Sui sighed to herself as she properly examined the room. The damage wasn’t particularly great, and all things considered, it probably should have been worse. But the glass. Sui let out another sigh as she went to grab the dustpan and broom. I’m going to need to be really careful not to leave anything lying around.

Sui examined her bare feet and stopped. Turning around, she put on one of her old pairs of shoes first and then proceeded to clean what glass she could find. The funny thing is, those little guys probably did more damage to the glass and the windows than anything else, and the glass is more likely to deal real damage than they ever were.

Several trips to the bin to empty out the glass and one much cleaner floor lately, Sui found herself on the couch pondering over what to do with her shoes. So, is it worth leaving these on? I don’t want to track more glass around, especially not into my room. At the same time, am I confident enough that I actually got anything?

Sui eyed the floor warily, but nothing stood out. Checking the bottom of her shoes, she did find quite a few minor shards that had sunken into the sole. See, now the question is, do I have glass in my shoe because it’s everywhere, or do I have glass in my shoe because I wasn’t careful enough when I cleaned it up.

Sui let out a final sigh before removing her shoes and placing them back by the shoe rack, though making sure to place them beside instead of on like normal to encourage her not to move them.

Even still, Sui was careful to try and path herself away from the areas she’d walked while cleaning up the glass as she headed back to her room. When Sui saw her loom still in pieces, she unconsciously let out another groan before getting to work.

Sui bit her lip as she studied the pieces. I wish I had a better mind for this sometimes. Sui herself could picture what the final product was supposed to look like. She’d spent more than enough time with it to burn the image into her mind but looking at the old parts around her, she was struggling to figure out how they were put together.

Ok, maybe we should take a step back. And so that it was Sui did quite literally. Laying out the pieces one by one, she took a step back to the end of the room and looked at everything she had on the floor.

Oh, curses. I’m an idiot. Sui realised what she was staring at once she had the full picture. The small box she had grabbed only contained the removable pieces of the loom. Nothing in the box could be used to assemble the frame and the basic form for the device.

Ok. Um… Where did I put those, dammit? Sui was cursing herself for her foolishness. Why she ever thought that the entirety of her loom would have fit in such a tiny box even when dissembled was beyond her. Perhaps it was a sign she was rustier than she imagined.

Sui quickly tidied and returned the box before examining the outfit again. Hmm, am I overthinking this? Sui looked over the half-completed design in thought. Do I really need my loom out? I only really need to do a lot of stitching and making the frills, but that’s really just more stitching.

Sui bit her lip as she stared at the box somewhat sadly. I don’t actually think I really need my loom. I guess I jumped the gun a little when I found out my sewing machine was broken. Then again… perhaps this is more a sign that I should be using it more often rather than letting it rot away in the cupboard.

Sui sat down on her bed and pondered what to do from here. Working further on the dress was certainly something she wanted to start on, but she also wanted to find out what happened to the rest of the loom.

Of course, the counterpoint to that line of thought is that I don’t NEED to find the loom anymore; I just have to put in the effort with some thread work. Sui started to get a slightly silly grin on her face. If anyone pointed it out, she’d refuse to acknowledge it, but she was practically salivating at the thought of sewing it all by hand.

Well, I mean, surely this is a good excuse to do it all by hand, right? I don’t even need a loom, right? I mean, why did I ever transition to a sewing machine in the first place. Sui then felt multiple memories of returning home from Ti Kwon Do, tired, followed by returning tired from work, and then the piles of schoolwork she’d once had.

Ooh. Right. Sui started to look back on a number of projects that she’d rushed through so that she could move onto other ‘more important’ projects. A growing feeling of disgust started to rise within Sui.

Did I really get that bad? Sui examined her room, and the two mannequins contained therein. Why? Why did I stop? Sui scoured her mind, trying to find the moment she transitioned over to a sewing machine.

A sharp ringing pain assaulted Sui. Grunting in pain, Sui put her hand towards the side of her head, trying to lessen the pain.

Ooh. Sui let herself fall back onto the bed. What the hell was that. Surely there’s something wrong with that, right? What was I thinking about…

Sui looked around the room, trying to identify what had caused her lapse in attention. Looking around, she spotted her loom box. No, it wasn’t that. I’m saddened by the fact I didn’t use it more…

Sui slowly and carefully looked around the room but couldn’t find anything strange on the surface. Well, whatever, I guess I can just work on the outfit. I’ll need to sew it a bit more personally if my loom is out of commission.

Wait… Sui’s mind started to swim. Didn’t I already? Sui glanced around her room, trying to figure out what was going on before her eyes landed on her sewing machine, and she felt a massive spike of pain going through her head.

Oh no, you don’t. Fighting the pain, Sui stumbled to her feet and over to her closet. Trying to keep her thoughts just on the edge of her mind, she reached out for her old school supplies and a notebook.

Sui grit her teeth, stumbling over back towards the bed. Tearing open the page, she started to write down her thoughts.

“Something is wrong. I can’t remember why I wanted a sewing machine or when I actually brought it”

As the words flowed from her shaking hands, the pressure in Sui’s mind kept building “Something is causing me a massive amount of pain to think about it. And for some reason, I keep thinking it isn’t so important, but it must be.”

Sui’s hands were shaking terribly at this point, and she flipped the page back one. In letters as large and clear as she could write

“DO NOT TURN PAGE. SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH SEWING MACHINE THOUGHTS”

Slamming the book closed, Sui let her thoughts disperse, but the pain continued to assault her. Pressing her hands against the side of her head, she let pain overwhelm her for a moment as her thoughts cleared.

What was I… Shaking off the last remains of the pain, Sui looked around, not quite confused but unsure. Looking carefully at the notebook in her hands, she read the title. As she did, the echoes of the pain and the answers to her questions started to bubble, but she squashed them completely.

There is nothing wrong. Sui thought with a twitching smile. I have a sewing machine that I certainly love and bought with my own money, and none of that is strange. I certainly don’t feel great pain thinking about the fact that I can’t remember why I thought I needed one, only memories of convenient excuses after the fact. Yup, I don’t remember those things at all.

Sui shakily set down the notebook and let herself stare at the ceiling. What does this mean? Something was seriously wrong. And even the pain that had tried to make her forget couldn’t suppress the pure joy that was welling up within her at the thought of hand stitching her latest project.

The faintest wisp of the pain returned at this thought, but it was quickly overwhelmed by her joy and desire to pretend that this was a new development and that nothing was wrong. Nothing was wrong.

As Sui made poorer and poorer attempts to convince herself that nothing was, in fact, wrong, Sui saw a familiar, and perhaps for the first time welcome message.

Sui, wave 3 will be commencing in approximately 5:00 minutes; please ready yourself.