NINE TIME MACHINES: Do you want to undo your entire life on planet earth?

CHAPTER 42

The phone sounds off in disapproval. I do the needful with the bulb attachment and resume my mission. Desiree Mollete, who art thou, you filthy swine? Her numerous photos answer that she's a beautiful Copper model with long flowing hair and a thriving business woman, soon to be representing Stocatta in a regional beauty pageant. I hate her and want that bitch dead! She's much taller than me too; completely dwarfs him, that's for sure. Did Pete really have to go and choose a giant to replace me? I hate him so much right now. Oh, who am I kidding? I love Pete Falona with all my heart. We have a good life together. Our children are successful. They're married to prominent people. Their children are Matron Caine's future beloved students. Oh, why can't he see the future with my eyes? Perhaps it's because they're always drenched in tears.

I get off the bed and pace my coffin of a room. The copper coins are still scattered across the floor in wild abandon, right where Malika Caine left them. They too want a better life after having tasted her cruelty. And like my elite neighbours, they too are segregated despite their equal value. Some are shiny and bright; others dull and stained by hopefuls' fingers, the vile essence of those bank girls too. That's it! That's the answer I've been waiting on. This is how I can become Mary-the-Great, a giant in my own right. I can leave something behind worth looking up to, something no one can remove in a hurry. But how?

Matron Caine's tin of glue is still on my dresser. Strange that she never asked back for it. I grab up the shiny coins and think hard about my next move. Why do we always choose the elevated ones first, even us who are targeted and damaged? I have no answers for my own questions. Maybe they'll come when coins and glue unite in holy matrimony? I brush glue against a random section of wall and press the coins in. Inhale. Exhale. Help me to glow again.