Tick-tock. Tick-tock.

The clock ticks, and the clock tocks.

Here in my little home.

Red.

It’s red.

We’re red.

I’m red too.

Warm yet cool yet sweltering yet hot yet soft yet deep yet small yet big yet endless yet

Sometimes, I look down at my two little toes. I obsess over my nails; the sheen, the gloss, the length.

And I have to wonder… just where do they come from? I bite and I bite and I bite, yet they grow. Again, and again. They keep growing, turning the uneven bits into smooth ridges once again. Don’t they know it’s useless? I’ll just bite them again when the time comes.

It’s odd. This whole house is odd. Why is it red? I don’t remember it being red. I don’t remember the TV, the little red couch, or that man over there staring at me.

Staring.

Is he a man? I can’t quite tell. He certainly has the shape of one, albeit more… extended than usual. His torso is stretched and stretched like a big fat piece of gum, and his skin is - of course - red. I know skin is usually a little bit red, but his is completely, wholly, the color red. There’s no other color.

He’s just red.

His eyes are weird too. They’re just two big ol’ empty sockets. There’s a bottomless void in them, but I don’t really want to look at it any longer. It makes me feel icky.

I wonder if he’s just going to stay stuck on the ceiling. He isn’t moving, or rather doing much of anything I suppose. He’s just staring at me.

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Kind of boring.

Ah, he’ll bugger off somewhere eventually. I need to find some rabbit feed for Ms. Sue Doughnim. She’s looking awfully glum these days… maybe it’s this gosh darn red infecting this damn place.

Infectingmeinfectingmeinfectingmeinfectingme

Let’s ride on Rocinante! To the perilous attic we depart!

I don’t really like the attic. It’s all dark and spooky, but it’s the only place we keep the rabbit feed because papaw is scared of the outside. Things never were really quite the same after the sky turned red, but I think it is positively ridiculous for us to-

The man moved. I can hear him.

Creak. Creak. Creak.

He’s tiptoeing on the floorboards behind me.

