Pool Toy Retaliation - $5 Patreon Exclusive - WIP - 8/28/22 (Patreon)

It had been a week since the company disbanded, Coli, a young man in his mid-20s was on his way back to the office building driving through light traffic across town. It was a Sunday, and a particularly lazy Sunday that he would much rather have spent at home playing video games, or just sleeping in, but he had neglected to gather some particular belongings on his last day of work one of which being his business phone. Once he had finally pulled up to the old now deserted building, all he could do was slump back in his car seat as he let out a long drawn-out groan, just sitting there for a few minutes as he blankly stared through the car window before eventually pulling himself up.

Dragging his feet behind him, he unlocked the front entrance and pushed through the two heavy thick double doors before they slammed shut behind him. The doors lock automatically, but by now there wasn’t anything of value worth protecting in the building anyway. As he passed through some of the halls, he nearly tripped on some of the large wires and outlet cables jutting out from some of the office rooms. Since it was quite an old building, they had to work around the outdated and rather brittle wiring within the building with lots of hefty extension cords, since only a handful of areas were built with safe electrical outlets. Though these cables were well organized and tightly secured, they still proved quite the tripping hazard.

While making his way up the stairs and through the hallways, he would look over to the now vacant offices he passed by, feeling a bit of nostalgia mixed with loneliness at the sight of the empty spacious rooms. Most of the computers, equipment, hardware, and other properties had already been taken out, except for most of the cables and other small office supplies, keyboards, staplers, and even some leftover ribbons of rubber and vinyl. The place was almost unrecognizable, feeling a bit larger without being with his coworkers and equipment.

However, he didn’t plan on getting sentimental, simply wanting to retrieve his phone so he could head back home as soon as possible and catch up on his favorite game. However, before heading up the next flight of stairs, he looks over to what used to be the storage area for all the inflatables and sees a stray little beach ball just sitting outside the cracked-open door. The young man was surprised to see an inflatable toy left behind, wondering how in the world management or inventory could’ve missed a fully blown beachball. Curious, Coli walked over to the inflatable, reaching down and picking it up as he held it in his hands. To Colis' surprise, the beach ball felt well puffed, it's vinyl squishy but firm as if it had just been freshly inflated.

Becoming nervous, the man cautiously looked around down the halls, wondering if there was someone else in the building. From what he knew, no one had been here for at least a few days, but the fully inflated beach ball convinced him otherwise. It was then that he turned his attention back to the partly cracked open door, a cold shiver running up his spine as he wondered if someone was hiding on the other side. Colis' fight or flight instincts immediately kicked in, wondering if he should open the door or simply walk away. The room used to be for ballet practice, it was large and one of the walls was completely lined with mirrors, so aside from a few dozen shelves, an intruder wouldn’t really have anywhere to hide. His curiosity got the better of his fear as he slowly pushed open the door.

Quickly stepping in, he turned on the light illuminating the massive storage room. No one was inside, but the room wasn’t empty as a plethora of pool toys covered the entire floor. Looking over to the mirrored wall on the far side of the room, he could see no intruder in reflection, but it was clear that the room had not been cleaned up or packed, even the soft blue mats still covered the floor were yet to be removed. Dropping the beach ball, he stepped inside and looked around further the place, seeing that the shelves were still stacked with deflated beach toys and even some of the newer products were fully inflated in different parts of the room, as if they were pumped up and ready for testing.

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8/28/22

Coli was completely baffled, he thought this would’ve been one of the first rooms to be cleaned up, but it was like nothing had changed. I was like the room had been left all alone, or as if someone had set it all back up. Though it didn’t make sense, it did make him feel a bit nostalgic, seeing all the inflatable toys laid out before him as they would when he and the team were doing product shoots for their website. Unfortunately, it was a rather bittersweet feeling, with the room being so empty and silent, knowing that he would never get to hang out in his room with his coworkers ever again. If anything, the room almost felt like an echo of what it used to be. While he had not been very enthusiastic about coming back minutes earlier, now, he almost didn’t want to leave.

Looking down at the beach ball he had dropped, he picked it up and gave it a gentle squeeze, letting out a stressful sigh as he listened to the shiny vinyl squeaking creak under his arms. He missed this feeling so much, the feeling of holding a soft inflatable, the silly shenanigans he and his coworkers would get up to while shooting photos, taking whatever chance they could fool around with the toys. And after leaving this building, he would likely never feel that joy again. The thought made him squeeze the beach ball tighter, creaking loudly under the pressure of his arms as if clinging to the memory through the inflatable. “Mmmgh.” he mumbled, closing his eyes tightly as he directed his stress towards the beach ball.

Suddenly, the beach ball let out a soft “pop,” startling the young man as his eyes shot open. To his surprise, he squeezed so hard that the nozzle popped open, causing it to quickly lose air as it deflated in his hand. Watching the beach ball turn into a sheet of wrinkly vinyl triggered a strange sensation of relief to wash over him, as if feeling his tensity and frustration lift from his shoulders. It wasn’t that he was disappointed that he had squeezed the air out of the inflatable, but rather… satisfying. The sudden pop, the rapid but gentle deflation, just the feeling of squeezing the pressure out of the ball almost felt like a payoff.

“Huh…” he mumbled to himself, unsure of how to feel about this strange sensation. Curious, he turned his attention towards another nearby beach ball, his heart suddenly skipping a beat as he stepped towards it, tossing the deflated one aside. Kicking his shoes and socks off, he then placed his foot atop the fully inflated beach ball and put his weight onto it, letting out a soft breath as he felt it squish beneath him. The beachball did not immediately give under the pressure, simply squeaking softly with the vinyl bulging and warping under his sole with surprising flexibility, despite its taut exterior. Coli pressed down harder against the ball a couple more times, listening to it creak louder with the added pressure.

Engrossed in the moment, he would lift his foot up slightly, only to press it back down, repeating this motion and squeezing the beach ball with a satisfying rhythm, just to hear the vinyl squeak again and again. Over time, he would gradually increase the pressure he put on the ball, causing it to stretch out farther until it clearly began reaching its limit. Then with one final stomp, the beach ball burst, making a clean vertical tear on the side as it quickly deflated. “Ahhhhh...” Coli sighed with a relaxed shiver, feeling a wave of relief flow through his body. Enjoying the feeling, he spent a few moments wiggling his toes against the deflated plastic beneath his foot, listening to the slick almost rubbery surface squeak with his rubs.

Coli didn’t understand this pleasant sensation, feeling immense relief every time he popped an inflatable, but it wasn’t enough… he wanted more. The man then turned his attention to the plethora of other inflatables lying before him, all puffed and ready for him to toy with. Coli then walked over to a giant inflatable banana, one 4 feet wide and about 6 feet long, just big enough to use as a flotation device. Getting down on his knees, he wasted no time scooping it up in his arms as he gave the banana a big hug, pressing his cheek into the squishy vinyl with a soft gentle moan. Because of its larger size, it felt a lot softer than the beach ball, with its loud creaks singing more deeply throughout the room, awakening an ominous presence as one of the pool toys began to shift and twitch.