Embers

Karsyn

     I tentatively grabbed my brown canvas bag as I walked over the doorstep of my apartment building. My eyes were immediately met with the florescent magenta and blue lights of the street signs and screens. I looked up at the large, bright neon screen above the doorway. It glowed through the dark, misty dusk air. A cool breeze stirred my hair and it tickled my face. I tucked the loose strands behind my ear and stepped onto the wet paved road. It had rained last night, and I could smell the scent of the soaked asphalt below me, and the slick ground reflected the bright blues, yellows, and pinks of the streetlights. Whether I was ready for it or not, this day had begun.
     I was still tired from staying up all night last night... and the night before. I didn't know what was wrong with me lately. There were too many thoughts that I just couldn't chase from my mind.
     As I made my way down the neon streets to the shooting range, my boots shattering the smooth, colorful puddles with each step, I looked around. This early, most people were still huddled up in homes, sleeping or just waking up. Only the occasional early riser nodded as they passed me, walking to work, or walking home from night shifts. Rin was running late. She was hardly ever late to anything, but I saw her with Jay last night, and I thought that may have something to do with it.
     I heard a familiar voice call my name off to the left. My eyes brightened and I turned to the origin of the sound. Out from a dimly lit alley, my best friend jogged out to meet me.
"Karsyn! I thought I might not catch you," called Rin.
"Hey! What's going on? Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, I was just running late. I was at Jay's all night. Didn't sleep a bit.
     I smirked. "Oh?"
     Rin slapped me on the arm and groaned, exasperated. "It's not like that! I told you. We. Are. Just. Friends." But she turned her head and smiled.
     Rin had had a crush on Jay since he moved to our school in the fifth grade. I constantly teased her about it, much to her dislike.
     I was about to say something else about it, probably how she should just tell him she likes him already, but when I looked over at her, I could tell something was wrong. "Really, Rin, what's going on with you?"
     Her smile faded. "I think I said something wrong. Jay and I were talking about our parents and how we wonder who they are,"
     When the entire human race woke up after the Blackout sixteen years ago, everyone had been relocated. Some of the adults remembered how things were before, but the Last Years like Rin and me were born in 2037, and were only infants when the Blackout happened. None of us knew who our parents were, or if they were still alive. Surely they were... but none of the Last Year's parents ever bothered to find their lost children. Maybe they were afraid. I often wondered who my parents were. I knew I would never find them, but I couldn't resist the curiosity that tugged at me. There was an empty space within me that would never be filled. We all missed the parents we would never get back.
     "I got caught up in the moment and said something about how his mom probably had blue eyes like his and-- I don't know what happened. I guess I got into a sensitive subject, because he just shut down--"
     "Look, parents are a sensitive subject for us all. It's not your fault. He'll be fine. We all have those certain things that we tend to wonder about most about our parents." I looked at Rin sadly.
     "I know. But we had been talking all night, and... I don't know. I thought he might be about to say something, but after that he just kind of closed off."
     "It'll be fine. Whatever it was he was going to tell you, I'm sure he'll get around to it soon."
     I looked up just in time to see that I was about to pass the bright sign hanging over the shooting range door. "Well, this is my stop. Later, you have to tell me all about what Jay says at work."
     "I will." she smiled briefly, then waved and turned to the shop across the street.
     As I walked up to the front desk at the shooting range to sign in, I noticed someone I had never seen before walk into the back room. He turned and looked at me before the door swung closed. I nodded and picked up the pen to sign my name, silently wondering who he was.
     After I signed in, I walked to the back room and slid the door open. The new guy was nowhere to be seen. I glanced around briefly, and then walked out. I would have to find him later. I guess I was a welcoming committee of sorts at the range, which was strange, considering how much I kept to myself anywhere else. The shooting range was my comfort zone. People often told me I was a totally different person in there.
     I went back to the front desk and asked for my schedule. Mrs. Jada handed me a slip of paper labeled, Today's List of Tedious Activities. I laughed to myself. Mrs. Jada was always making jokes to lighten the mood. Tedious tasks indeed. If it weren't for her, I didn't think we would have half the staff we had now.
     I thanked her and went to meet my first "tedious activity" of the day: cleaning the guns.
     Later, as I was leaving the back room to put away the guns I had been cleaning, the new guy nearly ran into me as he was walking in.
     "Oh! Sorry," he said as he realized I was there. He had a faraway look in his eyes, his mind obviously in other places.
     "Oh, it's fine," I said.
     He stood there awkwardly, obviously wanting an excuse not to talk. I understood, so I smiled and said, "Well I've got to go teach that kid at the front desk to shoot a gun... for the third time. I don't know when they are just going to accept that he sucks at it." He smiled halfheartedly. With that I left, but before the door could slide closed, I looked back to see the new guy with his head in his hands, knuckles turning white. I would have gone back to see if I could help, but something told me it was best to leave him alone.