Breaking Barriers

Staying Alive (Barely)

Pinto Pengino:

After the happiness of seeing each other wore off, everyone's attention was immediately turned to the shadows of the tons of boxes piled up against the walls, clumped in the center of the room, and crammed hastily into corners. We needed to unpack, and fast if we wanted a bed to sleep in and food to eat tonight.

For hours, all of us unpacked and organized all the stuff we got, and there was a lot. At least everyone fell into clean, warm cots and thin mattresses on little metal bed frames the first night with stomachs full. The days that followed only got emptier and emptier.
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Every day became the same. Wake up at 6, get ready, be absolutely silent by 8, stay silent until 5 PM, and do whatever we want until bedtime.

The office workers did have a little lunch break of 30 minutes at noontime, but some of them always ate in their offices, so we had to stay quiet. If we wanted lunch at all, we'd have to make it the night before. After we moved into our hiding space, I've noticed big changes in the way I was, like everything was shifting out of place and crumbling to dust.

Sleep was a big thing. It almost never came at night. Maybe it's because I've done nothing but sit in a chair and bore my tail off for a week.

And everyone had to share a room with each other. After being crammed into a room with my brother, Inkling, and Squirt for a long period, they started to get on my nerves. Being in hiding is like the inside of a volcano, pressure and glowing red-hot magma builds up inside, and you've only got one way to let it all out, and that is to explode. But for the sake of everyone around you, you can't. Or it WAS until I found the vent.
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It was another long sleepless night for me.
My roommates were all asleep, and the silence was practically burning me with boredom. In the end, I gave up trying to stay quiet and go to sleep, and crept out as silently as I could.

I'd expected the hallway to be as dark and silent as my room, but there was a beam of light spilling from the attic. Curiosity took me without a fight, and I pushed the door open, and crept up the stairs, holding my breath at every creak and lurch of the stairs. When I finally made it to the top, I could not be happier to see who it was.

"Saumensch!" I exclaimed and threw my arms around Jane's shoulders and squeezed her as tightly as I could.

"Alright." She patted my back, and it was hard to tell whether she was shocked at the fact that I was still awake at 1:50 in the morning or shocked at the fact that I was hugging her in the attic at 1:50 AM, "Nice to see you too, Pendejo. What brings you here now?"

"Nothing, just couldn't sleep." I lied.

"Yeah, me too." Jane and I had the ability to lie to each other's faces, and know not to question it, so we just let that part of the conversation fade to nothingness. But it always kept coming back to me, and nagging me to let it out.

"So, your roommates drive you crazy?" I finally asked.

Jane sighed, and placed a paw to her head, "Oh, tell me about it! How are yours?"

"Terrible." I could never have lied for long to my best friend. My surrogate big sister, "Squirt always hogs the desk, and Inkling won't stop lecturing me about dumb stuff."
"Same story with Dashi and Koshi." Jane chuckled unhumorously. I laughed too, but it felt so hollow and empty, like the way I am. I am only a shadow of who I once was.

"Im sorry, Saumensch." I couldn't think of anything else to say to her.

"Meh, I'm sorry for you too." She responded, and turned to look at me, "Pinto, I'm sick of this place. I'm sick of being trapped. I'm sick of knowing people are dying and not being able to help them. I wish all the Puricians could just die." Her voice grew harsh on the last sentence, and I had no response for her. I only went up to her and wrapped her tightly in my flippers for a hug.

I wanted it as much as she did, but it was a fantasy, and this place was real.