>> Jude Cort Dees
The store closed. The employees eventually filed out, thinning like people in a crowd after the main attraction leaves, after people have seen what they wanted to see and wished to return to their cars and drive home. And then, the final few hung up their aprons at their stations and took off their name badges and said their goodbyes and left. Everything became quieter, and the little "try-me" singing stuffed animals were finally left alone; and an emptiness set in that was somewhat chilling, chilling like in an alleyway that completely changes after dark. You know it's safe, but it just doesn't really feel safe. You've seen it before, but now your eyes can only make out some of the items in the dark, and the rest is left up for your imagination to configure and then throw back at you. Don't you just feel scared? Jude relied on his friends for the security of knowing that those things in the dark weren't out to get him, and that they weren't even real. Yes, for this he relied on his friends and one other special person- the manager. Once the employees left, he'd be the last worker there, doing his nightly "check."
The manager, let me tell you, was one odd character. With a mohawk and three eyebrow piercings, you'd lose a bet if you were guessing who ran the store. He was really short too- and he definitely made Jude feel better about himself. He wasn't exactly fat either, but he was just disproportionate, and just odd in general. It took a lot for Jude not to laugh whenever he walked by with his chest puffed out and his hands clenchd in fists, pretending to be all strong and powerful. And his voice! Oh, his voice. From this character, strange enough as he was dressed in his little suit and shiny cowboy boots, had a squeaky soprano voice! It was liked that when he talked, he laughed, and even when he sneezed. One of Jude's favorite hobbies was to mess with the guy, in every ninja-ey way that he could. He'd go into his locker and change out the meat in his sandwich with the cold, ground-up beef from the meat department, or maybe he'd take his cell phone out of the charger. And the funniest thing was that this manager dude was superstitious, and thought that there was a ghost following him around because he had bad luck gambling. It was hilarious, it really was. It was one of the things that made Jude's day- and it was pretty hard to impress Jude.
Of course, at night, he was his worst enemy. Whenever he came around, he was looking for this "ghost" every night, and therefore looked in all of the Wal-Rats' hiding spots. Quite annoying, actually. And yes, Jude was making this an inconvenience to everybody, so he kept it to himself. Just his own little game. He couldn't help himself, though. It was just so much fun to mess with this guy! One time though someone had played a prank that he hadn't pulled, and Jude wondered if he was alone in this little game. So Jude didn't feel too guilty. But really, this manager guy was their only true worry. And the biggest problem for them was not laughing. Jude had to cover his mouth when he strolled by, practically biting his tongue. Tonight though, Jude was a bit too frazzed to have a chuckle problem. He hadn't found his friends anywhere, and he'd figured out why- today, they had sales. Big sales. Like, 40% off sales. So, the place was packed. Jude didn't notice until the end of the day, when he thought about it. But yeah, that's what kept them all apart today. Regardless, he was still a little shaken up. He'd been wandering the aisles for the few minutes, then when the store was finally closed, dashed behind a cart in the back of the store. Now, he was quietly waiting for the manager to walk by. He'd check, and then go on his merry way, as usual.
But what was he doing? He was looking behind the cart! Crap! He was walking over. Probably looking for the ghost, of course. Shoot. Not good, not good not good not good! Jude silently crawled back behind a shelf. Where was he...? Oh, in the book section. Good. He dashed back a few isles till he found the little stand with the newest books displayed on it. It was little, but not too little to hide behind. He'd hidden behind it before, so Jude knew he could be safe there. The manager checked behind the cart just like he thought he would, and then he eventually dashed away. Thank God. Jude had been holding his breath, he realized, and so he finally sighed as the weight fell off of his shoulders. It wouldn't be much longer now until he could go out and find his friends, wherever they may be. And once he found them, he could get out his guitar and play them his song! And that would be a good, good thing. The only issue now was the cramping. Yeah, this was a problem, usually. All of the Wal-Rats agreed that after the doors were shut, they'd all wait for 5 minutes in their positions silently until they emerged from hiding. Then the fun would begin. But during those five minutes which seemed to pass like hours, everyone got spazms in their legs or arms or both, depending on how they sat. This time, Jude was in a really bad position, sitting on his hands. If he had moved his hands he would've made a squeaky noise against the floor, and he would've knocked a book over. Just great, huh? If only he was more graceful. If only he took ballet! Yeah, Jude had actually wanted to take ballet before. Laugh and die! He thought it was a very beautiful act, taking such strength- more important than football. As the thoughts went through his head, to himself he thanked the hookers that he'd lived with- they'd introduced him to the wonderful culture of girly stuff. Well seriously, how could ne not be gay? He saw these straight guys come in and treat his guardians like crap and then walk away. It's terrible!
Finally five minutes passed, and Jude got up and stretched. He moaned a little bit. Bad habit, but whenever Jude was in pain, he moaned. Someone thought that it was sexy when he moaned before, so it got to be a habit, and now Jude couldn't stop. It bothered him slightly, but whatever. He still wondered if anyone thought it was sexy. He was quite confident that people thought he was sexy, though. He tried to show off his body well, with tight-fitting shirts and skinny jeans. And his Vans. Had to have his Vans. Favorite shoes EVER. In fact, Jude hung out towards the part of the shoe section that had the cool shoes, including the Converse and yes, the Vans. So old school, so awesome! Jude didn't care if he was cliche in what type of things he liked- being original didn't seem to be that big of a deal to him. He figured all the great stuff had already been overused and the great personalities were already overrated, so why bother? Why not just like what you like? That was Jude's theory, and so he didn't really give much of a damn if he was like thousands of other people in the world. Of course, how many could say that they were living at Wal-Mart? That made him pretty special, and that was the one thing that Jude was actually pretty proud of. That was the little spark of originality Jude took pride in. So, where would his friends be? Well, everyone usually drifted towards the front of the store each night to meet up, and then they'd go from there. So, he started up the aisles towards the check-out stations, where he hoped he would see someone. He was seriously starting to get a bit creeped out by being alone, which was sad since he was the oldest. Was he the oldest...? Yeah, Jude thought he was. He hadn't exactly remembered anyone's birthday, but he just kinda guessed. He didn't really remember that stuff well. Names, either. He still had a hard time remembering names. He tried though. To pass the time at the front, he started thinking of the names of all of his friends in his head. He managed to think of 8. Pretty decent, he thought. Jude was getting lonely.
