"Wow."
Azzie slammed the door shut behind her, turned the lock, and tossed the keys on the counter, bewildered by the idiocy of the car that'd just tried to run her off the road. She sighed, exhausted, then dropped her purse on the end table by the door and made her way into the kitchen, trying to forget what she had just been through. She was there in about two steps; her apartment was tiny, though, as she noted at times like these, pleasantly efficient. She yanked open the fridge, looking for something to fill the yawning hunger eight hours of thankless customer service had brought upon her. The blinding white back of the fridge stared out at her, blocked only by a few cans of soda and some cheese. She smirked; having no food at least reminded her that tomorrow was Saturday, and that after she took care of getting groceries she'd have the whole rest of the weekend to relax, veg out, and ignore the rest of the world.
She closed the fridge, straightened up, and opened the freezer. There were two things to choose from; she pulled out the more appealing one, and popped it into the microwave, setting the time and then wandering over to the other counter to grab the television remote. She faced the living room and aimed it; the TV came on, asserting its confidence in her desire to hear about the views of two feuding senators whose names she didn't recognize. She listened for a minute, then shook her head as she tore herself a napkin. Those idiots on Capitol Hill would never learn.
The microwave beeped, and she removed her pizza roll eagerly, hoping it was less frozen in the middle than last time. She took it and her napkin over to the living room, and sat down on the couch, as the news program was giving way to a commercial.
"Do you crave...solitude?"
"Oh, hell yes," she muttered down at her plate, picking up the pizza roll and taking a huge bite. She looked back up at the television, munching contentedly, and watched with mild interest as images of a tropical paradise flashed across the screen, scattered with overjoyed tourists in bathing suits. It was one of those travel ads, the kind designed to make you feel even worse about the craphole you were stuck in than you already did. She smirked at it sardonically, as the voiceover went on. "Come to the Cayman Islands, where destiny awaits you..."
"Yeah," she mumbled. "I'll get right on that." She finished her food, as another commercial came on, then put her plate on the coffee table and settled back down, curling up tiredly into the pillows. She flipped to the adult cartoon station, and watched some reruns for a while, until she felt her eyelids start to drop...
"...'cause we are the Aqua Teens, make the homies say ho..."
"...and now, for just five dollars more, get this great brush attachment..."
"...paying too much for your phone service? Well, now there's a plan...keep you connected..."
There was no sound, only cold on her face, and a slight breeze. She opened her eyes, coming face to face with a clump of dead leaves on stone, and frowned at it, wondering what had happened to the couch. She sat up slowly, getting her bearings; she had a tremendous headache, and she had to have been out for a while--the sun was already high again. She looked around; it was no wonder her head hurt--she had apparently been laying face first on a massive set of white concrete stairs, painted gray in the shadow of the building they led up to. From the looks of it, she seemed to be in the entranceway of some form of grand institution--where the steps leveled off, there extended a huge portico lined with statues of crouching gargoyles, cast in white marble and giving the impression of placid sentries. Something next to her caught her eye, and she looked over, then up; she was sitting beneath one of the vigilant beasts as well. She gazed at it for a minute, somewhat in a daze, then looked away, reeling with confusion. There were no buildings like this in Redwood. What the hell was she doing here?
Azzie slammed the door shut behind her, turned the lock, and tossed the keys on the counter, bewildered by the idiocy of the car that'd just tried to run her off the road. She sighed, exhausted, then dropped her purse on the end table by the door and made her way into the kitchen, trying to forget what she had just been through. She was there in about two steps; her apartment was tiny, though, as she noted at times like these, pleasantly efficient. She yanked open the fridge, looking for something to fill the yawning hunger eight hours of thankless customer service had brought upon her. The blinding white back of the fridge stared out at her, blocked only by a few cans of soda and some cheese. She smirked; having no food at least reminded her that tomorrow was Saturday, and that after she took care of getting groceries she'd have the whole rest of the weekend to relax, veg out, and ignore the rest of the world.
She closed the fridge, straightened up, and opened the freezer. There were two things to choose from; she pulled out the more appealing one, and popped it into the microwave, setting the time and then wandering over to the other counter to grab the television remote. She faced the living room and aimed it; the TV came on, asserting its confidence in her desire to hear about the views of two feuding senators whose names she didn't recognize. She listened for a minute, then shook her head as she tore herself a napkin. Those idiots on Capitol Hill would never learn.
The microwave beeped, and she removed her pizza roll eagerly, hoping it was less frozen in the middle than last time. She took it and her napkin over to the living room, and sat down on the couch, as the news program was giving way to a commercial.
"Do you crave...solitude?"
"Oh, hell yes," she muttered down at her plate, picking up the pizza roll and taking a huge bite. She looked back up at the television, munching contentedly, and watched with mild interest as images of a tropical paradise flashed across the screen, scattered with overjoyed tourists in bathing suits. It was one of those travel ads, the kind designed to make you feel even worse about the craphole you were stuck in than you already did. She smirked at it sardonically, as the voiceover went on. "Come to the Cayman Islands, where destiny awaits you..."
"Yeah," she mumbled. "I'll get right on that." She finished her food, as another commercial came on, then put her plate on the coffee table and settled back down, curling up tiredly into the pillows. She flipped to the adult cartoon station, and watched some reruns for a while, until she felt her eyelids start to drop...
"...'cause we are the Aqua Teens, make the homies say ho..."
"...and now, for just five dollars more, get this great brush attachment..."
"...paying too much for your phone service? Well, now there's a plan...keep you connected..."
There was no sound, only cold on her face, and a slight breeze. She opened her eyes, coming face to face with a clump of dead leaves on stone, and frowned at it, wondering what had happened to the couch. She sat up slowly, getting her bearings; she had a tremendous headache, and she had to have been out for a while--the sun was already high again. She looked around; it was no wonder her head hurt--she had apparently been laying face first on a massive set of white concrete stairs, painted gray in the shadow of the building they led up to. From the looks of it, she seemed to be in the entranceway of some form of grand institution--where the steps leveled off, there extended a huge portico lined with statues of crouching gargoyles, cast in white marble and giving the impression of placid sentries. Something next to her caught her eye, and she looked over, then up; she was sitting beneath one of the vigilant beasts as well. She gazed at it for a minute, somewhat in a daze, then looked away, reeling with confusion. There were no buildings like this in Redwood. What the hell was she doing here?