//------------------------------// // Don't Play With Knives! // Story: Sugarzappies! // by DarkHooves //------------------------------// Today, Indigo was in her room playing her favourite football game while Sugarcoat watched. Indigo had tried coaxing her into playing it with her a few times, but she always declined saying that she didn’t know the rules to football, which she thought was really weird. That didn’t bother her too much, though. She liked Sugarcoat despite her being weird. She didn’t really know how to describe it, but she was weird in a good way! But there was something about how she acted that made a thought appear in her head. She paused the game and turned around. “Hey, Sugarcoat,” she said. The girl didn’t respond. Just shift her gaze towards her to show that she was listening. Another weird thing about her. “Are you a robot?” Sugarcoat frowned. “Why would you ask that?” “Well, you kind off act like a robot. I’ve never seen you smile or laugh and you talk in the same tone all the time.” Sugarcoat went silent. She would do that sometimes when she was thinking about something. Yet another weird thing. “I’m not a robot,” she eventually replied. “But how can you know?” Indigo retorted. “Like, what if you only think you’re human?” Sugarcoat thought really hard for a response until she rose up. “I can prove I’m not a robot,” she said and walked out of the room. “My mom has two full albums of baby pictures of me,” she explained as they walked over to Sugarcoat’s house. Sugarcoat’s cat greeted them on the porch railing outside. “Hey, Mr Meow! Remember me?” The cat gave no response to Indigo beyond a tired glance, but he did start purring when she started petting him. “How come he’s sitting out here all alone?” Indigo asked as she scratched his chin. “He usually waits here whenever I go out,” Sugarcoat replied and gave him a pet. She opened the front door and held it opened for Indigo to enter. The cat didn’t follow them in. When they got inside, Indigo couldn't help but be surprised at how absolutely filled with stuff Sugarcoat's house was! The contrasts to her own home – where most of their belongings still laid in moving boxes all around the house – was astounding. The bookcases were filled with books, CDs and movies. Flowerpots in full bloom sat in every windowsill. The walls were adorned by family photos interspersed with paintings. One painting in particular featured a warship in the middle of firing its cannons. It hung right behind the sofa and was almost as wide. Indigo looked at it with awe. “This is so cool!” “It’s my father’s,” Sugarcoat said. “His great grandfather painted it.” “Awesome,” Indigo replied. “We don’t have any paintings at my house. Mom says they’re only for dumb-forks and limp-deers who think they’re special... But this one’s really cool! I wish we had something like this.” Sugarcoat didn’t know how to respond to that so she didn’t. “What did you forget this time…?” came an annoyed voice from the kitchen. Out stepped a woman with cornflower blue skin and her sea green hair done into a braid. She wore a faded pink apron and yellow dishwasher gloves. She must have expected someone else, because her expression changed from an annoyed frown to a warm smile. “Oh! I didn’t expect you back so soon, Sugarcoat - And who’s this?” She asked when she noted the visitor. “I’m Indigo Zap!” she declared and made a pose just like her mother would have! “Oh, you’re the girl next door! It’s so nice to meet you! My name is Warm Updraft,” she said and knelt down in front of her. “You recently moved in, didn’t you? Where did you move from?” “An apartment in Cloudsdale,” Indigo replied. “How was that? Did you like it there?” “It was okay, I guess. It was just really small. Our new house is much bigger!” “That’s nice to hear! My cousin lives in Cloudsdale, so I know what you mean about the apartments. I’ve been telling him to move here for years, but he claims it’s enough for him and his family.” Suddenly, Indigo remembered she had to thank Updraft for the ice cream. “Thank you for the ice cream, ma’am!” She yelped out and gave a hasty bow. Luckily her mom wasn’t here to see it all, or she would have gotten some harsh discipline. “Oh, it’s nothing, dear. I’m just happy to hear my little Sugarcoat finally have a friend to play with!” Sugarcoat, in the meanwhile had already taken out the photo albums from a cabinet and sat down in the sofa. “So what are you two playing now?” Updraft asked. “I’m showing Indigo my baby pictures to prove that I’m not a robot,” Sugarcoat replied. “Oh…Eh… Have fun…?” Updraft