Perspective

The State of Things

January 1st, 2040

As the sun rose on this auspicious day, Marcus climbed out of bed and slid into his slippers that he had left tucked neatly under the edge of his bed. He took a moment to let out an enormous yawn and fully stretched. Stretching his left arm across his body and twisting his hips with it to really engage his core, then back to the right. This was an important chunk of his morning routine. He was a nimble boy, so stretching was important before his body was thrown into the events of the day.

He finished his stretches and could hear Jesse holler out from the kitchen “Dude, we need coffee, there is only enough for one cup. Whoever goes out to get more gets it!”

Marcus strolled into the kitchen with his fist up. Jesse quickly raised his hand back at him as they started pacing in a circling motion in the empty dining room. As they got closer to each other, both boys simultaneously started yelling.

“Rock... Paper... SCISSORS!” They both threw their finger weapons into the empty space between each other.

Marcus let out an excited “Whoo-hoo, you’re never gonna beat me dude. I can see what you’re gonna throw written all over your face. You gotta work on your poker face bro.”

Marcus grabbed the cup of coffee Jesse had made with the glow of victory beaming from his face. He gulped it so quickly that Jesse was appalled that he would so disrespect the king of beverages like that. Jesse loved his coffee and made sure to appreciate it every day. He remembered when they went without it for years. Although it was instant, it was better than nothing.

Marcus threw on his slightly oversized jean jacket, lined on the inside with some sort of off colored faux fur and a hood to match the awkward combinations of materials that were used to patch it over the years, and he ventured out of the back door of the home. This was standard practice; they had developed techniques that had been working for them for a decent number of years at this point.

The front door had been destroyed during a rough storm one year, so the boys found an appropriately sized piece of wood and nailed it in replacement of the door to keep the weather out. If they had to open the front entrance of the house up, it would require far more work than using the half-sized, barely functional door at the back end of the home. If Jesse and Marcus made adaptations and concessions as troubles arose, they were able to live relaxed lives, regardless of how destitute they may be.

Marcus had a fairly innovative idea of where he would get their coffee from this week, based on their scouting the area and keeping their eyes and ears peeled. He and Jesse were smart enough to gather a lot of odd barter items they knew people would want to trade for goods. Some items they collected were for nostalgic purposes, some for practical ones. Over time they had gathered items to cover all the desires of the people they regularly encountered and did business with.

Before he headed out, Marcus went down to the basement. He headed straight to a hidden chest of drawers tucked into the corner of the room, out of sight. He scanned over the meticulously organized collection, then grabbed a watch he had stashed inside one of the drawers and left on his mission. The watch he selected was one of the nicer watches he had collected over the years. He had stored it away for a special day such as this. There were always two padlocks on that drawer. From a youthful age, he had been a kid that thought and planned ahead for most situations. Jesse was the only one that knew where things were and how to access them, so if either of them were ever captured and interrogated, they would have bargaining chips for the other’s release.

With the watch tucked away safely, Marcus crossed his back yard, and then rounded the corner of the alley that led onto the main street. Immediately he noticed that there were quite a few more people active than there normally were at this time of day. The streets remained bare most of the time. People no longer appreciated or participated in the blatant surveillance they were constantly under in public spaces, so they adapted, and began to gather in closed spaces. Most public shops had changed locations from storefronts to private homes in the remaining communities. They no longer bartered in money. Cash had no value any longer. Now you traded goods and services in exchange for whatever they were offering. Most of the customers that came to barter for food weren’t fussy about what they traded for. They didn’t have that luxury. Any form of sustenance would suffice when you’ve gone days, or even weeks with little or no food.

People were working themselves to the bone to afford one measly excuse of a meal for the day— if they were lucky enough to find one. Destitute was hardly the word—This felt… post-apocalyptic.

Marcus, excited about his mission goal of bartering for coffee for he and Jesse, hit the street with a smile and a bounce in his step. He trotted his way three quarters of a mile down the road, turned, and spotted the grey three-story building at the head of the road, with the old and rusted metal staircase on the side. Something in him saddened a bit as he stopped for a beat and looked and realized that at one time this was probably a beautiful home to a happy family. Remembering his mission, he began to climb the rusted old stairs cautiously. When he reached the second floor he paused for the briefest of moments, then reached out to knock on the faded door. Once... he knocked, waiting a moment, then three more knocks in rapid succession. He continued his way up the staircase, carefully avoiding the loose or rotting stairs. Having reached the third floor, he reached out again and knocked in the same fashion. Once…wait…three quick raps.