W̶̹͍̪̿͐̓̓͠h̷̨͐̀̔͠ÿ̷̲͙̗̀̊ ̴̛̙̳̳͇́͂̉̄̐̀̈́̋d̸͙̠̙̝̠̭͕̗̦̿͋̆͋̈́͒̃ǐ̷̢̗̠̭͖̃͜d̴̦͓̞͔̱̩̰̱̩̞͆̑̽̈̅̓́̃ ̷̧̱͍͍̖̍̍̍̍̇͜y̴̢̢̪͔͚̹̪̺͚͗̿̉̊͜ó̷̰̬̼͜u̷͚̙͕̭̦͈̫͚̅̾̈́͝ ̴̧͈̰͙͇͈̺̘̀̎͐̈́͆͝ͅḻ̸͛̋̑ę̵̺̳͛̍́͑̍͛ͅå̵̢̰̥̝̠v̴̘̰̹̮͈͕̹́̓̈́ę̴̢̛͎̤͈͚̻̖̱̩͗̈́̓͋͌̓́̀͠ ̸̭̯̓̈́̔͆̿̕ḿ̷̢̡̨͍͋̔̄̕ȩ̸͑̋ ̸̢̮̭̌̀͛̅͝Į̷̢͔̲̱͎̉͊̽’̸̛̺͌̋́͘m̶͙̭͋̊ ̷̳͖̼͚̤̝͕̳̝͇͆͌͛̑͂̿s̷̹͂̅̀̀̚c̴͉̼͍͙̮͆̊̿̔̂̏̾͛a̷͚̠͎͍͓̓̔̀̾̓̇̿̆͌r̴̛͓͒̈́̅̔͑͝e̶̫̖̦̞̹̰̞͈̬̱͗͆͌͋͝ḑ̷͉͖͔̩̰̯̰̈́͋́̒̆͛̈͝ ̵̣̒̈̅̆̿̃̚͝ş̴͓̣̪̘͖͐̄̒̀͜o̶͉͓͙̜̬̍̌̿͌m̸̧̝̙̣͌͌̕ͅe̴̛̥̺̖̅̄͋̓́ͅo̸̡̗̗͇̖̙̿̑̓̓̐̎̆̾̅̕n̶̨̡̬̠͔̣̲̰͔̞̚͝e̸̡̦͎̗̰͍̮͇̙͋̌̌̽̕͝ͅ ̶̢̛̠̥͎̱͚̼̿̔͐͜h̶̟͉̞͖͙̱͆̅̐e̴̠̬̱͕̅̃̀́̒l̷̡̤̦̉̀͗p̵̢͇͔̻̪̥̼͎̬̬̆͂̒͆̆̀ ̷͎̯̬̱̜͈͊͐̾͌͐̐̉͋̀͝ͅm̵̨͍͙̼̐͝è̷͇̳̯͈̐̾̌͑̚͠ ̷̨͈͎̻̿ͅI̷̧̹̗͔͉͔̲͘͝’̶̛̗̤̌͊̅̑̈́̚m̸̦͕̖̞̫̳̝̼̿̾̐͆ ̸̟͂̑̒͠ã̶̫̦̹̦͙̯̩̂̅̿͜͠l̶̨͕̖̻̮͉͐͋̔̒̂̆̈͘͜ò̵̡̮̭̼̰͚̬͚͜n̷̢̹̭̳̙̹̼̈́̀̎́͊̒̈̏̕̕ę̶͚̳̆̃̉͜ ̷͓̙̱̅͗̂̇͌̀͑̇̚̕i̴̡̳͕̙̰͕̒̈́̑̏͜͝t̴̨͎̖͍̒͐̆̍̄’̴̨̨̧̦͙͑̊͗̎̀̅͂̔͠s̵̘͔̗̞̳͔̻̐͌͂͜ ̴̜͙̳͙̗̦͗ş̴̛̱͎̖͈̜̦̓̈͛͂͊͊ô̶͈͓̺̝̼͕̯̠̤̔͋̏̋̑̕͜ ̴̱̇̒̍̾̑ḓ̸̩̗̲̬͓̑̂ǟ̷͓͈̒̊͐̌͘ͅr̶̩̗̹̗͙̝̖͙̅̊̍͋̚͝ķ̴͈̰̉̆͠ save me sweetie I don’t want to

Silly little guy. Take this!

BLAM!

A little bit of pixie dust and he’s scampering away like a little baby. Hmph, that’ll teach him to mess with me! Gosh, people really don’t have any manners these days. Well, if you can really call that a person.

What was I doing again? Oh, right. The rabbit feed.

On second thought, I’m not really feeling it today. Sorry Ms. Sue Doughnim, but it looks like you’re going to have to perish today. I just can’t be bothered anymore. That mean ol’ miser completely spoiled my mood.

But y’know what’ll always bring a smile to my face? Surfing the World Wide Web of course! Let’s see what’s cookin’ these days…

DEATH TOLL REACHES MILLIONS AS THE RED-

Blegh, same as usual. Moving on~

I-I-I’M TIRED OF THIS NEVER-ENDING NIGHTMARE! SCREW YOU, I’M NOT DEALING WITH THIS FUC-

Ack, swear words. Naughty-naughty~

Let’s move on.

EMILY? EMILY, IF YOU’RE SEEING THIS, I’M SO SORRY FOR BEING A BAD FATHER. I SHOULD HAVE TREATED YOU BETTER. I SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO YOU AND GAVE YOU MY EVERYTHING, MY DEAR LITTLE PRINCESS. I’M SO SORRY I COULDN’T TELL YOU THIS IN PERSON, BUT I JUST WANTED TO SAY I LOVE YOU BEFORE EVERYTHING-

That’s the fifth one in a row! Man, is it so hard to come up with something more original?

Right. Well, I’m bored now. The house is still weird, but at least the man is gone now.

I think I’ll have sweet dreams tonight.

Tomorrow, I’ll dream of blue.