♡ 2010 writing portfolio ♡

(align:"<==>")+(box:"===XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX===")[You decide it's not worth dealing with the office decor. You're pretty sure at least one of the body parts in the preservation jar props on the shelves is real, and you don't have the energy for it right now. Maybe one of the acrobats will drop out or quit soon, and you'll get a promotion from understudy to regular performer. Maybe you'll finally be rid of that damn costume performer role. A year will go by. And that it does, actually! A year goes by, and you're given the choice to renew your contract for another year. You immediately want to refuse, but you notice your new contract has a new wage with a 20% raise… and rent's been tight lately. One of the full time acrobats will quit for sure this year, right..?] (text-style:"bold","underline","expand","buoy")+(align:"=><=")+(box:"===XXXXXXXXXXXXXX===")[ BAD END 0 ]

(align:"<==>")+(box:"===XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX===")[=//I can't stand this place, it always gives me the creeps. It's so dusty and I feel like if I stay here too long I'll contract some strange disease from the mold spores. They say that the office is like that because this place used to be an immersive carnival themed haunted house. They had a live performance aspect to it— Some freak show type thing, I think? When it changed ownership a lot of the structures stayed and were just repainted or remodeled so they could be used for a more traditional, real carnival. I guess a lot of the props and junk they didn't use were just stuffed in here and haven't been thrown out. I'd get it if it were a recent change and not like… from a little over a century ago. Or if we just kept this shit around to use for Halloween. But it never leaves the office and it smells like decay. Half the stuff is rotted beyond any actual use. Ugh… I really hate coming here…// * (text-colour:white)[[[But I hate this job more. I'll deal with it once if it means I never have to deal with it again. ->1.2.1 prologue]]] * (text-colour:white)[[[I can just wait out the end of my contract. A year'll go by eventually. I'll just… suck it up until then, I guess. ->1.1 bad end]]]

(align:"<==>")+(box:"===XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX===")["I just wanted to pop in and say hello. It's been a little while, y'know?" "It //has// been some time, hasn't it… Well, it's always nice seeing you, dear. I'm rather busy at the moment, though, so unfortunately I'll have to cut this visit short. Do come to see me again soon. Bye bye, now."] (text-style:"bold","expand")+(align:"=><=")+(box:"===XXXXXXXXXXXXXX===")[ ✦ ✧ ✦ ] (align:"<==>")+(box:"===XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX===")[You find that, as she bids you farewell, your resolve leaves you entirely. You hate your job, that much is //undeniably// true, but your boss has also been nothing but kind to you. You found this place at a rough time in your life, and she helped you find an apartment to settle down in. You'd never tell her this, but she's almost like a parental figure to you. If you left, it's possible that you'd never see her again. … Waiting it out until your contract ends can't be //too// bad, right..? Better than disappointing her, at least. You wave goodbye and leave her office. When you get home, you scream into your pillow. Maybe next time you'll be able to tell her you want to quit..?] (text-style:"bold","underline","expand","buoy")+(align:"=><=")+(box:"===XXXXXXXXXXXXXX===")[ BAD END 0 ]

(align:"<==>")+(box:"===XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX===")[=// I open the door. This place is just as gross as it always is. I'll never get how anyone can stand this— It's gotta be some sort of health violation. Maybe I should call OSHA..? Eh- It's whatever. It won't be my problem after today. I see my boss staring at me from the other side of her desk. // "Pandora! What brings you here?" //One thing I don't mind about this place is how funny my boss always looks sitting there. I feel like if I saw her walking around casually outside I'd be able to tell where she works. She dresses like a clown. Literally, I mean. I don't know if she's part of a subculture I just don't know about, but she always has these colorful jester hats and ruffed collars. She's never historically accurate, but I think she makes them herself which is… kinda cool, actually. Sometimes she also wears pumpkin pants and I swear it's like she uses some sort of boning to keep them inflated at all times. It's actually insane how puffy those things are whenever she wears them. Today's outfit is more traditional than usual: half black and half white. It's nice. She's so small, hunched over at her desk. She has her reading glasses on, and I notice they have a beaded chain to keep them from getting lost. It's color coordinated. There are small, silver circus tent charms where the chain connects to her glasses, and I genuinely hope I can be as fashionable as she is when I get to be her age. Assuming I even get to be her age. She's like… ancient. It wouldn't surprise me if she was actually alive when this place was still a haunted house. …I'm just joking, of course. She continues looking in my direction and I realize I've just been staring this whole time. I really should say something.// "Hi, Ms. SURNAME. * (text-colour:white)[[["Sorry, it's… It's nothing." ->1.2 bad end]]] * (text-colour:white)[[["I like your outfit today." ->1.2.2 prologue]]] * (text-colour:white)[[["I'm quitting." ->1.3 prologue]]]

