Audrey and the Aberkerzki #3
Episode three: Silence.
Audrey had barely slept at all. Her frustration from the night before kept circling around in her mind, and didn’t allow her to fall asleep, other than the brief moment where she dreamt that she was falling down some stairs.
As she rolled over to check the time on the bedside clock, she gasped in surprise, seeing a furry, blue figure, standing beside her bed.
“Your couch is lumpy,” said the Aberkerzki.
“Look, there are a few things we should probably discuss…” said Audrey.
“Oh, what, are you actually gonna stand up to someone? Nup, don’t believe you.”
“Can you at least tell me your name? Calling you Aberkerzki, seems a little odd,” asked Audrey as she sat up.
“Nyyyyyooooopppppeeeee, can’t do that. Aberkerzkis don’t tell humans their names.”
“Okay, a nickname then. You’re a female right?”
“Yeah… sort of… yes… I guess.”
“Ch… Saa… Sally?” asked Audrey.
“What the heck… do I look like a Sally to you?”
“Fine… Abbi? It’s like Aberkerzki, but shorter.”
The newly named Abbi shrugged, “It works, but you should really get out of bed. You’re already late.”
“For what? It’s Saturday.”
“For your life, stupid.”
They sat across from each other, at the dining table. Abbi had already eaten an entire box of cereal without milk, and she was halfway through a sliced loaf of bread, without any toppings.
Audrey wasn’t sure that the arrangement was really going to work out, but she didn’t know how to say so.
“Ahem,” coughed Audrey, “So Abbi, um, I’m not actually allowed to have a housemate in this apartment. The landlord won’t allow it.”
Abbi thought for a moment, then said, “Oh, it’s okay, I can make myself appear as a cat.”
“Actually, I’m also not allowed a pet.”
“How could you call me a pet?” asked Abbi, in an offended tone, with breadcrumbs flicking out of her mouth as she spoke.
“I wasn’t… I meant, you know… if you were like… dressed as a cat.”
Abbi coughed, “I think I need some sort of liquid… all this food is dry. You have some strange food here. Do you have coffee?”
“No, um, just tea, but do you really think coffee is a good choice for you?”
“I’m bored,” said Abbi, as she got up from the table and walked out of the room.
Audrey sighed. She was frustrated by just about everything, and an Aberkerzki as a house guest, wasn’t helping. Audrey had lived alone for her entire adult life… and she knew why. She’d always had a hard time standing up for herself, so she found a one bedroom apartment where she wasn’t allowed a room mate, that way, she could have her space just as she wanted it.
It was odd though, that for the first time ever, Audrey didn’t actually want to be alone, and while Abbi was proving to be quite odd, Audrey was also hopeful that Abbi would be the answer to all the stagnation in her life.
Isn’t it odd though in life, that we are so often conflicted, I mean, most of us want stability, but we also want the ability to change everything as we wish. Audrey was no different, however, she was stuck living a life that really no part of her was happy living, which is why the Universe began to offer opportunities to her, though as she’d already seen, sometimes that meant uncomfortable shake-ups.
Audrey could perceive now, that things were changing because she wasn’t living her best life, and while she found Abbi difficult, she was also curious about what would happen next.
“Okay Abbi,” yelled Audrey, “What would you suggest next? Some bizarre life change where I forget my own name?”
There was no reply.
Audrey walked into her bedroom, as she saw Abbi had gone in, but there was no Abbi.
“Abbi,” called Audrey as she walked around the apartment, “Crap… she left. That’s not what I wanted,” she said as she flopped onto the sofa.
Monday came, and as Audrey couldn’t think of anything else to do, she made her way to work.
Nothing looked as it used to, and all Audrey could see was her own disappointment. Now… you’re obviously thinking, ‘What a boring episode, she’s just going to go back to work… ewww.’ But, don’t worry, the Aberkerzki hadn’t left completely, and… she had a plan.
“Would you like to book an adventure?” asked a man that stood in the street, handing out brochures.
“No…” said Audrey, then she wondered, ‘Is this perhaps what I need?’ so she took what was being held out to her.
‘Skydiving? Hot air ballooning?’ she thought as she looked at the brochure. Audrey had never done anything as adventurous as that, and she wondered if such things could shake her life up enough to fix all of her issues.
“What experience would you recommend?” she asked the man.
The man seemed to be in his own little world and yelled out to the passers-by, “Would you like to book an adventure?”
Audrey figured that she’d have to make the choice herself.
Audrey sat at her desk.
As she looked around the office, there was a strange feeling. I mean sure, everyone was sitting at their desks as they should be, but they all looked much like zombies, staring into a void of existential nothingness.
