Categories > Original > Fantasy > Tradewinds 06 - "Falling"
V
Shades entered a furniture store called House of Clutter, another fine example of what he had noticed was a popular trend here of giving places the lamest possible names, even for a mall. He was sure it had to be some kind of record, like how fast Carlos could wolf down cheeseburgers. He couldn’t decide what that last thought made him miss more, his old arch-enemy, or those old-fashioned greasy burgers. Yet, in spite of its self-depreciating moniker, most of the displays of the shop before him looked way out of his price range. Not that he was interested in buying anyway.
After passing the furnishings on display in the front, he found himself in the maze of sets in the back. Living rooms, bedrooms, dining rooms, earlier he had explored sufficiently enough to know where he wanted to go. When he was a kid, he always imagined people playing hide-and-seek, or hunting each other with water guns.
The former being more along the lines of what his agenda entailed.
Though the mall itself appeared to be open at all hours, individual stores maintained their own separate schedules. Everything ran on a rotating schedule, from one sector to the next. Of course, he had always harbored a curiosity of sorts about what went on in places like this after hours. And despite having stuck to the discount menu, famished as he was, he no longer had enough money left to stay even one more night in the mall hotel.
He had searched for hours on end, without turning up anything useful, and he was now in danger of sleepwalking. This place was weird enough when he was awake— he didn’t want to know what it would feel like after several days without sleep. Just the simple fact that the more he watched these people all around him, the less they felt real, and that unsettling feeling became stronger the longer he went without sleep.
In addition, he was also still nervous about those guards (for a moment, he pictured himself passing out on a bench, and a group of those guys encircling him… and shuddered in spite of himself), so the logical place to sleep was someplace they didn’t know about.
To that end, he was sneaking into a furniture store. It appeared to be the middle of their day, so hopefully no one would note his comings or goings. All the same, he tried to evade most of the surveillance cameras, just to be on the safe side. He wasn’t sure if anyone was watching or recording the damn thing, but he didn’t want a soul to see him.
After exploring the maze of rooms in the back, he found what he was seeking. Just the right bed— not high off the floor, but not so low that he couldn’t fit underneath it. The events of the past thirty-six hours ringing in his head, he made sure no one else was in sight and slipped under the bed.
More trouble in one day than he had been through in one year; he wondered if he would actually have to get used to this.
Shades entered a furniture store called House of Clutter, another fine example of what he had noticed was a popular trend here of giving places the lamest possible names, even for a mall. He was sure it had to be some kind of record, like how fast Carlos could wolf down cheeseburgers. He couldn’t decide what that last thought made him miss more, his old arch-enemy, or those old-fashioned greasy burgers. Yet, in spite of its self-depreciating moniker, most of the displays of the shop before him looked way out of his price range. Not that he was interested in buying anyway.
After passing the furnishings on display in the front, he found himself in the maze of sets in the back. Living rooms, bedrooms, dining rooms, earlier he had explored sufficiently enough to know where he wanted to go. When he was a kid, he always imagined people playing hide-and-seek, or hunting each other with water guns.
The former being more along the lines of what his agenda entailed.
Though the mall itself appeared to be open at all hours, individual stores maintained their own separate schedules. Everything ran on a rotating schedule, from one sector to the next. Of course, he had always harbored a curiosity of sorts about what went on in places like this after hours. And despite having stuck to the discount menu, famished as he was, he no longer had enough money left to stay even one more night in the mall hotel.
He had searched for hours on end, without turning up anything useful, and he was now in danger of sleepwalking. This place was weird enough when he was awake— he didn’t want to know what it would feel like after several days without sleep. Just the simple fact that the more he watched these people all around him, the less they felt real, and that unsettling feeling became stronger the longer he went without sleep.
In addition, he was also still nervous about those guards (for a moment, he pictured himself passing out on a bench, and a group of those guys encircling him… and shuddered in spite of himself), so the logical place to sleep was someplace they didn’t know about.
To that end, he was sneaking into a furniture store. It appeared to be the middle of their day, so hopefully no one would note his comings or goings. All the same, he tried to evade most of the surveillance cameras, just to be on the safe side. He wasn’t sure if anyone was watching or recording the damn thing, but he didn’t want a soul to see him.
After exploring the maze of rooms in the back, he found what he was seeking. Just the right bed— not high off the floor, but not so low that he couldn’t fit underneath it. The events of the past thirty-six hours ringing in his head, he made sure no one else was in sight and slipped under the bed.
More trouble in one day than he had been through in one year; he wondered if he would actually have to get used to this.
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