Tabbs

Chapter 1

Today

Tabbs scraped away at the crusty surface of the kitchen's slop sink. It had been a slow day at the Sunrise Cafe, but her manager always had a plan for such an occasion. Typically a plan that involved as much cleaning and back breaking labor as he could squeeze out of his barely paid workforce.

Having finished flossing out the deeply seeded coffee ground out of every crevice and hole in the espresso machine, scrubbing the grout, scrubbing out the inside of the fridges, outside the fridges, under the fridges, and the fridges' many-many racks, Tabbs felt like she was finally starting to make some headway on this list her manger kept posted next to the punch in computer. That is, until she came across the disgusting yellow stain at the bottom of the supposedly stainless steel slop sink. It looked and smelled like piss and it had been there for as long as Tabbs could remember.

What was straight up bizarre was that the stain had somehow found a way to spread to even more locations around the arena-style cafe. Under the prep area, between the shelves for dry goods, but what was even worse than the self-replicating yellow stain was the fuzzy green patch beneath the check-out counter. The thing stank horribly and no mater how much bleach you poured on the thing it only seemed to make it stronger. In an executive decision a months ago, Tabbs took to keeping an automatic spritzer scent plugged in next to the counter that would fire off every five or so minutes. Sure, the place now smelled like a used car, but that was better then having the health department called... again.

Tabbs straightened her aching back and reached her arms above her head in a satisfying stretch. She heard a pop in her lower back and sighed with relief. She peered over the half walls separating the kitchen island from the sitting area and soaked in the many hours of her labor. The tables were freshly stocked with fresh plastic flowers and the wobbly legs were recently balanced with newly stuffed napkins under the tables' feet. The chairs' cheap green vinyl had been scrubbed free of its perpetually sticky patches, the yellowing hanging signs above the checkout counter had been replaced with more recent specials sent by corporate, and the place had a satisfying stench of disinfectant and fresh pine thanks to the newly refilled spritzer.

She washed her hands and found them stinging when she applied the soap. Brining her hands closer to her face, she saw they were covered in dozens of little cuts which began to throb and grow red. An effect of all the cleaning she did, she was sure. It was a similar reason she couldn't paint her nails anymore. Well, one of them; the other reason was her manager told her it was too distracting to the customers. He offered her the same reason for why she was no longer allowed to dye her hair.

It was no matter though, she popped open one of the lower cabinets where she stowed her backpack and retrieved some old dollar store lotion she kept on her person, applying the congealing liquid to her hand. She could feel the scaly skin between her fingers sigh with relief and she then flicked off the little white clumps of dried lotion that couldn't be massaged into her aching skin.

Popping her head back over the counter, she spied around for any customers who may have snuck in while she wasn't looking. It seemed it was just her and the gently floating motes of dust visible though the many windows that kept the store at a balmy temperature no mater the time of year. Seeing the coast was clear, she sauntered over to the one blind spot in the camera's vision across the kitchen, the nook between a giant microwave oven and the slop sink, and withdrew her phone from her pocket. The cracked screen came to life and a cartoon image of a demonic unicorn popped into view. Standing in a magnificent pose above pristine white marble gates, the unicorn's tail and mane were long spouts of fire, its eyes were two glistening, blood-red rubies, its coat was black as ebony, and horn was a flurry of twisted rainbows that tightened into a point where an arch of electricity spread across the sky.