Penelope Peeps sat at her workstation on a Friday afternoon looking terribly upset. She held a phone in one hand and a letter in the other. Her hands were shaking with hurt and anger as she spoke in the receiver.
“Should I or should I not?”
Her buddy, Juliana Jubes from Logistics on the 59th floor, was on the other end of the line. She was the only friend she had in this heartless slave driving company that they worked for. Minutes earlier, Miss Bigwig, the office bootlicker, had just smugly handed her a letter from the HR department and now she really needed a friend to talk to.
“No don’t do it, Peeps. It’s not a good time. You may regret this.”
“But Jubes-,” There was a sudden pause from Penelope. From the corner of her eye, Penelope saw a flash of light. She glanced up surprised but nothing seemed amiss. Miss Flip Flop, the office skiver had just walked by her cubicle dragging her feet in her flip flops. The flip flops weren’t flashy at all. In fact they were just bright green, fit for walking on the beach. Perhaps it was one of the lights flickering. She returned her attention to her friend on the line. “I can’t stand this anymore, Jubes. I’ve been tolerating this for a long time. Do you know how dreadful it is to be here in this place?”
“Don’t do it Peeps, you will regret this. Please listen to me!” There was another pause at the other end of the line. Penelope seemed a little distracted. “Peeps? Are you still there?”
“Er..yeah..I must be hallucinating. I just thought I saw a flash of lighting in the office.”
“Don’t be silly. It could just be one of the light bulbs flickering. A bulb just flashed at my end too” As she said this, a loud sonic boom sounded in the office premises.
“Jubes, I could have sworn that I heard a thunder in here. Not outside but in here. And it looks bright and sunny through the window."
“Er yeah…I hear it too. It seemed to be coming from within building. Do you think it was an explosion?”
Penelope looked around her confused. Bigwig was nowhere to be seen. Flip Flop was now in her cubicle having her usual afternoon nap. She was snoring peacefully, undisturbed by the stunning loud boom that they just heard.
“No, it can’t be. Flip Flop is still asleep.”
“Oh please, Flip Flop sleeps through anything. Her promotion was such a laugh.” snorted Juliana with a note of disgust.
There was another flash of light followed by another boom. By now Penelope was standing up from her cubicle looking around terrified. The furniture around her began to vibrate. The picture frames rattled against the walls. Dizziness overcame her. The phone’s receiver dropped from her hand as her surroundings started to whirl around in a blur. She let out a scream of terror as she suddenly felt herself plunging into some kind of abyss.
Coming soon: FOTTP Episode 3
