In Charlotte's Eyes

ONE: [C] Building a New World

Airy didn't come back. A day passed, and there were whispers of wondering if he'd ever come back. Everyone—save for Backpack and Scenty—speculated about what had happened to Airy.

Charlotte kept to herself. Sure, it'd been an unusually long time, but she still had faith he'd be back. He had probably injured himself, and needed time to get patched up. It'd be nothing.

Her eyes remained trained on the grass floor. Murmurings would pass her ears.

Something about Backpack. Something about Folder. Folder rambling. Various voices speaking.

She glanced up from time to time. Everyone was talking to each other, except for Backpack.

And herself.

She sighed. She missed her friends. Somehow, she even missed her job. She missed the video games she spent hours playing, and the drugs she'd use to calm her nerves. Things were so barren in this place. Nothing to do..

…

Another day passed. She stood up, finally, bored. She couldn't just sit around all day. She had too much energy for that. She looked over at the rest of the group and walked towards them.

“..uld try swimming in the pool.” Airline Food said.

“But how’d we get up? There aren't any stairs.” Circle wondered. “..Or ladders.”

Whippy Creamy took notice of Charlotte. “Oh, Moldy!” He smirked. “Nice to finally see you again.”

Everyone’s eyes were suddenly on her. She looked away. “..Yeah. Hi.”

“We were thinking about what to do, now that Airy’s gone.” Subway Seat informed.

So that's it? They were already giving up on him? Tch. “..Hm.”

“I think going swimming again would be fun.” Tray commented. “I enjoyed it last time, during the challenge.”

“We still can't get up, though.” Circle reminded.

“We could make our own ladder.” Bassy suggested.

“How?” Whippy Creamy asked. “And, what, with our hands?”

“It can't be that hard, right?” Atom said.

“..We have those stones Airy gave us.” Scenty pointed out.

“Huh? What about them?” Circle asked.

Scenty walked over to where Backpack’s rock was and picked it up. “We could use these to make a ladder.”

“But it's just a rock.” Contact Lens commented.

“Yeah. And a small one at that.” Whippy Creamy agreed.

“Well, if we sharpen it enough, we could use it as a way to cut wood.” She pointed to the pool. “And if we cut out deep enough holes into the side of the log, we could be able to climb up.”

“Clever thinking, Scenty.” Tray complimented.

Charlotte would agree, except for the fact that those rocks were the size of her hand. They wouldn't be very effective.

“Oh, yeah. Don't we have three more rocks inside the pool as well?”

“Ohh, yeah!” Whippy Creamy confidently smiled. “If we get those, we could have, like, four mini axes.”

“Yeah. Like a hatchet.” Scenty nodded.

“Well, we can't get them until we make a ladder, right?” Tray said.