KEEP THE LIGHTS ON

It’s midnight, but between the lamps and the light pollution it’s never truly dark here. Like nothing ever really sleeps. Just the way it’s always been. If you can just keep the details the same, it’s like this moment in time could last forever. Like the store isn’t closed, just sleeping. Resting until it wakes in the future, and everything will be happy and bustling again. As if [[nothing would ever change.]]

In order to keep the lights on, you have to get this store into good shape. You need to mop the floor, deal with the food on the shelves, and handle the cash in the registers. That’ll take no time at all. This is nice. It will all be worth it. [[You’ll get through this.]]

It’s the stains and spills that make up our lives, and we are how we clean them. So you’re going to clean this place properly. The tiles are sparkling clean, and the place is ready for when you re-open. If you re-open. No. Not if. When. Definitely when. [[You glance outside.]]

You don’t deserve this. No one deserves this. Well, maybe someone who’s bad, but that’s not you, right? Right? You start to wonder if that’s true. You clean the spilled soda and candy crumbs off the floor. It’ll keep the rats away, but it’s far from pristine. But who cares? No one’s using the store so it doesn’t really matter. No one will be using the store anytime soon. [[You glance outside.]]

It's not like it will change what happened. It's not like anything will. You let go of the handle and let the mop fall onto the floor. The plastic handle breaks from the force of the impact. Everything breaks, given enough force. [[You glance outside.]]

Once again you glance outide. More lights have gone out. It’s hard to convince yourself that this is a coincidence, but you try. Maybe the lights just happened to start going out on the other side of town, slowly moving towards you. Maybe the fact that there are no other people around isn’t suspicious at all. Maybe it’s fine. [[Maybe you’re fine.]]

You’ll save it for later. It won’t go bad for awhile, so you’ll have stock when you re-open the store. Which will happen soon. You don’t know when, but soon. It's important to stay positive. That's how you keep from drowning in the mire of despair. Isn't that a cheerful thought. Soon, the food is [[dealt with.]]

Everything has expired. Everything does, eventually. You know this. Even if you re-open the store you can’t stock the same items. Everything changes with time. Nothing lasts forever, and despite its sugar content, candy is no exception. Soon, the food is [[dealt with.]]

Eating an entire store’s worth of chocolate is clearly a terrible idea. In fact, it may be lethal to eat that much sugar. You don’t know. You don’t care. It’s how you’re going to get through this moment and your organs can deal or die. Soon, the food is [[dealt with.]]

The city is shutting down around you. Everyone has abandoned this place. This world is dying and you can’t save it. Things are coming to a close. Soon, your store will be the [[only thing with the lights on.]]

You empty the register. Recent earnings are a poor consolation to the entire store closing, but hey, you’re not not going to take it. It’s the very last of the goodness produced by this place, and you will cherish it. You will also be saddened by it every time you look at it. You’re not sure how to feel about that. [[Moving on...]]

You know it makes no sense to leave the money, but you can’t bring yourself to take it. It feels wrong somehow. As if the store will need the cash to pay the ferryman on the other side. Except not like that at all, because this store is going to be completely fine and will re-open soon and none of that matters. [[Moving on...]]

The last lights in the city go out. The shop is the only thing in this whole world that remains lit. Everything else has been abandoned, left to decay or be swallowed up by the darkness. You can almost feel the darknes creeping closer. Like a visiting shadow that has no business being here but [[you can’t make it leave.]]

You’re not going to abandon this place. Your goal is to keep the lights on, and you will not fail in that endeavor. You can't fix what happened, you can't do anything at all, but you can hold fast to your convictions. And nothing can stop you. As the darkness swallows the shop and you disintegrate into the abyss, you know that you refused to let go of what was important to you. [[The end.]]

You understand that this is what you have to do. Its not what you wanted. But life, or at least this version of it, has ended. You have to move on. You turn out the lights, lock the door behind you, and walk to the road out of town. You don’t know what the next city will be like. Probably worse, because it won’t have the shop, but it will have other things too. Perhaps that’s enough. [[The end.]]

A game by RaccoonRaconteur. [[Play again?]]

You look out the window at the empty streets. It looks just the same as a moment ago, except that the streetlights at the edge of town have gone out. Just a coincidence. [[Nothing more.]]

Time to remove all the candy from the shelves. You can’t just leave it here for the rats to get to. You won't let it end like that. Every morsel must be removed. Every single one. But you have to decide what to do with them all. [[Keep the food]] [[Throw out the food]] [[Eat the food]]

What is a store without a city in which to operate? What is a store without customers? What is a store at all? Do you even know? Do you know anything anymore? You cleaned the place up, you removed the perishables, you dealt with the register. But is that enough? [[Stay in the shop. Keep the lights on.]] [[Turn the lights off and leave.]]

While the city is brightly lit, you can see the abyss looming in the distance. It threatens to move closer, but it wouldn’t dare. It’ll stay there, far away in the darkness. You’re sure of it. Really sure. Completely sure. Because you won’t let this place get dark. You’re going to keep the lights on. You’ll keep things [[just the way they should be.]]

You never expected the store to close, but that’s okay. You’re okay. These things just happen sometimes. You’ve got this. It’ll all be fine. You pull the mop from the supply closet and set to work. [[Make it spotless]] [[Bare minimum]] [[Nevermind. You don’t feel like mopping.]]

It feels like you’re losing control, but did you ever really have it? Was anything really a choice? It doesn't matter what moves you make, the game always ends the same way. 6 feet down into the dark. You check on the register. [[Take money in register]] [[Leave money in register]]