Crazy Crumbs

Pookah stitches my shorts while shaking her head from left to right; tears synchronize rain drops falling upon wood, Andain tastes the mist, I close the window.

"I don't know if I am awake."

"They're blue."

"....those were red."

"Huh?"

"....Sunny....they pulled it to make sure."

"Pulled what?"

"You got a good one. Keep that going...do it for me...do it for your shorts...do it for that purple dress...do it for Diesel too...okay?"

"What else?"

".....yeah it's got to be brighter and hotter...brighter...hotter...don't let him know...he doesn't understand things like that......he eats a lot of tuna...he eats a lot of fruit and vegetables......he's the saddest guy in town...he broke that man's window...he doesn't even know he did...that bastard tried to break his hand...now he gets moths instead."

"Why would he do that?"

"He's a jerk."

".....oh."

"He's a fake brother...you know about that Chocolate Boy...he never coming back to his people...sucker...wanker...never been no good for any of us."

I stare at crystallizing water for an eternity. I miss snowflakes; I miss softness, fuzziness, rainbow granules, distant figures, illicit shadows.

"Meyou...meyou...meyou..meyou! Meyou! Meyou!"

"Andain, let's go play in the snow."

"Me?"

"You."

"Me?"

"Me and you."

"Meyou?"

"Meyou."

".....mememe...meyou."

We sink into sadness, soft strands brush my cheeks, I lift Andain above me to look upon white streets; we experiment several queries of stability and mass adhesive.

"Don't forget about him."

"Who?"

"....Sunny......"

"I won't."

Zoomy runs by me wearing my green cargo jacket; I wear his brown olive sweater. I watch him pile thirteen calendars and count the pages.

"I guess it doesn't mean anything after all..."

"I wish we had a fireplace."

"....yeah..........did they tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"About the man and woman?"

"You got them too?"

"Yeah but they are switched around....a little I guess...I hate it."

"Me too."

"I keep smelling frayed electrical wires...I found a book about lynching inside my backpack...I didn't even check it out...I wonder who put it in there."

"Did you get the raisins?"

"Jumbo seedless."

"....thanks.."

"You never say that word."

"It's a stupid word."

"Yeah it is."

".....I really meant it though."

"It sounded like relief!"

"Teach me how to skateboard."

"Why?"

"So I can remember you."

"Teach me how to ride those bikes..."

"I don't want you to bust your ass."

"I don't want you to bust your ass."

Thad recovers an anatomical graph for three types of sebaceous gland.

"Victoria...."

"I feel like shit."

"Are you done with that act?"

".....I have a headache."

"Was it her again?"

"She's so ugly and obnoxious."

"I had a dream about her face."

"What happened?"

"......they must of been hungry..."

".....what?"

"Those disks have seven thousand calories, three hundred grams of saturated fat, no protein, somewhere around six hundred carbohydrates....each."

"What does that mean?"

"Each disk will add metric weight."

"......where is my husband?"

"Vomiting...I think."

"I'm next."

"I'm done."

"....looks great."

"She tells everybody who she is."

"Who?"

"She!"

"....Lucid?"

"Yeah but she calls her Amy."

"Amy?"

"She can't say Amethyst."

"Oh...."

"He tells her your elder is an African warrior."

"Who?"

"Nothing..."

"Who is he?"

"Some ugly ass nasty annoying smelly motherfucker."

"Great."

"He tells everybody your dad is a huge guy."

"What does he want?"

"To observe your ability."

"What am I able to do?"

"Brush him off like dirt."

"....okay...."

"........yeah that's him. Can't miss that."

"Who are you talking about?"

"Sometimes you just listen and don't realize you memorize what you heard. You need to write it down to read or something..."

"Will that help?"

"Eventually."

"My bike is ugly."

"......yeah that's it. He's proud of it."

"What do I look like?"

"Kind of small and soft....you got some weird flesh...like you want to be bone and muscle."

"Like a fish?"

"Yeah..."

"How do I get to be bone and muscle?"

"Eating fish."

"......I feel like this shit already happened."

"Deja vu?"

"Yeah."

"That guy really tried to hurt you. I hate him. I hope he dies."

"Who?"

"You didn't see him."

"What about my hand?"

"He's just stupid."

"He didn't mean to?"

"He thought it wasn't for him...I don't get that fool."

"He's not my brother?"

"He's not my brother either."

"Where's my game?"

"....the one with the big X on it?"

"Yeah?"

"......Sunny that game is too real."

"....."

"You got to wear those gloves and that chest pad to play it?"

"The head thing and some socks too..."

"....okay."

"We're not finished yet."

"....you're going to wire the whole thing?"

"Yeah but it's only for us. We are going to release a demo for everybody else."

"What will it look like?"

"Real."

".....Sunny that thing is going to get you."

"What about you?"

"........stop busting your shorts."

"Andain?"

"Me."

"Me."

"Me!"

"Meyou."

"Me."

"Meyou!"

"..............meyou."

"That is the only cat I have ever seen you get along with."

"....I bit him."

"...what?"

"We got into a fight..."

