Revenge of the Fallen

Chapter eight, part 1

The planet had already turned a few times on its axis since Jasper had disappeared. That happened a short while after he finished the school year. He said nothing to anyone and disappeared from our lives. Despite that, the rest of us were still meeting from time to time.

  When things were going well, once a week we sat on a dilapidated couch in a verdant room where most things were untouched. We were no longer children who came here to play, almost no longer even teenagers who sewed here. Most of the time we were working or trying to find a job. Well, Arno was an exception, he aimed higher. To further studies.

  I repeatedly opened and closed the lighter with a matte black metal case depicting a silver dragon with a sword. It was already some time since I found it among the old things at home, so I guessed that it was probably left by my parents or my grandfather. Grandma never told me but I couldn't be angry because I never asked as I was scared that it would hurt her. She was the one who knew all of them, after all.

  As I registered movement beside me, I raised my head. Mali handed me a joint, which I took with a nod and then took a drag while I leaned more into the backrest of the old couch. I exhaled a puff of smoke into the air above me and after a while I repeated the action, while observing the ceiling above me - not gonna lie, there wasn't anything to look at. I didn't listen to the others who were talking about something, I only vaguely perceived that they were having fun.

  The weekend was coming, so we could sit here, drink and party late into the night. Or until the morning of the next day. I suspected that it would probably turn out that way anyway. I didn't want to do anything anymore, let alone go anywhere. Even though I was thinking about granny from time to time.

  "Tomorrow is the race at the end of town, right?" Mali suddenly asked. Looking out of the broken window, I nodded. It was getting dark outside, which was an amazing opportunity for the organizers. It didn't look so great on a bright day and the atmosphere wasn't the same as at night.

  I blew out more gray smoke as I observed what could be seen from the window, although it wasn't much. The sky was nearly dark again, so the street lights were already on, but the moon, stars and other planets in the sky could still be seen pretty well - we could see the biggest ones all the time.

  I sipped from the bottle that came to me, to which I smiled slightly. I wondered, not for the first time, what it must be like to be outside the city, or even off this planet. I dreamed of what it would be like if I could take an interplanetary hovercar... spaceship I should say probably, and visit any planet around Shinrin.

  As Mali waved her hand in front of my eyes, I flinched in surprise. Confused and questioning at the same time, I raised my eyebrows at her. The blue-haired friend just smiled at me and handed me a bag of some salty chips.

  Happily, I took a full handful, from which I gradually ate with my eyes fixed on the outside again. So for a while. Otherwise, I tried to listen to what others were talking about. Mali said that she managed to find a part-time job in a tattoo salon. This could mean that I could possibly get a discount on the tattoos I planned to get.

  I turned my right hand's palm up. About a year ago, I had a sword tattooed just below my wrist. It had quite a long blade and sometimes I wondered what it would be like to use such a weapon. The tattoo turned out well, although there wasn't much detail to be done on the size. And I was thinking of adding maybe a few more to it.

  I returned home around lunch. To the apartment I shared with my grandmother. But she obviously hasn't missed me overnight. She didn't even have any questions or anything, instead she told me about an elderly neighbor next door. The old lady was crazy and the other night she was conjuring up ghosts or something.