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ST. GALLEN HILLS, 2009
IT'S 26˚ FAHRENHEIT outside. Your dimly lit desk was drowning in an old lake of dried acrylic paints and scattered newspapers. The dusty headlines smelled like old cigars and 1970, and they held dead people's names behind those coffee stains, just like how you held your hot chocolate mug.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray..."
Swaying in the winter air was the sound of your favourite love songs on your 90s vintage radio. With the chocolate steam clouding on your round glasses, you thought everything was good—you really thought everything was good, not knowing that the next seconds of your life would be nowhere near it.
An unusual recording suddenly played.
BROADCAST: M̡̧̛̻̠̗̣̗͔̭̔̉͌̈́͗̇̓̏̓ͅISSING CHILDREN FOUND LIFELESS, DEATH BY DROWNING MISSING CHILDREN FOUND LIFELESS, DEATH BY DROWNING M̡̧̛̻̠̗̣̗͔̭̔̉͌̈́͗̇̓̏̓ͅÍ̢̨͎͙͓̘͙͎̲̙̉̋̔̾̀͛̚͝͠Ş̧̛̻̱͓̜̺͖̣̖̏̇̍̑͗͗͛̚͝S͍̰͇͓̣͇̙͓̟̫͒̈́͂̂͒͋͐̾̔͗Ĭ̧̨͈̞̱̞͙̞̪̞̈́̑̎͊͐́͑͘̕Ņ̨̛̖͍̥͉͍̳͓͎̋̅̅̈̔̌̀͘͝G–
A continuous static came along, cutting the broadcast off. You had waited for the noise to stop but only ended up disappointed. It just kept on buzzing so much that it began to get into your nerves.
"So ironic how life won't let me live," you murmured through gritted teeth as you set your mug down. You simply couldn't bear with it, so you stood up from the fuzzy couch to withdraw the tape from the deck. You tapped it on your palm a little, "Please work. Please work." You flipped it and put it back.
Press play.
BROADCAST: FAMOUS ACTION STAR K̴̳̀̍̑͛̆͘͝͠ͅḮ̶͓͖͇͇̺̹̤̥̪͖̬̤̻͈̭̮̒̀̍͆̋̍̓̅̌L̷͉̣̼͓̼̩̱̺̘̙̯̖̜̇̄͛Ļ̵̫͕̳̈́͒̓̔̂͋͌̽̾̓͛̃̕̚̚̚͝͝E̴̡̡̬̠̥̥̯̣̰̻̱͈̱̦̠̮̬̽̒̀̇͗̋͛͋̈́̓̂̒̏͊̾͝D̸̼̞͔̜̮͖̜̼͈͓̞̺͙̩̣̩̬̠̣͛͂̌͗̃̀̂̈́̒̌̓̐̿̚͘͝͠͠ͅ IN HIGH-SPEED CRASH HIGH-SPEED CRASH KILLED FAMOUS ACTIO–
Second static, you bit your lips still tasting of melted cocoa, thinking about how the hell did those bitter brutalities get into your love song tape. After a loud sigh, you kept on shifting to the next and tried to get back on your playlist, but to no avail.
