When I Awakened

Spreading the Cure

I walk into the first door where the walls are a snowball white, and the carpet is black. The walls are decorated with photographs of a little girl in a Sunday dress eating cake. I'm guessing it was her birthday in the photo. I look over at Elijah and tell him to go to a different house while I'm at this one.

I walk down the hallway and try to find the rooms. I turn a corner, and the kitchen appears before my eyes. It's clean and flawless. I find the stairs and ascend until I find a room decorated with the word "Lily." My guess is, that's the child's name.

I walk in to find the girl in the photo sleeping in her bed. I close the door and walk over to her. She has long blonde hair much like mine, but the ends were bright pink. I take the mint in my hand and drop it into her mouth.

"Alright, Lily, anytime now," I speak.

I lean against the wall and speak through the transceiver.

"Got house one complete, call parents home, over," I announce.

Lily starts to move around in her bed. She opens her eyes and sits up fast.

"Where is my mother?" she asks.

"Well. I have to explain something," I hesitate, "but I think you'd much rather hear it from your real mother."

When I'm done talking, her mother runs through the door, and Lily looks at her confused.

"Who is this woman? I asked for my mom!" Lily panics.

"That's the thing. This is your mom."

Just before I leave, I hand her mom the mints.

"You will need these. Help us wake the others up," I say.

I smile. I walk out of the room and walk into the day.

"One down, too many to go," I think out loud.

I skip down the street like a child and rush into the next house on my list.

I walk in to see a purple wall, with an orange carpet, which I find odd. I walk in and the kitchen is on my right. The kitchen is black and white, but it's not orderly. I look ahead of me and walk until I get into the room. There's no name to identify it by. I walk up to the kid's bed, and I see Billy sitting there.

I slide a mint into his mouth, and I wait at the door.

"House 3 is ready. Over," I speak through the transceiver.

Billy gets up and rubs his eyes. He looks at me.

"What happened? Who are you?" he questions.

"Long story, hear it from your parents when they walk in," I reply, opening the door.

I run out of the house and end up running into who I'm guessing is Billy's father.

"Oh, so sorry, sir," I apologize. "Here have these mints, Help us wake the others."

I run up into the next house and see Elijah. He is talking to who looks like the president.

"Sir, I got this house, get the next one," he commands.

"Since when are you allowed to tell the president what to do?" I tease.

"Since saving children became a thing," he pauses, "Well, saving teenagers now. And also since you were allowed to."

I run up to the sixth house down and walk in to hear kids laughing. I run inside and see some woman with a box of mints in her hand. She smiles at me and comes toward me.