The AfterLife [ON HOLD]

7

SALLY

OK.

Now I'm officially sure he's lost his mind.

Because where he's sent me, I uh, I really doubt he knows what he talks about.

But then again, he did say we have to lay low.

No matter what.

So basically, he's switching location appearances with the wrong places, 'cause I looked them up and they don't match.

For example.

He said he was sending me to New York.

What he forgot to mention, however, was that in new York, there aren't any trees.

Well, at least not as much as I'm finding here.

While I was on the bus, I was reading the file. It looked like this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FILE X
(a very important file)
(keep with at all times)

New York City

New York City is a lovely place, comprises 5 boroughs sitting where the Hudson River meets the Atlantic Ocean. At its core is Manhattan, a densely populated borough that's among the world's major commercial, financial and cultural centers. Its iconic sites include skyscrapers such as the Empire State Building and sprawling Central Park. Broadway theater is staged in neon-lit Times Square.

THINGS TO DO:
★ Tour around the Statue of Liberty.
★ Take a stroll through Central Park.
★ Check out the Empire State Building.
★ Ride a taxi around Times Square.
★ Broaden your creative imagination with a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
★ Ride over the Brooklyn Bridge.
★ Check out the High Line.
★ Go to Rockefeller Center.
★ Expand more on artistic design with a trip to the Museum of Modern Art.
★ Visit the Grand Central Terminal.
★ Check out The Battery.
★ Get a movie experience of your own by spending time at the Theatre District.
★ Ride around SoHo, Manhattan.
★ “Isolate” yourself, at Coney Island.
★ Love the past? Then the American Museum of Natural History is for you.
★ Explore Solomon R. Guggenheim.
★ Find safe haven at The Plaza.
★ Visit the all-too-well-known Greenwich Village.
★ Have loads of fun at Bryant Park.
★ Take a trip to Broadway.
★ Crane your neck with the tall sighting of the Flatiron Building.
★ Take a look sometime at the Chrysler Building.
★ Tired of taxis? Feel the true breeze with the Staten Island Ferry.
★ Explore DUMBO.
★ Can't go to Italian soil at the moment? Feel how you would expect to at Little Italy, as you would if you were actually there.
★ Like the name Madison? Then the Madison Square Garden is for you.
★ In Manhattan, there's many places. Why not check out , for a start?
★ Remember St. Patrick's Day? Go to St. Patrick's Cathedral for all the fun memories.
★ Love animals? The Bronx Zoo is open.
★ What's the Prospect Park like? Visit it to find out!
★ Didn't like the Higher West Side? That's why the Lower East Side is there.
★ Your best friend Chelsea goes to Chelsea market all the time. Why don't you go with her?
★ Roosevelt Island is the place to be.
★ The capital of the US is, as we all know, Washington DC. Want to find out more? Take a trip to Washington Square Park.
★ Like making cash? Then you'll LOVE the Financial District, for sure.
★ You're curious like everyone else what goes on around you. So I'll bet you won't forget an experience at the Intrepid Sea, Sir and Space Museum.
★ “Fed up” with the vegetarian life? You can always go to the Meatpacking District.
★ Love practical views from a high place? Stand on the one-of-a-kind Manhattan Bridge.
★ Want more animals? Go straight to Central Park Zoo.
★ Love boats? Check out the New York Harbor!
★ Are you tired of pointed shapes, but LOVE Christopher Columbus? You should visit the Columbus Circle.
★ Need a different point of view? How about the Flatiron District?
★ Tired of the Wild West? The East village couldn't hurt that much to check out then, right?
★ Are plants an interest of yours? Then for sure you need to look around the New York Botanical Garden.
★ If you don't like that, then there's always the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.
★ And if you love tunes and melodies, them in positive the Radio City Music Hall is calling you.

THINGS TO ABSOLUTELY AVOID:
★ Social interaction with anyone.
★ Eye-contact with an individual.
★ Anyone remembering you in any way.

THINGS TO REMEMBER:
★ Error is unaffordable.
★ If you do manage to fail, however. . . you will not be forgotten for your efforts. But you must have already figured out that would be a minor reason for your remembrance.
★ We already miss you!

Good luck.
~YouKnowWho.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I laughed at that last part. He makes jokes like that way too much. I miss him already too.

And I also couldn't help but pout about the fact that, despite doing it on purpose for a reason, he still got the New York pictures completely wrong.

What a paranoid person.

The train ride wasn't that long. I actually had a decent trip down to wherever this place was.

Because I know for a fact that he wasn't sending me off to what the words say.

He tells me where I'm going through the pictures.

Knowing how well he knows me, he knows how much I can't stand isolation, civilization being something I prefer.

But I swear, if he's actually signed me up for some wilderness camp. . .

In your nightmares, Sally.

And in your dreams, you bully.

A buzzing in my pocket jolted me from my thoughts as I took out my phone and picked up, already knowing who the caller was.

"Are you there yet?"

"You're not even here, and yet you still ask?" I laughed. I swear this guy could be an authoritative person and a nagging child at the same time.

"But of course," he joked. "I need to know about my Munchkin's whereabouts."

"I thought it was Muffin."

"Potaeto, potatoe."

"OK." A moment of silence passed before he spoke again. "I also had something else to say. No, to ask you. Actually both to ask, and to say."

"OK, what is it?"

"Do you want to do this?"

"Huh?"

"Do you want to do what I asked you?" He pondered his thoughts for a bit before continuing, "I did a little thinking after you left and well, I've realized I didn't really give you a choice in the matter. I just pushed you out. In a kind sense, though. But still, you get my point. I can be selfish at times, especially to people I either don't like or want to trick, but I never want to do that to you. I guess I just wanted to make sure you didn't feel like you were forced into this."

I gaped. "Are you serious?"

"Old habits die hard."

"No, I mean. . . that's so sweet," I gushed. He never says stuff like this, it's so rare. "And no, I don't feel forced. At all."

"Are you sure? Because if you do, just give me the word, and I'll teleport you back here and send someone else to do it—"

"No, no no no!" I exclaimed. This is so thoughtful. "I'm perfectly, 100% OK with it. Don't worry. Besides, anything's worth doing if you're the one who asks."

Few seconds passed before he gave a breathy laugh. "Are you sure?"

"I wouldn't say that if I didn't mean it." I smirked. "You know that. Thank you."

"Anything to make you feel OK."

I hung up, and looked out the window, realizing it was just a half hour before I reached my final destination.

I sat up straighter, preparing for the task I was given to complete, with a whole lot more determination than I had before.