Cockroaches & Their Pools
7 November 2007
The inside of the building looked even worse than what the outside had. The man led Judy into the foyer and into a room on the side. Judy gasped when she looked into the room as it proved a logical impossibility. For as far as the eye could see was just row after row of desks while busy bodied folk typed on their typewriters, filled out the paperwork and answered telephone calls. The man turned to Judy, ``Okay, I'll leave you here - someone will sort you out.''
``Wait! You can't just leave me here!''
``Yeah. I can. I'm doing that right now.''
``But... this room... it's so big.''
``It's not really that big. Those guys in there got really insecure so they made their office incredibly huge to boost their egos - you'll work out that there's only like five guys here. ''
``You can't leave me now in this room! I'm scared! I thought we had really bonded outside there... please stay.''
The man stared intensely into Judy's eyes. ``Man, you are so fucking pathetic.''
He left the room; Judy tried to leave the room but couldn't find the door anymore. So she stood watching the people in the desks. She tried to talk to them but they simply ignored her; finally Judy came across a bright red couch to sit on but decided against it once she saw a family of cockroaches swimming in their self constructed swimming pool on the left cushion.
The man had gone to the diner right next to the building. He gave a nod to the waitress as he sat down at the bench and asked for his usual: ice cream wrapped in bacon. The man looked around the diner until he saw the one other occupant - their eyes met and the man instantly regretted the move. It was Tull. The man watched as Tull came out of his booth and sat next to him - the man stayed quiet as Tull opened the conversation.
``Hey Randall.''
Randall grunted as he continued eating his ice cream wrapped in bacon. Tull was Randall's arch nemesis but Tull was completely oblivious to it. Everything about Tull just completely reviled Randall; while it was true that most aspects of human character completely repulsed him - Tull just embodied every single wrong characteristic known to any being across all planes of existence. As he watched Tull brush back his silky black hair from covering his penetrating blue eyes he felt sick from his stomach (though it was actually the ice cream and bacon combination that had caused this). Randall sat there as Tull gave him an account of his day giving off snarky comments under his breath. Finally after finishing his ice cream wrapped in bacon, and after battling the contradictory urges to both take take Tull in a dramatic fashion in order to land a kiss on him and to rip the same mouth off - Randall left the diner. As he was walking through the door Tull called out his name in his usual grating manner, ``Randall! Buddy! You forgot your keys!''.
Tull gave them a quick shine before handing them back to Randall; he could think nothing but ``what a complete bastard'' but could only mumble a ``thanks''.
``Hey no problem man. We collectors need to stick together.''
``Yeah, whatever you piece of horse shit'', Randall muttered.
``What was that friend?''
``Nothing.''
Randall left the diner and felt the sweet weather less air hit him. Immediately his pager went off and Randall took a look at it - the message was simple: EMERGENCY COME NOW. Randall certainly didn't need this today; he took a look around the buildings and saw nothing but the quiet buildings and the vast emptiness that surrounded them. Tull came running out of the diner. ``You get the message Randall?''
``Yeah. I guess.''
``Well come on buddy! A collector in need is a friend indeed.''
``That makes no sense.''
``It doesn't have to. Inspirational messages defy all laws of logic. Let's get running!''
``I'll catch up.''
``See you at HQ then!''
``Oh you didn't hear?''
``Hear what?''
``We've moved our meeting spot to the recreation room.''
``What an odd move! Dare I ask why?''
``Beats me.''
``Well thanks for the tippo!''
Tull continued to run off in the direction of the building behind the one where Randall had taken Judy. Randall took a moment to note Tull's graceful run. Randall turned back into the diner and got himself a coffee before walking into the front building on the way to HQ. He walked back into the building and turned into the room that he had left Judy. He kept on walking through the large room with desks before he got stopped, ``you came back!''
Judy ran up to him and gave him a tight hug. Randall jumped back, ``No hugs!''
``Everyone ignores me here! Get me out of here.''
``No.''
``But I'm bored!''
``How does a fifty year old woman constantly sound like she's just started high school?''
``Why are you so horrible?''
``I thought we covered this already.''
``I'm alone! I'm dead and I'm alone!''
``There's an emergency of some sort going on and I'm needed in at HQ. So deal.''
Judy burst into tears as Randall walked to the back of the room and into the administration sector. The lift was still out of order so Randall started climbing up the stairs to the fifth floor. His powers of being able to manipulate space and time didn't apply in this dimension; a fact that was certainly annoying him at this point. At the third floor he saw Zema; another collector who was doing her best to blend in with the stairwell. Zema was one of the few beings alive that Randall actually found tolerable. She opened up her eyes which were coloured darker than the night and talked ``when the beatle has had its final meal it walks on the bridge of despair. What are we but the lonely messengers of the inevitable charged by the powers of darkness.''
``Do you know what this is all about?''
``I just want to feast upon the rabbit ears of misery. I want to know what it feels like to have the blood gushing from my throat but I'm denied such a simple a pleasure.''
Randall just totally got her. He continued up the stairwell and Zema followed. They reached the top and walked past a bunch of doors until they reached the one that said 'Afterlife Management Incorporated - Collection Division'. They opened the door and entered only to find another collector - Portia - lying on the ground in a pool of blood.
Posted byBren at 3:18 am
