Misc.

multiverse 2

It was the middle of February and the roads had turned a slushy brown, the sidewalks following suite. Bitterly cold wind blew through the streets without snow and everything was gritty with sand and grime. 

It was a boring day. 

A day where it wasn't nice enough to go play outside, but staying indoors did no good either. A day where all you had to do was clean the house and cook the food and pass the time as best you can. A day where no book was entertaining enough, no television show that kept people's attention for too long. 

It was a boring day.

Until it wasn't.

Miles and Em had both been sick with a cold and had spent the day curled up together on the couch watching bad movies and napping intermittently. At around 5, Miles had gotten up to go buy groceries for dinner that evening. It was their turn to cook after all.

"You know you don't have to," Em called. "We could just order something."

Miles seemed to contemplate it for a minute before making up her mind.

"That's alright dear, I won't be gone long." he assured, pulling on a rather flamboyant coat.

"Okay well, call me if you need anything." Em said.

"I will darling."

~~~

By the time the clock stretched its limbs to 6:00, there was still no sign of Miles. The grocery store was no farther than a ten minute walk away and she said she was only going to pick up a few things. 

It was getting darker and colder by the second, so Em called Miles' phone, only to have it go straight to voice mail. 

Em frowned, and decided to give it just a tad longer. 

By 7:30, no one had shown up and Em had grown significantly more concerned. Deciding to go out looking for him, they pulled on a sweater and went searching. 

It was bloody freezing outside and the wind had picked up, the chill blowing through the fabric of their shirt, howling, asking them why they were out like this in such weather. 

Miles wasn't anywhere in the store, nor anywhere around it. Em started panicking, calling their phone again.

No answer. 

Their fingers and toes were numb but they refused to give up until they found her. 

Em started asking people on the street, begging them if they'd seen her. 

"Please, they've got brown curly hair, and they're about five foot eight. I can't  find them." he begged one woman who looked back at Em as if they were insane and hastily kept walking. 

They looked for two hours before giving up, only because they couldn't feel their hands anymore. 

Em started back to their apartment, back past the grocery store, down the road to their place, keeping a careful watch out for Miles, starting to cry. Why couldn't they find her? Where did he go?

The wind picked up and Em winced, the cold stinging their body. They took refuge in an alley way halfway back home, waiting for the wind to die down. 

They looked down the alleyway, trying to catch their breath, rubbing the tears out of their eyes when they thought they saw what they saw.

Tentative steps brought them to a dumpster where an unmoving figure was stuffed behind it.

Em almost screamed.

Miles.

They grabbed the body and shook it, yelling their name.