This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/digignosis on 2023-08-10 03:35:13.

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The sound of cheap canned laughter filled the room, bouncing off the dirty concrete floor and the peeling green walls. The only light came from the flickering CRT television, which was playing an old episode of Friends. I had watched this episode hundreds of times, but it was still my favorite.

I sat on the couch, my feet propped up on the coffee table. The furniture was old and dusty, and the cushions were faded and worn. But it was all I had here. This was my home, in this abandoned town of Eagle Mountain.

I sighed and looked around the room. The walls were bare, except for a few art reproductions and old movie posters. The only other furniture was a small table and a couple of chairs. The only other thing of interest was the person sitting next to me.

I turned to Josh, the only other person in this long-abandoned desert town. “Josh, I’m bored,” I said.

Josh was a tall, lanky man with a long beard and a receding hairline. He was wearing a gray T-shirt and jeans, and a baseball cap for the Arizona Diamondbacks. His eyes were fixed on the small screen, where characters in outdated fashion were going on zany adventures.

“Seriously, I’m bored,” I said again. Josh didn’t respond.

I sighed and stood up from the worn couch. “Are you still mad about that?” I asked, frustrated. It had been days since we had our argument. The truth is both of us could be described as stubborn.

I waited a moment, shifting my weight impatiently. “Fine,” I said with a huff. “I’m going for a walk then.”

I pulled open the dirty window and looked outside. The bright sun was pouring down on the desert ground below. It was going to be hot. I looked at the phone and saw that it was 109 degrees.

I took a deep breath and stepped outside. The heat hit me like a wall, and I immediately started sweating. I started walking down the street, my shoes crunching on the cracked pavement. The sun beat down mercilessly, and I could almost hear the sizzle of it on the asphalt.

This used to be a different place. It used to be bustling with workers from the old mines and their children riding bicycles. Their bells rang as they waved to their neighbors. It was simpler times, and with the right people, it could be a great place to live again.

That’s why I felt it was important to bring the phone to type out the things that anyone would need to know about the place I called home. Eagle Mountain wasn’t just any normal place. It was an abandoned desert town, and that meant that there were certain rules that everyone had to follow.

The first rule was to always bring and wear sunscreen. The desert sun can be quite brutal, and it could easily give you a sunburn in minutes. It didn’t help that the land was sparse of trees or other sort of coverings that would help give your skin a reprieve.

“Where should I walk to that will be the least boring?” I asked myself out loud.

I sighed and looked out at the horizon. The high fences that kept the town isolated from the outside world were in the distance. It had been a while since I had walked that far, and I was hoping maybe to see something different. Sometimes I could see dune buggies driving in the distance. I was just hoping for something to help my boredom while keeping it peaceful.

But my peaceful stride was quickly interrupted by a screeching and hissing sound coming from somewhere near me. I stopped and looked around, trying to find the source of the noise. It came again, this time from one of the abandoned houses to my right.

I turned to look at the house. The wooden porch was rotting, the windows were broken, and the white paint was peeling. The paint was so faded that it was almost impossible to tell that it had once been white. The wood of the porch was splintered and warped, and the railings were hanging off at odd angles. The windows were all broken, with jagged shards of glass sticking out. The front door was hanging off its hinges, and the doorframe was cracked.

I took a step closer to the house, and the noise got louder. I could hear something moving around inside. It was a good opportunity to talk about another thing that people needed to be mindful of before coming to Eagle Mountain.

The second rule of living in Eagle Mountain: the wildlife here was quite unique. I opened the door to the abandoned house and saw a little wrinkly flap of skin dragging itself frantically across the floor. It wobbled around like the jello I saw in the commercials I had recorded with my sitcoms with every move. Its loose skin left a small trail of dust in its wake.

“Well, hello little fellow,” I said curiously. “Did you escape the mine?”

The creature stopped and turned towards me. Its eyes were still not fully formed, and its skin was so pale that it was almost translucent. It let another screech as it tried to figure out where my voice was coming from.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

The creature started to pace around the room more as it kept trying to find me.

“I see,” I said. "You know you aren’t supposed to leave the mines.”

The creature started to move towards me, but it stopped. It was second-guessing itself, not quite sure if it was going in the right direction. It just stood still, no longer wobbling. Just waiting for another clue.

I figured I was pretty bored, so why not oblige it?

I stomped my feet on the floor below and yelled, “I am right here you fucking pile of goop!” The creature perked up and started to dart for me. It could savor the idea of latching onto me and slowly gnawing on me with its small, developing teeth below the flaps of skin. My eyes widened as it was only inches from my feet. It felt victory in its grasp, but it forgot two things.

The first thing it didn’t know was that I was smarter than it. I stepped aside as the creature rushed through the door. The second thing it didn’t know was that it was not used to the harsh desert sun. It screeched loudly once more as it flailed around helplessly, trying to find shade.

I could have helped the creature, but I didn’t want to. The young ones were always pretty stupid. I watched as its skin continued to smolder, a strange and disturbing sight, but it at least broke the monotony of the day.

I walked over to it, watching it desperately try to move. It was coming close to accepting both defeat and its own death. I could have put it out of its misery, but I didn’t. I wanted to see how long it would last.

I stood there for a while, watching the creature writhe in pain. It was pathetic, but it was also kind of funny. I couldn’t help but smile. It definitely beat watching more sitcoms with Josh back at the house.

Finally, the creature stopped moving. Its skin had completely smoldered, and it was now a charred husk. I turned and walked away, leaving the creature to its fate.

As I walked away, I thought about the third rule of coming to Eagle Mountain: let nature take its course. It was a harsh rule, but it was a necessary one. In this harsh desert environment, only the strong survive. It was a rule that everyone who came to Eagle Mountain should take to heart.

I looked at the fence down the way and realized that watching the creature suffer had cured my boredom. It had also given me something new and fresh to tell Josh. Maybe, he would finally talk to me and want to hear all about it.

I hurried home, eager to share my story with Josh. He sat there still watching the television without even turning his head to me. I felt the phone vibrate in my hand and looked down and said it only had ten percent battery.

“Where is the charger?” I asked Josh. He didn’t even look at me, just kept his eyes glued to the TV. I walked over to him and stood in front of him, blocking his view of the screen. It didn’t matter to him though.

“Josh,” I said, louder this time. “I need to know where the charger is.”

He still didn’t respond.

“Where is the fucking charger, Josh?” I screamed. “Is it with your stuff?”

I walked over to Josh’s belongings, which were strewn about in one corner of the room. I saw his dirty backpack and shuffled through it, hoping to find the charger. It wasn’t there. I walked back over to Josh, my anger rising.

“Josh, where is the charger?” I asked one last time. He still didn’t respond. I started to shake him. “I need to know where you put it.”

He still didn’t say anything. I was starting to get angry. “Josh,” I said, my voice rising. "If you don’t tell me where the charger is, I’m going to lose my fucking mind!”

I shook it one last time. I heard it drop to the floor. Josh’s head rolled towards me and hit my feet. “Shit, I guess our argument was a little more heated than I remembered,” I said.

I paused for a moment. Josh’s phone wouldn’t last much longer without a charger, but then I looked over to Josh. I could either let him go to waste, or I would have to take him up to the mines and give Josh to the growing ones.

It had been a while since the little ones had eaten. They were still growing, after all. At least the ones who weren’t foolish enough to leave the mines before they were ready. I was hoping that one of them would grow big and strong just like me. Then I would have some company in this place but that would quite a while and I was getting lonely again already.

But until then, there was one last rule that anyone who wanted to come to Eagle Mount should know, and it might be the most important one:

Always bring a phone charger.