Just One More Bite

I'm in the middle of nowhere. When I say that, I mean it. Surrounding me is a white background, blank and cold. Intrigued, I walked for what seemed like an eternity in a direction I wasn't certain of, finding only one object. Or, better said, a place.

A movie theater diner. With nowhere else to go, I come towards it, raising a brow to the neon "theater" sign hung outside. Politely, I knock at the door as lightly as possible. The second time around, I knocked harder. Then I noticed a door knob, which I gently rotated causing the door to open. A rusted gold, the knob fell off from my touch.

The inside was filled with knacks of all sorts; wines, candies, classic-with-a-modern-click ornaments and decorations. I fancied them, especially the basket of Beatles pins. The way those pins illuminated in the dullish light was fascinating. The light flickered uncontrollably, and I started to think this place was abandoned.

The concession stand wasn't like modern day stands with bright colors a machine full of bright yellow popcorn. It was a simple concession stand, with only two types of chocolate bars available, and an aged popcorn machine that you had to physically turn a handle to operate. I ignored the treats and went in the direction to the only theater room in the building. I sat in the middle, on a velvet red seat that wasn't soft like regular movie theater chairs; it was hard like wood or plastic. It was also old, and you could tell by the faded color and strange scent.

Damn this place was ancient. The screen was clearly just a sheet over the brick wall, and the projector was in black and white. Like in all old movies, a countdown began. 3, 2, 1. And then it was just still, unmoving. The copyright froze in place, and I growled in disappointment.

I exited towards a flight of stairs, into the room where you control the movie. I saw the problem. There was no cassette inside, therefore no movie could play. The first cassette I found was labeled "1". I placed it inside, and the number one reflected on the screen, not changing one bit.

And then I took out another one labeled "2", and the same thing occurred, the number two had appeared on the screen. I did this various times with all different kinds of numbers, losing my patience at number 48.

Just as I was about to give up, I noticed a dark cassette that was hidden under the shelf that contained all the numbers. It seemed to have had a label, only the paper was torn off. The rest of the cassette had also seemed torn apart. I opened the cassette to find the tape inside the cassette to be neat and untouched. As if no one has ever seen it. Ever.

I placed it inside, where the countdown began. 3. 2. 1.

It was black and white, and I frowned. I did some technical things with the cartridge to add color, something Mikey had taught me when I was younger.

I sat by the projector, watching the movie from a distance, which was now in color. 3. 2. 1.

There was a boy with silky black hair and big hazel eyes, about nine years old, smiling and calling to someone, looking directly into what was supposed to be the theater's audience.

"Come over here!" he happily demanded, which was clearly adorable in every state. I smiled and continued to watch.

"Come on, I don't have forever!" he kept saying.

Being my delusional self, I replied. "You're just a film," I laughed.

"I'm more than that!" he responded. " A lot more than that!"

I froze. What the fuck? Carefully, I moved down the staircase to the screen.

"Tell me how you're doing that," I croaked, afraid.

The boy stuck his tongue out. "Make me!"

Aggravated, I pulled at the screen's fabric. And I noticed something behind it.

This just got interesting.

Notes

okay, okay...the title has NOTHING to do with the story. At all. I was just listening to that pierce the veil song while writing this.

and I hope you all liked this chapter ( I hope )