It was no use. You knew that jumping off the pan was suicide. You remained on the surface of the filthy plastic, trying not to breathe in too much debris, and awaited whatever fate was in store for you. The pan began to tilt, and errant bits of dirt rolled their way down and over the edge. As it continued to tilt, more and more pieces lost their footing and tumbled, until you were the last piece left. Soon, the incline grew so steep it was practically a wall, and you knew you were about to fall. You slid down the pan at a terrifying speed, and soon found yourself falling into the trash can.
You never gave much thought to how you’d die. Like most people, you always secretly hoped it would be peaceful, or at least dignified. Being swept up by your giant friend and tossed into a giant pile of giant garbage was neither of those things. It almost felt like a joke; a cruel trick by the gods of fate who wished to punish you for some grave misdeed. Perhaps you didn’t recycle enough… regardless, you landed uncomfortably atop the foul-smelling pile of yours and Daphne’s undesirables.
The air was hot in your nostrils, making it difficult to breathe, and the floor was precarious at best. You took precise, heavily vetted steps across the garbage towards the edge of the bin and started banging your fist against it. Several dulls thuds echoed across the arena of refuse which you hoped were loud enough for Daphne to hear.
“Daphne!” You called out, “Daphne, I’m in here! Let me out! Please!”
No response came. Only the sounds of Daphne continuing to prepare breakfast have any hints that she was even in the room still. You tried again, hitting the wall several more times, and again, and again until your hands hurt too much to continue. Out of breath and out of ideas, you sat defeated on top of a discarded banana peel.
The smell of Daphne’s breakfast began to waft its way to you, providing a welcome change to the rotten atmosphere that continued to assault your olfactory senses. Your stomach rumbled, pleading you for a bite of that sweet smelling food, but you knew the only way you were eating any time soon was if you started digging for that donut you tossed a couple days ago.
As time passed, you started to get used to the garbage smell around you, which was a depressing reality. You wondered how long you’d last in here; it wasn’t like there was nothing to eat, and hydration was merely a matter of enduring an unwanted liquids that found their way in here. Could you last days? Weeks? Eventually, Daphne would have to replace the bag, and you’d be thrown out for good; whisked away by the garbage men and forced to live in a landfill somewhere. Hell, maybe you’d last years in a place like that… maybe you should’ve just jumped to your death after all.
As you pondered this future, Daphne appeared over you like a goddess, gracing your garbage kingdom with her heavenly presence. You stood up and raised your arms like you were signalling a chopper. Maybe all hope wasn’t lost.
”Daphne! Down here! You’ve gotta help me I’m— AHH!” you cowered as a torrent of food cascaded on you. Scrambled egg, soggy cereal, bacon fat, greasy pucks of meat and chewed gristle among other unnameable things. You dug your way out of the wasted food with newfound aggression. You weren’t going to live like this. You needed to get out of here. Daphne’s recent addition to the bin raised the pile high enough that you could jump to the lip and hoist yourself out. After that, you’re gonna march right up to Daphne and tell her to quit wasting food.