said with a concerned smile. She looked as if she wanted to say something else, but the phone started ringing and she moved into the dining room to answer. Indigo sat down as Sugarcoat flipped through the pages. “That’s the doctor that took care of the delivery.” She pointed to a picture of a doctor giving the thumbs up in full gear. Then to a picture of a heavily pregnant Warm Updraft looking strained for the camera. “That’s my mom before entering the second phase of labour.” “What’s that?” Indigo asked and pointed at a picture so blurry you couldn’t tell what it was. “That’s the last picture my dad took before he passed out,” Sugarcoat explained and flipped the page to a picture of a man lying on the floor. “One of the nurses took over the camera after that.” “Hey, where’s your dad anyway?” Indigo asked. “Are your parents divorced too?” “They are not,” Sugarcoat replied. “He’s working.” They kept looking some more until Updraft came back into the room. “Sugarcoat,” she started. “Could you and Indigo go play at her house for a while? I need to… Clean the house.” “I was going to show Indigo the basement to prove you and dad didn’t built me in there,” Sugarcoat replied. … “Some other time. Now go on.” “What a bummer!” Indigo said as they walked out. “Just when we were gonna find out the truth!” “Didn’t the photos prove I’m not a robot?” Sugarcoat replied. “I still feel completely human.” “But like…! What if your parents faked all the photos!” “Do you have any idea how hard it would be to fake that many photos?” “No,” she admitted. “Do you?” “I guess not…” Sugarcoat replied after a moment of silence. The silence continued all the way into Indigo’s hall. When she bent down to take her shoes off, Indigo caught sight of something in the kitchen. An idea came to her. “I know what we could do!” she exclaimed, ran up to the kitchen counter and pulled out a knife from the knife rack. Sugarcoat raised an eyebrow as she looked from the knife to Indigo. “I’m not sure I want to know now.” “Look, I snuck out of bed one night and saw my mom watching this movie about a robot that looked exactly like a human! And then the robot had to cut off the skin on their arm to show it had this metal skeleton under it! I couldn’t sleep for weeks after that…” “I’m not cutting the skin off my arm.” Indigo had to agree that was a stupid idea, but she wasn’t quite ready to let the whole thing go yet. There had to be some other way to get a definitive answer… But as always, she couldn’t get her brain to work when it counted. “What if… What if you just had a small cut?” “What would that prove?” “Well, the robot in the movie couldn’t bleed. I think…”She definitely remembered something about bleeding, but not exactly what it was. “So if you get a cut and you bleed, then you’re not a robot!” Sugarcoat folded her arms. She didn’t want to do this. Her brain kept screaming at her what a bad idea this was. Logically, she must have bled at some point in her life. Even if she couldn’t remember it. Maybe she could check her baby pictures again? She glanced at Indigo only to find her looking expectantly at her. … Then again… What harm could one cut do? She took the knife from Indigo and brought it towards her other hand. She took a few calming breaths, trying to psych herself up as the blade slowly got closer and closer to her skin. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. Her mother always used to say she kept dithering at everything. 'You need to stop overthinking things', she always said. 'Just do it quick and get it over with, like a band aid!' So she closed her eyes, gritted her teeth and did it! She felt a sting as the knife grazed her left index finger. A small but noticeable cut remained, which slowly turned red as blood began to pour out. “Looks like you weren’t a robot after all!” Indigo walked up and bumped her hip. Sugarcoat didn’t respond. She just kept staring at the red liquid running down her finger. Just looking at it made her feel weird. All of a sudden, her heart was beating faster and she felt nauseous. She heard Indigo tell her something, but she couldn’t comprehend what it was. Everything sounded like it was echoing through a tunnel. It sounded very distant, and yet there was a strange screeching sound coming from behind her ears. Everything was coated in green and magenta… … PLONK! “Sugarcoat…” Indigo knelt down beside her and nudged her. “Sugarcoat, are you dead…?” Nothing she did produced a reaction from the other girl. The pit in her stomach grew larger for each passing second. “Sugarcoat! Please say if you’re