WARNING: A bit of gruesome imagery, some swearing, and mature themes
A scorching, blindingly hot day, with sun rays as potent as machine guns, and water as scarce as gold. Temperatures enough to make even the most hardened of coldblooded creatures mad.
A long, thin line of almost transparent string lay buried in the sand. Partially covered by thousands upon thousands of individual grains, partly supported by thousands more.
Occasionally unrelenting weather events would cause the grains to dissipate or accumulate, along with the odd insect here and there.
One peculiar day, a lone ant stumbled upon this forgotten line or string whilst hauling home a shard of glass, with crumbs o' plenty, and became curious.
What is it? How did it get here? Why is it here? When was it placed? Hundreds of thoughts filled the ant's little brain as it climbed upon the line of string and examined it closer, causing a few crumbs to fall.
The ant looked at the string, and where it went. It travelled both left and right. To the left the string soon terminated, with a forest of grass blades concealing it's exit. To the right the string travelled, seemingly for miles on end.
But, what's that? Way in the distance? The ant thought. I've never seen that before! Its huge! Several large, red, spherical cylinders in the shape of almost a hexagon lay stationary, undisturbed. There looked to be... 9 of them, all laying down. The string under the tiny black critter travelled all the way out to the cylinders.
The ant had a hard time making out the figures as they were shrouded in fog, being so far away to the poor thing.
Suddenly, with a small hiss, the ant felt a rising temperature around it's feet. It looked down as a few more crumbs fell from the glass shard. Noticing this, the ant was told of the previously unknown blistering temperatures of it's hands holding the glass.
Urgently disposing of the blazing hot, transparent ticking time bomb, the ant clutched it's injured hands and groaned to itself in pain.
Meanwhile, the temperature below the ant on the unsuspecting string continued to rise, with visual indicators now becoming apparent. Smoke started to trickle as miniscule sparks, even for the ant, began to accumulate and combust within said string.
Panicked, and fearing an overstayed welcome, The insect scurried away to lay clear of the growing flame.
Seconds went by, as the flame graduated to fire and made ground, scorching the string and leaving an ashened wake. The ant continued to shield it's eyes until it felt the temperature fluctuate whilst the flame carried on igniting the rest of the string, traveling fast towards the strange, red cylinders.
"Thanks for that Cassandra. And ladies and gentlemen that was your weather forecast for the week." A male news anchor began talking, shortly after shuffling a stack of papers on the desk in front of him.
"Now for some less pleasant breaking news." A sincere, yet lacking facial expression replaced the one he had. His pitch shifted slightly deeper too. He had to look like he cared as to not seem too robotic, but if he did care, he wouldn't last long without a therapist, tragic story after tragic story.
"A family of 4 and 2 separate children have been killed, in a tragic, and unforseen explosion, with many more injured, shaking the Woodside neighbourhood to it's core. The explosion initially engulfed half of the Franklin residence, killing the family of 4 immediately. Soon after, the house became a raging inferno, spreading just as quickly as it started due to the scorching temperature and dry, arid weather. Firefighters were called to the scene moments after the blaze, but unfortunately the fire had already spread to the neighbour's house, trapping the children in their rooms, and burning them alive. The parents and older siblings made it out with minor injuries, unfortunately not being able to save the young boys.
What the...
"The blaze was fortunately put under control by firefighters with the help of volunteers and citizens, but not before leaving a devastating impact on the community, and reminding us to cherish every moment of this life the we live. Here are some eye witness testimonies of this tragic disaster. "
A woman was then shown, being interviewed by a reporter.
"I was inside cooking dinner with the blinds down, then all of a sudden I hear the loudest BANG I've ever heard! It was so loud, it physically shook the house. I immediately raised the blinds and saw the fireball..." The woman grew emotional. "A-And then I dialled 911... And... Oh, it's all a blur..." She began to sniffle and cry. "I don't even want to think about it..."
Holy shit...
The anchor was shown again. "The cause of the explosion is still unknown, but authorities believe it may have involved a gas leak of some kind, although there is no solid evidence to point to any cause. At this point in time the blaze is being treated as non-suspicious, as authorities and volunteers continue their efforts to support all those involved in this tragedy. A communal funeral will be held at the Woodside park on Wednesday at 4:00pm, with a charity event to raise money for all those affected.
Oh my god... "Gregory! Come here!"
"We will continue to update you all as more details become available in the following days. If you would like to donate to the Woodside charity, scan the qr code on screen or search Woodside humanity, with the first link being your destination." He shuffled his papers again.
"Whaaaat? I was talking to Cassie!" Gregory grumbled as he made his way forward
"Sorry, but this is probably more important than your little romance..." Grumbling, Gregory read the headline.
"Woodside..." He began to think.
"That's just a few blocks away!" He was shocked. "I've gotta tell Cassie! She lives closer to Woodside then us!"
"Yeah... scary stuff. One minute you're eating dinner and..." Cooper died down and began to think, as Gregory made his way back to his room.
"I love you! By the way..." Cooper called out. The boy was already gone. A shallow sigh followed.
Losing it all... In the blink of an eye. It's either a blessing or a curse. No time to suffer, no time to remember.
I wish she had a phone. Call her whenever I want. Tell her I love her.
Srry bout that. Dad called me. Have you seen the news?
