Murasakino

Exploring the City

After I woke up, I could unfortunately remember the events of the previous night very clearly, especially the moment I was being 'plugged in' or whatever it was. I shuddered at the thought, and didn't have the appetite to finish my cereal. When Cathy noticed that I hadn't eaten, she sat down beside me.
"Not hungry?" she asked. "I guess we did have a lot to eat yesterday."
"It's not that," I replied, pushing the cereal around with my spoon. "I was awake when..." I paused.
"Awake when..." Cathy said. "What happened?"
"I was awake when I was plugged in." Her smile dropped.
"I see. I'm guessing it wasn't fun?" I shook my head, just staring into the bowl. I watched as the pieces of cereal gathered into a pile as the spoon pushed against them, almost to the rim of the bowl, and then tumbled down to the bottom like a miniature landslide. "If it makes you feel any better, the cereal is better with milk." Cathy picked up a bottle and poured some milk into the bowl, causing the little ring-shaped pieces to float on the surface.
"Thanks," I said, tasting a spoonful. It was about the same as before, but the milk had begun to taste sweet from the sugar. At least I managed to finish the bowl before our walk.

On this particular walk, I felt much better by the time we reached the lake. The stunning view of the sunlight glowing on the water took my mind off my other thoughts, and I just stood with the girls and watched. They didn't necessarily feel as calm as I did, as they were content talking to eachother and Cathy. For a minute I lost concentration, and when we set off again I remained stood by the water's edge. Cathy shouted for me to catch up, and I remembered what I was meant to be doing. Interestingly, there were more cars than usual outside the supermarket, and a sign with some large, yellow text on it. It read:

BACK TO SCHOOL!
OFFERS INSIDE

There was an image of a smiling boy in a school uniform next to it, carrying a couple of books and a calculator. I wasn't entirely sure what it meant by 'back to school', but Cathy told us it meant there were some school supplies for sale in there, like books and pens. I was curious to see if anyone bought anything for school, and was happy to have my question answered merely five minutes later.

My first customers were a mother, father and son, who were buying a rucksack along with their regular shopping. The boy was wearing a red shirt with a picture of a dinosaur's head on it, and I pointed out that I liked it.
"That's a cool shirt," I said, trying to be friendly and smiling. He looked up and gave me a shy smile in return.
"It's his favourite," the boy's mother added, placing more food onto the conveyor belt. "He wears it wherever we go, and really wants to wear it for school in a few days."
"Is he not allowed to?" I asked.
"No, his school has a uniform," the father said. "He tried one on yesterday, but the smallest size available seemed a bit big for him."
"He does look quite small," I said. "Oh, uh... do you need a bag?"
"No thanks, we'll be alright," the mother replied. "Thank you! Bye!"
"Bye!" I watched as they left, and the boy put his new rucksack on. He smiled up at his parents and helped them put their shopping into the car.

I spent about ten minutes wondering what it was like to have a child. Seeing children in the shop was normal, but I couldn't imagine having my own son or daughter. The other girls would all probably have loved to have kids too, as they seemed better with dressing up, which I knew lots of young children enjoyed. However, since we spent all day at the supermarket, they would need to stay in the lab all day, which didn't sound safe. They could go to school, where they would be able to meet new friends and learn, but they'd never learn as much as what the girls and I knew. After the ten minutes, a fire alarm went off, causing everyone to jump. The pre-recorded voice of a man interrupted the music, instructing everyone to leave the building quickly and carefully. We stared at eachother, unsure of what to do, and decided to follow everyone outside. Once outside, the voice said that the supermarket would now be closed, as it was a real fire and not just a fire drill. Everyone had to go home, including us, which was unfortunate because many of the shoppers hadn't finished finding what they were looking for. On the bright side, we got to enjoy a walk home by ourselves.

   "Are you sure this is the right way?" Aka asked Midori, who was leading the procession.
   "Of course I am," she replied. "We've been along here lots of times already."
   "I know, but Cathy's not here. We could get lost!"
   "We're not going to get lost."  I looked to our left as we walked, and noticed a narrow street leading into the edge of the city. The scent of freshly cooked food wafted by me, and I stopped to look down the street. I could here people talking, and was curious to see what was going on. When the girls weren't looking, I turned back and wandered down the street, looking for the food. I turned a corner and found the street with the market stalls, various vegetables and cooked foods. One such stall had a spicy curry with prawns in it, and the man running it was giving out bowls of it.
   "What's this?" a man in a green jacket asked him.
   "Thai curry," he replied. "You can have a bowl! It's not that expensive."
   "I think I will!" the man smiled, taking his wallet from his jacket pocket and looking for enough money. I was slightly disappointed, as I had wanted to try some but didn't have any money with me.
   "Can I help you?" the man at the stall asked me.
   "No, it's fine... I'm fine," I answered. "I don't have any money."
   "Ah, that's okay!" he grinned, placing a small amount in a bowl. "You can have this much for free."
   "Oh, thank you, sir!" I took the bowl from him and ate a spoonful. Immediately my mouth began to tingle, then the spiciness of the chili kicked in and my tongue felt like it was burning. My face went hot and I dropped the bowl in surprise.
   "Too spicy?" the man laughed, walking round to pick it up.
   "I'm so sorry! I never expected it to be so hot!"
   "That's fine! I've got a milder version here if you want some." He pointed to another pan full of green curry, and I blushed, even though my face was already red.