He heard quiet footsteps behind the door, and then it swung open, letting out a cloud of smoke that smelled like a mixture of tobacco, hookah, and whatever someone was cooking on the wood stove that was burning in the background. Marcus waved his hand in front of his face as he walked straight in, dispersing some of the smoke that was casually floating around the room, and slammed the door behind him.

“What’s up fellas!?” he hollered as he reached into his pocket and grabbed the almost perfectly intact Hublot Classic Fusion Chronograph watch.

Marcus had researched the watch and knew it was worth close to ten thousand dollars before the collapse. It was prestigious, valuable. So, he knew If he couldn’t get what he wanted here, he could fence it off and simply come back with collectibles that are easier to trade, and with a wider range of Remnants. That technique would unfortunately take some time. Marcus, however, didn’t like to waste time. Time is valuable, every second counts; he used to remind himself when trying to find shortcuts to tasks, only to find himself spending twice as long repairing his mistakes from the rush job he had performed. He learned his lesson thoroughly, which led to him learning to take his time, thinking things through… and studying the psychology of the trade.

He spun the watch around his finger and saw that Rex, the leader of this small group of bandits’ eyes lit up like a cartoon. You could almost see the dollar signs bouncing from his eyeballs. Rex reached out slowly to take the watch from Marcus, who quickly grasped his hand around the band of the watch, leaving the face displayed and facing Rex.

He let out a sigh and calmly said “No, no, no... We know how this works. I let you “look” at it and suddenly, I’m screwed, and I leave here with nothing as your goons beat me up a bit. Let’s just both give each other the credit we deserve. You know I can make your life a nightmare, I know you can beat me up in closed spaces. Shall we conduct our business like men this time?“.

Rex, surprised by the gusto shown by Marcus, let out a hearty chuckle. He continued in his boisterous laughter as he slowly sat himself back in his awkward chair that seemed to be a cry for attention more than a comfortable place to sit and regained his composure. Reminiscent of a chair made of daggers and swords.

“Okay then BOY, what is it I can do for you on this absolutely amazing day?” and blinked at him with longing eyes a few times to show his sarcasm.

“Simple, one thing… coffee, AAAAND I will take a fair amount... nothing crazy.”

Rex arduously stood back to his feet, making a show of it, and exclaimed “Coffee!? Ha... Ha.... HAA...” making sure to add a tone that showed his lack of approval for the request.

Sarcasm seemed to almost seep out of Rex at every opportunity. This was not a man of serious demeanor.

“Coffee is worth its weight in gold, what makes you think I would give you any for a pointless item like this?” and began to chuckle at the prospect again.

“Are you not a man of status? REX, the man who controls the entire trade system responsible for helping to actualize our current economy? The economy of the poor, beaten down, and hopeless? Do you have anything to show for this work you’ve done? Anything at all that simply displays your status without the speech that I’m sure you naturally have prepared about how important you are?” Marcus said indignantly, standing and joining Rex in his physical hysterics. “I am offering you that. Right here, right now. How badly do you want that?” he challenged. Still standing there, dangling the watch in the air.

Marcus could see that he had said the right thing, and his sales pitch was working. Rex was a man of status, but Marcus was a bit surprised at the gullibility of a man with such a reputation. He had only dealt with Rex a few times when he needed goods he could not find on his own. This list wasn’t long, but it typically consisted of medications and specific food types to fight off a lack of nutrients that could lead to physical problems.

Marcus remembered the widespread wave of scurvy in the year 2036, when fruit production was halted by violent riots, or at least that’s what was in the headlines. He had developed over the years a system of collecting and hoarding that seemed to play an important part in keeping him and Jesse healthy through his ability to predict their needs well ahead of time.

Rex, pacing, took a few minutes to think things over. He walked out of the room and started rummaging through a nearby box. He came back with a container in hand, and as he approached, Marcus could see the label ‘Black Silk’ as Rex walked his way back towards him. Rex slammed the container into the clearly abused reclaimed wood coffee table that sat between them. Notches and stains scattered across the table in random places showed that Rex clearly was not one to care for his property.

