[Chapter Eight - Sprout] The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was two toons. One was staring at him eagerly, the fossil one. One was looking anywhere but him, the flower one. “Who- What…?” was all he could sputter out. “I-Is it… Is it really you?!” The fossil toon exclaimed, running up to him. “Jeez, Shelly. Give him some space.” a third voice said. He had no idea where it came from. “Shelly?” He echoed. Right. That’s Shelly. Why was she so excited to see him exactly? “Y-Yeah! Do you remember me?” “...Sort of.” He looked up at the giant flower toon. “Dandy…?” “Uh- Yeah.” “You’re… taller than I remember.” Dandy gave him a confused look. “Okay…” “What about me?” the third voice asked. “Where…?” “Oh, Vee’s in the computer right there.” Shelly said, pointing towards said computer. “Vee?” He looked at the green face displayed on the monitor. “Oh. Hi.” he said. “...Hi.” “What happened to you?” “Well, after the whole… thing…. I lost my physical form. But my consciousness was saved in the USB so I’m technically still alive.” He glanced at the USB. It did look familiar… “What ‘thing’?” he asked. Everyone was silent for a moment. “Hello? I- uh… asked a question-” “It’s fine, you don’t remember yet because you just came back.” Vee sighed. “I um… maybe overreacted a bit and became a twisted.” “Ah.” He didn’t remember anything about that. Actually, he could barely remember anything. Just vague things, like the toons names. “Do you know your name at least?” Vee eventually said. “Um…” He tried. He really did. He couldn’t remember anything related to his name. Instead, he remembered something else; a memory of someone calling out his name. He can’t make out what that toon is saying. Just that he knows they’re calling for him. “My head hurts…” “Okay, we probably shouldn’t try to strain his memory, Vee.” Dandy glared at her accusingly. “Sorry.” She apologized, but it sounded very sarcastic. “Your name is Sprout.” Sprout? The name repeated in his head a few times. He didn’t know whether it was to remember it or if he was confused about that name. “...I think I’m going to lie down.” he muttered, taking a step forward. He stumbled instantly, almost falling. Shelly immediately appeared by his side. “Do you need help walking?” she asked. “Yeah…” Shelly let Sprout lean against her for support as they walked to their base. He didn’t recognize this floor at all. “So… Um… What happened?” he asked as they walked. “Vee… She- uh- became… twisted… and…” she trailed off. “Isn’t Dandy a twisted?” he asked, not noticing Shelly’s scared expression. “Yeah, he is.” Shelly answered, relieved to move on to another topic. “But he’s more like a… half twisted? I don’t know if that’s a thing.” “Oh.” Shelly stopped at the entrance to their base. “Do you remember this place at least?” “A bit…” he lied. He didn’t remember being here before. But somehow, it seemed familiar. Like someone had described it to him before without him actually seeing it. Medkits were neatly arranged in a box labeled ‘fragile’, a few papers were sprinkled on the floor, and there was copious amounts of cookies. “I’ll see if I can find a sleeping bag or something for you, okay? Stay here!” Shelly ran off with a bit more pep in her step than before. ‘She seems happy to see me…’ he thought, sitting down on the floor. When he sat, his leg hit something on the ground, so he moved his leg. He hit a rolling pin. … He recognized this. For some reason, a sudden sense of dread crept into his chest. What exactly happened to him…? Was he… ? Did he…? Why was he so scared of a simple thing? He instinctively reached for the top of his head. He didn’t know why. ‘Who…?’ He took in a breath, not realizing he forgot to breathe, and kicked away the rolling pin, which slammed into the medkit box and knocked it over.
[continued] A bunch of medkits and bandages tumbled out, one of them reaching his foot. ‘Why am I hyperfixating on a rolling pin?! I need to get a grip…’ “I’m back-!” Shelly exclaimed, hugging a rolled up sleeping bag to her chest. She froze when she saw the mess on the floor. “What happened?” she asked, concern very clear on her face. “Sorry, I accidentally kicked that rolling pin and it knocked over the box…” She sighed, but a smile was still plastered onto her face. “It’s okay. Here, take this and get some rest, okay?” She handed him the sleeping bag. “Thanks…” He didn’t know what time it was. He just knew he couldn’t sleep. Sprout had maybe slept for two hours before waking up and not being able to fall asleep again. It was mostly silent until he heard someone. “Do you think he’s… okay?” That was Shelly. Was she talking about him…? “I don’t know. He just seems…discombobulated, that’s all.” Dandy. They were 100% talking about Sprout. “I’m just scared he’ll hate me or something for-” “He doesn’t hate you, Shelly. Or even Vee, it seems. He didn’t even seem to react when he saw her…” “We should just keep on taking care of him until he remembers everything…” “Just make sure you don’t overwork yourself-” “I know, I know.” There was an awkward silence for a moment. “I’m going to go talk to Vee. You did put her USB back into the main computer, right?” “Yeah, I did. I’ll check on Sprout.” “Okay, see you later, Dandy.” It took Sprout a moment to realize Dandy was coming over to him, so he closed his eyes and pretended he was asleep. When Dandy’s footsteps stopped, Sprout tried to be as still as possible, knowing that he was probably a few feet away. He didn’t want him to know he was eavesdropping. “Sprout?” “Hm..?” He responded, trying to sound as groggy as possible. “Hi, sorry to wake you up. How are you feeling?” Sprout sat up slightly and rubbed one of his eyes. He was pretty good at pretending like he hadn’t been awake for half an hour. “I’m okay… I guess.” “Do you… need anything?” He was about to say ‘no’, but realized he didn’t even know what he looked like. “Is there… a mirror anywhere?” “Yeah, there's a mirror in a bathroom on floor one, I think.” “Could you take me there?” “Yeah, I’ll tell Shelly we’re going and we’ll go there.” After Dandy had done the apparently mandatory task of telling Shelly he’s going to another floor for five minutes, they went into the elevator. Floor 1 was only 3 floors away, so the elevator ride was brief. They didn’t talk the entire time, though. On floor one, Dandy led him to the bathroom. It was just a simple public restroom with four stalls and sinks, and a poster on the wall reminding kids to wash their hands. He walked over to one of the mirrors above a sink. … He stared at his reflection. A strawberry toon stared back at him. Who is this? “I- I don’t understand… I don’t recognize this face-” he started to panic, that same sense of dread from earlier setting in. “I mean, yeah, you have amnesia, so that’s normal-” Dandy said, trying to comfort him, but he ignored it. “Then why did I remember you and Shelly and Vee?!” he exclaimed, turning toward Dandy. “I don’t know!” Sprout quickly turned back to the mirror. The stranger stared back. Somehow, some way, he recognized it. Just for one fleeting moment, he recognized that face. Then he forgot again. He sighed. “...Let’s just go back.” ----------------------------------------- art: ME song: fruiting bodies by riproducer previous: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1333468503 next: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1363437416/ this chapter took ONE HOUR TO WRITE HELLO?? anyways happy bday sprout!
