"When you're removed from it all, the universe can look like a beautiful place," Polaris said, leaning against the wall outside the shop, smoking a cigar while Chelsea puffed on a cigarette; he added, "it's only when you're in the thick of it, when things are rough, that the world seems awful. But when you escape all the noise, the unnecessary clutter...that's when you see the universe for what it truly is. A magnificent mistake, a miracle of accidents, and it's glorious."
"...you sure have a weird way of stating positives," Chelsea said. "You know, Chelsea, just because you work here part time and live somewhere else doesn't mean you don't belong," Polaris said, "...this place, the Elsewhere, this is where people like you do belong. This is where you matter most. Not in a place where nothing matters, but a place where everything, most of all yourself, matters greatly." Chelsea wanted to cry. She'd never been told these sorts of things before, and she was so appreciative. Maybe she'd take a smoke break more often. "My parents hate me," Chelsea said, "they act like they don't, because society says you have to love your children, so they put on this facade, but I know they do. They blame me for what happened to my sister. They think I'm useless, worthless, not capable of being on my own. But if being here has taught me anything, it's that their opinion is worth less than a monsters. These creatures in this place, they all think I'm super cool. Since working at Last Shop on the Left, I've helped a ghost girl accept her death, helped raise a little creature, gotten a girlfriend, helped an ancient being openly acknowledge his affection for his long deceased wife. This is a place of beauty and hope and love. The world isn't that." "The world can be that," Polaris said. "You just spent ten minutes extolling the virtues of the Elsewhere by putting down my dimension, now you say my dimension CAN be good?" "Just because it's worse doesn't mean it's without merit. There's plenty of things your home can be or have," Polaris said, "...it's just harder to see them through the haze of bullshit. And the Elsewhere isn't perfect, hell if anything it's way more dangerous, but it's honest about it. The problem with where you're from is that it isn't honest. It pretends everything is okay, that the horrors don't exist, whereas we're just blatant about them from the get go. We recognize, accept and adapt to the horrors, not brush them under the carpet." Chelsea nodded. She hadn't considered that. She looked out at the semi lively night life on the street and smiled. Monsters and creatures walking past, humanoid or otherwise, enjoying themselves but knowing that they could die at any moment, or that everything could change in an instant. There was some kind of odd recognition in that realization that she appreciated. "Hey," Xorlack said, coming up to them, "What're you guys doing out here?" "We're on smoke break," Chelsea said, "Well, I'm on smoke break, he's just keeping me company." "Not very busy tonight I guess?" Xorlack asked, and Chelsea shook her head. "Nah, that's why this is fine." "What're you talking about?" "The inevitability of unhappiness no matter what location you preside in," Polaris said as Chelsea handed Xorlack her cigarette for her to take a puff from. "Boy, you're a big ball of sunshine, ain'tcha," Xorlack said before inhaling, making Chelsea chuckle. "You're from here," Chelsea said, looking at her, "do you like it? Do you think the Elsewhere is a good place to be?" Xorlack took a moment, a few moments in fact, exhaling smoke and thinking before finally answering. After a bit, she nodded. "Yeah, yeah I do," she said, "Don't get me wrong, it can be nasty here, but at least it's upfront about it, you know? The few times I've been with you back to your dimension, it's all felt so...so fake? You know? So insincere. Like it's better to pretend the ugliness and brute cruelty doesn't exist rather than face the fact that it does head on. I don't know, that seems worse to me." Chelsea nodded. Xorlack and Polaris made good points, and she wasn't even sure why she was defending home to begin with. It wasn't like home was ever really good to her. If anything, it'd been so bad, it'd driven her to be in a place like this preferably over it. "There's depth to everything," Polaris said, inhaling his cigar, "and that's half the problem. Before you see depth, you see black and white, not shades of grey. Once you recognize depth, it complicates things, and that's why so many from your dimension, Chelsea, prefer to ignore depth. They prefer the falsehood of black and white. Good vs bad. Right vs wrong. That isn't to say there isn't abject evil there. Xenophobia, racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, you know. Those things are outright hurtful and don't deserve a place among the discussion. But there's shades of grey to so many other things that people adamantly believe to be objectively right or wrong, and they refuse to compromise or, even worse, recognize the possibility of a compromise." "...you're not wrong, and much as I love having a philosophical debate, I can't argue because I have nothing to defend," Chelsea said, "home is terrible, this place is terrible, but at least it's honest and upfront about it, and that's preferable to the alternative." Chelsea's watch beeped, and she sighed. She had something to attend today at home, but she couldn't leave work just yet. The alarm was merely a reminder anyway, not an instruction to leave immediately. She could go when she was off work. "I think," Xorlack said, "the thing people don't realize about existence is that it can be great once they admit how fleeting it is. Too many people are far too scared to take too many chances or risks, and as a result, they lead lives of quiet desperation, wishing they could do anything different, but obsessed with the judgement from others that comes with the decision to do so." "I mean, you're not wrong," Chelsea said, "I was always afraid to date because I didn't think I was worth it, and because I was afraid of what others would think of who I dated." "Well, we got you over that hump, didn't we?" Xorlack asked, the both of them chuckling. "Girls, the lesson here to take away is this," Polaris said, "beauty can be everywhere, you just have to be willing to see it. The Elsewhere is a special kind of place, where you can see things for how and what they truly are, and that in