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Wait, before we even start? But we’re already off the ground. What the hell is he on about? Is there more to come from this odd trio or what? I have no idea. Seems kinda exciting but at the same time, I need to be careful that I don’t get dragged into some nonsense or danger. After all, I’m screwed without my mask. This better be a peaceful journey. Unless this journey is only the start. Maybe I’m overthinking things. I mean, why would anything like that happen? Don’t they have anything better to do? What the hell am I even thinking. Be normal for once. For goodness sake, everything will be normal. Tomorrow , I will be sitting in class with everything in order. Nothing will go wrong. What the hell, I need to calm down. Snap out of it. But still, it’s a thought that is still worth storing. I’m not going to be able to get this out of my head, am I?
Shallow breaths enter and exit my mouth and I find both the old man and the girl just staring at me. Is it really that noticeable?
“Um, hello?” Eye contact resumes and things start to get awkward.
“Well, you seemed to be breathing in regular but short and fast breaths. As if you were having some kind of heart attack. But it seems that you are well. We were just worried.” He turns back to the pilot and tells him to level off the craft.
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“Yeah, it is weird. Danny seemed calm though, if stuff like this happens, he usually tries to get to the guy and check if he is OK. That’s also weird” She turns to ‘Danny’ and gives him a stern look. So, she isn’t related to him? That look kind of gives it away. I don’t even give my parents that look. A slight emptiness forms in my chest as the thought makes a fly by, past my head. The rumble of the engine dies down a little as we start our descent. The lack of lighting inside makes it easy to admire the lights down below. Lights. The sparkling of luminations fill my field of vision as I look down. “Ahem, you know it’s nice to talk to the girl giving you a ride to your school.”
“My school?”
“You’re going to Cambridge right? The famous university.”
“Yeah.”
“My, you’re quite young looking, how old are you?”
“Sixteen.”
“No, really how old are you?” I turn to meet her eyes and just stare, and her mouth drops like a guillotine. “What, how? But. Cambridge is uni and you’re high school!”
“Surprised? I’m going to the labs tomorrow for my introduction. Training to be a medical engineer.”
“What’s that?”“I built my mask, and it helps me. That’s what people like me do, we make stuff to help others.” I look back at the lights. ”Even stuff that saves lives.” God freaking dammit, that was way too cliche!
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“I see.” Wait, she took no notice of that. Did that actually work? Did it send chills down her spine? No, no way. Probably something else. Is she thinking about what I want to be? Does she need something from me? Is this why I’m here? Did that old man know about me? What the hell! How would he find information about me like that? Is he some kind of exploiter? No, that would mean he would be arrested already. Plus, how would he get this rich from exploiting kids? That wouldn’t work. Who is he, more importantly, what is he?
“AAGGHH!” I let it out, it was building up for a while and there was nothing I could do about it. The clouds in my head start to waft away, turning into a cool mist of uncertainty. She locks her eyes onto mine. Rage fills my head and begins to fog my thoughts, hands start shaking and legs commence their burning. I look away and try to control my breathing, a song resonates inside my skull, things start to heat up.
Then a voice. A voice pushes it all out. Over the wailing of the wind and rumble of the engine, a singing voice pushes the heat out. The redness in my head is replaced with a blue haze. I look back to the girl. Her jaws move to the melodious tone of the song. The words hang in the air like kites. She finishes a verse and looks back at me. I say nothing. I think of nothing, no thoughts drive me insane. I feel the hair over my right eye waft around. She looks at me intently, but with a different expression, as if she expects something from me. “Thank you.” I briefly respond and look ahead of me. Past the old man’s head, I can see a singular runway lit up for us to land on. For the first time in a long time, I feel nothing. The voice of the girl leaves me thoughtless, speechless, emotionless. As if it purged the hole inside me.
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Finally, I can think again. The clouds come back but it will be a while until it consumes me again. For now, I have control over my thoughts. But I can’t get over that. The voice. It was different. It seemed so similar yet so unique. The tune and the melody. It also seemed like I remembered it. And the words. They reached out to me. The taxi takes a left turn to show the student residential. Here I am. But what the hell was that? A deep breath drawn through the mask helps me take control of my actions.
“Here, there’s twenty.”
“Cheers. And you need… three forty back.”
I put out my hand and receive the coins from the driver. “Alright, take care.”The softness of a pillow had never felt so comforting, yet now it does. All the muscles from the day ease from the warmth of the blanket. Tomorrow’s a big day, I must rest. The thought itself sounded so robotic, like a command from a program. A sheet of darkness covers my sight from the late morning sun and I begin to drift away.
20,000 Words 