A Report! From Inside The Walls Of Mallmart

A Report! From Inside The Walls of Mallmart

"I was never going to get internet famous, was I?" I stare into the dark, shadowy corner of my room. It's 5am, and storm clouds are brewing over Okaloosa County. The seas are churning but still keep that odd emerald glow that we're known for. "This was just about me, selling my mortality, my soul, or whatever else was up for bargaining when I made that blood pact." Still, no answer. It's just an empty corner of my bedroom. "Well, I'm going to anyway so whatever is happening here can seem worth it. I choose to win. I choose to fight." Dead silence. It was near maddening. And then, "Honey, have you left for work yet? It's 6 o'clock."

I have never been popular. In grade school, I remember sitting around in morning meeting and just thinking about what I could say to grab people's attention. Darkwood middle school was much the same, with me trying to desperately get in with the cool crowd. Every time I opened my mouth and said something stupid, I could feel their judging gazes burrowing into my skin so I would talk more, trying to fix it. And more, 

And more

And then I'd talk even more until I thought I was going to choke on it. I always made the situation worse without fail. I was a pariah. I was the goofy kid who no one wanted to hang out with. I began trading my lunch, gum, whatever I could bring into school in exchange for companionship. It never lasted, it was always short lived. As an adolescent, I was never invited to the college group chats, or parties. When I went to work, I was never invited to grab beers after the shift ended with the guys. 

"I reckon it's going to rain all day," a man says, in the break rooms of Mallmart to his friend. Indeed, the clouds were darkening over the store, and I sat alone at a table, feeling painfully aware that I may have gambled away the last thing of value I had in hopes of, what?

Attention.

'Maybe it's all in my head. Maybe the other day was a string of odd coincidences. I'm fine. I'm not coming unglued. I can get back to my boring Mallmart employee life, and forget this ever happened.' so that's what I did. I stocked shelves in hba, and let my brain go blessedly blank. 'I am a good associate employee. That's all there is. There is nothing supernatural happening to me. I am normal, and that is okay.'

'If things keep going like this, I'm going to-

No.

No , no… things are fine. Don't start with that train of thought now.' But it's like a mantra in my head. Things will not get better. I don't deserve to have anything go well for me. All these anti acid pills I'm stocking, this is my life now. The heavy cloud over Mallmart is all there is to my life now. Things are always going to feel like this. 

By the time the cart is empty, my head is spinning and I feel useless. I feel dead inside. I feel sick. And management is just waiting for me to screw up. I know it. I'm a screw up.  The thought leaves me sweating as I head over to the palette set up.

A Lesson in Mallmart Stock handling, with Madame Macabre!

In Mallmart, there are several types of stock you may handle. All of them have guidelines on how to properly handle them so you and Mallmart's customers can be as safe as possible! One is standard stock. Standard stock is items such as groceries, toys, or pharmacy vitamin bottles. These items don't have unique guidelines, but should always be securely put on your cart before reaching its destination. You should not leave any stock out on the main sales floor as this could create a liability. 

Then, we have hazardous materials. This stock may have flammable liquids or other chemicals that may pose a suitable threat when damaged. Be sure to handle with care, and to take the necessary precautions available on the Mallmart hazardous materials guide. The last, are team lift stocks. This stock reaches a weight or size that requires multiple people to handle the stock, in order to lift it to its destination. These items typically exceed 60 pounds. 

I could feel my team lead's eyes on me. I could feel Mikki's eyes, the lovely older lady who was always so nice to me, on me. I could feel Taylor from Mallmart's eyes on me. They were waiting for me to mess up. I needed to hurry and go. So I stacked the camping canopy sets one on top of the other and carried them over to my cart. 

"Holy CRAP-!" In near unison, I could hear my several onlookers say. I dropped the sets down onto the cart, looking over as my team lead made his way over. "Ciara, next time we should really do a team lift for each of those. Are you okay-?" He glanced me up and down before continuing. "Can you get those down from there alright? Okay, well finish up that cart and then head onto purging bins." And off he went, as the others stared on in shock. I didn't waste anymore time and got the hell out of there, honestly.

I really should've checked the boxes, they say team lift right on them, plain as day. The thrumming in my head persisted well into lunch break. 

Taylor and Aiden sat at a table in the back of the break room, laughing. "That's not what I said-" Taylor insisted, as I took a seat with them. The young man with long dark hair was not wearing his usual sunglasses and hat. Instead they sat in the center of the table. His eyes were blue, and the roots of his hair shockingly blonde. And he was making Taylor laugh, and blush. "Dude, I am so disappointed I missed the power outage. The one day I have work off, and you guys go into nightmare mode? For real!" He says 'For real!' a lot, actually. I understand why it's for real half the time he says it. 

