Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down

Chapter 14: I got bored of Chapter 13

July 11th, 2478

7/11/2478

Alexandria was running away. Running away from Guinevere. She couldn't look back. If she did she knew she would turn back.

She couldn't do that.

Lucy was gripping her hand, laughing. It was a game. They were running because it was a game. Alexandria was Lucy's babysitter. It was all a game.

All a game.

It's just a game.

You know, life is a game. The problem is, everyone's playing it with slightly different rules, slightly different cards, slightly different dice. And if you take a look at all the people in the universe and they're all playing different games you'll end up with someone playing Monopoly and someone playing Angry Birds.

"Lucy, we don't have to run anymore if you don't want to." Alexandria was panting slightly. She wasn't exactly in the best shape.

"It's fun to run," Lucy exclaimed. They were headed to Six, which wasn't too far from the Library, but Alexandria didn't think she could run the entire way, especially not at this pace.

"Sure, sure." They were at Four right now. "Actually, Lucy, I want to talk to you about something, okay?"

"Sure."

Alexandria took her to the same bench she had sat on with Guinevere only a few days ago. "Look, Lucy, your parents don't know who I am."

"Yes." Lucy was distracted, kicking her legs at the ground and picking at her skirt. "But that's okay, they'll like you once they meet you."

"No, see, that's the thing, Luce. Your parents can't meet me."

"Why not?"

"I- well, it's complicated." Alexandria tried to think of the easiest way to explain it. "I'm not- you're- okay." She had something, and it might not make sense but she'd go with it. "Look, I'm kind of like a spy. You know what a spy is, right?"

"Yeah. They run around and peek at people." Lucy shook her head disapprovingly. "They're naughty."

"Right, well." This was not going well. "I'm kind of a spy," Alexandria admitted.

Lucy gasped loudly, and a parent walking the path with their toddler looked up. Alexandria gave a small smile, attempting to get them to move on.

"It's not bad. Don't worry. I'm not going to spy on you," she continued hastily, and quieter too. "But some people don't like me. So I try to stay hidden. Like a spy. So far, the only people who know who I am, are you, Guinevere, and her dads."

"Why?"

"I-I don't know, exactly." And that was true, Alexandria didn't really know. She'd grown up that way--removed from the rest of society. "I, well, it's kind of a long story." Her thoughts were becoming less cohesive, more cyclical. How to explain it?

Let us all take a moment to pity the situation I inadvertently placed my daughter into.

Silence, stillness, quiet. Blah, blah, blah. Let's move on.

"I get it." Lucy didn't get it, but she would hold this moment in a storage container, in her mind until a day when she would pull it out and everything would make sense.

Sadly, for her, this day will probably never happen, but we will imagine that perhaps it will.

Although, I sincerely doubt it.

"Right, so that means that you can't tell your parents about me, okay? Neither Jamie nor Charlotte, okay?"

"Okay." Lucy jumped up, then sat back down again. "Can I ask you a question?"