and of itself is beautiful," he said before checking his pocketwatch and sighing, "now if you'll excuse me, I have a prior engagement to get to." With that, he put his cigar out and started to walk away. Chelsea and Xorlack exchanged a glance, then shrugged and headed inside. "I heard your watch beep," Xorlack said, "Expecting something?" "...today is an anniversary," Chelsea said, "of the day my sister died. Or, rather, the day I killed my sister as my parents would love to believe. I was gonna go to the cemetery, see her grave, but...ugh, I don't know, I always feel terrible doing that. I wish there was a way to see her without not seeing her, you know? Talking to a rock isn't the same as talking to the person underneath it." "...well...Todd can create things, right? He made your uniform, he made skin for me," Xorlack said, "maybe he could...you know...create your sister, or a facsimile of some kind or something. Her but not her, you know? A representation of her, in a sense." Chelsea had never even considered this before. She then turned and headed inside, briskly, with Xorlack on her heels. As they headed through the shop and into the back, down the hall, Chelsea felt her blood racing and her heart thumping. Would this work? Could this work? Or, perhaps most important of all...should this work? She didn't care. She just knew that she had to try. She opened the door to Todd's office and stepped inside, Xorlack right behind her. Todd glanced down at them and waved. "Todd," Chelsea said, "I need a favor." Todd growled in understanding. "I need you to create my sister," she said, "or, rather, some kind of version of her." Todd growled again, then shut his eyes as he reached down and rested a tentacle on her head. Chelsea felt a small surge of electricity course throughout her body, down her spine, and she felt lightheaded all of a sudden. When this was over, she opened her eyes and, once her vision became clear again, there, standing in front of her, was a small girl. It wasn't her sister, exactly, but it was supposed to be, she could tell. Xorlack back away and left the room, leaving Chelsea to do her thing. Chelsea approached cautiously and smiled, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "...is...are you..." she started, but her sister nodded, as if she already knew the question Chelsea wanted to ask. Chelsea fell to her knees and put her arms around this version of her sister - with the clear skin and the big eyes and the monstrous teeth - and she squeezed her tightly, warmly, and to her surprise, her monster sister hugged her back. "it not your fault," the creature said softly, and Chelsea lost it. She couldn't take it anymore. She started sobbing, weeping, openly right there, letting everything she'd felt for the past few years fall to pieces in front of her. This neighborhood, Slipside, in this universe, The Elsewhere, was her home now, and she was determined to be a better sister this time around than before, no matter what the cost. *** She set her sister up in the janitors closet for the time being, giving her food and drink and activity books. She watched as her monster sister colored and ate candy. She sat there and just watched, her heart so full of love. "I'll find you a real place to stay soon," Chelsea said. "Store best," her sister said. "Why is the store best?" "Closest to you." In real life, Chelsea and Madison had never really gotten to become friends, partially because Madison hadn't lived that long, so now Chelsea was determined to be the best friend a sister could ever be. "Maybe I'll find a place to live here, in the Elsewhere, and we can live together," Chelsea said. "Okay," Maddy responded, yawning. She set her coloring tools down, laid on her side on the pile of towels Chelsea had found, and Chelsea tucked her in best she could before handing her a stuffed animal she'd bought at another store down the street, where she'd gotten the coloring books. She stroked her sisters hair and watched her, waiting until she was asleep, then exited the janitors closet. She then headed back into the main storefront, only to find Luna standing there with a young girl who looked about 11. "Oh, I didn't know you were back," Chelsea said. "I was giving the new employee the ropes," Luna said, "You've done very well, but you need help. You need someone who can work alongside you who knows this place well. This is Juno." "Hi," Chelsea said, holding out her hand so Juno could shake it, "I'm Chelsea." "Hiya," Juno replied. "Anyway, you'll be training her from now on for a bit, until she gets the hang of things," Luna said, "...it smells like Polaris. Was Polaris in here?" "I can't stop someone from shopping here," Chelsea said, shrugging, not that she'd ever stop him anyway. She loved his friendship. "Ugh," Luna replied, shaking her head, "I have to get to my office, I have paperwork to fill out. Chelsea, show Juno how things work, alright?" With that settled, Luna exited through the backdoor and headed to her office. Chelsea saddled back up behind the counter as Juno hopped up to sit on the counter and the two girls sat there together, not saying a word to one another. Xorlack must've gone home, Chelsea figured, as she was no longer in the shop. Chelsea looked at Juno, who just smirked. "You like to play cards?" Chelsea asked. "Is that allowed?" Juno asked. "It is when the boss ain't in the room," Chelsea said, "Besides, nobody's really coming in tonight. Might as well entertain ourselves." Chelsea pulled out a deck of cards she kept under the counter and they started to play Go Fish. As they played, she thought about her sister, and about what Polaris had said to her. Shades of grey, complexity, nothing is black and white. Was creating a weird monster version of her sister what she should've done? Maybe not. But who cares, it's all subjective, right? Chelsea's watched beeped again, and this time she turned the alarm off. Juno looked at her wrist, then up at her face. "What was that for?" she asked. "Just a reminder," Chelsea said, "about something I don't have to do anymore. Got any sevens?" "Go fish," Juno said. And they played cards well into the night.
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Chelsea Teages is trying to pay her way through college, and has taken a job as a cashier at a local convenience store that may or may not be in an alternate dimension. Archives
November 2022
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