Marcus picked up the container, spun it around as he inspected it and replied “This isn’t coffee, what kind of scam is this? Real coffee hasn’t existed for three years. Just the garbage instant stuff we’ve all come to know and love. So, what is this?“.

Excitedly Rex began sharing his story. “It was six months ago. Me and the boys were out and about on our normal, how would you say, collection missions. We were gathering whatever we could find that could be useful, you know the gig. Suddenly, we stumbled across a military vehicle that seemed just a tad out of place. We noticed that the back end of the vehicle just happened to have been left open.” Shrugging and expressing a facetious face to show his lack of sincerity.

“Soooo, we took a look inside. What you’re holding there is the result of our curiosity. It doesn’t always kill the cat you know.”

Marcus, being the witty kid he was, matched Rex in his excitement and asked him exuberantly “No way! That’s awesome! How much did you manage to find?”

Rex responded excitedly, almost shouting as he answered. “Tons of it! There are close to at least a hundred containers that size strewn about our facilities. People do love coffee, don’t they?“.

Marcus now knew how much coffee they had. Step one. Now he just need to simply determine how badly Rex wanted this status symbol. Step two.

He returned to his serious demeanor as he sat down and calmly said “In that case, I’ll take twenty of them, then you can have the watch. We’ll all be content and happy when we go to bed tonight.”

Rex laughed harder than Marcus had ever heard him laugh before, and since Rex was a bit off his rocker, that was certainly saying something! While Rex’s laugh slowed, and he was catching his breath, Marcus stood up from the table and began to walk towards the exit.

When he had made it a few steps away he looked over his shoulder and said “In that case, I guess I’ll be the guy with status, and you’ll have to remember me for that. Good luck moving this coffee I guess.”

Rex rushed his way across the room to intercept Marcus, putting his hand on the door and slamming it back shut as Marcus began to open it.

“Whoa kid, whoa... Let’s find a happy middle ground. How about three containers?” his voice sloping upward at the end of his sentence, letting Marcus know this was just to test his limits.

“Twelve” Marcus blurted out, “Twelve and that’s the final offer. I can find the instant stuff I’m so accustomed to from almost anyone else. They will all happily give up their entire stock for an item like this. That is my price, Rex. Twelve.”

Rex took his hand off the door and immediately jabbed Marcus in the chest with the tips of his finger before lowering his hand down and telling Marcus to “Put her there, boy! I’ll gather up the coffee, and you will put that beautiful piece of machinery on the ledge by the door on your way out. Don’t forget, Marcus, that we’re faster than you, and we don’t care much for being polite to thieves”.

Marcus smirked at Rex, grabbed his hand with as much force as he could muster, pulled him in and gave him a solid slap on the back before he hollered “Thanks Rex, it’s always an adventure coming to see you!”

When he finished speaking, he grabbed the bag of coffee that had been set on the ground between them by one of the onlooking goons of Rex’s. Marcus walked towards the door and put the watch on the ledge before exiting the building. Marcus felt like this was a win. A watch he didn’t even care for, and he got REAL coffee, not the fake crap that he had suffered through for the past few years. Authentic coffee! His day was made. He knew Jesse would lose his mind over this win. Jesse was the one that called it the king of beverages. I don’t even think Jesse called it coffee anymore. It’s value to him had earned coffee its own title.

Marcus was in no rush on his way back home. He was taking his time and enjoying the win. As he thought more about it, though, setting aside his excitement over the deal that he just managed to pull off, he realized that Jesse must be dying for him to make it back home with his coffee! Considering that this errand usually only took Marcus a few minutes to achieve, he knew that Jesse must be growing impatient, and was probably on the verge of worry. As he picked up his pace, and rounded the corner of his familiar alleyway, his standard route to and from their home, he stopped when he noticed that Jesse was standing in the back yard staring quietly up at the sky.

“Hey Jeeessseeeeee” Marcus called as he approached the gate to the back yard! He opened the gate slowly and quietly while waiting for his friend to turn and answer, expecting a smile at seeing his return with the long-awaited coffee. There was no response.

