I frown at her. “I just want me and the people I love to be safe. That’s all,” I say.
She stares at me. Does she have any idea what I’m talking about?
“What if you woke up tomorrow, and all of you were under a safe dome.”
“A what?”
“Safe dome. It’s like a big half globe that would protect you all from anything dangerous. Let’s say the dome covers every house in your neighborhood. You just have to get all your loved ones there. You’d have plenty of oxygen, water, and enough to eat. You’d no longer be in any danger. But you’d have to stay under it for the rest of your lives. Would you be happy with that?”
This girl is so weird.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Cuz! We need to be able to interact with all kinds a people, to go to work, and go to school. We could never have a normal life if we lived like that.”
“But! You’d be safe. And you said that’s all you want,” she points out.
“Are you tryna confuse me?” I ask her.
“No! I’m trying to find out what you REALLY want.”
“Well, I do really want us to be safe, but not the way you suggested.”
“So what you want has qualifications?”
This girl is exasperating! “Well, maybe—”
“Like what, specifically?”
“I don’t know! I—”
“Sure you do! You know you don’t wanna live in a safe dome, so what’s the opposite of that?”
“WILL YOU SHUT UP?” I scream. I did not intend to snap like that, but she is drivin’ me outta my mind. Goddamn, I hope I don’t have to babysit her!
She doesn’t seem shaken or upset that I yelled at her. In fact, she smirks.
“Wow. You’re kinda impatient, aren’t you?” she asks.
I tighten my lips and stare down at the street again. The next person to call me impatient is gonna regret it.
“You’ll be different later. After I’m born. The contrast is mind-blowing.”
“I’m glad this is entertaining for you.”
Her smirk morphs into a quizzical expression.
“What if you’re scared of the thing you really want?”
“That makes no sense to me.”
“Miss Corinthia told you to save lives, and if you can’t—”
“I know what she said.”
“Maybe deep down, you wanna do more than protect. What if you wanna also… destroy?”
I don’t like this. I don’t like what she’s saying to me. I don’t like what she’s making me think and feel. She’s crazy. I’m a good person, mostly. I just want my life to go back to normal. Before I knew anything about Virgil and before I was dangerous.
“Wow. That shut you up quick.”
“Hasn’t anyone ever told you to respect your elders?”
“Right now you’re the same age as me.”
“Right now isn’t real.”
“Who’s to say what’s real and what isn’t?” Atti squints into the distance.
Next to us, a patch of grass ignites into flames for no reason. It burns with the steadiness of a fire in a wood stove.
“Do I have any sons?” I ask her.
She shakes her head. “Two girls.”
“Two? What’s the other one’s name?”
“Indigo.”
After Mama. Oh no. Is Mama already—gone?
“Did—did you ever meet your great-grandmother?”
She spins around to face me, suddenly angry.
“Why are you asking these questions? None of these things matter!”
I’m so caught off guard by her reaction, I don’t know how to respond. At the same time, I don’t feel like I asked anything inappropriate, so I will not apologize.
Then she surprises me yet again. She flashes me the sweetest smile.
“I think I understand. Family, loved ones. Your people mean everything to you. You called me because you don’t want to go through it alone. You need someone with you,” my future granddaughter informs me.
I’m tired. I think this Atti girl is makin’ me tired.
“Go through what?”
Her smile fades. “What’s coming.”
I close my eyes, wishing I could ferry myself away from her and this strange place. Unfortunately, that’s not a skill I have.
“What about the others I’ve seen you with?” I ask her.
“Oh. They’re different,” she says. She sits up, glancing around, wide-eyed and nervous. “They’re not of this world anymore. They scare me,” she admits. “They want us to be like them.”
“Like them how?” I ask.
“Dead.”
I turn back to the street below. So much life down there. They have no idea of the terrors livin’ in the air that they breathe daily. I’m tired of thinking, feeling, sensing, and anything else that ends with an “ing.”
“You look sleepy.”
I shrug.
“Why don’t you take a nap?” she asks me.
“Here?”
“Yeah, why not? I promise to stay awake and keep watch over you. I promise I’ll stay with you when it gets bad, even though you might not be able to see me.”
Without intending to, I start to lie back, the sun of this beautiful day shinin’ down on me, but it’s not too hot and it’s not too bright. The fire beside us calms me with its crackling.
“Why is that there?” I ask her, referring to the fire.
“Don’t worry about that now. It’s just a figment. When you’re putting the pieces together, some are gonna be out of order,” she explains.
“I don’t think I can sleep out here,” I say, though my eyes are getting heavy.
“You can. This might relax you,” she says, and she holds up the little box her white wires were attached to so I can see it. It has a little tiny screen! Like a baby TV set! It’s so cute! She taps the screen, and I see stars and planets. This is a show about the universe, and she has it trapped in this tiny box. A man’s soothing voice speaks to us. “A tiny blue dot set in a sunbeam. Here it is. That’s where we live. That’s home,” he says. I’m both overjoyed and disheartened, because I’d love to watch this show, but I don’t think I’ll be able to find it on our regular big fat TV at home.
She’s right about it relaxing me. Though I’d like to see the whole program, after only a few minutes, my eyes close, and I
