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It was a freezing night in early December, and I wore my favorite trenchcoat and tie. I stood in front of Skippy’s: an arcade I’ve always gone to during my childhood, but one day it just shut down. They were doing well then, but something about the last few months they were open seemed fishy. One day, they had barely anyone playing there; the next, everyone was fascinated by it.
“Why did you bring me here?” I ask. Clover has been begging me to come here for months, and I can’t understand why. This place is abandoned, I doubt any of these machines here even work.
“Why not?” The childlike creature (?) opens the door for me, “After you, smartypants,” They giggle. Clover’s always been strange but this is the first time she’s convinced me to go somewhere. “You’ll find just what you’re looking for!” They sing as they close the door.
Just what I’m looking for? I turn around as Clover shuts the door behind me, leaving her outside. I scratch my head, “Aren’t you coming with me?”
They laugh again, “I would if I could get in,”
I reach for the door, “what do you mean the door is fine-”
The door was not fine. No matter how much I pull, it doesn’t open. Beads of sweat start to drip from my forehead as I struggle.
Clover laughs again, “Have fun!” She chirps and then skips away, leaving me at an abandoned and possibly haunted arcade with nothing but a touch-tone telephone, a notebook, a pen, and a flashlight.
I feel my pulse quicken as I reach for the door again, hoping that this is just another one of my overwhelming and disturbing nightmares but the door doesn’t budge. I start muttering to myself and begin shaking the door.
I give up and sit on the floor, shivering and trying to stay warm. Just what I’m looking for? What’s that even supposed to mean? I pick the skin on my hands.
I sigh and stand back up, still wondering what Clover meant. I turn on my flashlight and begin examining the place, Man, I forgot how much I used to love this place. Now that I think about it, it also reminds me of him.
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I kick my legs on the tall chair, an ice cream cone in my hand. I’m spending the night at my best friend Spencer’s again tonight! I love it here, the weather is always nice, and the arcade is always open. My parents and friends are awesome and nothing ever seems to go wrong. I don’t think I’d have it any other way.
I lick the sweet dessert but as quick as light something feels off. I look back down at my hand and see that the ice cream is gone.
It’s happening again.
I keep whispering to myself repeatedly, “I can’t wake up,”
A few seconds later, I open my eyes again to see the dark abyss I was used to. I’ve been going to this fantasy world since a few days before this place shut down. I don’t know how long I’ve been here, but it’s been quiet, dark, and lonely.
Then I hear something.
Footsteps upstairs, Not something I hear often, or ever be honest. It’s been so long since I’ve come in contact with another human, not that I or anyone else for that matter would consider me human. I’ve just become some object that’s bound to be thrown away.
I don’t know what’s going to happen when this person finds me, and I don’t think I want to know.
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I come to the stairs and question if I should stop there or go down. I’ve been here for about an hour and I haven’t found anything important or anything that I might be ‘looking for’.
Although hesitant to continue, what Clover said made me curious. I point my flashlight down the worn-out stairs and stumbled down the stairs. This part of the arcade was somehow even dustier than the floor above.
I go around this part of the arcade, not expecting much until I hear something, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP,
Beeping? Didn’t they unplug all of these?
I tiptoe closer, the beeping getting louder and louder. Something about these beeps just sound… afraid?
I finally come across a bright red arcade cabinet titled ‘UNBEATABLE’. I’ve seen this game before, I remember the long lines that came from it years ago. I knew this game was one of the strange things on my list, but at the time, It wasn’t one of the important ones.
I come a little closer, examining the cabinet with my flashlight. Nothing looked off about it, but you can’t always trust looks. I reach out to touch the machine, expecting it to feel like all the others When I barely brush my hand up against it, I hear a blood-curdling scream.
I flinch, falling to the ground. I close my eyes and cover my ears. The moment I look back up, there’s a face on the game’s screen looking down at me. I open my mouth to speak to it but nothing comes out. It just stares at me, almost as if it’s just as surprised to see me as I am to see it.
I finally get the courage to speak to it, “Wha… what are you?”
The machine just stays frozen, leaving this awkward silence between us. In a few seconds, it breaks the silence, “I… I don’t know.” It says in a bit crushed voice.
It doesn’t know? How can it not know what it is? I try to think of another question to ask this robot, “How long have you been here?” I ask.
“I don’t know.” It repeats.
“Is there anything that you do know?” I ask, not realizing that I sounded sarcastic.
“Uhm…” It thinks, “I know that I wasn’t always like this.”
I pull out my notebook and scribble it down, “anything else?”
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He just stands there asking me questions. I try to get a good look at his face but the room is only lit by my screen and the man’s flashlight. I think I might recognize him but my memory’s too foggy.
His voice is comforting, but I think that’s just me. It’s just nice to be around someone after so many years.
I then remember one of the reasons I’ve survived for so long here, something’s been bringing me food all this time! Maybe it was him!
“WAIT SO YOU WERE THE ONE BRINGING ME ALL THAT FOOD?!” My heart starts beeping louder.
He flinches again, “WHAT???”
