Fear Garden: Five Petals

Chapter Three: Here Comes A Thought

Basketball found it very difficult to sleep. The bags under her eyes seemed to solidify that fact. She felt like a zombie, stumbling and tripping everywhere she went, her recent works came out as nothing but chicken scratch, too tired to even hold onto a pencil.  But Basketball could fall asleep easy, she wasn't one to have insomnia herself.
It was staying asleep that seemed so hard.

Because every time she closed her eyes, instead of darkness, there was blinding light. Light from a fire. A fire so huge and intense it threatened to swallow her whole, a fire wrapped around and engulfing a building. Basketball felt weak under the raging inferno, the screams and chattering of fellow objects seemed to wizz right by her. Suddenly, Basketball felt a sense of urgency. She had to find her. She had to.

Basketball ran as fast as she could, trying to not puncture herself over any of the debris. "Robot Flower?!" She called, hoping for an answer. But all she received was silence. Panting, the sports ball continued her march through the flames, shrieking out her girlfriends name, in a desperate attempt to find her. The sound of sparks and fizzling entered Basketball's  ears, and she tried to follow the sound. The flames were beginning to die down, as Donut and some of the others helped initiate a plan to put out the fires.

She kept running, closer and closer to the sounds, her breathing became more frantic. "Hang on Robot Flower! I'll find you! I—I'll fix you! Just hold on!" Basketball shrieked. Dodging more of the wreckage, Basketball finally came to a clearing. And there she was.
Robot Flower.

Or what was left of her anyways. The heat from the fire had melted her metal, her wires lay exposed to the elements, sparks were flying from her crushed, mangled body.
"Robot Flower...?" Basketball shakingly said, unable to believe it. But there was nothing. Only static and silence. And the sobs of Basketball as she kneeled down, closer to her girlfriend, the warmth of her crushed metal only seemed to make her cry harder.

Then there was a knock at the door.
Basketball quickly sat up, slightly dazed. She felt her face, and realized she had been crying. "Again with that dream. I'm never going to sleep normally unless I do something."
The knock came again, slightly louder. "Uh— Coming!" Basketball shouted. Rushing towards the door, she suddenly stopped in her tracks. There's no one she can really trust anymore, is there? But regardless, she inched closer to the door, before pulling it slowly open.

Her worry melted into contentedness as she came face to face with Tennis Ball. "Hey, other ball with lines!" Her cousin greeted enthusiastically. "Hello Basketball." Said a somewhat smaller voice. Basketball peeked down to see Golf Ball, her expression blank. "Oh, hey GB..." she said, before turning back to her cousin. "Come on in! I don't really know if I have anything for you to drink, I've been meaning to check..." Tennis Ball quickly replied, "Oh don't worry about it, it's ok!"

The sports balls all gathered around the table, but silence quickly took over, with the occasional cough from Golf Ball. The awkward tension seemed to be growing, until Basketball opened her mouth. "So... what brings you two here?" She asked. TB looked at his partner, slightly worried. Basketball didn't like that.
"Well, um..." TB began, "you see... uh—"
"Donut's been reported missing." Golf Ball interjected. Basketball looked confused. "I'm sorry, what? Donut? Missing? You're sure, right?" Tennis Ball nodded solemnly. "Barf Bag came to tell us about Donut's disappearance, and from what she described, it's most likely under mysterious circumstances." Golf Ball once again chimed in, "Fries was also there too, but it was mostly so he could complain that some of his gar— planting supplies were missing."
"Stolen." TB said.
"Same difference."
"And by Donut."

"Donut? Steal supplies? I don't know him all too well, but he doesn't sound like the kind of guy to just do that." Basketball said. "Agreed," Golf Ball replied. She continued, "but we also came to ask you if you'd like to come with us to further investigate the Science Museum." Tennis Ball spoke up. "We would just go ourselves but...after the last time we..." Golf Ball shuddered.
"I understand," Basketball interjected, "And I'd be happy to come along, especially for you, TB." She glanced fondly at her cousin. Golf Ball then cleared her throat, cutting into the familiar silence, "Excellent, we'll get to working on some final preparations for our journey and we'll call you once we're ready." Basketball and Tennis Ball nodded in agreement. "Oh, TB! One more thing!" Tennis Ball gave her a puzzled expression. "Lets uh... be careful out there ok?"
"...Ok." Her cousin agreed.