Softener City
A tall, well-dressed man was overlooking the grounds from his spot in a skyscraper, his secretary standing beside him.
"Would you like me to tell him?" the secretary asked.
"No need. I'll tell him myself," he replied, waving a hand in dismissal.
He walked over to his desk, took a seat and pressed a button. "Mr. Baxley, please report to my office," he requested over the intercom.
After a few minutes, a young man with sheep ears and brown wool on his head appeared through the door.
"You called, sir? Is there anything you need?" he asked, setting his briefcase aside and taking a seat.
The man simply shook his head. "I'll cut to the chase, Bartholomew. Despite working here for a short time, you've proven yourself quite efficient at your job and a valuable asset in this company. In fact, the effort you've put in is already enough to give you a promotion that will net you a higher salary and the title of 'Employee of the Month'..."
The sheep boy looked surprised. "Wow, I'm quite honored to receive such a title–"
"...Which is why it pains me to say we're going to have to let you go," the man continued.
"What?"
"Higher-ups have requested your termination," the man explained.
The sheep boy slumped in his seat, dumbstruck. "I... I don't understand. Did I do anything wrong?"
"Records say no. I'll say it again, you're one of our best employees despite being here for a short time. Unfortunately, everyone's replaceable in this business, no matter how good they are at their job."
"This doesn't make any sense," the sheep boy complained, shaking his head. "Where am I supposed to go? What should I do? Good jobs aren't easy to find in this economy!"
"I'm well aware," the man sighed, giving him a small card. "If you need to, you can refer to me. I'll be happy to help out."
He heard the door open and saw two guards walk into the room, one carrying a box with his belongings.
"I could've grabbed my stuff myself, you know," he grumbled, looking at his former boss.
"I'm sorry," the man replied, "company directives are effective immediately."
In no more than five minutes, the sheep boy was out of the building, carrying the small box of his possessions and his briefcase. He looked back for a moment before walking off wordlessly.
After a few minutes, he stopped by an alley and froze.
"Hey, where's my box?" he asked himself.
It didn't take him long to find it– he looked over at the street to see a giant box being thrown into a garbage truck not too far away.
"Hey, HEY!" the sheep boy screamed, dropping everything and running towards the truck. "My home!"
He tried to chase after the truck, but it was too fast for him, peeling out in a cloud of dust. Disappointed, he returned to where he last left his stuff, only to find most of it missing, with his briefcase, a purple heart necklace, and a smashed picture frame left.
He looked back at the alley where a group of shadows were snickering before disappearing from sight. With another disappointed sigh, he gathered the remains of his stuff and took a moment to look at the picture.
The picture of him and his family together, coupled with everything that happened to him up to this point made him want to curl up and cry. Instead, he got up, dried the tears he had, grabbed what he had left, and headed for an ice cream shop.
The inside was bright and vibrant, and there wasn't a line, but nothing could bring up the sheep boy's mood.
"I'll take whatever this can afford," he said, slamming a twenty-dollar bill on the counter and receiving a heap of ice cream before taking a seat. The way he slumped down in the chair caught the attention of a boy and a girl nearby.
"Hey, bud, you good?" the boy asked.
"Oh yeah, everything's fine," The sheep boy replied. "Apart from losing my job, my home, and most of my stuff, everything's just hunky-dory!"
"That doesn't sound so... hunky-dory, dude," the girl replied. "You need some help?"
"Help?" he laughed before bursting into tears. "Yes, I need help! I just spent the last of my money on ice cream! Please help me!"
The two looked at each other and nodded. "Alright, we'll help you, mister...?"
"Bartholomew," the sheep boy coughed as he slowly composed himself. "Bartholomew Baxley. But most people call me Barry."
"Lily," the girl responded, pointing at the boy, who was staring blankly at Barry. "And that's Zaire. He scared everyone out of the shop, which is why it's just us here."
Zaire didn't comment. He stood up from his seat and continued to look down directly at him. "Are you... related to Mary Baxley, by any chance?" he asked quietly.
"Mary Baxley? She's my sister!" Barry exclaimed. "You know her?"
"Know her? She's our neighbor!" Lily said. "Not just that, but Zaire here has a thing for her–"
"Ignore her, she sometimes likes to spout nonsense!" Zaire cough-chuckled, covering her mouth. "But if you want, we can take you to her. She stopped by our house earlier today."
"It's been months since I've seen her, so I appreciate it."
After leaving the shop, the three headed straight to the siblings' house, where Bro was sitting on the porch, waving.
