Outside

chapter 8: A Trip to Wal Mart

The rest of the drive was spent with Scout in Stacy's lap, a worryingly dry pile of half-chewed bread in the passenger seat. The only smell was that of peanut butter, but Stacy had still rolled down the windows to help air things out.

As she parked in front of the Wal Mart, Scout let out a pained groan, rolling on to her stomach. "Are we home yet?"

"Not yet. I have some shopping to do first." A glance to the mess in the passenger seat, and she picked the Puppet up. "And you're coming with."

"Ugh, fine. I don't want to be in here anyways." Scout told her, flopping over in Stacy's arms. Where they were going was undoubtedly full of people, and that made her feel sick again. But she was sure she could play dead well enough for however long it took.

Stacy grabbed her bag, then got out of the truck and started towards the large store. Scout took the chance to look around, seeing several people and families. Some had large metal carts and some had gray bags, walking either towards or away from the store. Some were by parked cars, putting the bags into them. She thought back, trying to remember what she'd seen about Wal Marts on TV, but couldn't think of anything.

'Maybe they're something new?' She decided as they entered the building, Stacy nodding to someone standing there in a blue vest. She grabbed a cart, placing Scout into the smaller section close to the handle. As she made her way through the shelves, Scout stared in wonder at all of the clean, brightly colored things around. When they got to where they were going, she actually recognized some of them as being in Stacy's kitchen.

"Why are we in this weird kitchen? And where's the stove?" She asked as Stacy searched through the items. Occasionally, she'd pick one up to look closer, but would inevitably put it back again.

"It's a place to buy stuff for your kitchen." Her Host explained. "And I'm just checking for something. If it's not here, I'll have to ask Mason about it tomorrow night."

"Ask who about what?" Now the Puppet was confused.

"Mason. He's one of my friends, and him and Lisa will be at my apartment tomorrow night for DnD." Stacy told her. "I haven't told them about you yet, but if you want to meet them tomorrow will be the time."

"Oh..." Scout sunk down a little, looking at anything but Stacy. 'More friends? Ugh, how many people does one Host need? I know she said she had people out here, but I didn't think there would be so many...' She shook her head, grabbing the metal edge of the cart when Stacy pushed it around the corner, where hundreds of thick cups with handles were. The Host gestured to the display when she saw Scout looking at it.

"Go ahead and choose one. I'll buy it for you." She told the Puppet, who hauled herself up to get a better look. There were so many different kinds of mugs, some with pictures and some with words on them, and in all sorts of different colors. Stacy was looking at her phone, so Scout took the chance to Jump to the shelf and get a closer look.

She zeroed in on a black one with white lettering, one of which she couldn't recognize. But it was shiny and very smooth, and she found herself rubbing her hands over the rim over and over again.

"Oh, do you want the cat mug?" Stacy had looked up from her phone. Scout didn't know what a cat was, but she nodded.

"Yeah! It's a cool color." The Puppet told her, grabbing the handle and trying to lift it. Despite it's size, it was heavier than she expected, and her Host had to grab it to keep it from falling. She placed it in the bottom of the cart while Scout jumped back into her place, and Stacy started back down the aisle.

As they turned a corner, Stacy handed Scout her phone, a weird game on it. Stacy gave a short explanation on the game, which was just to clear out rows of the colored blocks. The Puppet settled in to do so while Stacy kept going through the store. She would look up whenever something was put into the cart, but other than that had no real interest in what Stacy was doing.