(Source) https://pixabay.com/photos/architecture-building-infrastructure-2557567/
Two strange things happened that day...
The first that occurred was the cryptic old woman who approached Aurora during her stroll through the mall. She had just blew in the front doors when a woman with a white puff for hair broke into sight from the opposite direction. One could tell simply from looking at the woman that she was getting along in age, for an extremely pronounced hump protruded from her back, and she struggled to walk with each step she took...
Nevertheless, this woman approached Aurora, and she did so with great purpose. As soon as her eyes met hers, the senile woman's face broke into a horrific grin, and she began to race towards her! About halfway towards her, Aurora took note of the woman's presence, yet she was so captivated by her odd behaviour that she could only stand in place and watch... What intentions could she possibly have?...
Finally, the old woman was directly in front of Aurora, to the point where she could identify every wrinkle on her sundried skin, every red vein bulging in her eyes. The woman raised one of her decrepit hands; Aurora watched on in horror.
Then were the words that the old woman spoke, for they froze Aurora to the core. Despite being only 4 months pregnant, not nearly far enough to show, the old woman placed her hand on Aurora's stomach, and uttered the words, "Such a blessing.. We hope for a bouncing baby boy."
Naturally, the encounter took Aurora by surprise. She immediately removed the woman's hand from her stomach, bolted away from her, and delved deeper into the mall.
The second strange thing to occur, was the man that served Aurora at the food court. You see, she had recently been reading about a very strange phenomena known as the "NPC theory." If one is familiar with video games, they may be familiar with the concept: Non-Playable Characters, people who do not possess thought or purpose, but only exist as a type of prop.
Well, this man happened to be the exact embodiment of an NPC; Aurora had never quite seen anything like it! Before she even had a chance to approach the man, she could already detect the absence of life behind his dreary eyes, the gawking, dumbfounded expression on his face. This was the man who would take her order? Was he even capable?...
Nonetheless, Aurora stepped up to the counter, where she was greeted by a very slow and dry, "Can I help you?"
"Uh, yes," she began somewhat nervously, "could I please get a #4 combo with a Coca-Cola?"
She watched as his fat fingers went to type in her order to the register. "Anything else?"
"No, that will be everything. Thank you..."
The man's expression did not change once during the entire exchange. As Aurora took note of his greasy ginger hair and pimply face, she could not help but think to herself that he truly did look like the stereotypical fast food worker. Large, lazy, probably attending college... She wondered what kind of purpose his life could possibly possess...
Finally, after exchanging blank stares with one another for several minutes, Aurora's order was called out. She swiftly approached the counter once more, grabbed the grease-stained brown paper bag, and departed from the fast food counter. For whatever reason, her encounter with the ginger-haired man had left a bad taste in her mouth... Hopefully she would be able to drown it out with a few bites from her chicken fried sandwich.