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Prompt 7 (Illuminating Conversation): This time of year there are lights hanging everywhere. They come in different colors, different styles, different patterns of illumination. You might not remember when it started, but when you looked at a display, you noticed the lights seemed to be flashing in a specific pattern. When you look away, you might be able to see out of the corner of your eye that they return to normal--but any time you look at them, they repeat the same unique sequence. It’s not just one light, either; almost everywhere you go you can find some light repeating the pattern. Is something trying to send you a message? Could it be Morse Code, or something else? A coincidence? Either way, you can’t seem to decipher the message and it’s getting to you. Especially because no one else seems to notice it.
Honestly, at first it wasn’t a big deal. She didn’t care about all the twinkling lights. They were meant to flash. Meant to flicker on and off. Twas the season after all. Everything was covered in lights. Stores, railings, trees, even some people…. Ugly sweaters really have stepped up the past few years. So Shannon hadn’t been paying any attention as she went about her business. Grocery store, clothing store, library… people everywhere. It was to be expected but it still started to really get on her nerves. So rather than go ballistic, or turn up her Karen dial on someone, she decided to go to the gym. It was less than a week before Christmas, in the middle of the day, there shouldn’t be nearly as many people there as there were at the mall, where they were scrambling for last minute gifts.
Surprisingly, there were actually a few people at the gym she frequented. It wasn’t a lot, but still more than she expected. Lucky Shannon was able to avoid pretty much everyone there, worked up a good sweat, and after a few hours felt much better as she strolled back out onto the now night kissed streets of Destiny City. She had been able to power through her building anger, working out that rage along with burning off the extra cellulose on her body from all the holiday fare she had been partaking in. She was now refreshed, showered, dressed to kill in her new winter outfit, and more than ready to see if she could find a sucker to buy her a drink or two… and maybe donate some energy for her quota.
So she wasn’t really paying attention to the various flashing lights, at least not until she was at the bar, staring out the window while her current bar tab manager, aka sucker, was just rambling on about his successful business and sports car and…. s**t she didn’t believe at all. The man didn’t have the kind of expensive clothes to pull off ‘wealthy’, nor did he have the right attitude. He was still useful though, if only for drinks. Shannon was just spacing out when she noticed some Christmas lights across the way flashing a peculiar pattern. At first she just thought it was programmed that way but it was too random for that. Her mark didn’t even say anything when she directed his attention to the ‘pretty lights’, he just said something asinine before going off about his work again.
It wasn’t until it was on its fourth or fifth repeat that she finally understood what was going on. The lights were flashing in a peculiar, and familiar, way. It was morse code! She had learned it ages ago, her grandpa had taught it to her. She mostly used it in school to cheat but it was still something she vaguely remembered even now. Silvery eyes narrowed as she pulled out her phone and started to count. Dash, dot, dot, dot. Dot. Dot, dot, dot. Dot, dot, dash….. She continued that way for a bit.
Two more cycles and she was certain she had the whole message and quickly translated it. Be. Sure. To. She mentally read out the note as she went. By the time she reached the end all she could do was gape before blurting out, “Be sure to drink your Ovaltine? The ********, do you like ‘A Christmas Story’ too?” The t**t sitting next to her chirped before going onto a tangent about Christmas movies and various scenes, much to Shannon’s annoyance.
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