It was a scattered memory at best. At least, that’s how it felt to Chomby. For as long as he could remember, he’d be haunted by images of someone’s silhouette. This silhouette would be there when he closed his eyes, when he slept, and even when he would see glimpses of something in his peripherals.

Startling awake in bed, Chomby placed a hand to his chest. It was pulsing rapidly. A heartbeat. He’d always had one. But why was it acting so fast? Was it the face he saw? That silhouette. It became something more. He could make out a faint glimmer of what this person looked like, but the dream he just had said otherwise.

It was a face of a wolf. Yet they had a human body. A werewolf, perhaps? He’d never seen one until now… but that face was there. It felt so real. So familiar. Why?

Chomby looked at his phone and groaned. He wiped a hand down from his eye to his chin as he noticed his calendar. He had three back-to-back gigs today, but he really didn’t feel like it. He seemed to have a visceral reaction to working longer than four hours at a time. He didn’t fully understand why, but it just stuck with him.

He got out of bed and stretched. He was able to be a little grateful that he actually got a full night’s sleep for once. Because of the weird, recurring dreams, he’d get five, maybe six hours a night at best. That, mixed with a not-so-decent breakfast of new releases every morning did not satiated his desires. He just couldn’t find any good artists posting music lately. It frustrated him.

Chomby got ready for his day as he usually did. He brushed his teeth, showered, and opened his laptop to listen to any new songs some independent artists released. After that, he put on his costume and walked out the door.

He’d been borrowing this house for a while. The owner never seemed to be around, but they did keep their car in the driveway constantly. He was thankful that they had already paid off the house, so he only had his monthly rent to pay. On top of amenities, it was pretty cheap. This was good, because his music gig was at a bit of a standstill right now.

Chomby began walking to the first venue as his mind raced. People were enjoying his music, certainly, but there was always weird comments that he couldn’t fully understand.

“Chomby’s solo was great, but I kinda liked the duet they did.”

Chomby was confused. He tried looking around for more answers, but no one seemed to have any footage of this ‘duet’ partner he supposedly had. Why couldn’t he remember ever having one? He did have a few songs that were for a duet, but he thought he’d just look for someone to sing the part.

When Chomby got to the venue, he set up all his equipment and began his set. He went through the motions like this from hour to hour. When the known, four-hour mark arrived, he felt a familiar feeling that made him raise a hand to his collarbone. He’d place it on the fur and rub it around a bit. That seemed to calm it down. He never understood why this was. He could go ask a doctor, but, they’d be just as confused as he was. He wasn’t exactly a ‘human’, after all.

After Chomby’s third gig, he went to a local doughnut shop he frequented. It had the face of a very cute, chubby werewolf on a green backdrop for its logo. It amused him, because he had this same tattoo on his belly. He never understood why he got it in the first place, but people seemed to enjoy it.

“Heya, Chomby,” said Alfons, the doughnut clerk. “Long day?”

“Yeah, just a bit. Three sets in a row. I’m tired.” Chomby placed an elbow on the front counter and looked at the menu. “Could I get one of those ‘Fluffmaster’s Dozen Doughnut Holes?’?”

Alfons immediately went to the back counter and grabbed a brown bag. “Fresh batch, actually. Got the okay to make these again.” Alfons scratched his head. “I swear, I’m talking to a machine some times. The emails I get from my boss just seem so cookie-cutter.”

“Eh, I dealt with AI before,” chomby grimaced, already reaching into the bag of doughnut holes and pulling out a chocolate covered one. “Honestly, they’re not the funnest to deal with.”

“So I heard. Defeating a malevolent AI can’t be very easy, I’d imagine.” Alfons chuckled.

The two finished their transaction and Chomby began walking out, but Alfons stopped him.

“Speaking of, heard from Xenon recently? Heard he went back to New York a while ago.”

“I worked with him for a few months. We weren’t actually ever friends, to be fair. He just needed my help, so I helped him.”

Alfons shrugged. “Alright.”

At that, Chomby left. He went to the nearby park and sat on a bench. He rubbed his feet on the smooth, cobbled stone walkway and stared up at the sky. It looked like it was beginning to rain.

A good fit for his mood. Now that all his daily responsibilities were done, he could relax and finally think about that person…. That werewolf.

Chomby closed his eyes. He kept thinking of their face. Their snout was cream colored, their ears were brown. Their eyes had a bright, sage-green color to them, and they always smiled. Chomby wanted to get to know this person more, but try as he might, he couldn’t think of their name.

“Why is this so difficult?” Chomby snarled. He grabbed a doughnut hole from the bag and plopped it into his mouth. “Why can’t I just give the guy name? Obviously, he’s just in my imagination!”

“Who’s in your imagination?” A quiet voice asked from beside Chomby.

Chomby opened his eyes and stared at the person without moving his head. “Just… some guy I keep thinking of. I see their face when I close my eyes. Poetic as it sounds, it’s kinda creepy. Kinda want it to stop.” chomby looked down at his bag of doughnuts. He noticed, there was an extra, chocolate-covered donut in there. He pulled it out and stared at it. He could see the hole of the donut – how small it was.