"Did you get me and Amelia the Double Sea Salt Caramel Chip ice cream we asked for?" he asked.
"What?" Zaire and Lily asked in unison.
"I gave you twenty-five dollars and asked you to get two scoops of Double Sea Salt Caramel Chip for me and Amelia," Bro explained. "Did you seriously spend all of that money on yourselves?"
"Could we pretend ice cream prices have increased exponentially?" Lily asked with a smile, clearly not regretting all the ice cream she ate.
Bro pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed in irritation. "You two had one job..."
Upon hearing the word job, Barry let out a tearful sniff before covering his face. "Right. A job. I used to have one of those..."
Bro looked over at the sheep boy. "Who's this?"
Before anyone could respond, a voice called out Barry's name from behind. Everyone turned around to see Mary running out of the house and towards him. She hugged her brother, laughing as if she was reunited with an old friend.
"It's so good to see you again!" she exclaimed. "How's everyone back home?"
"I... wouldn't know. I haven't been home in months," Barry admitted. "I left our home island a while back to make a living in this city, but that didn't go as planned. Now, I don't have a job anymore."
"Couldn't you call someone you know for help?" Lily asked.
"I had a phone, but it was with the stuff that got stolen," Barry sighed. "Doesn't help that I never turned it on, either. And even if I did, I don't know anyone's number."
He pulled out the picture of his family and added, "I haven't gone home because I don't want to give up. I want to make my family proud... That, and because I spent the last of my money on ice cream and not a boat ticket."
"Ice cream? Are they back with our Double Sea Salt Caramel Chip ice cream?" Amelia asked, walking up to the group accompanied by Porter.
"Better," Zaire said. "We're back with Mary's brother."
"We didn't know Mary even had a brother!" Porter said. "When we're you going to tell us?"
"I was!" Mary squeaked. "I wanted to surprise you by inviting him here, but I couldn't get a hold of him."
"It's hard to do that if you don't have an address," Barry pointed out. "That was my next priority. Now look at me... No job, no home, nothing."
"You keep mentioning your job," Bro said. "May I ask how you lost it?"
Barry shrugged. "All I know is that my boss's bosses asked him to let me go, as if I was making the company look bad by being there."
"Wait... Don't companies have a policy that allows everyone to be treated fairly, regardless of their background?" Lily questioned.
"That's the thing– it probably doesn't apply to animals," Zaire said.
"So you're saying they probably fired him because he's not human?" she huffed. "Stupid loophole."
The siblings looked over at Barry's downcast face and drooping ears. Even though they barely knew him, they weren't going to let him deal with his problem alone.
"Hey, it's not the end of the world," Zaire said, patting Barry's back.
"Yeah! Dry those tears, Barry," Amelia cheered, giving his back a slap, "because we're gonna turn your unemployment into funemployment!"
"Funemployment?" Barry sniffled. "How's that supposed to work?"
"We'll discuss it in the RV," Bro said.
"We have an RV?!" Lily gasped.
"We have a Registered Vehicle," he answered. "That transforming car we've had for a while? I finally came up with a name for it."
"And you didn't modify it so it could transform into an RV," she replied. "Nice."
The seven hurried into the car and sped off into the city.
"So, funemployment," Bro said. "What's the plan, Amelia?"
"It's simple– we find a fun job for Barry, get him hired, and celebrate with even more fun!" Amelia explained.
"That's the plan?" Zaire snorted. "Why don't we all just put on baseball caps and call ourselves baseball professionals while we're at it?"
"That's ridiculous," Porter answered. "We've never attended a baseball game before!"
The car stopped at Fabrix's, an arcade and fun center just a small distance away from the city. As Barry got out of the car and looked at the sign, he could not be more unimpressed.
"Funemployment, you say," Barry stated. "Fun for whom? Everyone who doesn't work there?"
"You never know," Mary reasoned, getting out after him. "There could be a fun job here, like entertaining the children."
"That's fun? I'd rather have my old job back if that's the case," he muttered.
"We'll wait out here," Bro said. "Let us know how it all goes."
With a nod, the two sheep stepped into the arcade, which was in absolute chaos. Nobody was supervising the kids, leading to messes, damage to the machines, and worst of all, nobody playing Skee-Ball correctly.
Barry narrowly dodged a slice of pizza as it whizzed by his face. As much as he'd rather work anywhere else, he'd also take anything for the time being just to get back on his feet.
They walked up to the prize counter, where a clearly overworked and underpaid employee was leaning against the counter, trying not to sleep. Upon seeing the two, he straightened himself up and muttered something about the restrooms.
