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One day, in the very early morning hours, a strange, bluish fog rolls in. It floats low to the ground and is incredibly dense and incredibly cold. Anyone who inhales even a single breath from this fog will be met with a sudden, harsh sensation of sadness. It’s the worst part of the holidays—the Holiday Blues. The fog slowly spreads through the town and is gone by mid afternoon, but the sensation of sadness, loneliness, and nostalgia may linger for longer than that. Scientists are explaining the bluish tint as just being a natural phenomenon, but in Destiny City, ‘natural’ isn’t really something anyone should expect. Today would have been a good day to stay inside.
There were very few things that Mariposa couldn't process on her own. She was typically very good at handling herself and understood how to deal with her emotions if something happened to rile her up, but today, there was no escaping sadness. She'd woken up feeling low and only seemed to get worse and worse as the day went on, something that was very unusual for her. She just wasn't a sad person by nature and always found some way to cheer herself up eventually. Today, however, was proving to be a challenge that she didn't know how to beat.
It was a slow crawl to get started on anything. Pouring herself a bowl of cereal seemed so pointless, as did brushing her hair and finding a clean shirt to put on. These things were accomplished by sheer will alone, of course, but the amount of effort she had to put into convincing herself was astonishing to her. She knew she had to do these things in order to be at the top of her game and did them every single day like a well oiled machine, but today everything seemed to be so difficult and frustrating. Getting a bowl down from the cabinet, pulling the brush through her hair, opening and closing her drawer, why did these simple everyday actions suddenly take so much of her energy to accomplish?
The more she thought about it, the harder it was to fight back against flopping on the couch and doing nothing about it. She hated being lazy, it was one of the worst feelings in the world to her. Doing nothing, what a boring, pointless thing to do. To her, being occupied meant accomplishment and accomplishment lead to success. Success then lead to money and money meant she could do more things and the cycle would repeat again and again. It was how she felt fulfilled and gave her life meaning. Her purpose was to craft and fill her schedule with orders so that she could make a name for herself in this ever growing and changing market that they called Destiny City. If she couldn't even bother to get herself dressed properly, how was she going to survive?
She picked up a magazine from the coffee table and started to read, but soon found herself growing more and more impatient with herself. No, no, she had to get up! She had to fight harder, push herself out of this stupid funk and get back to work! There was no reason for her to rest, she wasn't sick! There were things she had to do, people she had to meet, places she had to be! She clenched her jaw, growled, and threw herself off of the couch. It was time for a long walk into town, that would clear her head and get her back on track!
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She'd thrown her coat on and sprinted out the door in record time, eager to find some way to beat her blues, but as soon as she got into the city's center, a sweeping realization hit her. Everyone around her looked positively despondent, too. People passing by hand their heads low and eyes to the ground. Children were crying, mothers looked tired, and the mood of the city had gone from joy and mirth to darkness and sorrow! It didn't make any sense to her how this could have happened. Everything had been fine yesterday. Her heart sunk with each sunken-eyed, sour face she passed. It was like a sea of misery and she was the only one aware of it!
... But, for once in her life, she actually felt like she was a bigger part of something instead of just observing it while it happened. Here she was, sharing in this strange bitter moment with every person in Destiny City, and it felt almost peaceful. No one was cheering or laughing, bells weren't ringing, the streets were filled with a somber, yet gentle silence that she couldn't help but feel drawn in by. She let it settle into her and coax her with every step she took. For the first time since she was a child, she let herself wander and window shop. She took her time, drank in every little sight and smell, and watched the people around her slowly wander by.
And when she finally paused for a moment of self-recognition, she smiled and laughed at herself because she'd found that there could be happiness in doing nothing. She was enjoying this, be it knowing that everyone else was just as miserable as her or the fact that it was pleasant and quiet, and she couldn't deny it any longer. This idle walking was bliss, even if she felt like crying at the same time. She wasn't alone in this feeling and, perhaps if she did start sobbing, everyone else would sob right alone with her.
Word Count: 811
