The Ramblings of Artessa Trap

"STAFF, DISMISSED!"

The asylum staff walked out from the hospital's meeting room grimly, whispering to each other about the recent investigation. Many gave each other accusing looks, while others speculated about the possibility of a break-in. Nopony seemed to be able to arrive to a conclusion, and there seemed to be too little evidence to back up any of the theories regarding it. They were all ordered to be highly suspicious of each other, and to report any strange occurances regarding the asylum to administration.

Two of these staff members, Hotch Pot and Lolly Stick, were heavily interrogated by the medical consultants on the issue, and they felt pretty drained afterwards from having to remember every single detail as perfectly as they could. When the meeting had finished, they walked straight to the asylum cafeteria, which was empty at the time, to take a break.

"I can't believe we lost that crucial piece of evidence last night," Hotch Pot groaned, "like, I could've sworn it was there." He started pouring himself some tea from the counter, fixing up a cup of coffee for his co-worker soon after. "Do you remember anything about it?"

Lolly shrugged. "I dunno, Hotch, you were the one who looked at it, not me." She reached out for her coffee, drinking the coffee in big slurps. "We might be over-looking things, it's just a paper after all. It's the actual break-in we should be worrying about. Whoever it is seems to have access to the hospital doors if they didn't break any windows."

Hotch sighed angrily. "That's what's bothering me, Lolly. There's no way a pony could've entered and escaped from an asylum just like that. Maybe we should change the locks-"

"Or maybe," Lolly interrupted, "we should just keep going with our jobs and leave the situation for Administration to handle. Besides, these patients aren't going to feed themselves," she said with a slight smirk, gulping down some more coffee.

Hotch Pot just deadpanned, he didn't find it funny at all. "I'll get to the bottom of this, there just...there just HAS to be an explaination to all this! How could I have let them escape, how...how..?" His hooves began shaking a little as he held his mug, clearly becoming flustered in this thoughts.

"Y'know Hotch," Lolly said in a low voice, "if you keep beating yourself up over this whole thing you might just go crazy yourself. It'd be a big shame to see a fine stallion like you in one of the cells..." she finished slowly, taking a slower sip of her remaining coffee as she looked down, changing her tone. "Besides, we need to get ready for work now, we've had our rest." She slammed her coffee mug down on the desk as she usually did, bouncing up suddenly. "Time for the afternoon activities, y'know! I'll be busy feeding the tough clients in the next room if you need me."

And with that, she hopped out of the room like a rabbit, leaving Hotch Pot alone at the cafeteria counter holding his hot mug of tea. He began thinking to himself in between sips, lost in thought.

"The only ponies on watch were Lolly and I, and Lolly was with me the entire time, so it couldn't have been her..."

"But how did the intruder escape so quickly? Surely the guards inside the hospital would've noticed something coming out from the Asylum...."

"Maybe there's a secret tunnel!" He suddenly exclaimed to nobody in particular, standing up and abandoning his mug on the counter as he dashed towards the hallway. He looked around suspiciously, his heart pounding with curiosity, trying to look for any floor tiles that seemed out of place, lowering his head down towards each one trying to look for any strange cracks or creases.

His search was interrupted by an awkward cough. He looked up, seeing one of the cafeteria staff workers looking down at him with a very strange look, making him feel very silly. He quickly stood up, recomposed himself, said nothing, and walked straight back into the cafeteria and into the kitchen to begin preparing some porridge for the patients.

"Oh boy," he thought to himself as he mixed some ingredients together. "Maybe I am going mad."