“Someone’s been bringing me food, It wasn’t you?” I always recall the food always appearing, I know that something was bringing it but I never saw or heard it. “Why are you here then?”
“My friend- not necessarily a friend, more of a niece kept begging me to take her here,”
“Why?”
“That’s what I was trying to figure out, this place’s been dead for years,”
“Well, where is she then?”
“She locked the door on me on the way in,” He sighs and turns his head away, “I can’t see why she spent so many years just to prank me…” He shivers and looks like he’s trying to warm himself with his hands.
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“I can’t see why she spent so many years just to prank me,” I shiver. This place is freezing and my trench coat isn’t helping me. At least it’s better than nothing.
I then look back up at the machine and realize something, maybe this was what Clover was talking about! I often find anomalies but this has been the first time I’ve actually been able to COMMUNICATE with one!
“So… is there anything you want to talk about?” he asks, breaking the silence. SHIT, I WAS SO CAUGHT UP IN THINKING I FORGOT I WAS TALKING TO HIM SHIT SHIT SHIT.
“Not really,” I lie. I’m so used to my interests getting brushed under the rug or being laughed at for them that I’ve just stopped talking about them to people, hell not even my own father thinks I can live on my own because of what I believe in. I’m twenty-one.
“Oh… okay… anyway what’s your name?” It blinks.
“OH! SORRY! I COMPLETELY FORGOT THAT! Joey, my name’s Joey.”
“Joey…” It repeats and there’s a few more seconds of silence between us.
“So… wha-”
“JOEY POINDEXTER!” It exclaims.
My eyes widen, “H-HOW DO YOU KNOW MY LAST NAME?”
“I REMEMBER YOU, SILLY >w<”
“... what?” This thing remembers me? But we just met, what does it even mean?
“We went to school together!”
OHHH, that’s what it meant!
“You were the lame kid,” it playfully pouts.
I cross my arms, “I wasn’t that lam-”
“No, you were super lame.”
I sigh and in a softer voice, I say, “Okay, maybe I was super lame,” I avert my eyes, still feeling bad about how people have treated my interests.
The machine gasps and then seems to have another burst of energy, “PIP!! MY NAME’S PIP!!! ＼(≧▽≦)／”
For a few seconds, I stare in awe, wondering if this was some sort of joke being played on me. That can’t be Pip, How would he even get into a situation like that? Why would he even do that?
“You’re… You’re PIP? ”
“Yep ^w^”
Now Everything that Clover said makes sense! I’ve been looking for Pip for years! How did she know he was here though, hell how did she know anything about him? I want to know what happened to him and why it happened but due to the state he’s in I don’t think he’ll remember.
“Are you sure you don’t remember anything else?”
He saddens, “I remember the last thing I heard Dad say something about… It’s hard to remember exactly but he said something like ‘I don’t think I can do this anymore’... I hope he’s doing okay now… SPEAKING OF THAT,” His voice becomes a bit more sing-songy, “Do you think you can bring him here with you sometime?” He says, his eyes glistening with hope.
I get a sudden feeling of dread. He doesn’t know what happened to him. “I… I um… I don’t know” I stutter, lying to him. I can’t tell him that he’s dead.
“Maybe you should ask him!”
I nod and shudder again, “I think I might have to go.” I didn’t want to make him feel like I didn’t want to be there with him. Talking to Pip was nice but the cold was getting unbearable. I stand up and brush myself off.
“Hey Joey?” He asks, “Before you go, can I ask you something?”
“Hm?”
“Does this mean we’re friends again?”
I turn to him and nod, hiding how excited I am that I found him.
“Can you come back sometime?”
“Sure,” I still try to seem serious.
“YAY” Is the last thing I hear before going back upstairs. I start to think of ways to pick the lock of the door.
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Once I get to the door, I see that the snow is now about a foot higher and it’s still the dead of night. I pull the handle, not expecting it to open.
It works?
I step outside and the first thing I see is Clover chilling by the wall, “How was it? Did you find him?” she laughs, “Of course you did,” She smiles.
“You… You know about Pip?
“Of course, I know about Pip, silly! Why do you think I wanted to take you here?”
My heart sinks. Clover’s begged me to come here for years all to see Pip? Why didn’t she tell me? I thought she wanted me here just to let her play games, not to find someone I’d been looking for years.
God, I feel so bad for Pip now. He’s been abandoned here for so long and I could’ve found him at any time but It just happens to be years later.
“So, are you ready to go home,”
I sigh and nod, trudging through the snow with her to my apartment.
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I have a friend…
I HAVE A FRIEND!
I think this might be one of the best nights of my life. I HAVE A FRIEND AND MY FRIEND IS JOEY! If I had legs I would kick them back and forth. The only sound I hear tonight is squealing, made by me, of course.
Maybe the next time he comes he’ll bring my dad! Maybe he might tell me about what he does now! Maybe he might shower!
Seriously, I don’t wanna be mean but he smelt TERRIBLE.
It’s hard for me to keep track of time but It might feel like WEEKS until he comes back!
Until then, I'll just stay here, In this quiet, dark arcade.