Mr. Babydoll and the journals of his inner blizzard [peterick]

X

It was about 10 am on a goddamn Sunday when my phone rang.

"You gotta let the world in." he said. 

No hello and no how are you

"Pete, you isolate yourself too much." Joe's voice sounded weird over the phone. Everything sounds weird over the phone. Familiar people were given unfamiliar voices and you just nod and agree like it's normal. Nothing is normal anymore. And I'm not gonna agree with anything this time.

"Hayley and I are going to the Christmas Market. Why don't you come with us?" Joe suggested. I groaned mentally. This is the last thing I needed. Sundays are weird and bland enough on their own.
"I'm busy." I claimed. I heard Joe sighing on the other side. "Busy doing nothing?"

I could deny it, but the Sunday blues were too strong. "Why is Hayley with you?" I asked to distract him a little.

"She wants us to have a better workplace atmosphere." he answered.

"Tell her you're taken."

"Haha, funny." he sounded annoyed. "And us means us including you. Now stop being a defiant prick and come with us."

"Have fun without me." I responded.
"Too late. We're already in front of your apartment ." Joe said and it sounded like he was grinning. There were rustling sounds like someone had taken his phone away and then Hayley started talking to me. "Come on Pete. I'm gonna buy you some gingerbread if you'll stay at least one and a half hour."

The Christmas Market wasn't that far away. Only down the street and one turn around a corner and you'd be there. Joe was telling amusing family stories and Hayley giggled like a teenage girl every time he finished telling one. The snow was scrunching under our boots while were making our way to this stupid market. I can't believe I did agree to it again. Not much time passed until you were able to smell the scent of hot chocolate and cinnamon and hear the sound of old Christmas songs crackling trough the speakers. I'm not gonna lie, it truly had a nice vibe to it.

We sat down on the only bench that wasn't wet (and somehow not taken) and Hayley went to get some hot chocolate. None of us felt like alcohol right now and we had to admit we couldn't see coffee anymore. It was quiet between me and Joe for a while and I had nothing against it. We were talking enough at work, we saw each other almost every day.

I watched the people passing by and noticed a 5 year old boy tugging at his mum's coat. "Mommy, I want a pancake!" he whined while pointing at a wooden booth which I assumed was the one selling pancakes. "You'll get your pancakes, sweetie. Just wait a minute." his mother replied patently before she was on the phone again. This went on for about 5 minutes and it seemed to rewind and repeat itself every time. The same dialogue and the same gestures.

"I want pancakes!"

"You'll get pancakes. Just wait a minute."

Minute of being on the phone

"I want pancakes!"

"You'll get pancakes. Just wait a minute."

Another minute on the phone

"I want pancakes."

There wasn't even a change in emotion. Their voices weren't getting more aggressive with every word, they just stayed the same. The same words again and again like a mantra. Like a scene in a film you would rewind again and again for several hours straight. And for a moment I felt like I was sitting on the edge of my bed in front of my little TV in my apartment, doing nothing else but pressing one single button on my remote to make this one scene repeat itself. This one little scene that made less sense with every second it was playing in front of my face. I'm going insane.