dead!” Still no answer. ... “Mom!” She ran as fast as she could, up the stair and into her mom’s bedroom. Normally she wouldn’t be caught dead barging in there – least of all while her mom was sleeping – but the fear of Sugarcoat’s life was far greater than her own. “M-Mom, wake up!” A tired and very cranky Lightning Dust groaned from under the blankets. “Sugarco-coat is dead…!” Indigo wailed. Lighting’s sleepiness was gone in an instant. “What!?” “She-she… In the kitchen… And then the b-blood… A-And she…!” Her adrenaline kicked into overdrive, Lightning flew out of the bed and down the stairs. When she got to the kitchen, her body acted purely from muscle memory. First: Assess the situation. Girl collapsed on the floor, kitchen knife beside her, blood on her left hand. No immediate danger. Second: Physical examination. She quickly flipped her onto her back and checked her pulse, as well as her hand. Breathing is normal. No sign of physical trauma. Small incision on her finger. Looks to be shallow. “Sugarcoat, I’m so sorry…!” Indigo cried out from the doorway. Satisfied that the collapsed girl wasn’t dead or dying, Lightning moved to console her daughter. She knelt down in front of her and put her hands on both of her shoulders. “Indigo, listen to me. Your friend is fine. It’s just a shallow cut and she’s passed out. She’s fine.” She paused for a second to let it sink in. “Now, I need you to go up to my bedroom, open the right-most closet and get the first aid bag in there. It’s a large, green bag with white crosses on it. Think you can do that?” Indigo nodded. “Good. I’ll carry Sugarcoat to the living room couch and make sure she’s safe.” She let go of Indigo, who immediately started running. Rising up, Lighting noticed her state of undress. “And get mommy’s robe!” she called. And with that, she finally gave herself permission to calm down. She also gave herself permission to take a quick swig from the liquor bottle on the top shelf of the cabinet. Something sharp got in Sugarcoat’s nose. A horrible smell that made her want to gag. She jerked her head away from it. She felt a rhythmic beating on her forehead as she opened her eyes and sat up. She found herself on a couch with a large pillow propping up her legs. “How are you, kid?” said a turquoise blob right beside her. “Everything is blurry,” she replied and moved her hand to her face to find her glasses missing. “Don’t worry. I got your glasses right here.” The world returned to normal and the turquoise blob became Lightning Dust’s concerned face. “You may have hit your head when you passed out. Let me know if any of this hurt.” Lightning methodically pressed down on various points of her head with her fingers until she winced. “Looks to be just a bump.” She held onto her chin with one hand and put her other front of her face. “Follow my finger with just your eyes,” she said and began moving it around. “I think you’ll be fine,” she concluded and rose up. “I patched up your cut so it shouldn’t get infected. Just remember to have your mom or dad look at it next time you wash.” Sugarcoat nodded. “Good. I’m going back to sleep. Don’t do anything strenuous for a while, ‘kay?” she said and walked to the doorway, where she turned back “And I better not catch you two playing with knifes again or I’ll whoop your asses!” She gave both of the girls a death glare. “I’m not kidding around here. You could have hurt yourselves a lot worse than this, got it? Say, yes Furir!” “Yes, Furir!” Both girls said. Satisfied with that, she left to get some double well-earned sleep. Several minutes of silence followed where all Indigo and Sugarcoat did was glance at each other in shame. “I’m sorry I made you cut your finger…” “It’s not all your fault. I still did it, despite not wanting to…” … “I guess now I know how my dad felt,” Sugarcoat said after another minute of silence. That made Indigo smile. “Did you just make a joke?” “I guess I did,” Sugarcoat replied and smiled back. Truth to be told, she hadn’t really meant to make it a joke, but she didn’t want to spoil the moment. Indigo started giggling which quickly spread to Sugarcoat and soon enough, they were both laughing in earnest. When they’d finally stopped, Indigo went and got more pillows and blankets, and then ran up to her room and got a movie for them to watch in the living room. During a slow part, Indigo turned to Sugarcoat. “Just so you know; I wouldn’t have cared if you were a robot.” Again, Sugarcoat didn't really know how to respond. She just smiled, but that seemed enough. All in all, it was a pretty good day!