Work Text:
[Click]
[Voice 1]
Alright it's recording!
[Voice 2]
Why do I need to do this again?
[Voice 1]
You- You don't have to. I just asked if you would and you agreed to do it.
[Voice 2]
To add to your weird collection of tapes about stuff that never happened?
[Voice 1]
It's one cassette! Not a collection! And I asked you too because they seem kind of related!
[Voice 2]
Uh huh. Sure.
Anyways I was-
[Voice 1]
Wait! You should introduce yourself and what you're talking about. I did that in the other cassette.
[Voice 2]
(Groan) Fine.
[Voice 2]
My name is Alice. And this is-
[Voice 1]
I'm Aoi Himura! I'm sixteen years old.
[Alice]
(Sarcastic) Thank you Aoi.
(Pause)
Moving on.. This tape details a experience I had that wasn't real, and I just started remembering it because I remembered it in a dream.
[Aoi]
(Sigh) You don't-
[Alice]
Don't look at me like that. I do know.
Anyways, I was at this.. It was like, at my school they were holding this sale day thing. Basically it was like, you could set up a stand and sell stuff at it. Some of the adults were selling stuff too, but they were required to keep it really cheap.
I was looking around the shops inside, Aoi was selling some of her drawings so she wasn't looking with me at the moment. She said she'd look at the stands later, when more of her drawings had sold.
[Aoi]
Mhm!
[Alice]
While most people were set up inside, they were also allowed to set up outside if they wanted to, so I decided to go out there.
There were like.. maybe six or seven stands out there, but they all seemed to be unoccupied. It was cold out that day, so I assumed they just went inside because of that. But right when I was leaving, I noticed another stand with someone wearing a cloak behind it.
It looked unsturdy and like it was made of cardboard. It was like it'd fall over just by being hit by a gust of wind. There were eyes of various sizes all over it, like they were drawn with a sharpie. Though, if they were, it must've been a big sharpie. Anyways, the person in a cloak behind it. They were really pale and there were a few strands of black hair falling onto their face.
I decided to go look at it, since y'know, it was probably just one of those kids who really liked creepy things. I went over and they greeted me, honestly they felt a little bit too friendly considering I had no idea who they were at all and didn't introduce themself either.
While I was there I realized the stand was just.. a cardboard cutout. But before I could ponder it much, they pulled out a cardboard box, covered in eyes just like their stand. They told me just to look at the stuff and tell them if I was interested in anything so they could tell me what it cost.
Honestly, I expected some cheap cardboard eye-themed stuff considering their stand and everything, but what it was.. It was interesting to say the least.
It was a bunch of eyed-themed jewelry. Some of it was completed but some of it seemed to be to add to other stuff.
That.. wasn't the part that made me feel weird. It was how intricate they were. Like a professional had made them, something that would cost a lot to buy. Honestly, that was enough to put me off, I mean most of the stuff sold was pretty cheaply made or were obviously not made by whoever sold them.
When I looked up to tell them I wasn't interested... I noticed something I hadn't before.
How blue their eyes were. I-
[Aoi]
Hey, wait! The giant eye's iris was blue too!
[Alice]
Your eyes are blue. And your hair. It's not that uncommon of an eye color.
[Aoi]
Yeah but-
[Alice]
Aoi, just let me continue so I can get this over with.
[Aoi]
(Sigh) Fine.
[Alice]
So. Their eyes. They were so blue I was almost startled. It was almost like they were glowing and maybe they were but- It was like they were an even higher saturation than the highest saturation of blue you can get on computers.
I felt even more unsettled, but I told them I wasn't interested. I didn't want to be rude so I did compliment their craftsmanship and said surely someone else would probably really like it.
They... didn't seem mad exactly but thet were really insistent about me buying something. They kept offering and I kept refusing as polite as I could, before they just gave me one of the bracelets for free, smiling. I was really freaked out so I just waved goodbye and went back inside.
(Pause)
[Aoi]
Aren't you going to continue?
[Alice]
(Groan) Do I really have to?
[Aoi]
You already agreed to do this!
[Alice]
Fine, fine.
[Alice]
I just put it in my bag and forgot about it. Weirdly, the eye was squishy. It looked more like glass to me but.. That night I had a.. weird dream.
Everything was pitch black at first. I couldn't see anything. For.. whatever reason I was thinking about that false memory of mine.
And then it got weird.
It was like everything exploded around me in a burst of color, I felt surprised but then I could see.
It was like I was seeing everything that had ever existed simultaneously.
I don't know how long it went on, but I eventually woke up. I couldn't find the bracelet, so I made the correct conclusion that memory was just part of the dream.
[Aoi]
You don't know tha-
[Alice]
Yes I do. Nothing else makes sense. It was just a dream. Anyways, can we go back to just regularly hanging out now? This sucked.
[Aoi]
(Sigh)
[Click]