It's that time of year again... Macro March! Just like the last story, some weeks back, Prodded on by  KingDead I decided to whip up some silly and sizable stories for the occasion! Here's hoping you enjoy it and that I'm able to knock out a few more.



Macro March: Incomprehensible Undergrad
By: RaddaRaem

The muted light of a digital clock filtered through the pangolin’s eyelashes as he struggled to keep his eyes creaked open. With a groan, he blearily focused on the pale green numbers that spanned across its plastic display. Good. He still had time. Mel yawned and flipped his pillow to the cool side before nuzzling back into it in earnest. Wait. The pangolin reluctantly forced his eyes open one last time, toes splaying apart as his feet slipped out from under the covers and wiggled in the stale and humid air that hung about his bedroom. He had to be sure. A piercing red dot glared out at him from the clock purposefully placed out of reach. Good good good good good. The alarm was set. Sighing contentedly, Mel let himself sink into his mattress and drift back off to sleep.

---

“-advised to stay indoors. Repeat, doppler radar shows a Macro March storm front will hit the () area shortly. All listeners are advised to immediately take shelter indoors. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.”

“Hnugh?” Teeth clenched, Mel roused awake to the tune of a storm siren transitioning into pop rock. Indulging a jaw splitting yawn, he smacked his lips and peered over at his clock. Nostrils flared, the pangolin’s heart took to thumping as he took in the arrangement of numbers displayed.

“…HOW?!” Flailing his limbs every which way, Mel tossed his bed spread aside and… well… awkwardly stumbled around his room from the rush of blood to his head. “I had the volume turned all the way up and I still managed to sleep through it?!” Clawed fingers clutching at his dresser, Mel steadied himself and impatiently awaited the return of his vision. Why. Why why why why why did midterms have to weigh so heavily on his final grade…

The window sills creaked as the wind howled outside.

Twenty minutes. He had all of twenty minutes to haul ass across campus to make it in time. “So much for a shower!” Mel bemoaned as he dragged his paws along the carpeted floor and curled his toes around the waist of his discarded jeans. A palpable dread coiled around his rib cage as he tugged his pants on. “So much for breakfast!” the pangolin growled while he tugged open one drawer after another. Coming up empty, he bumbled over to his laundry hamper and slid on what passed for the cleanest shirt he had available. His shoulders, and spirit, sagged as Mel tallied through all of the morning rituals and preparations that just were not meant to be.

“Augh, I don’t even have a chance to review the study sheet…” the pangolin sniffed and snuffed at his greasy self before grimacing. He ambled over to his closet and tugged on the thickest hoodie at his disposal all while obnoxiously peppy and upbeat tunes, crackled with static, echoed throughout his room. Sheets of rain, pounding against the roof in waves, threatened to drown out the alternative radio.

Fine, whatever, he was dressed. Paws thumping loudly against the floor, he stomped about his apartment. Navigating through the piles of unkempt laundry, discarded soda cans, and take out boxes, Mel scooped his backpack off the floor and bulldozed his way to the door. Slamming it shut behind him, the armored undergraduate raced out into the hellacious weather that awaited him.

“Everything that can go wrong will I guess…” Mel muttered to himself. Squinting, the pangolin plodded along the empty sidewalks running through the heart of campus as the rain intensified and shimmering wet walls of water all but blinded him. “Nooooooo. No no no no no!” he pleaded. Sopping wet hoodie and jeans clinging heavily to his fuzzy form, he struggled to advance against the deafening headwinds. Eyes closed, he soldiered on ever forward. All while blissfully unaware of the subtle bumps and imperfections that had arisen within the damp concrete his thick feet continued to tread upon.

---

Nervous chattering, over the roaring wind and pounding rain, could be heard in the background of the cellphone video being livestreamed from the lobby of the lecture hall. Rhythmic tremors, violent and pronounced, sent tables clambering across the floor and dust raining down from the light fixtures.

Gasps could be heard when, save for the pale glow of the streetlights wobbling in the storm, a suffocating darkness fell over the entirety of the campus. Shrieks and eeks could be heard as the video feed lurched up and focused on the sky. Or, more accurately, what was currently blotting it out. A paw, sporting thick swollen toes that chafed together, untold gallons of water pouring between them, descended towards them.

“Now I’ll never make it there in time…” a thunderous and near incomprehensible voice boomed just before the video feed cut out.