An Attic filled with Birds [Completed]

40. New motivation

Felix
Why am I doing this? Bite after bite I ask myself this question. This is a thing that happened before my generation. Why do I want to fix it?

Why do I need to fix this barrier? Why do I need to fix this barrier?

Just because I found all the pieces? Because I'm part of the royal family? Because I'm the overlooked middle child?

Do I need attention that much?

Form who? My family? Staff?

Apparently so.

So, why am I doing this? I don't want to do this for my dad anymore. Or my mom. Or my siblings. Or anyone else.

I need a new reason. A new motivation.

Why am I working on restoring the barrier? To divide our country and the sea.

Why is the divide positive? The other half of the country will become completely habitable again in less than a decade.

Why do I want that? So that people don't have to live in enormous, rather ugly flats. So people will have more work opportunities. So there's more land for the growing of food.

Who does that benefit? Everyone except the top one percent. But we already have enough. We don't need more. It's not like it'll bankrupt us anyway.

So... That's my new motivation? The people?

No matter how vague that term might be, I guess I'm rolling with it.

❖

Felix
Nora almost slams me against the car door on my left when she thinks she figured something out. I was peacefully taking a nap, when she pushed my shoulder.

She wakes me, and shoves Bailey's notebook in my face.

'What?' I say.

'Look.'

'I am, but I don't understand what's happening.'

'The language. Remember when we found the language, and didn't recognize it?'

'Yes?'

She removes the book from my face and bends forward towards me.

'What if it's magic?' she whispers.

I raise a single eyebrow.

'Think about!' she continues. 'We don't recognize it. There are only a handful of languages in our world. And what is a language we wouldn't recognize because it's incredibly scarce? The one magic users use.'

I hum. Does she have a point? A little, right?

'So... what you're trying to say is...'

'Bailey is a magic user. For sure. One hundred percent.'

'But the notebook used to belong to his dad. What if he was a magic user, and Bailey isn't?'

'Look at the handwriting. It's different. And all the campaign ideas near the middle, match the handwriting in the weird language. I'm telling you, Bailey is a magic user. And who knows, maybe his dad is as well. It's genetic, isn't it?'

It's not like we had a plan B in the first place.

I shrug.

I take off the burger wrappers from my lap.

I start the car's engine.