It was the 24th of December, the sun was setting, and Cameron had no idea where to go.
You might be wondering what she was doing out in the cold when it was beginning to get dark, especially on Christmas Eve.
Well you see, her mother had turned into a literal Nightmare Before Christmas and kicked her out of the house for she had come home later than usual. The reason being she had chased after a kid who she suspected to be Georgie.
You couldn't blame her. The boy looked a lot like Georgie, same height, same frame, he wore the yellow raincoat and all. Exactly like the last time she saw the youngest Denbrough.
He also held onto a red balloon, with a thin red ribbon instead of the usual string.
Georgie loved the color red.
She didn't see his face, however, because the child had run away when she got close enough to reach him.
All logic seemed to go out the window at that very moment, and she didn't even think twice about chasing after the lookalike.
She ran after him by foot, from the park to the entrance of the sewers, which is a longer run than you think.
She caught sight of the boy, by the edge of the shallow river and she was confident he'd have nowhere else to go, but the kid seemed to disappear into thin air when she finally got to where he stood.
All that was left in place was the red balloon he brought along on their little game of tag, which was held in place by a small twig that was tied onto the red strip.
So now, here she was, strolling down a dimly lit street, with no place in mind, on one of the most awaited days of the year.
Isn't that just sad?
Cameron shivered lightly as she looked around for a place to stay the night. Every building in the area was either closed or unattended.
Then a bunch of colorful rays caught her attention. There, just across the street was an arcade open for business.
She was pleasantly surprised. She didn't think anyone would stay open on this holiday.
She crossed the street, which looked deserted since no car or human was around, then pressed her forehead against the window pane of the gaming center softly, feeling the cold surface make contact with her skin.
Nobody seemed to be inside.
She let out a sigh of relief, watching as her breath turned to a small puff of fog before her, then she walked into the building.
She walked around the place, mesmerized by the different, bright colored lights coming from the different consoles in the premise.
Everything looked so... so used. The walls were dull and the carpet was a bit tacky, but those attributes only added to the beauty of the place.
Her exploring came to a halt when she came across something she had always wanted to try- a claw machine.
She approached the game with a childlike wonder and immediately her heart was snatched by an adorable plushy she found inside the pool of toys.
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