ȶɦɛ ֆɦǟɖօա ɮɛɦɨռɖ ʍɛ

ᑕᕼᗩᑭTᗴᖇ Տᗴᐯᗴᑎ: ᐯᗩᑕᗩᑎT

ઽ૦ɱ૯੮ɿɱ૯ઽ, ωҺ૯Ո ω૯ Բ૯૯Ն ੮Һ૯ ɱ૦ઽ੮ ɿઽ૦Նค੮૯ძ, ɿઽ ωҺ૯Ո ω૯'Ր૯ ωɿ੮Һ ૦੮Һ૯Ր ƿ૯૦ƿՆ૯; ઽ૦ɱ૯੮ɿɱ૯ઽ, ૯υ︎૯Ո ωɿ੮Һ ੮Һ૯ ૦Ո૯ઽ ω૯ Ն૦υ︎૯ ੮Һ૯ ɱ૦ઽ੮.

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Present Day

Iyawa was confused when she opened the door to find Anais crouched on the floor with dried tears. The Shadow previously had vanished without notice or sound. Anais didn't talk on the way back to the dorms. She only held her arms around her torso and shivered. For it to be mid-year, it was surprisingly colder than a hockey rink.

After entering their dorm, Anais went to her room and slowly closed the door. Iyawa was still confused but decided against asking, as it wasn't her place to invade Anais' privacy. Iyawa lays on her bed with hot pink sheets, she tries to ease in but is unable to. Anais had never been that quiet before. Sure, she doesn't talk too much, but the silence was louder than anything she'd heard in her life.

Anais simply slid down the now closed door and sat. She held her knees to her chest and didn't say anything. The Shadow's words rung through her ears like a bullet's ricochet. Anais couldn't understand why his sadness hurt so much inside her. His tears were almost like knives to her skin.

Still, Anais sat there, staring at the plain, white walls of the dormroom. Simple, unlike Iyawa's room which had a nature and ocean theme to it. Anais didn't cry, she didn't laugh, she didn't scream. She was without any emotion. Her dress brightened in the moonlight that shined in from her window. Anais closes her eyes and slumps against the door, falling asleep in the most comfortable way she could.

The once anxious, but determined, Anais was now a shadow of her former self.

૮(˶╥︿╥)ა

Anais woke to the sound of water running. She turns on her side and squints from the sunlight's rays hitting her eyes. The room radiated with bright yellow and blue colors. Small green vines crept down the windowsill with tiny roses growing on them. Although the morning sky was beautiful compared to other days, Anais didn't feel an ounce of joy.

The emptiness in her soul felt like the size of a 6 foot hole. She felt as if she had just fallen down 10 flights of stairs and was now numb. The water stopped and Anais heard Iyawa's peaceful humming in the room next to her. She looks down and sees that she's wearing the same dress that she wore yesterday. Anais sighs, stands up and walks over to her redwood wardrobe.

After changing, she walks out the bedroom into the empty living room. The small corners of the carpet were littered with dust bunnies. Anais' black, baggy sweatpants seemed out of place from the room. She waddles over with lowered eyes and goes to the fridge. Anais opens the door to find barely anything on the white shelf other than a cereal box and an unopened, party sized Cherry Cola bottle.

'I really need to buy groceries instead of waiting for Iyawa to stop procrastinating on things.'

(｡•́︿•̀｡)

Anais moped up and down the lanes. The wall-like shelves that's sectioned on top of the faded checkered flooring are spread around the store. She leaned against the shopping cart whilst falling in and out of slumber. The colorful children's toys, beverages, and microwave meals that she walks past contrasted the gloom Anais felt in her soul.

Suddenly, the light above her flickers before fully shutting off. Gasps and short screams come from the lanes next to her. The speakers of the intercom scratch as a young man's voice says, "The doors and windows are now locked due to a sudden blackout, we apologize for the inconvenience." The speakers ring as the intercom quickly goes silent again as groans and children's cries and whines fill the store's walls.

The store isn't exactly pitch black, but instead a darkness that a panther would see during a late night hunt. Which is interrupted by strings of small, rainbow LED light that is wrapped around a small, beige Birman cat. Bystanders witnessing the event move out of the way and squash themselves into each other to make way. The beige, ruffled-hair Birman meows before climbing up a portable ladder next to a shelf. Two of the many strings of LED lights fall off the kitten's shoulders and rest on the hard floors.

The little Birman climbs up the steps and hops to the shelves. In the sidelines, a mother covers their child's eyes with her hand as she tenses up. The cat brings up their stubby paws to carry themselves up the rack. The rack shakes and wobbles with canned foods falling to the ground. Almost everyone rushes back, waiting for the rack to topple over.

The kitten makes a squeal-like sound and loses her grip, plummeting to the ground. Anais sees this and rushes over, pushing citizens out of the way as she goes. She leaps and slides on the ground with her arms and hands out. Gasps are heard when Anais successfully catches the child in her arms. Except for the Birman's small hisses, the room is silent as Anais tries to comfort the baby cat in her hands.

A man in the crowd starts to clap loudly, soon the others next to him join in. Anais looks up from the cat to see phones flash in her face. Anais' face is written with confusion and discomfort. A teenage boy and his friends run up to her with a notebook and pen, "Can we get your autograph?!"

The young Birman whines when a phone is directly pushed into its face.
Anais stands up and yells, "What is wrong with you people?!"
The people halt their praises and stare at Anais.
"This cat almost died, and you're making a spectacle out of it like it's the Super Bowl!"

Onlookers turn their heads to look at each other. The crowd loudly erupts into praises and howlers, "WE LOVE YOU!"
The small kitten whimpers and covers her ears in pain. Anais stampers back and runs off, tightly holding the cat in her arms.

𐂂✐𓁹𐂂✐𓁹𐂂✐𓁹𐂂✐𓁹𐂂✐𓁹

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𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡: 1,045
𝐷𝑎𝑡𝑒: 𝐹𝑒𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑢𝑟𝑦 17, 2024 𝑎𝑡 9:10 𝑝𝑚

ᓰ ᕼᓍᕵᘿ ᖻᓍᑘᖇ "ᕲᗩᖻS ᓍᖴ ᒪᓍᐺᘿ" ᑢᘿᒪᘿᗷᖇᗩᖶᓰᓍᘉS ᗩᖇᘿ ᘜᓍᓰᘉᘜ ᘜᖇᘿᗩᖶ! ᗷᘿᑢᗩᑘSᘿ ᓰᖶ'S ᓰᘻᕵᓍᖇᖶᗩᘉᖶ ᖴᓍᖇ ᘿᐺᘿᖇᖻᓍᘉᘿ ᖶᓍ ᖇᘿᑢᘿᓰᐺᘿ ᒪᓍᐺᘿ; ᗷᘿᑢᗩᑘSᘿ ᘿᐺᘿᖇᖻᓍᘉᘿ ᕲᘿSᘿᖇᐺᘿS ᒪᓍᐺᘿ!