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"The Inhaler"

Accidents are a simple fact of life. Perfection is something we will often strive for, but can rarely achieve. It's heartbreaking but it's what makes us human. Some mistakes can seem disastrous and, in reality, be anything but. Other mistakes, the ones that can pass us without any realization, are the ones that cause the most damage. At times, they can even be fatal.

The fryers beeping rang through my ears as I, as well as several of the other cooks, rushed around the kitchen to get food out the door on time. It seemed a bit extreme the overwhelming amount of business we were experiencing right now. I understood there was a festival going on in town, but we were the furthest restaurant from the happenings. I have no doubt the manager was pleased with the influx of customers. It's always about the money.
It was difficult to keep my head straight as it was spinning to every spot in the kitchen at once. If it was happening, I could feel it digging into the back of my mind. I could feel my head pounding as I ran, my heart racing and my breath catching in my throat. I could feel my chest heaving. It was getting so hard to breathe. I knew it was a bad idea to leave the kitchen at a time like this, but I had no choice.
I rushed to the break room and rummaged through my purse. I had to find it, it was getting harder to breathe. Just at the right time, I found it. I took the cap off the mouth piece of my inhaler and pressed down. I felt some relief as my breathing slowed back to where it should be.
"Angie, where'd you go?" I could hear my manager calling to me. I sat my inhaler down and rushed out and back into the kitchen. I was ready for the rush now.

You can't imagine how relieved I was when I was told by a manager that I could go home. I looked up at the clock. Had time really gone by so quickly? I was in awe that I had actually worked an hour passed my time to go. I headed to the breakroom, grabbed my purse, and headed out the door. I got into my car, slumping down in my seat. It was nice to finally relax after the stressful day I'd just had. I could feel my feet aching, as well as my back.
After relaxing a few minutes, I started up the car, cranked the AC, and headed home. I couldn't help but feel that, in the back of my mind, I was forgetting something.

As night fell over my restaurant, 'Crispy Conner's', I debated whether or not to head out for the night. I figured I might as well stick around for the night. After all, the festival in town is bring more people around. There's a good chance someone might try to break in. What better opportunity to catch some fresh meat then tonight?
I sat back in my chair, the darkness making things more comfortable. I felt as though I could almost drift to sleep. I'd done it before, after all.
All was quiet through the night until I heard a banging on the front glass door. I peaked my head around the corner and could see the person knocking. It was too dark to make out a face. I could hear the banging turned more violent as they jerked on the door.
I ducked down under my desk, knife in hand. I was ready.
With a burst of force, the door came open. I could hear the sound of a woman wheezing. I couldn't blame her after getting the doors open like that. Heck, I couldn't even pull something like that off.

After making it in the building, I sped over to the break room. It was getting harder to breathe and I could almost feel my vision going. I'd never let an attack go on for this long, and forcing the door open didn't help my situation at all.
Finally, I found my inhaler on the break room table. How could I have forgotten this? I ripped off the cap, put it to my mouth, and felt a sharp pain as a blade sunk into my shoulder.
My inhaler clattered to the ground and I followed suit. I could make out the person that had stabbed me. My boss?
He didn't seem to take a single moment to recognize me. He began carving at my skin. Though it was hard to see, I could make out a twisted look in his eye. I cried out in pain as he carved away more and more of my flesh. My vision faded to black and soon, I couldn't feel a thing.

My co-worker and I walked through the front door the next morning. The door opened effortlessly. Had someone forgotten to lock up last night? I could smell something strange floating through the air, the aroma being rancid. I looked over to find the soup pot was on and cooking something inside. I lifted the lid to find a thick, blood-red sauce with chunks of flesh colored meat floating around. I took a spoon sitting beside the pot and stirred the soup. I then saw two eyeballs float to the top. I screamed and ran as far away from the restaurant as I could.

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