kept in the drafts

'singularity' (OC?)

Last edited 25 January, 2019.

this was the replacement project i turned in for the last one. still kinda morbid but my teacher liked it :)

~~

The neon sign buzzed and flashed above the laundromat window as snow fell around the building. The doors were thrown open as a tall young man walked into the small storefront.

"Viktor! How are you, friend?" the attendee asked the boy. He simply glared at him and turned away, directing his attention to the machines stacked against the far wall. Bag of clothes in hand, V hoisted himself on top of one of the dryers and shoved his earbuds into his head. Finally distanced from the rest of the world, he began to doze off.

"Viktor, my friend, this isn't an inn," a cold hand jerked him awake. He took out one earbud and groaned, his tired brain wracked with restless thoughts. He sat alone, in silence, staring at each rotating bowl of wet cotton. As the attendee walked away, memories flashed through V's eyes, cold and dark.

He remembered the train, the long stretch of metal tearing through the mountains at full speed, the pure snow blackened by its exhaust. He had forgotten it, the subtle touch of his brother's hand against his side on the four hour trip, the chug of the wheels like rusted laundry machines.

V shook his head, as if to remove himself from his memories. He hopped down from the dryer and began to wander around the dank room. As his weary legs grew tired, his body crashed into a large chair in the corner of the laundromat.

"Vicky! Watch!" V's eyes grew tired as he remembered his brother's voice and the glide of skates on thin ice like hot irons on polyester sheets. "Watch!" his brother cried as he slid across the ice, his dull skate blades shredding through the thin sheet. They laughed as V took the ice, his long, wobbly legs struggling to balance the rest of his body. His brother fell to the ground in laughter, giggling and poking fun at V's silly stature.

Then suddenly, the crack. The endless abyss of black lake beneath them as his little brother screamed for help. V reached out to him, sliding on his knees across the wet ice to grab him, only to no avail. He was too far under, and further and further he slipped until his small, blue hands could no longer be seen. All V was, his little brother, his everything, had vanished like socks in the dryer.

"I miss you," he whispered to himself, staring into the constantly rotating tumble of cloth in a washing machine. The few others in the room turned to look at him, but V could only stand there, gazing into a washing machine, his body shaking.

He tore through the room and slammed the glass door behind him, chasing after his own feet until the laundromat was no longer in sight. He sprinted down the street, slowly decreasing in speed as his lungs began to cave in on themselves. He stopped in front of his apartment heaving, wanting nothing more than to collapse and forget everything. He drug himself in the door, up the stairs, and fell into the gentle embrace of his dusty couch cushions.

The landline chirped loudly as if to wake V up. He lay there, his tired body aching under his heavy chest. He rolled over, hoping to find a more comfortable position, only to fall off the couch. He stood up, rubbing his eyes and scratching his head, groggy and uncomfortable. Fumbling to get his balance, he slumped into the kitchenette to pour himself some cereal. As he dumped his grocery store brand Frosted Flakes into a bowl, we switched on the small TV in the corner of the room. "12:23," he whispered, mimicking the small clock hung on the wall.

Bowl in hand, he slowly walked to the other side of the room and crouched down to sit in front of a large window, shaded by white curtains. The white noise of the TV calmed V's mind as he dipped into his cereal, staring blankly at the white sheet covering the abundant light coming from the other side.

As soon as he finished his cereal, V put the bowl on the floor and lay down on the ground, his eyes fixated on the popcorn ceiling above him. He was overflowing with emotion but his heart was empty. He rolled over. A single envelope lay underneath the old couch, something V hadn't noticed before. He propped himself up, sighing heavily, and picked up the small envelope. All that sat inside was a polaroid photo of V, asleep in his bed, taken by his little brother. "I love you, Vicky!" was written on the bottom.

V's eyes went cold, totally empty. He sat there, dumbfounded by this discovery, on the verge of tears but too empty to actually release one. His restless brain, wracked with grief screamed at him with fury. V threw his head into his hands and sobbed invisible tears, wishing only to rewind time and fix everything. He got up off the floor, only to sit back down on the couch, and slept.

The landline chirped loudly as if to wake V up. He groaned, rolling over only to fall off the small couch before getting up to make some cereal. He looked to the window, glancing at the clock. "12:23," he whispered as he took his bowl over to the window, drawing the curtains. The bright sun radiated through the room, glowing and golden, heating up the otherwise frozen apartment. V noticed a little red butterfly fluttering from one side of the parking lot to the other, like it was trying to tell him something. Just yesterday snow was falling from the sky like bullets, and now only the piles of ice on the side of the road remain after the blazing heat of the sun.

Something felt wrong. V didn't know what it was, but something was definitely off, like he had lived this moment before. He put his cereal down and crouched under the couch, like he knew something would be there. He reached his hand out and grabbed the little envelope, opening it carefully, and pulled out the polaroid picture, a different one than the one V remembered. It was him, strapping on ice skates in front of the frozen lake he and his brother had always played at, the huge evergreens in the background darkened by the contrast of the white winter sky. "I love you, Vicky!" was still written on the bottom in Sharpie, slightly smudged but still perfectly legible in his brother's handwriting.

V tensed up, his hand shaking. He had no idea what was going on, or why, but he had this undoubtable feeling of dread, something he'd only felt once before. He didn't understand it, but he felt as though the universe was trying to tell him he could go back, fix everything. V stood up slowly, peering out the window again, spotting the little red butterfly on a frosted-over light post. He threw on his shoes and a black hoodie and ran out of his apartment.

V hadn't realised how far the lake was from his apartment. It had never felt that far when he was younger, but he'd never had to walk there either. As he approached the lake, he stopped, noticing a glimmer of reflected light out of the corner of his eye. On the ground by a bench lay a single, mostly rusted over ice skate, black and white. As he crouched down to examine it, V turned it over. "Viktor" was written in a child's handwriting on the bottom of the skate.

V brushed it off, not wanting to force himself to feel anything. He felt an urge to jump and didn't know why, but he chose to anyway. Taking off his shoes and throwing his jacket off to the side he revved himself up, hopping from right to left trying to give himself energy before he began to back up away from the lake, giving himself room to run. Then he dashed at full speed toward the cold water, not conscious of his decisions, no thought process, nothing. Just pure determination and will. He leaped into the lake at full force and then there was silence.

A cold hand jerked V awake, and he took out one of his earbuds and hopped off of the dryers he was laying on. He walked around the room, fixating his eyes on each bowl of rotating, wet cotton.

"I miss you," he whispered. 

~~

i forgot how much i enjoyed writing that.

but holy hell that was fun to read. i totally forgot about all the little laundry machine comparisons with the skating stuff and just wow. i'm impressed by myself :,)

but yeah, since this was a school project and kinda just a story on it's own, i probably won't ever expand on it. i really like the way it is, short and simple but still complex and interesting. yee :))