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Sighing softly Anniliese sat down on her couch and grabbed her computer. Times were tough in Destiny city. Her wallet was empty. She had spent the cash that she had at the arts and crafts store. Anniliese was sure she didn't have a dime. She needed cash badly. Usually, Anniliese’s father gave her money, since she was the only daughter out of his four children. But he decided that she needed to be more responsible and manage her own money for a while. Which meant that Anniliese would need to get a job. Whether she liked it or not.

But jobs were hard to come by in her city. The only jobs available it seemed were ones she wasn't qualified for. But Anniliese was trying her best, it wasn't her fault nobody wanted to hire her. She looked online, at posters in the newspaper, and drove around for days. Realizing that thinking and sitting on the couch isn't helping Anniliese sighed and shoved the computer onto the table.

Getting up Anniliese grabbed her father’s keys and hopped into his car. She texted her father before leaving, so he knew where she was. Driving down the streets Anniliese looked for any job offers. After a while of driving her eyes widened as she saw the old movie theater down the block. From the look of it, there was a flyer at the door. But she could barely see it. Deciding to take a risk she turned and pulled into the parking lot. Parking the car she then grabbed her father’s keys as she exited it before slamming the door shut.
Smiling Anniliese approached the movie theater, looking at the sign in front of her she grinned. They were hiring! And the best part was that Anniliese would most likely get accepted.

Her excitement overcoming herself Anniliese forced herself to calm down. She couldn't be this happy yet, she still had to fill out the form and if she was going to get hired.

Walking into the movie theater Anniliese looked one of the workers in the eyes.
“H-hey,” she muttered. “I saw the poster outside. Are you still looking for workers?”
“Yeah.” the person replied, letting out a yawn. It seems they were very tired. “Go behind the counter. The boss is there.”
Nodding Anniliese walked behind the counter and saw the owner of the movie theater sitting on a chair.
“Why are you here?” he questioned. “I’m guessing you saw the job offer outside?”
“Yeah, I would like to”
“You're hired.” the boss interrupted. “You will start tomorrow. We can do the paperwork then. We're desperate and we need people.”

Blinking Anniliese tilted her head. She didn't know that it would be this easy to get a job.
“A-alright,” she said awkwardly, leaving the movie theater.
Heading back into her father’s car Anniliese put the key in and turned it and drove out. Driving back to her house she then parked the car and walked in.
“So, how did it go?” Anniliese’s father questioned.
“Good!” Anniliese replied. “I got a job at the movie theater.”
“Nice job.”
Heading into her room Anniliese took off her shoes and clothing and put new clothing on. Laying down on the bed Anniliese then wrapped a blanket around herself as she rested her head onto her pillow.
Anneliese hoped that this job would last. She hoped she would be able to work at the movie theater for a while. Sighing she shook away her thoughts and closed her eyes. She just had to try her best. After all, she would never know what the future had in store for her.

Anniliese had been working at the movie theater for a few months. She was alright. She did have a little time getting to know how to do things but after she got the hang of it she did her job well enough. But she wasn't the best at dealing with rude customers though. Usually, Anniliese was a shy and timid girl and tried to avoid confrontation but the stress was now starting to get to her. Luckily she didn't say anything so bad to the point of her getting fired.

Shaking away her rapid thoughts Anniliese got up and dressed for work. Driving to the movie theater she then walked in and stood in front of the counter, waiting for some customers to arrive.
Standing for a bit Anniliese’s mind began to wonder.
“EXCUSE ME?”
Eyes widening Anniliese blinked and backed away.
“I’m so sorry ma’am.” Anniliese dipped her head, still shaken up at the person’s tone. The person was a middle-aged woman with blonde hair, her blue eyes were narrowed.
“Are you going to ask me what I want?!”
“Of course. What do you want?” Anniliese asked.
“Wow, so ******** rude.” the woman spat. “My ******** name isn't ma’am. It’s Karen.”
Starting to shake Anniliese bit down onto her lip as she tried to stay cool. Wiping some sweat off her forehead she forced a smile on her face and then opened her mouth to speak once more.
“What would you like, Karen?” Anniliese questioned.
“I want some popcorn, soda, and chocolate,” Karen ordered. “Get it right ******** now!”
Turning around Anniliese grumbled as she made the popcorn.
“What do you want in it?” Anniliese questioned.
“Butter of course!” Karen snorted.