"Yes, you missed the power outage, Aiden Gossman. There were lights out, and screaming, and strange liquid dripping from the skylight in the Health and Beauty Department…and you missed it, because you stayed home and played video games. How does it suck to suck, Aiden Gossman?" I asked, gazing over the shorter male. "Dude, you are so hard on me today. If you took that stick out of your behind," He puts exclamation on behind as he says it, grating on my nerves further. "And actually slacked off a little with us, you'd be so much happier!" He grinned. "You should seriously get rest though. You might start hallucinating or something." Taylor pointed out. "Maybe he's hallucinating this conversation right now-"

"Ciara, no," Aiden glanced around for a second. "I heard you got reeducated." 

"Well, that's naturally the first step after a reported incident."

"Oh yeah, what'd you do, anyways?"

Now, both were staring at me, expectantly. "There were some teens making fun of me…. I may have called a child a 'big bitch'," I explained, hesitantly. A laugh barked out of Aiden. "Wow, you're like my hero. I'm going to have to remember that line-" Taylor said.

"But really, that's not fair to you. People shouldn't call you that stuff, Ciara." I could tell by the look in her mint colored eyes, she meant it. It gave me a fluttery feeling, being noticed. 

"Really dude? She's not going to date you. Pretty sure of it, in fact." As soon as Taylor left the table, it was on. 

'Oh dear Aiden,' I thought to myself at that moment. 'You don't know who you're messing with.' I was going to respond back with a sharp remark that'd leave his head spinning, and suck the oxygen right from the room. Instead, my eyes started to sting. "That's not true! You'll see-!" And with that, I was out the door, off to continue my job, as an average Mallmart associate.

I was never popular.

Aesthetic of the Month- Floral Academia

Do you love the spring florals that April brings, but want the coziness of a good turtleneck and rounded glasses bring? Of course you do, you tumblr veteran! Floral Academia might be the perfect mix for you, with it's vibrant pastels, and fun patterns to choose from!

Welcome, Dear Reader!

Here on Madam Macabre, We offer;

*Juicy Tabloids on your favorite Horror Monsters!

*Ominous Vibes~

*Fashion Tips

*Detailed First Hand Reports from the heart of Okaloosa County

*Dark Secrets 💛

*Horrors not meant to be seen by the human eye!

And Much More, with your dedicated blogger, who traveled the astral planes just to work as a mallmart employee 

A Special Update!

Coming soon, a daily update following the life of Taylor from Malmart

LITERATURE SERIES: H.P. Lovecraft

“The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.” ― H.P. Lovecraft

An important update;

Darling Taylor came back for me 💛

We are now sitting in the breakroom eating whipped cream and talking about the outage and how she was scared because I seemed terrifyingly inhuman and uncanny valley at the same time. She's such a charmer with her compliments 💛

A Report! From Inside The Walls of Mallmart

The shadows stretch ominously over the well manicured lawns of Okaloosa, and the seas kick their legs against the shores with a sort of nervous energy That tells me maybe they too know what is going to come next. Even as they don't tell me the secrets of our universe, I still have one thing in the back of my mind, and I know when I write about it, I'm going to have all ears listening. It's just a matter of when.

Of course, time seems non-existent at a place like Mallmart, and before I new it the sun was bright in the sky, and I was eagerly sitting at a table with a bag of strawberries in one hand and a can of whipped Cream in the other. Because today, is the day Taylor from Mallmart comes into my life. Taylor, is goth. She is donned in all black, and her hair is glossy and voluminous and her skin is soft, and stretchy, and wonderfully pale.

"Taylor, darling! I brought you strawberries!" The student of microbiology sat down next to me. "Oh thank you, you didn't have to do that." Her voice is monotone, but with underlayers of warmth. "The whipped cream is unopened," and she glances down to where I point. "Oh it's okay," 

"Perhaps we can do whippets at lunch instead, Dear Taylor~"

This, elicits a dark and sardonic chuckle from her, which shoots electricity down my spine. I get up from my seat. "Until next time, Taylor from Mallmart,"

I thought about the fact that I am bound to get noticed, sooner or later. That being this invisible is temporary. It sparked a nervous energy in my chest, but all I could think was, 'Surely this isn't it. This isn't all that is to life.I can't be stuck like this, I can't- The light blinked out of Walmart one by one, and then, panic.

"Well, this is exciting." The customer next to me jumps at my cheery statement, as if she hadn't noticed me standing there. I take my cart back to the backrooms, only to find all the doors closed, and room pitch black save for the floodlights in each room, leaving a very dim glow.

Taylor, is now attempting to navigate the backrooms, peering anxiously where the baler would be. "I'll get the door for you," I grin at her. Confused, she reaches into her pocket and fumbles a moment before shining her phone light on me, and her eyes widen, the pupils dilating. Her breathing came out shallow and uneven. "Taylor? Wait, Taylor-" and she was gone, running down through the store as I was hot on her heels, out she goes into the parking lot, into a car, which peeled out leaving me in awe. 

So, quietly I go back to the break room, sit down at a table, and spray whipped cream into my mouth.

Because I know when I write about it, I'm going to have all ears listening.