"My brother here is looking for a job," Mary said. "Do you have anything available?"
The worker held up a finger and pressed a button near him before saying, "Manager to the prize counter," in a monotone voice.
Within a minute, a man who looked happy to be there but was clearly broken inside showed up from the doors behind the counter.
"What? What is it? Someone needs something?" he asked before looking at Mary and Barry.
Barry, slightly taken aback, handed over his résumé shakily. The man swiped it, glanced at the details for a second, then handed it back, announcing that Barry was hired.
"We need Mr. Fabrix out there, pronto!" he added. "There's a costume of him backstage. Put it on, walk around and greet visitors, and remember not to talk."
After saying that, the man hurried back into whatever room was behind the doors. As for the employee, he pointed to the entertainment stage, as well as a hallway where he could put on the costume without anyone noticing. While Barry left to get ready, a patron walked up to the counter to notify the employee that the toilets were clogged again, making them want to scream.
"I guess I'll let the others know." Mary said as the two split up by the hallway. "Congrats, Barry."
Barry walked further into the hall, questioning what he got himself into as he noticed the peeling wallpaper on the wall.
"I didn't get an orientation, I don't know how much I'm getting paid..." he muttered, stopping at a wall of costumes. "Shady establishment... what have I gotten myself into?"
He picked up one of the costume pieces– a giant, dapper seal head with a top hat.
"This must be it," he murmured to himself before folding his ears and putting on the costume's head. "Why does it smell so weird?"
With his limited visibility, he grabbed the rest of the costume and heard a squeak as he put it on. A second later, he felt something scurry up his leg and realized it was a mouse in the suit.
He scrambled to get the costume off, flailing and stumbling around until he bumped into a pole. As he ripped the costume off and squirmed out to safety, he leaned on another wall to catch his breath. That was until the pole he bumped into started to bend before snapping. That pole was meant to support the stage nearby, as well as part of the ceiling, which came crashing down.
When the dust settled, the stage was destroyed, some of the games had debris stuck in them, and there was a huge, gaping hole where the ceiling was. Thankfully, nobody was injured.
Barry looked at the wreckage, before shifting his sights to everyone looking at him, including Mary, who was almost near the exit. The employee at the prize counter stared at him, dumbstruck, and Barry could only blush and chuckle nervously as the manager furiously approached him.
Meanwhile, the other five were still waiting in the car when they saw the sheep walking out of the arcade.
"So how did it go?" Bro asked.
"I got the job," Barry announced.
"That was fast," Zaire said.
"And then I lost the job," he added.
"That was fast."
"And I don't think he's allowed back either," Mary added.
"So much for celebrating early," Bro said. "Well, get back in and we'll keep searching."
The car pulled out of the lot before heading back into the city to try again.
"By the way, Zaire," Barry stated, "I think I met one of your family members." This only resulted in Zaire staring at him in confusion.
Eventually, they reached the movie theater, where Barry and Mary stepped out again.
"I heard there was help wanted here," Bro explained. "Again, let us know how it goes. We'll wait out here."
The two walked into the theater and noticed while it was slightly more civil than the arcade, it was still busy. As they wandered around, they bumped into the disinterested ticket taker, who promptly asked for their tickets.
Instead, Barry handed them his résumé and explained he was looking for a job. The ticket taker could only sigh as they handed it back to him.
"We do need some help here," they admitted. "We've needed a janitor for a while, but are you actually willing to work a job where people thank you, but you'll never hear them say it directly?"
"As long as it doesn't stop me from giving my work the best I can," Barry replied.
"Hey, are you in line?" a moviegoer asked.
As Barry stepped aside, the ticket taker glanced at a woman in a similar outfit to them. "Oh, it's just the projectionist." They waved them over and gestured to Barry. "She's not our manager, but she'll help you get settled into your new job."
The woman walked up to the two in exaggerated strides. "You chose to work here?"
"Yes...?" Barry answered, slowly pulling out his résumé again. "They said you guys needed a janitor."
"Well, allow me to be the first to welcome you to the team!" the woman chirped. "Here at Staticscreen Cinemas, we have it all– Action! Drama! Comedy! Employees also get endless free popcorn on weekends! Not to mention the–"
"Alright, we get it!" the ticket taker sighed. "You don't have to give newcomers the whole spiel, missy."
The woman paused her posing and looked at the ticket taker, pouting. "Fine, fine. Leave it to you to kill the mood." She then focused her attention on Barry and added, "Allow me to show you where you can find your outfit and equipment."
