Tuesday Afternoon

Chapter 1

As of 08/30/2023, I have edited together the original chapters 1 and 2 since I re-read my writing and felt they were weird in the way they were originally written, like they felt disjointed and had a lot of the same info? Anyway, as a result of combining them, all subsequent chapters have been re-numbered and edited for any grammar/spelling mistakes. Enjoy! <3

The Bird Hitting the Window Was a Prophecy of Death

It had been a little over a year since you came back to the real world again. You had been a mess ever since, throwing yourself into your studies to keep your mind off of the mental anguish you felt over losing all of your friends in the span of a few weeks. You were heartbroken.

Having been a year at this point, you felt your hope for making it back fading away. Although you thought it was possible, you still needed to figure out how you could do it. All you had were your scars and the cube to tell you that it was all real.

In addition to that, you had spent countless days trying to reconnect with your powers. Release your wings, make your eyes glow, whatever you could to hone your senses to be prepared for whatever showdown might occur when you get back. Nothing would happen for the first few months, despite your trying.

Then the first episode of season two was released. In your excitement, you failed to feel the surge of energy through your body as your eyes began to glow and a dull pain came from the scars on your back. The wings burst from their confines after the episode.

For a moment, you were panicked. But as you watched the red feathers flow to the ground to the end credit music, a bright and knowing smile spread across your face.

Just maybe... After all this time, you might be able to make it back.

Instead of dwelling on the ifs and buts of it though, you took up a couple of extracurriculars and continued to go to college. In the rest of your free time, you watched and rewatched every Trigun piece of media you could get your hands on. You wanted every last detail etched into your brain if you did manage to go back.

As the thoughts about the past year crossed your mind on the drive home from classes, something tugged at you. Something familiar, but foreign all the same. It was odd.

You begrudgingly pushed it away. You had homework to finish and two fluffy cats to spoil rotten when you got home.

•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•

The weeks passed by at an agonizing pace, and the finals you had right around the corner didn't make you feel any better either. The day started out as it normally would. You get up at 8 am to get ready for class, take the 20-minute drive to your college campus, and attend your two morning classes. One thing that was not normal was a fucking pigeon diving off the highway overpass and smacking head-first into your windshield just before your exit.

"It is seven in the morning," you quoted to yourself under your breath as you pulled off the highway. You were way too tired and groggy to be freaking out right now.

So, you ignored it.

Maybe you should've listened to the bird. Turned your car around, went home, and back to sleep in your comfy bed. All day, that feeling that something was wrong stayed in the back of your mind. Something about the air felt electric. You had an inkling that whatever this feeling was connected to could help you get back to Gunsmoke.

With your morning classes finished, you packed up your things and headed home to eat some well-deserved lunch. You drove as cautiously as you could, not wanting a sudden repeat of what got you to gunsmoke in the first place. You wanted to grab the cube and your go-bag before something like that were to happen.