Puppets in Peril

Chapter 1

A fading noise comes from a far distance above, it sounds more like someone screaming. The noise then starts getting louder and louder immediately, like if they're falling. Then there’s a thud, and a whine.

"Oww.. Motherfucker, that hurt..!" Peanut cried out as he laid there, dealing with his pain.

After five minutes of just suffering, the purple creature then slowly sat up. He looked at his surroundings. This place didn't look familiar at all. Something was wrong, very wrong.

"What the.." Peanut paused, looking around him one more time to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. "Where am I..?"

He slowly got up and felt a sharp pain on his lower side and gasped.

"Oww.. I think I hurt my hip.." he groaned.

Peanut then started wandering around the place out of curiosity. He looked at the billboards hanging from above. Suddenly, he realized where he was.

"Am I in an IKEA..?" he questioned himself.

He kept looking around the place for more detail. There was nobody around, just him. There seemed to be no ceiling, it was just foggy. There didn’t seem to be any walls either, it just looked like an endless furniture store. There were different themes and sections like food, beds, toys, bathroom furniture, and so on.

Soon enough, Peanut started to get suspicious. Why aren’t there any people around? He thought to himself, Where is everyone? Where’s the exit?

Suddenly, his thoughts got interrupted by something moving by. It was an employee. His face lit up, knowing he wasn’t alone in this endless store.

Finally, a person! He thought, sighing in relief. Peanut ran towards the employee, but then paused and looked at them.

They were bald and didn’t have a face, they were dressed in a yellow shirt with blue stripes and some blue jeans. But he didn’t think too much of it, he just wanted to get the hell out of here!

"Hey," Peanut called out to the employee. The employee turned around and looked at him, giving him their full attention. "Do you know where the exit is? I'm kinda lost."

The employee stared at him for a moment, and then just walked away like he wasn’t there. Peanut was shocked, confused, then mad.

"Hey!" he shouted at the employee. The employee looked back at him once again. "I'm looking for the exit! Do you know where the exit is?"

The employee just looked at him and walked away again. Ugh, whatever. Peanut scoffed, I'll just find the exit myself then. He started his journey on finding the exit.

After what seemed like an hour of searching, there was still no exit. What the hell is going on? Peanut thought to himself, starting to worry. Eventually, he gave up and thought nothing of it. I'm just gonna call Jeff and see if he picks up.

He grabbed out his phone, but it wouldn’t turn on. He tried turning it on over and over again, it was still stuck on the same pitch black screen.

"No, no, no.. Goddamnit!" he cried out.

He began to panic, his thoughts swarming around him like angry bees.

Am I never gonna get out of here? Where’s the exit? Am I the only real person here? Am I stuck here forever with no one else around? Where’s the exit?

Peanut collapsed on the ground, falling on his knees. His breath getting heavier and his heart beating faster the more his thoughts cloud over his head. He started to shake in fear.

What about my friends? What about Jeff? What about my fans? Where’s the exit? Is this a prank? Is this all a dream? Am I hallucinating? Where’s the exit? WHERE’S THE EXIT? WHERE’S THE EXIT!?!?!?!?!?

"Senor!" Peanut's thoughts immediately got interrupted by someone calling out to him.

Another person..? He quickly looked up to see who it was.

It didn't look like a person. It was a darkish-green jalapeño, on a steek. It was wearing a Sombrero, had a mustache, and a tired look on its face.

Instantly, Peanut realized who it was.

"José..?"