Alone

***

      It is 1:00 in the morning. Still nobody, nothing of interest. Sam sat at his desk, filling in for the night guard.       The cameras were still watching the same angles as before. Doing practically nothing… Just watching the movements of the robots as they turned this way and that on the stage.       Sam tried to stay awake at work. The office played soft music that made the man smile as he sipped a coke from a cup. For a moment, he heard someone from the hallway speaking to him through the cameras and in real life. The question, as if asked by a little girl, reached his ears:       — Hello?       Tearing himself away from the phone, he stopped the show and looked into the cameras. Mayor was standing on her stage, her eyes moving as if she wanted to see what she had supposedly heard. Blinking, turning her head. Moved. Still, it was worth stretching her legs, and she stepped off the stage, down the side stairs, and started trotting around the pizzeria. Went into the ladies' room, stayed there for a minute or so, then headed for the men’s room. Only her large backlit shadow was visible on the cameras.       Apparently this voice appeared to him. But hell, Marianne’s behavior made the man wonder: was what he’d just heard true?       The toilets were checked. The mayor came out, stood in the doorway, and began to look around slowly, stooping slightly.       The glass was already empty. It was extremely uncomfortable to sip. And just then, Maire turned her head to the right, to the curved corridor. She moved her lips and closed her mouth. She walked around the desks, toward the parts and service room. The same hello again. The girl looked around again. Finding no one on camera, Sam kept watching to see what would happen.       The music stopped, the guard sat motionless.       The animatronic walked around the room, looking at the drawings, looking at everything the kids had done before. It smiled with a mischievous look, clearly liking the drawings. The mayor would bend down, pick up papers and cups, throw them sloppily into the trash, bend down again and clean up the rest. The rest was left to the staff to clean up. “Wow, these giants know how to clean too.”       The curtains moved, her eyes darting to the cove’s security camera. The curtains moved again, the smiling face of the filly appearing in them, disappearing back into the shadows. Time — she became quiet, settled down. Rear view — the Pegasus did not move.       The doll sat in her room, doing nothing. The box was open, the one with the head bowed, the legs up against his. The ropes loosened slightly, swaying in the light breeze.       It’s a nice place. Only sometimes there are very tense situations. You never know when the power will go out or when you’ll be needed. Sam didn’t want to leave the place for nothing. There was no reason to make it right so soon.       “I’ll get some sleep when I get home soon,” the glass fell into the top-filled trash can. “Just a little more to go.”       There really wasn’t much left by the end of the shift. The mayor stood quietly on the stage for a long time, her eyes lowered to the floor, her head bowed to her chest. Hands down, but still holding the microphone. Checking on Scare, Sam made sure she was gone as well. The puppeteer lay still in the open box. It was worth a little adjustment, and the box could be closed. The guy quietly turned in his shift and was able to go home to get some sleep, at least until lunch.