Day 19. I'm not sure how I made it to day 19. The concrete floors did not provide much in the way of a bed. The puddles in the corners of the mazes were not to be described as water. The tubby custard to keep me alive was past the point of green spots, separating into layers of fuzz, liquid, and solid.
10 a day. I needed to collect 10 custards a day to keep him at bay. Trial and error brought about this conclusion. For two days, he was behind me, watching, screaming. I picked up can 10 and the sound stopped, his body no longer behind me.
But that was 17 days ago. The peace can 10 brings only resets a timer it seems. 24 hours. I wish I knew what caused all this. His eyes, his nose, his mouth, his teeth, all vanished, or morphed, or worse.
Day 5 was Laa-Laa. She was always there for me but now I can't be there for her. By the lake, there was a yellow mass next to a tubby custard. When I grabbed it, her hand shot out to my wrist. I looked at her red stained clothes to watch the light leave her eyes. I can't believe this is happening.
Day 7 was Dipsy. In the back of the house, red ran under the door to the hall. My body moving faster than my brain, I opened the door. I hope it was quick, his head laying a foot from his body. My horror was rewarded with a tubby custard. I can't believe this is happening.
Day 13 was Po. Had he tried to get Po to join him? Her face was disfigured like his. Then again, I didn't look too closely at her body, the tree covering it for most of the journey. I only noticed her shadow swaying below her as I picked up the tubby custard. I can't believe this is happening.
Where do all of these custards keep coming from? One day there is nothing, the next is a custard hidden in that same spot. Are they breadcrumbs? What is he leading me to? I will not join him, I can't.
I feel it. I feel him in the room. I can't let him get to me. I need more time. There is a way out, must be.
Every hair on my body stood on end. The shrieking was getting closer. One more. One more custard and I get my peace. Whatever that may mean in a place like this.
I notice a cabinet I walk past every day is ajar. I stop, and this is long enough for the purple horror to catch up with me. You'd think by now it wouldn't phase me. It did. And it does.
I willed myself to focus, but I was compelled to turn my head. There he was. My former best friend. The ring leader of our group of misfits, still clutching that red bag. Why, I had no guess.
Tinky Winky was screaming in my face, the sockets where his eyes should be and his mouth getting wider with each second. How could he do this to our friends, his friends? What made him snap. I would be getting no answers, just shrieks. For the first time in 19 days, he stopped screaming without the 10th custard.
His mouth turned into a smile. His lips didn't move, but he said, "Why the stares y/n? I thought I lost most of my looks after that day." I didn't answer. I couldn't, as I didn't have an answer, I only had a question.
"Why?" I asked. His smile dropped. He reached for my face. I fell to the floor, trying to open the cabinet door next to me. I managed to stick my hand in, my fingers grazing the custard inside.
"Sometimes, tubbies just need a little push. That's what a leader's good for, after all." He slammed the door on my fingers. I tried to wiggle them towards the custard, but they didn't respond to my command. They were no longer mine.
I start to crawl away. Tinky Winky picks up my severed fingers from the ground and puts them in his red purse. His face opens up again to allow his screams to be revealed. I can hear his footsteps come nearer. "We can all be together, if you just stop running."
I feel his hand on my leg. The snapping is what registered first, the pain after. He flips me onto my back. I realize now that this is not Tinky Winky. He left 19 days ago.
"It's okay. I'll follow you guys soon." I feel the life fading from my body. The screams feel more distant. The last sensation I feel is my cow print hat leaving my head. He was always jealous of my hat.
