Abyssal Light Part 1: Still
- Hashtag Kalakar
- Apr 26
- 4 min read
Nina:
I opened my eyes. Another day. Tiring – I couldn’t even get out of my bed.
I rolled over and fell off the bed. Somehow, it broke.
Ugh, every day is such a pain. I have to fix this bed after my nine-to-five crappy job. Don’t get me wrong, this job was - and has been - my dream job. But the thing is everything is slowly becoming boring and regular. So regular that even singing songs I loved wouldn’t help.
What time is it? I thought, looking at the clock.
Eight. Fifty. Five. A.M.
I threw my bodyweight backwards, managing to hit my head on a chair and landing my back on a splinter from a piece of the bed.
I jumped up. Too slow – I already had my head bleeding a little.
I growled a little. I sounded like an actual dog because of my terrible morning voice, but nonetheless, I was agitated.
Alas, I couldn’t just sit and rue over my pain and agony, for I had my work to go to.
I got up, immediately felt tired and fatigued, and stood in one spot before realizing that I could arrive late to my job. I decided to do things quickly, yet my slow movements prevented this. I ended up being at least twenty minutes late to work.
“Late again, Nina. What is happening to you, mija? This is the seventh week in a row!” Marylen said.
“Been feeling tired and fatigued lately,” I said.
Marylen frowned.
“You should get that checked out dear. It could be a problem or a mental illness…”
“I’m fine, Marylen. It’s just tiredness, it’ll go away.”
“If you say so, mija.”
I walked into the office. The bright lights nearly blinded me.
“Ugh.”
A second passed after I sat down and then–
“Hello, I’m new here, I’d like to know your name, just trying to get to know everyone.”
A girl, who could've been at least thirteen, was standing there. She tried sounding happy about being here, but I recognised that tone all too well. Thirteen-year-old me usually used that tone when I was pretending to feel an emotion.
“Honey, are you sure you’re old enough for a job? Did you get the address to the Girl Scouts meetup wrong?” I said in the sincerest voice I could muster. I didn’t want to talk to anyone, after all.
“No, I’m pretty sure that I’m supposed to be here.”
“Suit yourself. My name’s Nina–”
“Oh really?! Mine is too!”
“Your name is too…?”
“No, my name is Nina too!”
“Oh okay. I’ll call you Nina Two.”
“Fine by me.”
The silence that followed seemed endless. “Well, uh… I’ve met everyone else and the boss, manager, whatever you call them said that someone could give me a tour around. Everyone seems to be in their own world and not all that friendly. Makes me wonder if I made a good first impression, or if they hate me now or– Ah, I’m rambling like an old lady!” Nina Two said.
“Ah? Yeah, sure I’ll give you a tour because, what could be worse? I wasn’t prepared for social interaction but–”
I made a small squeak sound.
I’m rambling. Like I always did when I was a sad and pathetic teen.
…In fact, Nina Two reminds me of a younger me. She IS quite familiar. It could be something similar to anemoia, but with people? Either way, I didn’t care. I wanted to get this over with.
“So, Nina Two, have you worked somewhere else, or this is your first job?” I asked. I was silently praying that my voice was not as empty as how I felt.
“It’s my first job.” she replied nervously.
“Okay. So, what this job is – people will ask you to help them code and put together their game ideas. If something is out of your league, just pass it on to another person and take an easier task.”
“Ah, okay.”
“This is the way to the bathroom.”
“Uh huh.”
“This is the manager’s office. Don’t be afraid if you see the CEO there. The CEO’s son is the manager.”
“Ah, okay. Noted.”
“This is the workspace, on the right to it is the break room which we call ‘The Kitchen,’ because it looks like one. On your break you could get a bagel, donut, tea coffee – whatever you could ask for – but not drugs. You could also be a menace and steal other people’s food; they don’t mind.”
“Haha!”
“And there is no mandatory uniform, so no need to wear all…this” I said, pointing at her outfit.
“I’ll wear whatever I want.” she said angrily.
“I don’t care about what you wear, just wear something.”
“Okay.”
“And so ends our tour. Claim an empty place, sign into the account you were given in the email and start programming something simple, we’ll assess your work.”
“Ah okay” Nina Two sat down in an empty seat next to mine.
As I went to sit in my place, I noticed
Comments