The City is a place where everything resets after the lights have gone out: relationships, conversations, memories. Everything is inside an irreversible loop and no one knows it. All except for one girl.
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Jule, a resident of the City...
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I looked up at the stars, grateful that the moon chose to shine bright inside the loop. I tapped my pencil against the vellum and held it up to the sky.
"So, what do you think?" I asked Rom.
Rom looked up from his guitar and regarded my work. "Could use some work with the highlights," he said. Then he brought his head closer and squinted at it. "Is that me?"
I stuck my tongue out. "Why? You don't like it?"
Even in the dim moonlight, I saw Rom's ears turn red. "No, I like it," he said, his voice dying.
"I'm sorry, what?" I teased, curving my head by my ear and leaning closer to him.
"I like it," Rom choked out, coughing into his palm. "I'm just flattered that you're making an artwork of my face."
I shrugged. "Everyone and everything is a work of art if you ask me," I said.
I adjusted my head from his lap to peer up at him. "How is that song coming along?"
Rom looked unsteadily at a torn piece of paper on his other lap. "It's...good?" he said. "I just can't keep track of everything since they vanish every day."
"Write it in a special notebook, like I do with my diary," I advised. "I did tell you how everything I write there doesn't get reset, right?"
Rom nodded. "Yeah, but I have a notebook at home and it gets reset as well," he said.
I pushed myself up to level my eyes to him. "Have you tried putting your heart into it?" I asked. Because, that's what I did to mine. I remember picking up that small notebook and wishing with all my heart that everything I write there didn't get vaporized the next morning. I wrote everything there—my dreams, my memories, my thoughts, and even my secrets. In short, that diary contains all of me.
"Sounds tough," Rom said.
I shrugged. "You'll live," I said.
Rome tapped his chin, thinking. "Putting your heart in it, huh?" he muttered before turning to me. "How do I do that?"
I pursed my lips. "Be honest?"
Rom snorted. "That's not gonna cut it," he said.
"It will," I insisted. "Why not try it? Write an honest song right now. Want to use my diary for it?"
Rom shook his head, reddening. "That would be...improper."
"You know your boundaries, nice," I said. "But yeah, try it. Let's see what you got."
"And you?" Rom asked. "What are you going to be doing?"
"I'm going to finish drawing you, unlike before," I said, not even caring how cheesy that sounds. "This time, I'm coloring your eyes in."
Rom raised an eyebrow. "What about my eyes?" he said before catching wind of what I just said. "Wait, this isn't the first time you've drawn me?"
