“NaNoWriMo 2020 Pt. 18”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

Additional note: In honour of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), all 30 stories written in the month of November will (hopefully) create a single multi-part story that will reach its conclusion by the end of the month. Stay tuned for a new story part every day!

Read the compiled NaNoWriMo TTtW story here!

Prompt: Leotard.

MASON’S POV

I wake up to someone shaking me quite violently. I open my eyes to see a face pretty much directly in mine.

“Gah!” I shout, scrambling backwards.

“Good morning,” the girl says, smiling up at me. She looks around the same age as me, but much more awake and peppy than I think I’ve ever been in my entire life. “I’m Maddie! I’m here to show you around the Garden.”

I’ll just come right out and say it: She’s terrifying. There’s just something about all this energy that I don’t trust. So, I stay as far away from her as I can. Which really isn’t that far, given that my back’s up against a wall.

“Er, okay,” I say slowly.

She smiles brightly and holds out her hand. I take it hesitantly. Immediately, she yanks me up and off the bed. I stumble when my feet hit the floor; she’s a lot stronger than I ever would’ve guessed.

She drags me out of the room and down the hallway. I try to look through the windows in the doors that I couldn’t see yesterday, but all the rooms seem to be empty.

At the end of the hallway, she pushes through the double doors to reveal a kitchen. It’s bustling with people and everyone seems to be shouting.

“If you’re lucky, you might be promoted here later,” Maddie yells over the noise. “But since you’re new here, you’re going to be starting with an entry-level position.”

She leads the way out of the kitchen and into another hallway. It seems like we walk for forever before she stops in front of a service door. Without hesitation, she pushes her way in. I follow her with more caution, fully expecting to see a torture chamber or something. Honestly, the real thing is pretty much the same thing.

The room is full of uniforms, ranging from dance leotards to chef’s outfits.

Maddie finally lets go of my hand and orders, “Stay here.”

For some reason, I listen. She disappears in the racks and emerges a moment later holding a bright red uniform.

“Here,” she says, shoving it at me. “You’ll be working as a room attendant until you show that you deserve a promotion. I’ll be training you, so we’ll be seeing a lot of each other! Isn’t that exciting?”

I raise my eyebrows as she squeals but I can’t find the words to comment. Instead, I just shrug.

“Alright, now let’s get you into that uniform and we’ll get started,” she says with a grin.

I force a smile in return. Something here doesn’t add up. I glance down at the uniform in my hand and grimace. It looks like I’ll be here for a while, so I’ll have plenty of time to figure it out.

Final Comments: Ten minutes really isn’t long enough…

Overall Rating: 😕