Home sweet home. Claire thought again as she returned home. Times have been tough for her. Her family was starting to become more and more unnerving and school wasn’t making things better. Her best friend, Freya, had moved away to a different town, leaving Claire alone with regrets. They were still in contact, but it just didn’t feel the same anymore.

At school, everyone tried to ignore her. After a weird police case surrounding another student, Claire sort of became the ‘girl that exists for some reasons’ at school and nothing else. Pretty much a nobody. Only one teacher was concerned about her, trying to help her. Her history and geography teacher, Mr. Damien. Claire did admit one day to Amy that he made her feel slightly better.

When Claire entered her apartment, she didn’t mind the mess. She knew why it was like that. Claire laid down her backpack next to the desk and pulled out her laptop. Instead of doing anything else that she usually does, she thought of doing homework first while she was still slightly motivated.

Time goes by, Claire finally finished her homework for French and geography. She got up and said: “Minmin?”

Her cat, who was the cause of the mess, came. Minmin was the only element that made her feel very happy. She gave him a bit of water and food and decided to take a shower.

Despite how “playful” she tries to be, with her cat and motivation, everything felt empty somehow. It felt like something was missing or something else was bothering her. It was frustrating, almost painful. It just wasn’t fair that she had to be in this sort of situation, all alone. If only you were actually there, Freya. She got out of the shower, put on some pajamas and slept feeling empty inside.

The next day, the afternoon, like every Saturdays, she was going to give a visit to her family. At first, when she moved to her own apartment, it was a good time. But now, with everything going on with it, it became harsh for her to enjoy them. Her family consisted of her father, Pierre, her mother, Betty, and her little brother, Mark. Her brother wasn’t the problem, it was her parents. Most specifically, her dad. She put on some nice-looking clothes, to at least look sort of positive, grabbed her phone and a little bit of money and got out of her home.

When Claire finally arrived at the house, she was greeted by an unexpressive Pierre. “Hey.” He said, no emotions on his voice.

“Hi…”

“Come in.” The house was pretty big but even messier than Claire’s apartment. Except that she had an excuse, her cat. They didn’t. Her brother Mark was playing with action figures of popular superheroes movies and her mom was cooking dinner.

“Hey sis!” Mark said to her. He was only seven, but he really liked his sister.

“Hi.” She puts her bag down next to a couch. The house had three couches. A big one for her parents, a smaller one for her and an even smaller one for Mark.

“So, how are things going?” Betty asked her daughter.

“Oh, hum, pretty much the same as usual.” Claire responded. She didn’t admit her depression to her parents yet. All she said was ‘it’s hard but I think I’m getting better’, which wasn’t really the truth.

“Alright. Everyone, dinner’s ready!” All of them got to the big dinning table and started eating the dinner: a turkey.

“Mom, you’re kind of late on Thanksgiving…”

“I know but, yesterday, there weren’t any turkeys on the stores. It was frustrating, let me tell you.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” Claire said. “How’s school, Mark?”

“Oh, it’s good! I’ve got compliments yesterday!”

“That’s great.”

“What about you, Claire.” Pierre asked.

“Oh… Well, I’m trying my best. I miss Freya, she was a good person to get help for… Well school.” For my life.

“Really? Are we talking about the girl that keeps laughing non-stop?” His tone was a tiny bit sharp.

And here we go again. “Yes, but that’s when we were not doing school stuff. We were very serious during class, trust me.

“Well, ever since you’ve left, I must admit that I can’t trust you enough.”

“Pierre, calm down.” His wife asked, calmly.

“I can’t calm down without knowing what my daughter is up to.” Pierre protested.

“Dad, what has gotten into you?” Claire asked.

“What’s up with you? I’ve got a call from one of the teachers saying that you ‘need help’. What does that mean?”

“Well, probably for school, I don’t know. You don’t have to yell though.”

“He told me you were feeling ‘down, almost suicidal, depressed’ and that you were apparently ‘sick of us’. Is that true?” His tone was getting sharper and sharper. Claire didn’t say anything. “Is it?!”

“Yes, it is!” Claire got up. “I-I’m so sick of you! Y-You’re just ruining my life! I hate you!” she yelled. She grabbed her backpack, exit the house while violently closing the front door and ran away from the house. She could hear her father screaming her name, ordering her to come back.

Claire kept running towards nothing. What am I doing? She thought. The night was starting to arrive, burring her vision. Suddenly, she hit her head in a sign. Claire got up and looked at the sign:

‘IN DEMOLITION: DECEMBER 1ST.’

The place that was in ‘demolition’ was an amusement park. She heard about the situation: the company has gone bankrupt and a tragedy occurred which destroyed one of the biggest rides. It was a huge mess.

Somehow, curiosity was taking over Claire. What was left there? Could she find anything useful? There weren’t any good excuses. Wait… What if I say that it’s for a school project? A bit of a weird excuse but it could work, if anybody asks her. She entered the abandoned amusement park. Everything smelled horrible. Dust, dirt, it stinks. But it was interesting to look at.

Claire had only been in it once four years ago, when she was fourteen years old. It was impressive! Walking to the remains was a little heartbreaking and depressing. She recognized some of the stuff, like teddy bears or various prizes. Then, she saw a part of the park that she didn’t recognized. There was a door inside one of the attractions. Claire entered to find a single room with chairs, plans and a few debris. Interesting.

She explored more, trying to find anything. Claire thought: What if I find one of the animatronics mascots? The mascots were the best part of the place, so entertaining, lovely, playful, they were the stars! Claire finally came across her personal favorite part of the park: a big alley with several tiny stores. Independent businesses decided to install themselves here, due to the park’s success and popularity. Turns out, that was one of the best things of the entire park! Some stores sold food like pizzas or deserts like ice cream, while others were selling merch or souvenirs. Claire walked through the alley. She missed it a lot. She remembered her and Freya trying to find the best thing possible and beg their parents to buy it, even if it was very expensive. A fun but pricey game. Claire saw some rotten pizza waiting to be thrown in the trash, some dusty toys and all. Nothing seemed to have survived well. Then, she saw a small toy that did survive: a bunny action figure. It was a bit dusty, but she could clean it. Everything else seemed okay with it. I’ll take that. She thought. Then, Claire noticed something odd. In a distance, one object that was perfectly fine, not dusty, not withered, not used. She put the action figure in her backpack and approached the strange object. Upon closer inspection, it was a hat. A bright beige hat in perfect conditions. “That… Looks good.” She said out loud. Claire grabbed the hat and noticed a syringe next to it. It had a dark liquid inside. She didn’t mind it. Claire looked carefully at the hat. Every detail was untouched! And it looked fantastic! She couldn’t resist, she decided to wear it. Felt nice and warm, but she started to feel bad… Almost sick. Without much time to think, she got unconscious on the alley.