Marcus closed the gate behind him and walked up to Jesse giving him a shoulder nudge as he approached. A nudge from Marcus to the over-sized Jesse wasn’t enough to set him off balance, but Jesse didn’t even flinch. Instead, he looked down at Marcus for a moment. He then reached over and tilted Marcus’ head towards the sky. Flying above them was a small plane dragging an electronic banner behind it that read:

“This year will be double testing. A new Hive update has been completed. We believe this year will be the most effective and result-baring year of all the cycles that we’ve seen. We look forward to seeing you at your test. On a final note, the testing age has been reduced to 16. Good luck, remain useful, remain vigilant.”

It took Marcus two full cycles of the banner for him to get a grasp of what he was being presented with. He was mouthing it aloud as he read, eyes wide in disbelief. Jesse’s trance was broken as he heard Marcus read the banner aloud, he looked down at Marcus with tears swelling in his eyes.

He began to weep, making it to where Marcus could only understand bits and pieces of what he was saying due to most of it being buried under a hefty sob.

“But… time-- I need time-- I’m not smart enough… You’re teaching me, I was supposed to have years left.”

Marcus quickly realized that with his birthday being in September, and Jesse’s being in March, meant they would not be going through the cycle together. He was quickly devising a plan to rush Jesse through as much schooling as possible, hopefully giving him an edge. He could not lose the only person he had. He had been through this before, he couldn’t lose another one. As he frantically began to gather the studying materials needed for them to begin their courses, Jesse was calming himself, taking deep breaths as he waited for Marcus’ plan. Still sniffling and a small flood of tears would appear here and there, but he had calmed himself to the point of conversation being possible.

Looking over at Marcus, who was determinately putting everything in order, Jesse stood up, took a few steps to Marcus, and picked him up from the floor in a bone crushing hug. While he embraced Marcus, he began to cry again. This time when he spoke, he made sure to contain his crying enough to be understood.

“You are my family Marky; you mean the world to me. I love you brother. You care more about me than anyone else I’ve ever known. You are my best friend; I wouldn’t have made it this far without you.”

He set Marcus back down where he had picked him up from, returning to his seat while wiping the tears from his eyes with his meaty paws. Marcus, touched by his friend’s appreciation snapped back to the project at hand.

“Okay dude, we’ve got a lot to cover, and we have a few weeks left before July. You will pass, we GOT THIS!” and they began to study.

Marcus covered everything quite well. He made sure to spend time on mathematics, science, history, literature, emotional and physical control, all the things that he knew the previous cycles tested for. They continued to study into the night. Falling asleep with books in hand, still in the seats they had taken hours before at the start of their study session.

Marcus awoke, peeling his face from the book he had been teaching from just a few hours before. Stumbling his way to the counter, he began stacking the wood for the pot, glancing over his shoulder to see where his friend was. Jesse was asleep on the floor; he was too big to fall asleep in a chair despite his attempts. I’m not sure it would even support him, considering he would flop his oversized body like a fish out of water when he slept.

Marcus chuckled to himself at his friend’s goofy nature and began to light the wood. As he walked over to the sink, he flipped on the water and filled the pot about halfway. Marcus had never made real coffee before, so he knew there were some things missing that he would have to figure out. Rex had told him to “Steep the grounds in the hot water for five minutes, no less or it’s a waste.” In that moment, Marcus didn’t care to think of how he would steep the grounds, the excitement of real coffee sent his brain elsewhere while he waited for Rex to finish speaking. Now, it was a concern, and he wished he had paid a bit more attention.

Knowing they had a collection of almost anything you could need in their home and their hoard, he started to rummage through the house. After about ten minutes of searching, he found a half-used roll of Cheesecloth tucked into one of the boxes in the kitchen. He unrolled it while thinking of a plan, tilting his head at the cloth before glancing around the room. Marcus overlapped the cloth once, then created a pocket large enough for a large scoop of the grounds. Placing the grounds in the center, before gathering up the corners and tying them off. Inspecting his work for a moment by tossing the bag around and tilting it upside down. None of the coffee grounds were spilling out so it felt like a victory to him, and a moment later he tossed it into the pot while he waited for the water to boil.

