The Mindless Man's Paradise

Chapter thirty-three

  The children took it upon themselves to rush into our apartment, shoving aside Cyrus and I. My brother’s Soul Mate smiled apologetically.

  She definitely wasn’t a beauty, for sure. But the way she was taking me in so fully, I could sense her intelligence. Glasses stood on the brim of her nose, her eyes were dark brown, and she had a healthy tan, along with dirty-blonde hair.

  When she spoke, her tone was raspy, “It is nice to meet you! I apologize for the children…”

  “It is not a problem!” I found myself having difficulties speaking like a Landie again.

  If you haven’t noticed, Landies use contractions as infrequently as possible, causing them to sound bleak, and lifeless.

  That was probably what HQ had been going for with that approach.

  I stuck my hand out to introduce myself, and when I opened my mouth, I almost said, “Hi, I’m Aspen.”

  Although it had been merely days since I had gotten my name, it seemed like it had always been so.

  Instead, I smiled, holding down my words and reminding myself that today, I would be a Landie.

  “Brother.” I finally addressed him.

  “Sister.” he smiled warmly, and hugged me tightly. “It is wonderful to see you once more.”

  When we finished our embrace, I stepped back and welcomed them into our apartment, seeing that their children had already done so, as they were bouncing upon the couch with giddiness.

  “Mother negates this at home!” The older child said.

  Their mother shook a finger at them, and they abruptly stopped.

  Cyrus spoke up for the first time since their arrival. “Not to sound rude, but shouldn’t you all be living in the family settlements?”

  I cursed inwardly.

  Cyrus didn’t exactly have the prose of a Landie quite yet. Not only did he use a contraction, but he said family settlements instead of family districts.

  But, if my brother or his Soul Mate noticed, they showed no signs.

  Wrapping his Soul Mate under his arm, my brother replied with, “My job keeps us here.”

  No job was that important.

  “Where do you work?” I implied.

  Right at that moment, one of the children zoomed in between the four of us, having a laughing fit as the younger boy toddled along behind him.

  This captured my brother’s attention. He safely removed his arm from his Soul Mate, and swept up the older boy, as he giggled more fervently.

  He never answered my question.

  “Why don’t we sit down?” Cyrus asked politely.

  Again with the contractions.

  He led the way to the couch, which was already wrinkled from the two terrors.

  The couch was large enough to seat the six of us, where we introduced one another, which indeed, was long overdue.

  My brother introduced me to his Soul Mate as “Sister”, and to the children as “Aunt”.

  I introduced Cyrus to everyone as my Soul Mate, and to the children, “Uncle”.

  When I’d imagined becoming Aunt, I’d imagined a warm feeling, but not in the way that I was getting one.

  I felt trapped.

  As much as I’d been preparing for this get together, I realized the holes in our cover. Cyrus and his dialect, me and my awkward aura; all I could do was pray that we didn’t blow anything.

  “So, tell me, Sister. Tell me the story of your Journey. We have all been dying to hear it!” he exclaimed.

  I looked to Cyrus, who, at the exact same moment, looked at me.

  “Do you want to start?” I asked him.

  He shrugged, which is another thing Landies don’t do, and begun to tell the story. His side of it at least.

  As soon as he had gotten up to the part where he was attacked, my brother surprisingly interrupted him to ask me what I had been doing. So, of course, I told him about the raccoon, the deer, the loss of my supplies, the rabies, the bear attack. I got a couple of good laughs out of them.

  I laughed too, but only because I had to. My insides squirmed with the anger that was starting to boil inside me.

  Continuing the tale, I spoke of my quick stay in the boy’s settlement, (minus the incident with the Boy) and my newfound determinated attitude towards the Journey.

  “I walked on and on, without sleep for days. I was getting worried about him. Hoping he was alive, I persevered. When I found him, it was not pretty. I used my very little medical abilities to nurse him to decent shape, and we trekked back to the Society. And now, we could not be happier.”

  As far as Journeys go, my brother’s was rather… boring, so to say.

  No animal attacks, no rabies, only some minor dehydration. Just a smooth ride.

  What I wouldn’t give for that.

  The day continued rather smoothly, apart from Cyrus’s Landie-language impediment, of course.

  We finished off with lunch, which my brother and his Soul Mate insisted that they cook.

  Afterwards, my brother informed me his free time was coming to an end, and that he must return to work. We bid one another farewell, and although I was glad to have seen my brother, I was relieved it was over.

  Once the door was closed, I turned around to Cyrus.

  “Cyrus!” I squealed.

  “What?” he asked with concern.

  “The way you talked!” I exclaimed. “It was horrible!”

  Looking offended, Cyrus said, “What’s wrong with the way I talk?”

  “I mean, with me, it’s fine. But in front of other people… it’s bad. It’s horrible.”

  “Why?” he was flustered, maybe confused as well.

  “Landies don’t use contractions, and you misused several common terms, Cyrus.”

  “I wasn’t aware that this was a grammar lesson.” he joked.

  My expression softened.

  “I’m sorry. Maybe I was just over thinking it. I don’t even think they noticed, to be completely honest.”

  He smiled a toothy grin before enveloping me in a hug randomly.

  “Sometimes I wonder where I’d be without you.” I said, just as sporadically as the hug had been.

  “Me too.” he whispered, rustling the hair around my ear.

  Moments later, when we finally untangled ourselves from our hug, we kissed.

  As it happened, I felt myself blush, but I clung to him anyways, enjoying the taste once more.

  Sometimes, I wonder if my whole life had lead up to that moment.

  Not the kissing, I mean- don’t get me wrong- the kissing was a bonus. But, meeting Cyrus, realizing HQ’s lies, being an Infractor and being proud of it- I believed, and still do believe- that my life’s purpose revolved around those things.

  I was going to do something, whether it was revolutionary or not.

  Now that I was looking in from the outside, I could see just how dreary HQ life was. Between the nameless people, the endless sameness of everything, I knew that life was not meant for me.