Squirting some melted butter onto the popcorn Anniliese then handed it to Karen.
“What do you want me to get you to drink?”
Eyes widening Karen let out a loud snarl and slammed the popcorn in Anniliese’s face.
“I SAID I WANTED CHEESE ON IT! YOU PUT BUTTER ON IT!”
Freezing Anniliese put a wicked smile on her face. She was sick of this and she didn't care if she got fired. She just wanted this to get over with.
“I am so sorry, Karen.” Anniliese purred in an overly happy voice. “What soda do you want?”
“Orange crush you stupid dickhead!” Karen replied.
Pouring some soda in cups Anniliese then grabbed some hot cheese before throwing it at the customer making the pop and cheese go all over the rude customer.
Getting up Anniliese left the counter, not thinking she opened the theater and walked out.
“I QUIT!” She yelled, before standing at the door.

Anniliese hadn't told her dad about the situation she had pretended to go to work every day and instead went to the mall or library. She had tried to look for another job but as of yet nothing had come up.
Eventually, she knew she had to tell her father.

((1094))

Anniliese was quite happy that the snow had not only seemed to let down but the cold weather was slightly better. She made sure to keep wearing her big puffy jacket. She wanted to leave the house to get a few things. She had decided to keep the little mouse that had stayed overnight with her. He or she Anniliese hadn't determined yet, had come inside her house to escape the cold weather. Since it had no other place to go and Anniliese just didn't want to leave it all alone in the cold by itself she decided to let it stay with her. And in those few hours, she had bonded with the little creature. She did research on keeping a mouse as a pet. Today she went out to buy him a cage and other items that he may need. She hadn't given him a name yet and was still thinking it over. She knew she was going to keep me when the next day he refused to leave her house. He had run over to and ran up her leg. She was scared at first but after seeing that he just wanted to sit on top of her shoulders she petted him and decided right then and there that she was going to keep him. Besides he didn't look like he wanted to leave at all. The other two deciding factors in keeping the mouse were that he was not afraid of her cat. And that he wasn't skittish. He seemed to really like affection and be touched. She was going to get what she needed then go back out to check out Christmas lights and decorations. She was able to buy a nice big cage that was big enough for more than two mice. After getting home and setting up the cage. She got ready to go out. She got back in her father's car and drove to the neighborhood that was doing a light show. All the houses in the neighborhood were decked out in lights and decorations. She decided to walk around the neighborhood instead of driving. There seemed to be a lot of cars already driving and stopping to ooh and shh at the decorations and lights. She didn't want to have to be caught up behind someone just in case she hits them or get hit from behind. She parked her car around the corner from the neighborhood and made her way towards it.

Anniliese wasn't going to lie she was very impressed with all the decorations that she saw. Every house was decked out with lights and decorations. This neighborhood was probably filled with people getting way too into Christmas and fills their lawn with fake reindeers and inflatable snowmen and candy cane decorations? They probably kept their lights up way too long past two months and even more. The first house was playing Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas is you." All the houses were decked out in lights and each one seemed to be decorated to a specific theme.

"All the houses look so beautiful."

There was something a little off about the whole neighborhood. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. It wasn't until she made her way towards the end of the street that she noticed what it was. The lights were being strange. The lights on one of the houses seemed to flash quite strangely. Then it started to spread to house to house they were flashing in unionism. She looked at the other people who decided to walk instead of driving to see if they saw what she was seeing but no one reacted. It was like the lights were doing some kind of morse code. They would flash in a rhythm style. She didn't know morse code at all. Were the lights trying to tell her something?

She made her way out of the neighborhood. She was feeling paranoid. Maybe something was happening to her? As she was making her way to get back to her car one of the houses caught her eye. The lights were flashing like the others but they were brighter than ever. It was a weird display.

"The person really likes mice."

The decorations were a large mouse trap with mice everywhere. One mouse stood out to her and it was dressed like a mouse from a movie she had seen before. It was dressed up as a chef.

"That mouse looks just like mines...."

She gasped and made her way to her car to get home quickly. She knew what she was going to name her new mouse friend.

She ran into her house and went straight to the mouse cage.

"Hi there Ratatouille. I know you are not a rat but I really think the name fits you. You do like to hang out with me in the kitchen even though I don't approve.