The sun sunk into the earth below. The small glass cup wandered around the concrete sidewalks. Into the fading light, salt claimed the sky. Silver, miniscule dots of gas and heat. A void of dark blue stripped the stripes of pink and red away.
She had to find a place to sleep. Marzae never allowed her to go wherever she wanted to go, so she left. It wasn't easy, living by yourself, but it was better than being stuck in a house and maybe a small backyard with a fence all day.
The cup put a foot out onto the road, then another. The black ground was rough and cold against her feet. She made short, swift steps and looked down. Yellow dashes burned through her eyes, the only thing fully visible. All else she saw were dark silhouettes of strange shapes that made an eardrum tearing growl and other objects she couldn't identify.
She ignored them. More growls and vague figures came by. A singular growl, louder than the rest, shaped itself into a bark, then a roar. She looked to her side, all other sounds mute, and saw one of the silhouettes throwing itself at her.
A flash of red.
Shouting.
More confusion.
More pain.
The cup winced as something nudged her side. The first thing that occured to her was her aching bones and that it was agonizing to even breathe.
"...I got an e-mail the hospital is full. What will we do with her?"
"Tell them it's dire. They'd understand."
"They won't."
Two different voices, two different tones, talking, she realized.
"Red," she mumbled softly. "I saw red."
"She's awake!" a shout came next to her. She flinched in surprise and finally pried her own eyes open. The voice was oddly strange, as if there was some melodic aspect to it. She turned to see who it was.
A fluffy, dulled pink being was at her side...floating.
"Don't be so loud, you scared her, Puffbull." A nickel slightly shorter than her faced a dark brown coin. A penny. "Told you we shouldn't let a five year old who's too loud next to her," he told her.
"If we can't get her to the hospital," the coin said. "Then what do we do?"
"We get Tennis Ball and have him see if she's okay."
"Where am I?" the cup squeaked out.
"In our house," Puffbull replied. She was still getting used to his voice. "Now where's yours?"
"I don't have one," she said. "Not anymore. They didn't allow me to go places, so I left."
"Why did you cross the street when a car was coming at you?" the nickel suddenly hissed at her.
"What's a car?" She merely blinked at him.
"You gotta be kidding me," Puffbull murmured.
"A car is...a thing you travel in to go places," the penny explained. "If you get hit, well, you'll suffer injury. Try not to cross the road when cars are traveling."
The cup nodded, but she could tell everyone was a just confused as she was.
Two other objects, a yellow ball with stripes, and another floating piece of fluff. The piece of fluff had a more vibrant shade of pink.
"What do we do with her?" the ball spoke after a long silence.
"Do what we can," the penny said. "If she has no home, she could stay with one of us."
"Not it!" the nickel quickly called out afterwards.
"Nickel, don't be rude," the piece of fluff scolded.
"Why can't we just return her to Marzae?"
"No! Don't!" the cup cried out. "If I want freedom, then I'm getting it!"
The piece of fluff sighed. "I'll talk to Mom and Dad about it," she finally said, floating into the room.
The whispers were contained. The cup leaned over to hear what they were saying, but was always stopped by a flinch of pain, or Puffbull gently pushing her back to her original position. His body was warm and comforting, quite the contrary on how her brain was running on fear. The piece of fluff came back after what seemed like twenty or so minutes.
"They said she can stay," she said.
"Really?" the cup said, her eyes brightening.
"Yes. Welcome home, my sister."