Annie gazed solemnly at the suitcase she was carrying. It contained everything that she owned. Despite its seemingly heavy appearance, it was light. Being flat broke tended to create very light luggage.

She was waiting on the next bus to Greensdale. It was Annie's hometown. And she was going back there under circumstances that she wasn't particularly proud of.

She moved to the city in the hopes of making it big. "I'll show you. I'll show you all!" she declared as she stormed out of her parents' abode. She was tired of being treated like a child. She was 21. She was an adult. She was going to go to the city and make herself into something great. That'd teach her know-it-all parents. Especially her self-righteous, over-protective nag of a mother.

She didn't even last a year. In that time-frame, she spent every single penny she had on an apartment she couldn't afford, on a job hunt that wasn't going anywhere, and on a pair of "friends" that could really give less of a crap about her.

And on top of it all, she was pregnant. Really pregnant. Like, "I'm gonna start my own football team" kind of pregnant.

At first, she just thought she was getting fat. Living off of nothing but hamburgers, milkshakes and curly fries would do that to you. But she quickly realized that it wasn't fat. Her belly was full of babies. Not fat.

The doctor figured she was about three months in. He didn't know how many were in there. Though he figured she was definitely pregnant with twelve. Maybe even more. A lot more.

Annie was mortified. She was practically broke and always on the verge of becoming homeless. Now she was gonna be a mom? How could this happen? What was she gonna do? It's not like she could ask the father for any help. She didn't even know who he was. He was just some one-night stand that had given her a fake number. And that also happened to be a freaking fertility god apparently.

So she did the only thing she could do. She called her self-righteous, over-protective nag of a mother.

Annie told her everything. Especially the fact that she was pregnant and needed help. After listening to her tale of woe, her mother said they'd pay for her bus fare back home. Money was tight for them too and that was all they could do to help at the moment. But don't worry. Everything was going to be okay. They'd sort everything out once she got home.

The next day, Annie sold her apartment in order to, ironically enough, pay off her apartment. She had to sell most everything she owned too. Clothes, jewelry, anything of value really. It was gonna be a long trip back home. She couldn't afford to carry it all with her and she'd need the money for food along the way.

She then walked to the bus stop and waited for the 2:30 to Greensdale. It was pretty cloudy that day. It added to her overall sense of sullenness.

By 2:37, the bus began to roll in. Annie stepped a little back as the bus screeched to a halt. The door opened with a soft hiss. She stepped through the opening and waddled her way to the back of the vehicle. All the while embarrassed by the fact that she had to be seen in public in an over-stretched tank top and a pair of worn-out sweatpants.

Annie put her luggage into its appropriate compartment and took her seat. She closed her eyes as she rested her head against the window. It was going to be a long trip. Might as well get some sleep on the way home.

---

artwork and characters copyright SatsumaLord
background image copyright its original owner