Bluejays

Bored

Five Years Later (2020)

Ashlyn sat against her bed, sighing. She knew she had things to do, but she didn't want to do them.

She was fine with their situation still, but the whole thing was uninteresting. You'd think it would be the most interesting thing in the world, but when this was the only life you ever knew, it really wasn't. And they didn't really get any visitors anymore. Apparently the whole country was in lock-down. They used to be allowed into the main part of the house. She smiled, remembering being a tiny child and reaching for the doorknob, but being unable to reach it. But now, they were locked in here at all times. They didn't see Asher every day anymore. He'd spend a week down here with them, then leave for three weeks. There was a temporary bed in the basement for when he was there.

Ollie had once asked why he was away more than with them, and he'd explained that he was spending a week doing the closest thing possible to everyday life, but there was a sterilized quarantine area in the main house. He didn't talk to anyone in person or leave that room for two weeks at a time. When he did come down, he had a mask and gloves. Most people didn't have to take quite so many precautions, but they absolutely could not risk any of the kids getting sick. He said that he didn't like this arrangement either, but it was necessary. They were all willing to put up with it, as well. Not like there was much choice.

Unfortunately, productivity was going down. Lydia and Phoenix were working hard, because they were going home in two years if all went well. But the rest of them had longer to wait, so it wasn't as easy for them to stay motivated. Ashlyn herself still had eight years before she went home.

Home. It seemed to her like a strange concept that this should not be her home. She had memories of the foster home she was in for a few weeks as a toddler. She was told her 'home' was a house like that, but a bit smaller. It did not have a basement like this.

Ashlyn had a hard time imagining how her life would change. She had had her learning accelerated a lot, but she was told she'd only be a little bit ahead of the rest of her grade when she went to high school.

She looked up, and saw Phoenix approaching her. "Hey, Ashlyn," he said, smiling as he sat beside her.

"Hi, Phoenix," Ashlyn said. She crawled into his lap. "What's it like, only being a couple of years away from going home?"

"Weird," Phoenix replied. "I've been shown pictures of what the house my parents live in looks like, and let me tell you, it is so different from this." He chuckled. "You guys are lucky enough to have been in that foster home, although you apparently acted 'strangely.' Of course, you acted like kids who are socially inept because the only other children you'd ever been around were the four you grew up with. Still, I'm so excited. I've been told about my parents. They seem like nice people. They don't sound like any of the adults I've met so far."

"So, you're happy?" Ashlyn asked.

"I'm a lot of things," Phoenix replied. "But, yeah, I'm really excited."

"I've heard a bit about your mom, and I don't think I like her," Ashlyn declared.

Phoenix chuckled. "I've been told she'll warm up to me eventually, although she may seem cold at first," he said. "I've also been told I have siblings. Two of them. A brother and a sister. They don't know I exist. They might freak out when they see me the first time, but they  can't tell anyone. This way, the risk that they might is minimized."

"How old are they?" Ashlyn asked out of curiosity.

"My brother is fifteen," Phoenix told her. "My sister is eight. A year older than you."

"Okay," Ashlyn said. She perked up. "I bet I'd get along great with your sister!"

"You know what's sad, though?" Phoenix asked.

"What?"

"I don't think any of us are really capable of getting along with anyone else our age," Phoenix said. "We're all so, so socially inept from years of living here, only able to interact with each other, Asher, Ashley, and the government workers who check on our progress. I mean, this whole quarantine thing...this is practically normal life for us!"

"That's true," Ashlyn said quietly. She was sad. She'd missed out on so much of her life down here. It was for the best.

Phoenix sighed. "I can feel your sadness," he said. "I'm sorry. I mean, we're not missing out on our lives. We have great lives."

"But they aren't ours," Ashlyn said, and he sighed.

"No. No, they aren't," he said. "Still, we can live them to the fullest possible extent, can't we?"

"I guess so," Ashlyn replied, smiling.

"Good," Phoenix said, hugging her before lifting her out of his lap. "Now, I'm going to go do something. You might do something as well."

"Okay," Ashlyn said. It was better than being bored. Going to a strange place called her 'home' in eight years was better than being bored.

***

This was a short one. It was basically a filler, but here you go. I wanted to introduce the time skip without introducing the next big conflict. So, here's this short little chapter.