Barry complied, following the projectionist and her overconfident striding until they stopped at a small door.
"Everything you need to get started is all in here," she explained. "As for where to start cleaning, start in rooms with movies that are ending. I'm sure you can figure out the rest yourself."
As she turned on her heel and walked off, Barry stepped into the room and got dressed, looking like the other two employees. After grabbing a broom and dustpan, he started his walk through the corridor to see if Mary was still there. While the ticket taker was, she wasn't.
"Guess she told the others I got the job," he said to himself as he walked into one of the rooms.
The room, despite no one being there anymore, was littered with spilled food and drink all throughout the seats and stairs. The credits of the movie were still playing.
Barry knew he wouldn't have a lot of time before the next showing, and so, with a look of determination, he got to work.
Several clean rows later, the credits of the movie had finished their slow crawl, and with it came a post-credits scene. Barry, curious, took a break to look at the screen.
The screen showed a house, followed by a close-up of one of the windows, and after a few seconds, a jumpscare.
Barry let out a startled bleat and tossed his broom backwards, right into the projection booth. He ran up to the top row, and to his horror, he saw the broom had gone through the glass and the projector.
"Oh, this is not a good first impression..." he muttered to himself.
"Yeah, no kidding!" the projectionist shrieked, appearing from a hidden door and letting out exaggerated shouts of pain with every step she took towards the mess.
"Look at this! LOOK AT THIS!" she exclaimed. "That glass costs more than your paycheck! Oh, what is a new employee to do?"
"Hope no one notices?" Barry answered with a nervous smile, making the woman frown.
"Hope no one notices? Suppose someone does. Do you know what that means for us?" the projectionist questioned. "Our facility rating may go down! If it goes down, we as the employees suffer! I may lose my free weekend popcorn, and I refuse to lose that without a fight, you hear me?!"
Barry looked dumbfounded, given how she wasn't looking at him at all and struck several poses while talking. But then she closed her eyes and brought a hand close to her.
"And... scene," the projectionist whispered. "How's that for a performance? But seriously, you should get out of here before the manager sees this."
Some time after getting changed again, Barry stepped out of the theater and walked to the Registered Vehicle, only to find it locked.
"Didn't they say they would wait for me?" he asked. "Where would they–"
He turned around to see the other six also walking out, buckets of popcorn in hand.
"You got let go already?" Lily commented. "We were trying to figure out which movie was the closest to ending so we could see you."
"We didn't even get to grab our tickets when we saw you walking out!" Mary added. "I guess things didn't go well?"
"Broke a projector in one of the rooms," Barry responded, nodding. "I shouldn't be disappointed, though. If it wasn't the projector, it would've been something just as important."
"That's what that woman who passed us earlier was talking about?" Porter asked. "I think that's our cue to go before we become guilty by association."
The seven got back into the car and sped off. By now, the sun was beginning to set, and a few businesses were closing up for the night.
"This funemployment thing feels more like nonemployment," Barry sighed. "No employment, no fun."
"Aw, don't despair just yet, Barry!" Amelia said. "There's still one more place we can try. Turn left here, Bro."
The car stopped in front of the Stayinurlanes bowling alley, where everyone got out of the car.
"It may be late, but they probably have evening or night shifts available," Bro said. "You may be a shoe renter."
As they walked inside, Zaire and Lily kept a distance away just to keep their conversation away from everyone else.
"I'm surprised you've kept your composure in front of Mary for so long," Lily said.
"I sort of have to," Zaire replied. "Her brother is right there."
"Even if he wasn't, do you think you'd have the guts to talk to her?" she asked.
Upon hearing this, Zaire turned around, walked out of the building and screamed for a solid twenty seconds before returning.
"I'm better now," he announced.
"I'll keep what I want to say to myself then," Lily sighed before the two rejoined the group. A man at the front desk was looking over Barry's résumé, seemingly impressed.
"You're an accomplished young man, aren't you?" he chuckled. "I honestly feel bad giving you something so boring, but it's all we got for now. How would you like to be a shoe renter?"
"Called it," Bro whispered, nudging Amelia's arm.
"I will gladly take that position," Barry answered.
After Barry quickly learned the ropes and helped the others rent shoes, the man left him to deal with some work in his office. And while four of the siblings prepared to start a game, Zaire and Mary stayed behind.
"I don't think there's a single shoe in the city that could fit me," Zaire said, half-joking.
"I'll check anyway," Barry responded, completely missing the joke and checking behind the counter.
