In Charlotte's Eyes

ONE: [C] Slowly Taking Hold

Charlotte was in a cave. Spelunking. Things were normal. She looked up at the ceiling, at a bat.

“Charlotte!”

Parker called for her. Of course she was with him. She wouldn't be spelunking without him. “Coming!” She answered, then turned around, away from the bat.

But what met her eyes kept her feet in place. There was another her. But, it was a little different. The clone of her was undamaged, uninfected. Healthy and pure. But there was also no face.

Charlotte slowly took a step forward, towards the mirror. It felt like a premeditated fate; to meet with herself. She walked up to it, and it didn't move. “Charlotte..?” She whispered.

She was closing the gap, and she brought her flashlight up. When she shined it on her clone, a face made its debut. The face was remarkably familiar. And it resembled a similar aesthetic to her last dream with Parker.

Charlotte’s mouth fell ajar, in confused awe. Who..? Why..? Why did she recognize this clone..?

It was soul-less. It stared at her. Suddenly, the top right corner of its face snapped off its body. Charlotte’s eyes followed the cut piece as it phased through the clone’s body, falling slowly to the floor. Once it silently thudded against the floor, it shrunk into nothing.

When Charlotte looked back up, the area where the piece had fallen off was infected with a dark green. Now the clone mirrored Charlotte’s state.

This spooked her a little. She took a step back. “Wh..What..?”

Despite the expression of the clone’s face never changing, it seemed like it was smiling maliciously.

“I’m,”

Then Charlotte woke up from her nap. She was less rattled by this dream, but she still felt unsettled; confused. She knew there was something familiar with her dreams recently, but she couldn't put her finger on it. It tormented her to an extent, but she did her best not to dwell on it. There were other things going on that she needed to focus on more.

Like, this “shift system”. It was the other’s way to timekeep. That was fine. It wasn't like the idea was bad. Charlotte wasn't going to mark down any shifts, though. That was up to the others. She didn't expect this to last, anyway. Airy would come back.

He had to. If he didn't, she'd never be able to leave and cure herself.

She wasn't sure how many shifts signified a real life day, and it didn't seem like anyone else did either. She didn't really care, though. Once Airy came back, her time here would be short, and she wouldn't have to worry about that.

Charlotte had been rounded up three times to attempt to get a stake out of the ground. The group was making progress. Charlotte was lounging around, waiting for the next time the team would attempt to take the stake out.

“Moldy!” Circle shouted for her. Seems it’s time. She stood up, looking over to where he was calling from. “We're gonna try again!”

She gave a thumbs up. She wasn't very invested in whatever the group wanted to do once the stake was out, but helping out gave her something to do.

She made her way to the tilted stake. And she got to her place. Scenty led the effort.

“Three, two, one, push!”

A chorus of grunting. A pause.

“Three, two, one, push!”

More grunting. A creak in the base. A pause.

“Three, two, one, push!”

More forceful grunting. Everyone was putting their backbone into this, with the prize of success near. Another pause. Panting.

“hh-.. Three.. two.. one.. push..!”

Charlotte was feeling fatigued from repeated attempts, but she put her all into this final push. The stake creaked some more, and then it fell over. Everyone was able to clear, and the pointed end of the stake met all of their eyes.

After a moment, everyone was smiling. Well, everyone else was. Charlotte just stared at the stake with indifference. Then, everyone began celebrating. Charlotte didn't really know why. They got the stake out of the ground, but now what? What was the point?

People were high-fiving each other. Airline Food had offered one to her, but she pretended not to notice. After a moment, things quieted down slightly. “Great job, everyone!” Scenty exclaimed, proudly. “Thank you for all of your effort.”

“But that's just step one.” Whippy Creamy commented confidently. “Next step is to build a shed!”

A shed? Why?

Scenty nodded. “Yes, correct. But, we can save that for later.” She chuckled. “I feel exhausted after that, so let's all take another break.”

A chorus of enthusiastic agreements filled the air. And soon after, everyone began dispersing again. Charlotte followed the crowd, returning to her spot of solitude. She felt pooped, despite her earlier nap. With constant sunlight, it was hard to get quality sleep in this place.

Plus, putting all her energy into that monumental task was draining. Her internal clock was telling her it was late, too. She laid back against the wooden wall, a sigh involuntarily escaping her.

She closed her eyes. She was tired.