STORY BY: MB
This is a story about tourism in Melancholia. You see, Melancholia is rarely visited and the tourism rate is low, so there are only a few hotels there. Among the few hotels is the one you should not visit, which is the hotel named after the town, Hotel Melancholia.
The story begins with a news reporter, Mr. Biugle. One night, Mr. Biugle was travelling back to his hometown. Halfway through his journey, his vision grew dim and his sight grew heavy and he felt tires. He eventually decided to stop his journey. Fortunately, or should I say unfortunately, he noticed a shining and shimmering light. Upon further inspection, the light seemed to come from a hotel. He wondered why his car was the only one there. Then, he noticed a woman, approximately in her 20s, standing in the doorway, holding an unlit candle.
"Come in," she said. "You must be tired from all of your travelling. Let me bring you in," she said as she rang the mission bell.
Mr. Biugle didn't know how to respond. He was glad that he had a place to stay for the night, but at the same time he felt suspicious that he was the only guest there. It was like heaven but it could be hell. Then, the woman lit up the candle and showed Mr. Biugle the way to his room. While walking down the corridor, Mr. Biugle heard some voices singing, "Welcome to the Hotel Melancholia, such a lovely place, such a lovely face." Mr. Biugle got creeped out by those voices.
A while later, they arrived at Mr. Biugle's room. "Here it is, room number 134. This is your room from now on. If you need anything, just call me, Janice, at the number 643 using the telephone in the room.
"Okay, thanks a lot," Mr. Biugle said.
The next morning, Mr. Biugle heard a knock on his door.
"Knock! Knock!" a sound came from the door.
"Who is it?" asked Mr. Biugle.
"It's me, Janice," Janice said. "I'm here to bring you to breakfast."
"Okay, I'll be there," said Mr. Biugle.
A few minutes later, Mr. Biugle and Janice were having a conversation while walking to the dining room.
"You know, I still haven't got your name," said Janice.
"Oh, it's Ben Biugle. You can call me Ben."
A while later, they stopped at a door with a strangely familiar sign on it. It has three spikes inside a circle.
"Why did we stop here?" asked Mr. Biugle.
"This is my room, room number 643," replied Janice.
"What is that sign?" Mr. Biugle asked curiously.
"Oh, that," Janice remarked. "It's the logo of Mercedes Benz. It's from my old Mercedes car. It reminds me of my previous life."
"What happened to your Mercedes car?" asked Mr. Biugle, wanting to know the details.
"I don't want to talk about it. Anyway, let's continue going to the dining room."
Some time later, they arrived at the dining room. They are breakfast together while chatting.
"Hey, who are these other people around us? I thought I was the only guest here," said Mr. Biugle after looking around the dining room.
"Oh, those are my pretty people that I call friends," Janice answered. "After breakfast, I shall take you to the courtyard."
Later, when breakfast was finished, Janice brought Mr. Biugle to the courtyard.
"Hey, there are your friends again! What are they doing here?" asked Mr. Biugle.
"I have brought you here to see their dance, which is called 'The Sweet Summer Sweat'," replied Janice. "Some of my friends dance it to try to remember their past and some of them dance it to forget their past," she added.
"That's right," a rough, deep voice said.
"Oh, it's just you," Janice said to the voice.
"Who?" asked Mr. Biugle, feeling surprised.
"Aye, matey. Aye be Captain Barnacles, a staff here," said the voice. "Would you like anything to drink?" Captain Barnacles asked.
"Please bring me my wine," Mr. Biugle said.
"Hey, we never had that spirit here since 1969," commented Captain Barnacles. "I like that spirit of yours," he said as he went to take the wine.
A few minutes later, Captain Barnacles returned with a bottle of wine and three wine glasses. "You know what? This hotel is one of the first hotels ever in Melancholia. Some say that this hotel is haunted. Can you believe that?" asked Captain Barnacles.
Mr. Biugle thought for a while, "So this could explain the weird singing." "No, I can't believe that," said Mr. Biugle after drinking his glass of wine. He stood up and left, without saying a single word.
