis seemed rather
unaffected by her, and didn't seem to take much notice of her. Faded, on the other hand,
was someone she felt she would have to watch.
For a long time, Usagi had been somewhat able to read people. Perhaps it was an after
effectof using the ginzouishou for so long, perhaps it was just in her nature.
Faded's aura was dark, and it gave her a feeling like there was very little compassion
inside that girl's heart.
Usagi did her best to be kind to everybody, but it would be a great effort to be a friend
to somebody who she knew wouldn't care.
Her eyes wandered to the two boys-almost-men.
They slid across Davis and onto Ryan, who met her gaze in a mirror inside the bus.
"Watch the road!" She almost shrieked, and he narrowly missed hitting a car in the mall's
parking lot.
*****
"We're here." I say, as everyone, well alright, all three people behind me get up.
"Where should we start?" I hear that girl-Usagi-say. She hasn't spoken much the whole trip,
and me being the nice guy that I am, I don't really want to spend too much time with her if
she's gonna be all depressed and stuff.
"Well, how about we split up?" Davis says. "Ryan and I'll be one group, and you two girls
will be in another. We're more likely to get into all the stores we want to if you go your
way and we'll go ours." We all nod in agreement.
"How about we meet up in… What's that furniture store down at the west end of the mall?
Floomans! We'll meet there in 2 hours and get some sleep, cause I know we all need to. We
can continue out shopping in the morning." My plan was smart, and everyone agreed. I
watched the girls go, and eventually Davis pulled me into some shoe store. I really wanted
to get to guitars.
*****
Valentine smiled at the picture he was seeing. He could see the whole world through his
little mirror, and he was pleased. There were about a thousand humans left on the planet,
and they were spread across the globe. The spell had worked, and his priest was to be
congratulated.
"Good job, Ebenezer. That was a formidable spell you performed." He kicked the priest he
had just killed. "It's a pity you left people there. You could have been great." He kicked
the old man again. "Poor old Ebenezer."
*****
It has been four days.
I feel really bad. Faded convinced me to take a few things from the stores, mostly just
stuff I know i'll need. Some clothes and toiletries. I know it's wrong, but they won't take
me home, and I don't want to be by myself. We seem to be living in the mall for now. it's
wierd.
I've noticed that things seem to be in a perpetual state of, well, Goodness. I don't know
how to say it, but the food in the grocery stores don't go bad, and the weather hasn't
changed since I woke up that Thursday afternoon.
My friends-I guess that's what I'll call them-are getting edgy, as am I. They seem to
think that we're somehow special, that we're the only ones left on the earth. I know that
whoever, or whatever made everyone dissapear didn't make us stay here on purpose. Neither
of the guys has any sort of magic that I can see in them, and Faded? She may have some
miniscule amount, but nothing that could do any harm from what I can see.
I feel like I'm in hell.
I miss my friends and parents so much! But I also miss my
Mamo-chan. I feel like if I had him and the girls here we could figure out exactly what
was going on. But they're not here, and brains isn't really my department.
"Lee?" I feel bad, but not nearly as bad as Ryan does. He keeps crying out for someone in
his sleep.
Maybe it's his girlfriend.
I wonder if we'll ever see them again.
I wonder if we'll ever see anyone again.