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

CHAPTER 157

The wind inside me, which is now the M in my other palm, asks if I want to know what life is like for it. I say yes and am lifted into the air, straight to my old room, just in time to see Malika find the letters inside my diary. That means she must've already seen my copper wall of glory. Dammit! I wish I was here for that. But it's all right. I'll settle for the diary instead. After she reads a few words, Malika sits on my unkempt bed to chew on the rest. I watch as her emotions become a dormant ocean. My eyes pierce into her mind to see if it's just an act. Maybe I should move closer to see whether it's the castle thief, Pete or Lily who has lost her interest. But the stick whispers for me to stay put.

Malika moves on to my rejection letters; then gets up and closes the door when she sees the responses in my diary. I know exactly what order those are in; the castle thief, Pete, Mary and Lily. She paces the room as she reads then shuts the book abruptly. Yet I don't get what I'm looking for. Oh, maybe now. She opens the cupboard. Those boxes of clothes marked charity will surely do the trick. Malika rummages through them and sees they have some value then dials up the caretaker. She gives the room one last look through, as if to determine any repairs needed before the new girl arrives. But the tears I've been longing for never come. She's as cold as those other matrons on the wall. Oh, that Malika! How dare she ruin the one thing that would've made me go off peacefully into the night?

She moves toward my dresser now. And I get some semblance of emotion. But not the kind I want. Malika smiles down at something. The wind sweeps me into the air just over her shoulder, and there is Ruby, glowing happily in her bowl. Malika takes her up and moves towards my copper wall then looks directly at me as she presses a finger into its radiant glory.