My first Simpsons fanfic! While I have always loved the show, I never really had any interesting ideas for an actual fanfic about it... until I got inspired by the VOCALOID2 Kagamine Rin song, 'Meltdown'. And thus, this story was born.

Quick note: This story is going to be a darkfic set in the future, so there is a high chance of me taking liberties with canon characterization and events. If you do spot anything off, then I apologize for canon derailment. Regardless, I still hope you will enjoy this story.

Chapter One

The snow slowly drifted onto the town of Springfield below, adding a couple more centimetres to the white blanket formed some days ago. A full moon was out that night, but it was being shrouded ominously by clouds. The town itself may have been in the grip of winter, but there were hardly any people on the streets, or any cars on the roads; nor were many houses or businesses still awake either – except for the looming nuclear power plant. Steam was belching from its cooling towers, suggesting that the night workers at the plant were on duty.

On Evergreen Terrance, meanwhile, a light shone through an upstairs window in one of the houses – an oddity, considering nearly all the other houses in the neighbourhood were dark. The light was coming from a room in the Simpsons household – more specifically, a lamp in the room of Lisa Simpson, but she was no longer an eight-year old girl. She was now a full-grown adult in her twenties, cooping herself up in bed while staring at the snow outside her window, unable to sleep.

Actually, Lisa had been unable to have a good night's sleep for quite a while now. She continued to watch the innocent snow fall delicately onto her garden, letting time pass by absentmindedly. Her parents and younger sister, Maggie, were sleeping well in their own rooms, while her older brother, Bart, had moved away from home some months ago. Despite the fact that she was still living with her family in the house she grew up in, Lisa still felt completely alone in the world.

It was because of the numerous mental health issues she had developed over the years. Aside from sleeping problems, Lisa was also suffering from depression, and she couldn't remember the last time she had left the house of her own accord. In fact, she didn't really like to remember anything from her past. All she could remember now was that her problems began when she entered middle school, and everything all went downhill after that. Her parents had tried their best to support their daughter through her problems, but ultimately, Lisa became a shut-in. She would still go downstairs for meals and acknowledge her family, but while her parents still put on a brave face for her, Maggie just tended to give her a deathly glance. Maybe she's beginning to hate me, Lisa thought darkly. Either way, she felt that no-one, not even her own parents, could help her anymore.

Seeing a hint of green beginning to penetrate her eye, Lisa turned towards her digital clock – it was almost midnight. She sighed and laid her head onto her pillow miserably – she still wasn't an inch towards slumber. Not even her eyes felt tired. Then, in an unpredicted act, Lisa got up from bed and crouched down below to search through the bottom of it. Where was that old... ah, there it is.

Lisa pulled out a dusty carrying case and opened it – inside was her old saxophone, unplayed for who knows how many years. Music had always been a part of her soul, but ever since she'd fell hard to depression, her inspiration had completely dried up. She continued to stare at her beloved saxophone for a little longer, until the memories started to return – both the good and the bad. Recoiling, she closed the case as quietly as she could. Not even the more pleasant memories in her life would force Lisa to accept her past.

For a while, the middle Simpson sibling just sat there on her bedroom floor, simply staring at the saxophone case. There were no audible noises around or outside the house – if Lisa had been focusing more on her surroundings, she would have thought that the lack of sound was eerie. A cold feeling then crawled up her spine, causing her to shiver and break out of her trance. What time was it now? She checked her clock – past midnight? She sighed even deeper than before and let her head fall down. She was still nowhere near tired.

Then, at complete random, Lisa got herself up from the floor and started to get changed – from her pyjamas to something more appropriate for going outside in the snow. She didn't exactly know what she was doing, but her mind seemed to be telling her to go out for a walk – in below freezing temperatures, even. Maybe something was telling her that if she went outside, she would probably feel tired afterwards? Lisa didn't know. All she knew was that she wanted to go outside for a walk right now, in the middle of the night.

After she had gotten changed, Lisa slowly opened her door and tip-toed as quietly as she could down the upstairs hallway, being careful not to awaken her parents and little sister. When she went past her parents' room, the door was open slightly, so she could hear her father snoring. Even after all this time, Homer hadn't really changed at all. The door to Maggie's room was shut, so Lisa passed by it without any curiosity.

Once she reached the top of the stairs, Lisa stepped carefully downwards, trying her best not to make it creak. If it did happen to creak, she would flinch and expect her family to come rushing down to find her – but thankfully, that didn't happen. When she managed to get down the stairs without waking anyone up, Lisa searched for a hat, a scarf, a pair of gloves and a coat in the closet. Although she had not gone outside by herself in a long time, she still had common sense to wear winter clothing. After that, she found the keys to the front door, and turned the lock so she could open it – to go outside. To explore the world she had cut herself from for years.

Taking a quick breath, Lisa opened the front door and quickly went outside, feeling a blast of Arctic air envelope her.

Remember that this is my first time writing anything for The Simpsons, so I'm still a bit worried about the way I'm handling Lisa and this premise. I know the first chapter was kinda boring, but I hope I can make this story more interesting later on. Feel free to review.