A World We Forged (Ch27)
By Priyanka T S
Chapter 27
Aion, Pontus and Erebus were having a drink and a makeshift picnic in the garden area, they asked me to join, I did for one drink, but I couldn’t focus. I excused myself letting them know I had to get on call with my family and went to my room.
I called my sister, the rings went on but no one answered, I felt a pang of anxiety, like I couldn’t breathe.
I called the guards stationed to my home, and they picked up immediately, and let me know that my sister was sleeping along with the rest of my family and they were all safe.
I paced around my tiny room, I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t think, my vision was becoming blurry, my head spinning.
I sat on the floor, and held myself, knees to my chest, arms wrapped around them, rocking back and forth. I stayed in this position till I could form a thought. I had to be there for so many people, it felt overwhelming. I texted my best friend, I knew she had her own issues, and no one kept in touch the way we used to anymore, not since the world we knew was ripped away from us.
I then texted my sister letting her know of my reward, and to send me a list of anything and everything she and my family needed or wanted.
I then thought of Arya, what she needed. I knew she had a roof over her head now, she had clothes, she had a steady supply of food and water, but what she was going through, it wasn’t something a child should have to deal with, she deserves a childhood.
How could I possibly help with that when I never had one myself?
How was I supposed to help her through something like this? When I’ve never had real help before myself?
How do I be all that I didn’t have?
This night seemed to be the hardest one I’d had in a long time. I cried and cried till I thought I couldn’t anymore, but there was still more.
I cried for myself, I cried for this world, I cried for Arya, I cried for all the children whose innocence is snapped away by disgusting vile creatures.
Once I could pick myself up, I went out to find Aion, the three of them were still in the same spot, but evidently drunk. I observed them for a moment from afar, they seemed joyful, happy.
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I walked away, heading towards the cafeteria. I asked the woman who gives me my food if there was a place here where I could get toys, or gifts . Surprisingly, she walked with me to a nook past the hospital, making small talk on the way and then we parted.
It was a tiny shop/building, with a man inside at the only counter there was.
“Hey, what can I get for you today?” He seemed enthusiastic like I was his first customer ever.
“Um, do you have bubble machines? Like bubble guns?” It was awkward, I hadn’t stepped foot in a store in months, I hadn’t had to buy anything in months. The man smiled and nodded as he walked to retrieve a tiny bubble wand toy, like the ones I’d see being sold in beaches back in the day, it felt nostalgic.
“Anything else?”
“Um, do you have a plant by any chance? And a puzzle for children?” I thought I was expecting too much but sure enough, he placed a tiny jigsaw puzzle of a sunflower and a tiny pot with the tiniest aloe poking out of it.
“TheAloe will need to eventually be replaced to a bigger pot cause it will grow to be a lot bigger, but if you want we have a money plant as well.”
“No the aloe is fine, thank you.” Muscle memory kicked in and I reached into my pocket expecting to find a wallet, but I didn’t have one, and my bb phone did not have any digital apps connected to any banks either, I felt a sense of social awkwardness I hadn’t in a while. “Um, how do I pay for these?”
The man smiled, looked like he was always smiling, “Can you tell me your Oracle Code name”
“Nyx”
“Give me a second” He typed into his computer, looked at me and smiled again “Do you want a paper bag for these?”
“Yes please, but I don’t have to pay?”
“No, for your level you can very much purchase these items, you can purchase more too if you’d like.”
“No, I’m okay, thank you.” I was confused, what did he mean by level, I really should head to the library here and read the Oracle handbook or something to understand this better. Or maybe I could just ask Aion.
I ended up asking for another bubble wand for myself, and then bid the nice man farewell and went to the picnic spot to find the 3 of them laughing and falling to the ground, and a cheer erupted when they saw me heading towards them with my bag of ‘goodies’.
I spent the rest of the night watching the 3 of them continue to impressively finish the bottle of whiskey, and be in awe when they saw the bubbles move through the night sky with the moon seemingly captured inside eachbubble.