(align:"<==>")+(box:"===XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX===")[="It's really cute." "Thank you, dear. I'm rather busy at the moment, though, so unfortunately I'll have to cut this visit short. Do come to see me again soon. Bye bye-" "-Wait!" //I even surprise myself when I interrupt her goodbye. It's definitely not the first time I've cut her off, but it's the first time in a while. She looks startled, and for a moment I worry she's going to scold me. She was really patient with me when I first started and there aren't a lot of us here working at the carnival, so she's always felt more like a grandmother than a proper workplace superior. I give her a moment to react. She smiles at me.// "Yes?" //I take a deep breath.// * (text-colour:white)[[["Sorry, it's… It's nothing." ->1.2 bad end]]] * (text-colour:white)[[["I'm quitting." ->1.3 prologue]]]

(align:"<==>")+(box:"===XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX===")["…You're quitting?" //I can barely remember the last time I felt like this. It feels like there's a pit in my stomach, and the longer she looks at me like that the deeper it's gonna get. I bite my cheek and look to the side. I don't think I can look at her directly and still tell her I'm leaving.// "Yeah. I- I'm quitting. I'll still be here for another three weeks for like… courtesy reasons and all, but I was hoping you could void my contract..?" //She doesn't answer. I can't look at her, but I can feel her staring at me. I almost have to force myself to keep talking.// "I remember while reading through it, it said I could quit at 'a cost..?' I dunno how much you had in mind exactly, and I don't really have a whole lot of savings, but I could-" "The cost isn't monetary, dear." "…What..?" //That makes me look at her. If not a monetary cost, then what? I hear her laugh, the same low chuckle I've grown to be so used to. Usually it's warm, but now it's… I can't actually place it, really. She's looking at me like she pities, and suddenly the room feels a hell of a lot worse than it already did. She's normally so out of place in here. She's always been, like, the epitome of an eccentric, little old lady. She holds monthly work tea parties and it's like she has a tea party fund instead of a retirement fund. She should stick out like a sore thumb in this room covered wall to wall with old haunted house shit. And she normally// does-! //But now, if I didn't already know who she was, I'd probably mistake her for some creepy, faded statue. Her office is never really// warm, //but now it's particularly cold. I can feel goosebumps on my skin and I'm suddenly able to put into words how her laugh makes me feel. Scared. I think I'm scared.// "The cost isn't monetary, Pandora, dear. I won't request money from you." "Then what-" //I take a moment to breathe.// "What do you want, then?" "A little game, is all. If you win, you can leave as soon as tomorrow, and if I win then… Hmm, you'll have to give me some time to think of my own prize." //I don't like her vagueness.// "What game?" "You'll find out soon enough. Hopefully it isn't too difficult for you— I'd hate to give you a task you couldn't complete. Good luck." //She smiles at me again, and the office lights immediately shut off. I almost swear. I'm surprised that I don't, actually, but I think the words just got caught in my throat. I can't remember the last time I've shaken from fear. I'm not sure if I ever have before now. The office doesn't have any windows, so it's pitch black in here. I remember that there should be a breaker nearby, and suddenly I'm glad I actually paid attention during my orientation tour. I think I was just… Excited to work here. Like, for real. Before I realized being a costume performer kinda, really// sucks. //My phone is still in my pocket— Thank gd. I immediately turn the flashlight on, and shine it in Ms. SURNAME's direction.//] (align:"=><=")+(box:"===XXXXXXXXXXXXXX===")[//She's gone. I'm alone.//] (align:"<==>")+(box:"===XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX===")[=//For some reason, this actually doesn't surprise me. Not in the slightest. I think I'd be more surprised if she were still here. And—to be honest—I'm kinda… glad that she's gone right now. Sucks that I can't ask her where the breaker is, though. My phone is at 58%, and it// should //at least last me long enough to find it. I'm kinda tempted to find a flashlight first; I don't wanna drain my battery unnecessarily. It'd be nice to be able to call someone if I need to. … … … Not as if I really have anyone else// to //call. Tch… Whatever. Those bridges already burned and it's too late to rebuild them. For now I should focus on finding that damn breaker and getting the lights back on.// (text-style:"bold","underline","expand","buoy")+(align:"=><=")+(box:"===XXXXXXXXXXXXXX===")[ END PROLOGUE ]