In his room, he sat down thinking about the singing voices. Occasionally, Mr. Biugle could still hear the singing voices calling from far away. It even woke him in the middle of the night, just to hear them sing, "Welcome to the Hotel Melancholia, such a lovely place, such a lovely face." It was just plain disturbing.
"Hey, Ben!" called Janice from outside the door.
"Come in," said Mr. Biugle.
"What are you thinking about?" asked Janice, seeing Mr. Biugle's solemn and serious face.
"To be frank with you, I can hear some voices in the corridor every now and then. They sing, 'Welcome to the Hotel Melancholia, such a lovely place, such a lovely face.' It kind of disturbs me. Are they ghosts?"
"Actually, Ben, that is the hotel's theme song. It could just be a recording that you're hearing," said Janice. "Hey, Ben, I have some secrets that you might want to know. First of all, Janice isn't really my real name. If I'm not mistaken, my real name should be Tiffany, Tiffany Twisted. I might be wrong as I have forgot my exact name after dancing 'The Sweet Summer Sweat'. Then, when I asked Captain Barnacles about my true identity, he told me that I was a staff member here who just recovered from amnesia, and he named me Janice. He even told me that I was his godfather, and I have been calling him that ever since."
"Oh, I didn't know that. Hey, then how did you get here?" Mr. Biugle asked, with a greed to know more.
"You see, I was like you, a traveller who stopped by here. I was then welcomed by Captain Barnacles. I also befriended some of the people here, the pretty people that I call friends. Sooner or later, I came to like this hotel. My friends taught me 'The Sweet Summer Sweat' dance and I have forgotten about my past. I have a real life now, as Janice and as a staff member, thought I might have forgotten too much."
"Oh, I see," said Mr. Biugle after listening to Janice's story.
"Hey, do you want to go to eat dinner?" invited Janice.
"Dinner?" asked Mr. Biugle, looking surprised.
"We folks here have dinner early," said Janice. "Come on, don't be a stranger."
Later, when Janice and Mr. Biugle reached the dinner hall, Mr. Biugle noticed that it was kind of odd. There were mirrors on the ceiling and pink champagne on ice. Mr. Biugle asked Janice, "Why are there mirrors on the ceiling?"
But Janice only replied reluctantly in a cryptic manner, "We are only prisoners here, of our own device." She further explained, "This dining hall is called the Master's Chambers. We gather here every evening for the feast."
"Okay, then why are those people trying to stab that goat with their steely knives?" asked Mr. Biugle, pointing at the chef holding a steely knife.
"Oh, the goat's our dinner. Every evening, the cooks try to stab the goat as dinner, but today, with no luck, they still can't kill the beast. That's why dinner is always early," explained Janice.
After dinner, Mr. Biugle decided that it was finally time to continue his journey. He packed his bags and checked out. He was already ready to leave. Alas, he couldn't find the passage that he was at before. Then, he heard some footsteps coming closer and closer to him. He then ran as fast as he could, but he just got lost.
Suddenly, a man dressed in red appeared. "Relax, for I am only the night guard," the man said.
"What a relief! Could you help me to find the way out?" asked Mr. Biugle.
"Relax," said the night guard. "We are programmed to receive. You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave."
Then, Mr. Biugle suddenly felt tired and collapsed.
"Sorry, mate, just business. Nothing personal," a rough, deep voice said.
The next day, he woke up in his room, but he forgot what had happened.
"What am I doing here?" he asked his ownself.
Suddenly, a girl came in from the front door.
"You're finally awake," she said.
"Who are you again?" he asked the girl. "Do I know you?"
"Don't mind that. The real question is, who are you?"
"Me... Me.... I am... I don't even remember anymore, honestly."
"Oh, I know who you are. You are Benson Martell, my boyfriend, and a news reporter here that is always on the job twenty four seven."
"Oh, I remember now," Mr. Biugle said. "And you must be my girlfriend, Janice."
The last we heard from Mr. Biugle was that he worked as the hotel's secretary and news reporter. This is therefore a lesson to learn, never visit Hotel Melancholia.
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