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 opened my eyes and my blue ceiling greeted me. I was lying in bed, meaning the reset happened. This was a brand new day.
I edged off the bed and swung my legs out. I stuck my feet inside the slippers we use at home and trudged to the door. I liked keeping the door to my room closed at all times to drive away any children's noise from outside.
Just like everyday, the moment I opened the door, Mindy's face swept into my field of vision.
"Rom, have you seen Mr. Duddles?" she asked, like she does every morning. I sighed. He's in the washer as Mom stole it from Mindy when the girl was sleeping. Mindy hated seeing Mr. Duddles spinning in the washer so every morning, I skirt around Mindy's hawk gaze to retrieve her favorite toy without her knowing that it has been in the washer.
I smoothed Mindy's bad case of bedhead. "I'll look for him, okay?" I said. "Go and get ready for school."
Mindy nodded with an enthusiasm fit for a child and bounded off in the hallway, tackling the stairs one step at a time. I sighed. Perhaps I should follow her down. She might fall.
I paused. Wait, Mindy didn't fall down from the stairs, ever. If this was a repeat of yesterday, then I needn't worry. Mindy was good. I could just...look for Mr. Duddles now.
I grinned to myself as I took the opposite direction Mindy had gone. I tackled the stairs leading to the back part of the house where the laundry, the kitchen, and the dining room were located. That's the quickest route to Mr. Duddles.
I was almost to the last step when Chris zipped in my view to yank the fridge doors open. On a normal day, I wouldn't see him doing this because I was accompanying Mindy down the other stairs. I watched as Chris fished out a carton of ice cream I left for myself to eat. I always wondered where my ice cream disappeared to.
Ha, caught you, thief.
"Hey, no ice cream before breakfast," I said, tackling the last of the steps and crossing the space between Chris and I in two short strides. I plucked the carton from his grip while he's looking at me like I just grew horns.
"Rom! I wasn't—"
"Save it, young man," I chided, even though I, myself, was still a young man. "Prepare the table while I cook breakfast."
Chris deflated like a balloon.
"Where's Fisher?" I asked, noting that Chris was always the one wearing the green dinosaur pajamas and Fisher will wear a Monster Parade band t-shirt to school.
Chris shrugged. "Hoarding the hot water to himself," he muttered. "Can you tell him to hurry it up? We're going to be late."
I returned Chris' gesture back to him. "I still have to fix up your breakfasts and your lunches," I said. "Can you take care of Mindy for me?"
"Yeah, sure," Chris said, casting one last doleful look at the fridge.
I watched his green-dinosaur-clad body disappear to the living room to meet Mindy going down the stairs.