“It’s like I’m looking through this doughnut hole. It gives me limited vision of someone… but doesn’t give me their full picture.” Chomby held the doughnut up to the stranger. He could now see it was a gentle-looking, old woman. Her eyes were squinted through her glasses. She had a small brown bag in her right hand and was using a mahogany-colored cane in her left. She was wearing a simple, pink blouse with rose patterns etched into it.

“Ahh, who’s the lover?” she asked. She gestured to the bench next to Chomby. He scooted over a bit to allow her to sit down.

“Not a lover, a stranger.” Chomby held the doughnut out to the woman. “Here, have it. It’s an extra.”

“That’s very sweet of you, dear, but I couldn’t.” The woman smiled. “Name’s Heather. You’re quite an interesting-looking fellow.”

“Yeah, I get that.” Chomby said. He then looked at the doughnut and offered it up again. “Really, though, if you want it, I don’t mind.”

Heather gently grabbed Chomby’s wrist and pushed it toward him. “I feel that doughnut means a lot to you.”

“It’s just a doughnut. Costs like… a dollar at the Fluffmaster Bakery. Tastes good, but I’d prefer someone else gets to have a good day.” Chomby scoffed and lowered the doughnut to his lap. “I haven’t had one in a while.”

“Maybe it’s because you miss that person?” Heather asked. “The one you love?”

“Again, not a lover,” Chomby huffed. He looked down at the doughnut and stared back through its hole. He swore he could see that werewolf’s face in it. “I just… want to know his name. He looks so friendly, and so kind… and I’m wondering how I know him.”

Heather placed a hand on Chomby’s shoulder. “Sometimes, we want to know the answer to everything. But, at the end of the day, we don’t know. Maybe this person’s name is meant to be a mystery?”

“Maybe,” Chomby clutched a hand to his collarbone instinctively. He still didn’t understand why. “I just… I feel empty.” Chomby felt a tear come to his eye. “I feel like a part of me is gone. Like I won’t ever get it back.”

“Oh, sweety,” Heather said. She leaned in closer and wrapped her arm around Chomby’s shoulders. “I’m so sorry.”

Heather’s warm embrace sparked a feeling in Chomby’s heart. It stung. It hurt. He wanted more of it though. His eyes continued welling with tears, and soon he began to sob. “Am I… supposed to know this person? When I see them in my dreams, I feel warmth and love, but whenever I wake up, that feeling is gone.”

“Maybe they’re a guardian angel?” Heather asked.

“Maybe,” Chomby said. “But, why do I keep seeing them almost constantly? It’s like they’re haunting me with memories of something. A longing for something. I don’t even know what I’m longing for. I feel so lonely.”

Chomby felt Heather’s grip tighten. She was now rubbing his shoulder. He didn’t understand why, but her actions felt so familiar to him. He felt like he could just imagine that werewolf doing the same thing. Their eyes would light up and they would run to Chomby and give him a hug. They would even look up at him and say something.

He couldn’t hear their voice. What did it sound like? Was it warm? Was it deep?

Chomby clenched his doughnut tightly. It began to squish between his fingers.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Chomby heard. He thought it was Heather’s voice at first, but it sounded different. He couldn’t pin exactly how it sounded, but it was so familiar to him. “You have me.”

Chomby closed his eyes. He wanted to remember this voice more. Try as he might, it never seemed to fully become something he knew… but he could see something more now. That werewolf image was now standing somewhere that felt all too familiar. A single word came to his thoughts. Mindscape.

But, what was the mindscape? Why could he imagine that now? It was a weird void with green, teal, and blue colors everywhere. It was flat as the eye could see, but it felt so empty. It was missing something. What was it missing? Who was it missing?

Chomby’s eyes opened wide. A thought came to him. The werewolf. This mindscape. They were here. This place belonged to them.

“Chomby,” the indistinguishable voice called.

Chomby looked up, expecting to see Heather sitting next to him, but he only saw this weird Mindscape void. “Yes?” he asked.

“I’m right here for you. Don’t you ever forget that, okay?” the voice said.

“But I don’t even know who you are. Why will you be here for me?”

“Because, Chomby, I love you.”

Chomby felt something on his cheek. It was like a wisp of air, but it felt so warm, so kind… just like that werewolf. Chomby frantically looked around to find them, but they were nowhere to be found. He felt his mouth open up as he tried to call out their name, but his voice caught. He didn’t even know who this was. Yet, he felt like his body knew them. Maybe if he could just see himself mouth out their name… then he’d know who they are.

Chomby tried to imagine this. He imagined looking at himself in this weird mindscape. He then took a deep breath and blurted out their name silently.

“Sarge.”

~~~~~

Well, I can finally show this piece! This idea spawned from the lyrics to the song, Donut Hole, which I've done a cover of! Go check it out here: https://youtu.be/sw1x0FVnkTc

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Story/Chomby/Art (C)  pikminpedia Me