Its cool. No I haven't, y?
An explosion went off in Woodside!
WHAT??? OUR WOODSIDE??
That's just a few blocks from mine!
What happened???
I don't know. They think it's a gas leak. More importantly, are you guys OK?
Yeah. We r fine. Thxs for your concern.
Come to think of it, I can here faint sirens.
Was anyone hurt?
Yeah. A few people unfortunately. 6 killed and more injured. I have it on my phone now. I'll send it to you.
Oh my god...
Woodside is also close to the Pizza Plex! I hope it's OK. We haven't been there in months.
I'm reading it now. This is awful...
My dad's away with work and mom's asleep so I didn't know. I never watch the news unless they force me to, cause it's always do depressing. Guess this proves my point.
I don't think the Pizza Plex is the main concern right now...
You're not wrong.
But they said it's under control, not put out!
Under control would imply that it can't damage anything anymore.
Yeah, but you can never trust the media, especially with breaking news stuff. They all want to be first so they pump out anything, even if it's not true.
I never thought about it that way...
Or maybe my dad's just cynical. Either way
But yeah, about the Pizza Plex. I hope it isn't damaged. And you're right, it's been ages.
I just checked my calendar. Can't believe it's been 5 months!
5 months since we met? Felt like just yesterday!?
Ikr? Time flies.
Meanwhile...
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...
The choir sung.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...
And kept singing as the woman looked at her faint reflection in the opera house. The faint orange glow illuminated the dreary, twilit, apartment a warm, liminal orange.
She kept looking at the reflection. Pathetic. She drowned in the horrible self awareness of her situation; her forehead absorbing the vibrations and xrays.
She watched on in monotony and emptiness at the pack of easy-heat chicken flavoured rice as it turned and turned. Never ending.
She pondered her existence. Why?
Mom died. Dad left. Rest of the family's halfway across the world. No siblings. No friends. No goals. No purpose. Why?
The big question. What was the point?
The choir screamed out to tell her the food was ready.
She opened the microwave and grabbed the sides of the packaging, before taking one single step to the bench to pour it all out into the bowl. The room now looked ominous, with a single, shitty, hanging lightbulb illuminating the 15 square metres. Cheap though.
She sat down at the wooden, yet polished bench and ate in silence. It was never this quiet. An eerie mix; Her current mind and surroundings were. Unusual. There was always usually some noise. From crickets chirping, cars blaring, upstairs or downstairs neighbours arguing, Loud Tvs left unattended because the young couple got frisky and fell asleep after, the usual stuff.
And if it wasn't noise, it was the smell. She swore the upstairs neighbour had a grow-house or something, because it felt like almost every night there was a sharp, distinct smell of Amsterdam.
Emma couldn't handle the silence, physically hearing the earwax move in your ear as you move will do that to you. She put her fork down to fetch some headphones, to listen to something at least, and distract her from her thoughts at least a little while longer.
Minutes later she found herself listening to a playlist dedicated to ambient hospital white noise. The soul desires what it desires she guessed. The staticky noise was good enough for the moment.
Alas, the bland microwave rice for the 9th night in a row weren't doing her mind any wonders, so it in turn began to wonder, regardless of the white noise.
Emma thought to her days of when she first got the job. The nightguard of Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizza Plex. What a title. She remembered how happy she was. She remembered how happy her mom was. Not happy, proud. She remembered how she used to jot down her findings of each night in a journal. How cute. She thought to herself.
Then mom got cancer.
After that, there was no point. Nothing. She felt bitter paying for her food, because she didn't even want to live. There was no reason to. Other than to appease the corporate overlords that demand her labour in exchange for currency.
When she got the job, she hoped she could develop a relationship with one of the bots. Not romantic or anything, just... like friends. She didn't have any. But nothing happened. They just... Treated her like the guard, and nothing else.
She hoped after her mom died they'd notice, and maybe offer some help for her. Nothing. Guess it was her fault for never asking. In the end, empty and alone.
The soft, molten jelly grew a tough, bitter, jealous, hateful and spiteful shell, projecting negativity everywhere, especially to those with things she didn't have. Like friends. Or a loved one. Or a romantic partner. Whatever they be made of.
She reflected as she slowly ate her rice.
Tomorrow is another day. She kept telling herself. Maybe one day this will all be worth it. And if not, the noose was still on her wish list.
Maybe one day I'll have just a fraction of what they have.
She mentally prepared for her shift in a few hours.
Still eating and ignoring the flavour, suddenly Emma's phone lit up. It was a text from her boss.
Hi All. Fazbear Entertainment understands the recent events in Woodside have some employees concerned for their safety, given the Mega Pizza Plex's close proximity. All staff are reminded that their safety is our number 1 Priority. Having said that, all staff are still required to come into work regardless of if they have been affected by the situation. Employees are reminded in their first weeks of their introduction, basic fire safety training was taught. Therefore the company is not liable for any damages sustained to property or personnel. If you have any queries, please direct them to the manager on your next shift. Thanks.
Nice to know I'm valued. She sarcastically thought as she wondered what the hell the message was talking about. Either way it didn't change her plans.
A small rabbit hole later she was all caught up, and a little bit shaken. Although broken, she had a rough idea of what it was like to lose everything, although a while ago.