‘Is this what they usually look like?’ wondered Audrey, “Is this what I usually look like?”
Audrey stood up. She didn’t seem to have the attention of any of the lemmings.
She walked into the staff kitchen, placed her mug in the correct spot, and pushed the button on the coffee machine. If it were not for the whirl of the coffee machine, and the sound of people hitting computer keys, there would have been no sound at all. It was odd that Audrey drank coffee at work, when at home, she didn’t, but like most human adults, she recognised that it has special powers to prevent a level of insanity when faced with boring work life.
In walked Marnie. Audrey rolled her eyes, but this time, something was different. Usually Marnie would say something that Audrey didn’t want to hear, and Audrey would feel frustrated. But Marnie waited silently for Audrey to remove her mug, and then took her turn at the coffee machine. Audrey waited a moment, before heading back to her desk.
Her boss, Joe, walked past her desk. He, like Marnie, said nothing.
‘This is a little odd,’ thought Audrey.
Audrey deliberately coughed. Nobody looked her way.
She crumpled a piece of paper, and threw it towards the trash can, but deliberately missed. Nobody seemed to realise and kept typing away.
“Hey Marnie, can I ask you something?” she said as Marnie walked past her desk, but it was as if Marnie couldn’t hear her.
Audrey was confused, ‘Ah, I know, I’ll message Nina, she always replies in milliseconds, she’s practically glued to her phone.’
“Hi Nina, I have some gossip for you,” wrote Audrey, baiting Nina. There was no reply.
“Can anyone hear me?” yelled Audrey from her desk.
Literally nobody looked up.
“Aberkerzki?” said Audrey as she got up from her desk. She figured that if nobody was noticing her, then nobody would notice if she left work early.
As Audrey walked down the city street, most people also appeared to be like zombies there as well.
“Aberkerzki?” yelled Audrey.
As she needed to make sure that this was not a prank, she chose a random shop, walked in, and asked the lady at the counter, “Do you sell strawberry milk?”
It was as if the shop keeper could see Audrey, but she didn’t totally acknowledge her, and she certainly didn’t answer her question.
“Hello,” said Audrey, after she dialled the number on the adventure brochure, “I’d like to book an adventure.”
“Hello? hello, is anyone there?” asked the voice on the phone.
“Hello, yes, I’d like to book an adventure.”
The phone hung up.
Audrey really began to worry. Literally nobody seemed to be able to hear her, and she was still yet to get a reply from Nina.
“Alright Aberkerzki, what are you trying to tell me?”
Audrey sat on her sofa, staring at the unlit screen of her television. It was only 2pm on that same Monday, so she should have still been at work, but she was far too confused about life, in order to mindlessly work.
She didn’t want to try again, in order to find someone that seemed to be able to hear her, for she knew that the Aberkerzki was doing all of it, she just didn’t know what any of it meant.
As the hours passed, and the daylight started to fade, Audrey still sat, contemplating how the entire universe fits together.
The door to her apartment opened… It was Nina. She walked straight past Audrey, which wasn’t unusual, walked into the kitchen and came back to the sofa with an arm full of snacks.
As Nina flicked through the list of movies she could watch, Audrey said, “Hey Nina, nobody has been able to hear me all day, wouldn’t it be strange if you were able to.”
There was no response, and Nina kept looking for something to watch.
“Yeah, okay, I guess I could say anything now and it wouldn’t matter. So… I have an alien friend, she has blue fur, big eyes, and is trying to drive me crazy. Obviously, I have questioned many times whether I am going crazy, but of course, even if I am, I know that all of this is happening because I’m dissatisfied with my life.”
Nina settled in as a movie started, and began eating some potato chips.
“Well, Nina, perhaps while you can’t hear me, I should tell you how you really make me feel. You see Nina… you… you are just about the most irritating friend I have. Well, sure, you are one of the only people that ever visits me, which I would appreciate, but you eat all my food, say mean things and boss me around. I guess what I really want to say to you is that you are a bitch.”
“A bitch?” asked Nina, jumping up.
“What… you heard that?”
“Yeah, Cakey, that’s what happens when you say things out loud.”
“Oh… I get it… people will be able to hear me again once I tell them what I actually want to say.”
“What the heck Audrey… is that really what you think?”
“Nina, you know you’re a bitch… as much as I know that I’ve been a pushover.”
“How could you say that Audrey?”
“Oh, shush…” said Audrey, “I wonder if my boss is still at work… I need to quit my job… and also tell Marnie that she’s annoying.”
“What the heck is wrong with you? Let me know when you’re no longer brain napped,” said Nina as she got up and left Audrey’s apartment.
