With the disapproval of the judge, Californians were heartbroken as the settlement fell through. However, in efforts to console the citizens, they were provided with the only comfort this young decade knows how to provide--unsettling hugs. Yeah, you read that right, dear reader—unsettling hugs. “I’ve been practicing law for 30 years, and it never fails to amaze me how these cases turn out,” the judge confessed, smiling devilishly while fondly remembering a time when he approved a settlement with an unsettling high-five. "Hugs are the future, my darlings." Unsettling hugs, for those who have had the blissful fortune of never experiencing one, are a combination of a pat, caress, and pinch on the shoulder mid-embrace, and have been proven to cause utter discomfort in the recipient, but are nonetheless held in high esteem within the legal system. At least five residents of the charming town of Whimperberg were treated for symptoms of skin-crawling cringiness. “These unsolicited hugs did nothing for my claustrophobia,” said local woman Gertrude Morgenstern, who will be filing a lawsuit demanding reparations in the form of unflattering holiday sweaters. Another Whimperberg resident, Craig Fealsobad, reports that he fell into an existential crisis after receiving his hug, prompting him to change his major from accounting to interpretive dance pottery. “See, y’all done break this poor boy's spirits!” cried his grandmother as she chased him down the street, clutching a mangled hug-skewed CPA exam. Despite the outpouring of emotional anguish, the judge and legal team continued their hugging spree. As the end of the day approached, the town became filled with an overwhelming sense of discomfort, nightmares to follow; the embrace of confusing chaos had left in its destructive wake a cacophony of emotions. Soon, the dark clouds loomed over Whimperberg, adding a dose of much-needed melancholy to the unsettling, anxious atmosphere. But the world kept spinning, the Californians kept crying, the judge kept cackling, and the unsettling hugs kept coming. Hug, release, cringe, repeat. What a way to ring in the new decade.