"So, Mary," Zaire said, trying to act cool, "Tell me about yourself. What's your history?"
"It's complicated," Mary answered. "Back at home, when I was little, I wandered from my flock and got lost in a valley. That's when I ran into another sheep, one with brown wool..."
"When you say 'flock', are you saying you were an actual sheep at the time?" Zaire asked.
Mary looked away and nodded. "Hard to believe, isn't it? Anyway, these beams came out of nowhere and hit us. I don't remember much after that, just that this man and woman took us in and adopted us."
She paused and let out a sigh. "You know, I sometimes wonder what would've happened if I had stayed with the flock. Maybe life would've stayed simple... But then again, I wouldn't have met Lini, Barry, or you guys."
Zaire couldn't believe what he was hearing. The beams she described sounded familiar, but why?
"I'll go see how the others are doing," he muttered, shuffling down to the lanes.
"Wait, Zaire, I think I found some shoes for you!" Barry exclaimed, hurrying after him, comically oversized shoes in hand. He stumbled down the stairs, past the siblings and slid onto one of the lanes, crashing through a set of pins.
"GOAL!" Porter shouted before he was shut up.
"Wrong game," Lily hissed.
"You think he'll be okay?" Amelia asked.
Barry was launched out of the ball return as a giant, fluffy ball, bouncing around the alley at high speed, leaving holes in walls, vending machines tipped over, and broken screens before slamming flat into a door– the same door that led to an office.
The door opened and the man was blown away by the destruction to the alley.
"My alley!" he cried. "What am I going to do? I've got a tournament here in less than 24 hours!"
He slowly turned his head toward Barry. "Did you do this?!"
Instead of answering, Barry let out another nervous chuckle.
Not only was he forced to leave, but Mary and the siblings were as well.
"That guy could've at least let us finish our game before he kicked all of us out," Lily complained.
The others wordlessly got in the car and began driving again. Instead of heading straight back home to discuss a new plan, Bro took a detour back into the city streets.
"Bro? Where are we going?" Lily asked.
"We're taking a break," Bro said. "And last I checked, you didn't get us that Double Sea Salt Caramel Chip ice cream, remember?"
The car was parked by an ice cream shop– the same one Barry stopped at earlier in the day. They stepped inside, ordered their dessert, and took a seat.
"Finally!" Amelia exclaimed. "I can't wait to enjoy this!"
While the siblings dug into their treats, Mary looked over at her brother, who looked indifferent to his scoop.
"You okay, Barry?" she asked. "Aren't you gonna eat your ice cream?"
"How can I? Today was a waste," Barry sighed. "We've tried all day to get me a job, but all we got as a result was failure... and property damage."
He looked at his cup and continued. "Maybe I could get hired as a brush for a car wash."
"That's ridiculous," Bro responded. "You'd have to be tested for that."
"Well, at this point, I'll take anything! Forget funemployment, I just want a job!" he huffed.
"Where did you work before you got let go, anyway?" Porter asked.
"At X-Palt Tech," Barry answered. "Why?"
The siblings froze. "THE X-Palt Tech? The company where working there would be anyone's dream? That X-Palt Tech?" Zaire asked.
"Yes...?"
"Suddenly, I feel really bad for you," Bro admitted.
One of the managers, a young woman, approached the group. "Excuse me, but I couldn't help but hear that someone was looking for a job?" she asked.
"That would be me," Barry said. "I've spent the day looking for one, getting hired and fired, and I feel like giving up. Where am I supposed to find a job where I don't destroy anything? It's not like one is just gonna fly right into my hands!"
"Well, we're always looking for help here," the manager said. "It's a calm atmosphere, we have free treats every so often, and we'll train you too. So, what do you say?"
The others all gave him looks of encouragement. The answer was clear to him.
"Let's do it. I accept your offer," he answered, handing her his résumé.
"Then welcome," she said. "When you start working, if you have a question, just let me know. I'll see you in a couple days."
As she walked off, the others started cheering. Some ate their desserts faster just to join in the celebration.
"You think you'll be able to keep the job this time?" Porter asked.
"I don't have to show up for two days, so I think that's progress," Barry answered.
"Knowing you, you'll show up tomorrow anyway," Mary said, giving her brother a hug.
"Yeah, you're right about that," he chuckled. "All I'm concerned about now is where I'm going to stay."
"You could stay with me and Lini," Mary responded, "or if you want, we could help you build a house in the area."
"If you choose to do that, we'll help out," Bro added. "You don't have to deal with this alone."
"Thanks, everyone," Barry said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Things are finally looking up."