#chat:winnie

It was late, past midnight and nearing one in the morning as Diablo made his way through the unmarked paths of the woods. Work was rough and he had a black eye from breaking up a fight. He was tired, but still fired up because he was pissed off and his face was throbbing. Wonderland felt like a shit hole to him most of the time. Normally he would just shift and fly home as it was much quicker but needed to decompress and there was a perfect spot in the forest to do that. A slight opening in the trees revealed his favorite place to clear his mind and that was at a stream that ran between all the trees. When he approached it he noticed a girl standing by the water. He stopped in his tracks and was certain she'd heard him approach as he turned around. His brows were furrowed and he had a sour look on his face. Not many people really walked the forest at night alone, especially a young girl. Diablo wasn't sure what to say but knew he needed to make the first move. "Never seen you here before. Or are you lost?"

Winifred detested children. They were loud and nosy and sticky. Well, the small ones though. The older children, however, were sometimes too clever for their own good. Winnie was smarter though and usually was one step ahead of the game. She didn’t often bother with technology. Sure, she had a phone and a laptop, and the sisters’ house had a television but she didn’t use the devices often. She only kept her phone on her to get ahold of her sisters or order take out if Mary was working. She didn’t bother with social media because she thought it was stupid and didn’t understand the point. She was standing on the sidewalk though, a few shopping bags from a boutique in one hand and her phone in the other. An article had popped up and she thought it was a text but the headline had really caught her attention. She told herself she was just going to read the first few lines or skim the article but soon enough her eyes were trapped from the screen and she was halfway into the article when someone bumped into her. “Watch it!” she snapped immediately as she looked up. She then realized she had been taking up the space on the sidewalk and had been so distracted that she hadn’t been aware of her surroundings. Curse those damn phones, she thought. She was really pissed at herself for being so easily distracted by the stupid thing.

Winifred enjoyed simple things in life. Coffee, muffins, children’s souls, you know...simple. Currently she was enjoying the first two things. A latte and cream cheese muffin at a local coffee shop. She had the morning off work and it was nearing noon, so coffee was well overdue. She wasn’t really much into social media, so instead of scrolling through one of those apps she was scrolling through a news article on her phone. Her eyes darted up as someone approached her table. “Can I help you?” she asked before glancing around. “If you need the extra chair, take it. I’m not waiting for any company.”