"He respects you now."

"Yeah."

"I can't believe you ate all that."

"Ate all of what?"

".....that lady adores you."

"What lady?"

"Yeah that's why she got it."

"...."

"I know."

"?"

"You are going to eat that."

"What's wrong with it?"

"........it's dripping..."

"It's just olive oil."

"....what is it?"

"Tofu and olive oil."

"Did you have to put oil on it?"

".....I don't know."

"She doesn't eat oil except for flax seed."

"I like that oil."

"A little every now and then....a drop or two."

"......who is she?"

"................"

"Does she eat tofu?"

"...."

"I put some salt on it."

"You're weird Sunny."

"...oh."

"God damn that's a long time."

"Really?"

"...it was her."

"Who?"

"She's not exactly that person you see..."

"How?"

"It's just an image projection."

"Okay?"

"The way you feel is who she is...she doesn't bullshit though...it's some fat ugly lady who needs a god damn hint."

"What is her name?"

"Who cares."

"....well I sort of do."

"She annoys the fuck out of you."

"What about me?"

"You do things to trick her...."

"Why?"

"It's an accident. Just to prove a point."

"What's the point?"

"She doesn't know shit and can't control anything."

"Thad what will she see?"

"....that lady is fucked Teacher."

"How?"

"She thinks she is not in a box."

"Huh?"

"We put her inside a subsidiary room."

"What is that?'

"All she sees is her damn house and a few places around but the time is the same as yours."

"Strange..."

"She can't go outside of it."

"Why?"

".....she won't anyways..."

"Why?"

"It's all in her head..."

"Will she come into our digital wilderness?"

"....."

"You made it appear as if nothing happened."

"...yeah."

"Why?"

"I left one clue. Let's see if she finds it..."

"What is it?"

"It's so small that it's huge."

"What is her problem?"

"She's a bitch."

"....what is her problem?"

"Honestly?"

"Yes."

"She's never lived a real moment."

"What are the people like inside the room?"

"She thinks they are her friends."

"Okay..."

"Nobody in that thing cares about her."

"...."

"We made it virtually impossible."

"Quite literally..."

"Yeah but she's used to it."

"....what about George?"

"They think they have power but everything times off auto pilot and they will die."

"How will they die?"

"The room they live in...we figured out that will most definitely kill them."

"How?"

"It shrinks."

"Into what?"

"We found a room once....after we...anyways it had all these needles and spikes."

"And it enclosed..."

"But you couldn't see it."

"How?"

"Mirrors..."

"My lesson..."

"You showed us the room full of mirrors and asked why you did that..."

"Why?"

"...."

"Why!"

"....for you it is self awareness but for us it was your protection and our vengeance."

"...........Thad...what of Avie?"

"...don't worry about that."

"How can I not?"

"Do you trust me?"

"....that's not what this is about."

"............."

"What about my husband?"

"....your grave is kind of lonely."

"How old does it say I am?"

"We used their compressed years."

"And?"

"Sixteen.."

"....shit."

"......the bartender is thirty-seven."

"What?"

"....what's wrong with that?"

".....will I ever see you again?"

"Probably not."

"Why?"

"It's a nasty place and you would never ever go there."

".....I hate this."

"You're going to hear it."

"Hear what?"

"The bloop."

"Then what?"

"That's when you should know."

"Know what?"

".....game over."

"He won."

"Andain...you beat the casket!"

".....me."

"Why does he say that?"

"Me!"

"I know but why is it about you?"

"Meyou!"

"How does he know I am talking to him?"

"....Sunny do not question the evil cat."

"Are you asleep?"

"I am sleep walking."

"Okay."

"Just forget about all this stuff."

"Why?"

"It won't make sense if you think about it every chance you get."

Inflation deludes the graph; percentage rolls upwards to three hundred ninety-seven. I step back into darkness. David laughs while Ike digitizes the presentation.

"That's it huh?"

"Yeah..."

"What did you make it taste like?"

"A bunch of fattening stuff..."

"Just like it?"

"Yeah."

"Weird..."

"Should of just made it look like it too..."

"Nah...then they wouldn't believe it was fake."

"Do you think they know what they are doing?"

"They think it's a crazy dream or something."

"Maybe it is..."

"Oh well."

"Heads up!"

"For what?"

"Explosive people who thought they knew something."

"Ike..."

"Yeah?"

"...."

"What?"

"Do you think it was wise to add those electrodes?"

"Why not?"

"What did you say to what dear children..."

"She heard."

"She did."

"We added three hundred and eleven electrodes.."

"To that game.."

"Why?"

"....oh....then it's not a game anymore."

"...probably doesn't even do anything then...after so many it cancels it out..."

"How many?"

"That should be enough just to sustain the weirdness."

"I took one out."

"Who said that?"

"I think it was David."

"No it was Thad."

"Was it Chester?"

"Who's left?"

"That was weird."

"I heard it too."

"Ruby?"

"Amethyst?"

"Which one was it?"

"....heart."

"...."

"...."

"Alright well that's that."

"On to the next chapter!"