After the world ended, I discovered the art of taxidermy and a bag of animals behind the front desk of my office building

After the world ended, I discovered the art of taxidermy and a bag of animals behind the front desk of my office building<br>What was left of humanity banded together and formed a new society, with all the survivors working to bring back the earth. I found a new job as an intern in a high-rise office building that had been preserved to serve as a museum and educational center for our new society. <br><br>The building was a relic of the past, from a time when people didn’t have to work 40 hours a week for a place to live. When they could just go to an office for 8 hours a day and be set. The building was one of the most impressive things I had ever seen. The lobby was 5 stories tall, with a massive chandelier in the middle of the room and a sweeping staircase to reach the floors. <br><br>I was a little nervous about the new job, I was out of school for a few years before the collapse, and my degree was in education, not construction or engineering. But the director of the museum was a friend from school, and he swore up and down that I would be a perfect fit for the job.<br><br>I walked in on my first day to find that the building was still in mostly good shape, though the power had been shut off for several years and a good amount of the lighting had been removed. The floors had a sticky film on them from the last remnants of the carpet that had been installed. <br><br>I made my way up the stairs to the floor where my office would be, the sign above the landing reading “The Department of Restoration and Maintenance”. As I opened the door I found that the room was mostly empty, save for a small desk at the far end of the room behind a large oak front desk. <br><br>Behind the oak front desk was a small basket, woven from what looked like reeds. The lid was ajar, and a small stuffed mouse poked out from the top. The mouse was dressed in a small tuxedo, and held a tiny top hat in its paws. <br><br>I had never seen anything like it before. I reached out and pulled out the mouse. It was incredibly well preserved, the stitching so fine that I could hardly see it. The fur looked real, though it was a bit worn at the edges.<br><br>I turned the mouse over and saw a small tag stitched to the back of the belly, reading “Dearie, for Mr. Haverton.” I turned it over and saw that the underside was painted to look like a small patch of grass. <br><br>I picked it up and looked at it for a long time, studying the stitching and the fur. Eventually I realized I had to put it back, so I opened up the basket and placed it on top of the pile. <br><br>I spent the rest of my first day sorting out my office, and reading all the papers on the desk. I found that all my supervisors were dead, and I was the only one in the department, so I had the run of the whole place. <br><br>The next day I was back at my desk, looking over all the blueprints for the building. I was looking for a way to fix a leak in the roof when I noticed a small crack in the wall. It was small enough that I could have easily overlooked it, but something about it called to me. I walked over to the crack and put my hand through it, finding that it opened up into a small room. <br><br>I slid through the hole in the wall and found myself in a room about 20 feet by 20 feet. It was a bit cramped for me, as I was a tall and skinny girl, but I squeezed through the room without much trouble. <br><br>I immediately noticed that there was something odd about the room. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, until I realized that there were no windows in the room. I looked around and realized that the walls were all made of solid stone, and the only light in the room was a single pendant light hanging from the ceiling.<br><br>I made my way over to the pendant light, and saw that it was attached to the ceiling by a long cord. I pulled on the cord and the light swung down, shining down on my face and casting eerie shadows around the room. <br><br>I looked around the room, seeing that there were two large doors on the far wall of the room, and a small door on the opposite wall from where I was. There was a desk in the room, and a small chair set in front of it. <br><br>I walked over to the desk, seeing that it was covered in papers and knick knacks. There were a couple of taxidermied animals sitting on the desk, a squirrel and a rabbit. There were also a few bottles and jars, all filled with various liquids.<br><br>I looked over the desk, seeing that there were several books and papers spread out. I saw that the papers were all blueprints of the office building, and the books were all about construction and engineering. <br><br>I picked up the rabbit, turning it over to see how it was done. The fur looked incredibly real, and the glassy stare was perfect. There were tiny stitches along the edges of the fur, and the eyes were done in glass. The teeth were also made of glass, and were incredibly detailed. <br><br>I set the rabbit back down and looked over the desk some more. I saw a bottle of white glue, some scissors, a small knife, and some sort of liquid. I recognized the liquid as formaldehyde, used for taxidermy. <br><br>I picked up the squirrel, holding it up to get a better look at it. It was also incredibly well preserved. I turned it over to see that there were some more stitches along the bottom. <br><br>I set the squirrel back down and picked up the formaldehyde bottle. I knew a bit about taxidermy, I had even tried my hand at it once, but it hadn’t turned out so well. I had never had a chance to practice it again. <br><br>I decided that I was going to give it another try, I really liked the way that the squirrel and rabbit looked, and I wanted to learn how to do it for myself. So I put the bottle down and picked up the scissors and the knife.<br><br>I began to carefully cut the fur around the stitches, slowly working my way around until I had cut out a small piece of fur. I picked up the formaldehyde and dipped the fur in it, holding it by the end so that I didn’t get any on my hands. I left it in the liquid until it was good and soaked. <br><br>I pulled it out of the liquid and wrapped it in a small cloth, setting it down on the desk. Then I picked up the knife and began to scrape away at the flesh, slowly working my way through the meat and bone until I had a small skull. <br><br>I set the skull on the desk and picked up the formaldehyde again, dipping the end of the piece of fur in it. I wrapped it around the skull, leaving a small piece of fur at the end. I wrapped the end of the fur around the skull a couple of times, making sure that it was secure, then tied it off with a small piece of string. <br><br>I picked up the skull and looked at it from different angles, making sure that it was how I wanted it to be. I picked up the rabbit and squirrel, and compared them to the skull. I realized that I was going to need to add some fur around the edges of the skull, and some stuffing inside to make it look like a whole animal.<br><br>I got to work on it, cutting and gluing the fur to the edges of the skull. I stuffed the inside of the body with some cloth, and then wrapped the fur around the body, gluing it into place. <br><br>I sat back and looked at my work, I was really impressed. I had never made one this good before, and I was excited to show it off. I picked it up and held it by the tail, looking at it from all angles. <br><br>I realized that I wanted to make more, but I didn’t have any more fur or stuffing. I thought about going back to my desk and trying to find some fabric to use, but then I thought about the basket behind the oak desk. <br><br>I set the animal down and walked over to the basket, picking it up and pulling the lid open. I saw the mouse that I had seen the day before, and several other animals, including a rat, a bird, a couple of cats, and a dog. I was impressed by the diversity of the animals, and I really wanted to add to the collection.<br><br>I closed the basket and picked up the rabbit and squirrel, carrying them back to my desk. I set the rabbit down, and picked up the squirrel, looking at the fur. I decided that I could use the fur to make some more animals, and I set the squirrel down. <br><br>I walked over to the stone wall, and pulled on the cord again, shining the light down on me. I looked around the room again, trying to find something to use to make the animals. I saw the bottles and jars again, and walked over to them. <br><br>The first jar was full of white glue, which I knew I could use to help the fur stick together. The second jar was full of glycerin, which I knew was good for keeping the fur from getting too stiff. The third jar was full of water, which I could use to help me mix the glue. The fourth jar was full of formaldehyde, which I knew I couldn’t drink. <br><br>I picked up the jar with the formaldehyde, and walked over to the basket. I set the jar down next to the basket, and picked it up. I carried the basket and formaldehyde over to my desk, setting