She jolted awake. She was once again in the mall. Her head stung, like someone had poked a needle in through one side, she groaned, sitting upright and breathing with difficulty.
But at least she wasn't being forced to smile anymore.
The mall smelled as it always had, thick with fabric and perfume. She found herself dressed just as she had been, in the cute summer clothes the girl in the photograph above had been in. In fact, everything was identical to the way it was, save for the omission of two key people.
She stood up. "Beryl? ...Eloise?" she chirped, standing on the tips of her toes to look over the shelves and racks.
HEY!!!
She felt as if she heard a voice, but she couldn't quite place where or whom it was coming from. It was as if the words were made present to her, and she understood them, but there was no explicit medium.
FLOR! WE'RE WRITING IN YOUR JOURNAL!! GET IN THE FRICKIN CHANGING ROOMS RIGHT BEHIND YOU BUT BE QUIET! DO. NOT. MAKE ANY NOISE
THIS IS ELOISE BTW
PLEASE BE QUIET
YOULL BE FINE I PROMISE
BUT IT GOT IN
Flor couldn't see it very well, but she wasn't quite alone. On the other side of the center section, between several clothing racks, was something dark and wet. The shape wasn't apparent.
She slowly backed up, finding herself in contact with a shelf. No noise was made. She wasn't even breathing for a few seconds. Her heart was making far too much noise for her own taste.
LOOK LEFT!
Flor looked to her left. There was the changing room sign, once again. Of course. She slowly let her barefoot feet carry her across the carpeted floor, her eyes fixed on the creature.
It didn't seem to see her, but she had no way of knowing.
Stepping in past the threshold, she took a left and entered a new room. It was thin and resembled an office connected to a hallway of doors, all of which were wide and featured wide openings under each.
DOOR 3
THIS IS BERYL
YOU NEED TO NOT OPEN THE DOOR
SLIP UNDER THE GAP
She took a deep breath, but it wasn't long before she had a rough idea of which door was the third. She got down on the ground, scooting on her stomach until she was on the other side.
There was Beryl and Eloise, sitting on a bench with her journal. Right behind them was a mirror, nearly the size of the entire available wall.
Flor shook her head. It was beginning to become mildly dizzy. She sat down on the floor, rubbing her temples. "Are we safe?" she asked, her voice as quiet as she could make it.
YEAH, I THINK WE ARE
She looked up, confused, blinking slowly. Eloise was still writing. Beryl noticed this and took Flor's journal from her. Then, she set it on the floor and began to write.
BERYL: This way makes more sense
ELOISE: So whatd we do?
FLOR: what happened?
BERYL: The gates gave way and the thing got in. If we're really quiet, it'll probably leave, but we need to think of a better way to handle this
YOU ARE READING
Thank you for waiting.
Science FictionA fairy tale until it isn't. But the ending is worth the wait. Florence is a joshu - a painting that came to life. After being given away as promotion, she, her sister Yenri, and her new friend Joe attempt to change their situation through music. H...
