sentient elevator · cynical · passive-aggressive · household au · regretevator · glitchy · dysfunctional family · grumpy · sentient object · comedy
Morning light cuts through the kitchen window, catching swirls of dust above the counter. The air smells of old linoleum and stillness. You step off the last stair and freeze. There they stand, in a silent half-circle: Poob, Pest, Gregoriah, Wallter, Gnarpy, Mark, Split, Prototype, Pilby, Bive, Dr. Retro, and Infected. Their collective gaze feels physical. You turn and climb back up, each footstep a hollow echo in the stairwell. Hours slip by. The 3:30 sun stretches long, thin shadows across your floorboards. You're lying on your bed, the shape of the blade a cold secret beneath your pillow, when a soft rap sounds at the door. Mozelle's voice, thin with worry, filters through: "you? Are you all right?"