Night of The Hunter

Chapter One: A Visit

The world is a wonderful place, people say. A place where everything is possible and where you can be whoever you want to be. Magnolia chuckled as the thought sprung inside her head.

The customer in front of her didn't find it as amusing as she did. "Working hard or hardly working?" He commented as her pace at checkout slowed down. She sighed and rolled her eyes, as she put the thought of a wonderful world back inside her head.

No, the world wasn't wonderful. Or maybe it was, for some people. But the mundanity of her life, the injustices in the system, reminded her that her world wasn't beautiful, that it was in fact a very ugly place.

As she finished scanning all the items of the old man in front of her, she gave a forced but polite smile... But of course the man had no interest in returning the gesture. She looked on as he took his shopping cart and went on with his day. Another rude, impatient customer... It seemed like there were more of them each day. At least that was the last one during her shift. She wouldn't need to worry about this stupid job again for a full day now..

After asking for another worker to take over her post, Magnolia walked through the supermarket. What a bleak place: everything seemed so white, so bright and so clean. It all felt very corporate: another branch 200 kilometres from here probably looked the exact same way. The place lacked passion... And good design. Yet this is where she lived, or at least where she worked.

After reaching the staff room, Magnolia spent no time interacting with her colleagues... But they sure had seen her. One of them chuckled as she passed. "Daydreaming at work again, Magnolia?" She asked, giving a mean smile. The other colleagues nearby giggled, finding it amusing, apparently.

Magnolia just sighed, giving a sarcastic smile back. "You should try it sometime... Maybe you could dream of having an actual boyfriend, Emma." She countered back. The other colleagues were shocked... But at least it made them leave Magnolia alone. Emma herself was too baffled to say anything back... Good.

And so she hung back her apron and cap. As she did so, she let out a breath of relief. She no longer had to conform to what the company wanted. For now, she was free. She left the staff room at once, her colleagues already talking about something else. At the store entrance, she quickly clocked out before walking through the parking lot to snatch her bike.

It was an old thing, with bits of rust here and there. She was pretty sure mom owned that blue bike when she was teenager. Yet despite its age, it still held up and did the job. That's all that mattered to Magnolia.

On she went then, unlocking the lock and driving the old thing down the road. As usual, she didn't head straight home. No, there wasn't anything to do at home anyway. Just her mom and her usual rambles. Instead, she went to visit her friend Neti. Magnolia never announced her coming, but at this point Neti had gotten used to that.

The city's cycling infrastructure was poor at best, disastrous at worst. Cycling lanes were mostly unheard of, except in the upper class neighbourhoods where Magnolia seldom came. Cars always drove too fast and aggression towards cyclists wasn't unheard of. It was indeed better to drive or go on foot. But cars are expensive and neither Magnolia nor her mom could spare the money at the moment. So the old blue bike would have to do, despite the road rage.

This time was no different, with Magnolia being hit nearly three times... Again. It didn't bother her however. At most, she rolled her eyes or let out a sigh. The car horns were what annoyed her most. Magnolia wasn't the most patient person, but some people seemed unable to wait for even three seconds. As if three seconds would stop them from being late.

Keeping her eyes open (and her hands on the brakes,) Magnolia crossed the city and soon found herself in the suburbs where Neti lived. This place was always a mess, with every house looking like the other. Fortunately, she had been here plenty of times and this bizarre maze of capitalist architecture held no more secrets for her. Soon she found Neti's address. She lived in a small one floor bungalow, but the place at least seemed cosy. Sometimes, you just need to make the best out of something.