A-gore-aphobic

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, is what the average person might refer to as the days of the week, but for Jude, it is just "day x", x being whatever number day it is, and as of today it is day twelve-thousand four-hundred thirty-four. For Jude, every morning, every day, and every night is the same, from lint rolling every strand of hair that escaped her scalp during the night off her pillow, to ensuring the three locks on her bedroom door are locked right before she closes her eyes for her routinely eight hours and forty-five minutes of sleep. Jude does not like to acknowledge her differences and does not like it even more when outsiders acknowledge them either. To Jude, whatever is beyond the confined space she calls her home, is out to get her.
One would typically live in their house, but not Jude. Instead, Jude survives in hers. She does not step foot outside of her home and hasn't since she graduated eleven years ago, or in Jude's time, four thousand and twenty-three days ago. But leaving her home was not all that important because everything is online. Working is online, shopping is online, groceries are online, and everything Jude needs is accessible online.
Today was like the past twelve-thousand four-hundred thirty-three days, it was 4:06 pm when she heard three loud rattles come from her front door. Jude's eyes widen, she makes one last slicing motion on the bloody raw meat just before quickly setting the knife down and taking her gloves off disposing of them. Before she moves, she dusts herself with her hands brushing them up and down her apron. She looks down at her apron and sees the browning blood stains yet not thinking that it was a questionable look. She makes her way to the door. She reaches for the two locks, unlocks the door, and then opens it. In front of her are two men standing, but before them is a screen door that creates a dichotomy between man and woman.
"We're looking for a Jude Wallis, does she live here?" asks one of the men.
"I am Jude Wallis," Jude says slowly.
"Do you mind if we ask you some questions about some recent events?" asked the other man.
"I suppose.", she stands awkwardly an inch away from the door frame yet still in her house.
"Could you please step out of the home, Ms. Wallis?" asks the man.
"One moment please." She shuts the door on the men. Jude swiftly walks to the corner of the room where she keeps a spare rug. She rolls out the rug, creating a path from the door to the couch. She opens the door again, and then reaches for the lock on the screen door and unlocks it, she pushes the door so it opens in the men's direction and they grab it. "Please come in.", she says invitingly. The men walk in, they think nothing of the rug but instinctively stay on it as they walk over to the couch.
"Mind if we sit?" says the man.
"Be my guest," says Jude. Jude is gaining confidence. She hasn't interacted with someone face-to-face in a while, it feels refreshing. The men sit down on the couch lined in a plastic protective blanket. A loud crinkling of plastic is heard as the men sit, putting their dead weight onto the couch. Every time they move all that is heard is an irritating noise, something similar to that of two balloons rubbing against each other. The men mutually look at each other agreeing that the woman is odd.
"Ms. Wallis, where were you April 29th?" asks the man.
"Well I was here.", says Jude confidently.
"And what were you doing here?" asks the man.
"What I always do. I wake up every morning at 7:45. I give myself fifteen minutes to get up and then I make my morning coffee by eight. I sit in the kitchen drinking my coffee and by 8:10 I'm washing my mug. From 8:10 to 8:30, I dust every crevice where dust might have crept into during the night. I start work at 8:30, from here of course. I am a front-end developer, so I work on my computer. I work til 4:30 and between that time interval, I eat lunch and maybe an apple as a snack, depending on how I'm feeling. I dust again for twenty minutes and then give myself ten minutes to sit and think. Once it hits five, I'm washing my sheets and my duvet, hand wash of course. It takes me about an hour and a half to two hours. And then I machine dry them. I like them warm by the time I get into bed. While those are drying, I prepare myself some dinner, which takes me about an hour. I typically cook enough for a family of three but since it is just me, whatever is left is good to eat when I am working the following day. By 8:30 I'm done eating and my sheets and duvet are done drying. I take them out and put them on my bed. It usually takes me about fifteen minutes. After that, I begin to get ready for bed. I do my nightly routine and then I get into bed. Although I usually don't sleep until eleven, I like the comfort of my bed." says Jude. Before saying anything the men look at each other in disbelief. One man asks as the other stared with his eyebrows burrowed inwards,
"So do you have any alibis or anyone who can confirm this is what you were doing April 29th?" completely disregarding Jude's elaborate routine.
"No, it is just me in this house. But I can assure you, I have not left my house," replies Jude. One of the men reaches into his coat and pulls out a Ziploc bag as he pulls out the bag, the plastic crinkles in a familiar sound. Jude squints trying to see what's in the bag before they tell her. All she could see was a green sticky note and what looked to be a carving knife.
"Ms. Wallis did you write this note?" asks the man as he hands her the Ziploc bag making the note more visible and showing what it says. It reads 'I, Jude Wallis, did this.' and blood trickling around the word 'this'. "Are you responsible for the murder of Finn Crow?" Jude's mouth slightly falls in disbelief. "You have no alibi, you must follow us to the police station, if you refuse you will be detained." says the man. The men stand up, and again the daunting noise of the plastic emerges for the last time. The men walk to the door, this time ignoring the rug and stepping solely on the tiles. Jude watches their feet pick up and fall for each step they take. A loud thud sounds as the front door shuts and is followed by the rattle of the screen door. Jude is still. She hears the same foot steps that descended, approach again. Three knocks and Jude jumps. She can move again. She walks toward the door and opens it at once. The men are there again.
"Are you coming?" asks one of the men.
"Mhm." Jude replies. She opens her door all the way, holds her breath and lifts her foot to step out. She plants her foot, then all goes black. A faint beeping noise starts to sound. It sounds like sirens. The louder it got the clearer it became. It was an alarm clock. Jude was asleep. She opens her eyes and she is back in her bed. What a relief for Jude. She looks at her calendar, it is day twelve thousand four hundred thirty four, again.