INSERT 25¢ TO CONTINUE : Into the AudoScape

Level 5: Black Friday II

Through Freddie and Rebecca's casual errands that required a quick drive around the city, it became exceedingly difficult to navigate or even fit into parking areas due to the dozens of cargo trucks that extended all the way toward downtown. "Where are the cops in this? There's no way this can be legal," the wheel to Freddie 's car harshly turned to form a "U-turn" caused by a sudden change of plan. The van rolled slowly through the turned street, as multiple angry neighbors copying their exact same actions from the opposing side of the road passed by. The image of the infinite row of vehicles reflected in Rebecca's large-framed glasses as she observed them slowly passing by.

She reclined and turned her head back towards Freddie while resting on her seat, "What are the cops going to do about it? I've heard plenty of stories missing the role of reasonable authority as of late-"

Freddie was unfamiliar with whatever event she was referring to, so naturally changed the focus, "It's just this 'Black Saturday' thing that marketing just came up with at the last moment. It doesn't make much sense, and I don't even know how they can pull it off in the first place without plummeting into a depression."

"Right. And I wouldn't believe that just about everybody would jump on the bandwagon just to go to a mall filled with almost only one brand for every product," Rebecca tilted her head toward the passing banner on the truck illustrating the low-poly grin of Max Headroom himself, accompanying a yellow and black-striped logo of his name. These advertisements, however, were not the always the typical 'new shows' or 'Coke over Pepsi' mannered campaigns, but outreached itself to bash and demonize almost any company that wasn't aligned with his contract.

Allope stayed inside for most of the day, as a harsh blizzard was expected to make its course. The small girl leaned her weight against the table in her little nightgown, enjoying a creep-free Christmas Classics tape that their parents put together years ago.

Mom left for work a little later in the day, but father left shortly before dawn for some weird reason. Allope didn't understand why, but she overheard them talking once about "quickly shifting gears" and "manufacturing products as quickly as possible," which was odd for both of them considering that they didn't usually work on Saturdays, but Allope didn't really understand or care about the specifics. Her chores were done, so given naturally, as a condition to treat her constant fatigue; she decided to take a rest from all the weird tiredness that she was experiencing.

As luck would have it, the quantity of snow outside increased as time went on; not being much of a decent surprise for Rebecca and Freddie, who had no other choice but to park a couple blocks behind their house. Stomping the snow off onto the front stoop, the horrid chill of the frozen air gave a slow transition into a warm and cozy safe space compared to the gloomy sight of the rest of the world. On the inside, it was dim, lit with the sunset glowing radiance of a few table lamps.

"Allope," Freddie attempted to get her attention. Once she noticed his many attempts, he pointed toward the fully blinded window and asked why it was like that. Allope remained quiet as she hopped over to them and pulled them open. The only thing an onlooker would see would be nothing more than the full mural of Max Headroom on a truck side looking right inside their little household.

"I don't want to be stared at-" Allope tirelessly replied as Freddie immediately pushed the curtains back as she originally had it. The rest of the afternoon was wasted by Freddie and Rebecca joining Allope's side in bingeing the Christmas classics they used to watch when that time of season felt a little bit more magical than it did now. Rebecca lowered her doubts slightly for the other two, and stuck by the screen for most of the afternoon.

Mom left a pot in the refrigerator covered with saran wrap and a little note that said "for my two beautiful children <3 " on the top. This uncharacteristic passive aggressive behavior suggested its appearance once more; but being the one who found it, Freddie didn't let Rebecca know what the note said. The pot was filled with a previously heated canned soup that was big enough to fill only two bowls, which Freddie prepared for Rebecca and Allope;, planning to forage something for himself sooner or later. Piles of warm blankets, Allope's large kingdom of stuffed animals, and cushions were formed to surround the three kids who were bundled up for the majority of the evening.