The coffee brewed and Marcus sat back, continuing to read from the book he was teaching from the night before. “Daily Mathematics and their Practical Uses” was definitely not a fun read, but it did cover its intended topic rather well. From addition and subtraction, all the way to some light trigonometry meant that it was a massive book, 4,722 pages to be precise. When he flipped the page Jesse shot up to a sitting position like a zombie from a movie and instantly started crawling towards the intense smell that was wafting about the kitchen. As he got close enough to the pot to realize that it was the source, he investigated it and was puzzled by the odd cloth bag sitting in the pot. He reached into the pot and lightly lifted the bag using two fingers.

When he realized what was in his hand, he looked back at Marcus and exclaimed “There is no way, there is no way you found an extinct treasure from mankind’s past just floating around out there. What body part of yours did you have to sell for this? Will they be coming for my arm later? HOW?!“.

Marcus laughed as he explained his fortuitous situation and the extravagant trade he managed to pull off. Jesse stood in awe, a bewildered stare on his face as he listened to his friend’s story. The moment Marcus finished, he dashed across the room and scavenged for two cups that weren’t completely disgusting from the light rinse wash they had become accustomed to. Then he yanked the pot from the wood and poured an even amount into each cup. Grasping it with his hands and lifting it to his face, melting under the intense smell and excitement of his first taste of real coffee. He took his first sip, accidentally letting out the grunt of a dad with joint problems. In that moment, he had no words, simply in awe of Marcus’ ability to find another pile of gold in a world of ash.

The day progressed and the normal routine had been adjusted. Studying with coffee in the morning, studying while working out during the midday, studying while scavenging areas previously untouched, and finally, studying as they ate and proceeded to bed. This was the only way that Marcus could calm himself enough to focus on the task, so he did it constantly. Luckily this had a positive side effect, he filled a few gaps in knowledge he had, while at the same time, helping Jesse reach the potential he knew that he could reach.

A few weeks passed before the weather began to change. A bit of rain in the afternoons, windy evenings and nights, and a chill started to creep into the town. The only record of date and time that the boys had were the watches that Marcus had collected over time. One of the watches had a solar battery and kept track of time and date, including years. Marcus liked to log each year’s weather cycles when they began and when they ended. He checked his log from the year before and realized that the cold was setting in a bit harsher and earlier than the previous year. Not thinking much of it, he marked the weather in his logbook, before tucking it back into the bookshelf.

Once a day Marcus would stop, take the solar watch out of the sunny spot it typically resided in, checked the time and date, and put it back in place before continuing with his day. Today was June second, which meant they had 29 days left to get Jesse prepared for his test. Marcus was assuming this would be the date considering how precise The Hive seemed to be. If they said twice a year, they more specifically meant at the end of the sixth month of the year and at the end of the twelfth month of the year. There was extraordinarily little room for error nowadays.

This meant that he only had 29 days to give Jesse all the training and fun he could possibly muster. He never liked to see the dark side of scenarios; however, his mind would cover all possibilities. The way he described his mind was similar to a parable he remembered. A parable of a man named Stanley. His mind was filled with television screens, each one playing a potential version of the scenario at hand. They were not always the good ones, in fact he quite typically made sure to cover all possible outcomes whether good or bad, that way little was left to surprise.

The boys realized early on that the second floor, while only having one traditional way in and out, had many convenient ways to escape. More importantly, it would be difficult to follow if their pursuers were heavily geared. The boys always liked to have plans in place just in case things went sideways.

Marcus did not appreciate the surprises The Hive had for him so far, so he avoided them as much as possible through planning and prediction. He started planning on the fun aspect to distract from the potential horror, remembering a water park that was still running. The only problem would be getting in, but he could always find a quick solution to that. Jesse had taken to his student role rather endearingly and was sitting on the windowsill. With the window open, he was enjoying the sunlight and open air as he was getting close to starting the second half of that enormous math book.

June 29th, 2040

Marcus had spent the past few weeks gathering the information he would need to get into the water park with Jesse. He had scouted the employees that would be working on the day of their excursion. He also gathered some information regarding their likes and dislikes in the field of ‘extras’ that typically remained just out of the price range for a standard Hive employee. He knew that some of the coffee he had recently acquired would come in handy, as well as a few of the electronic trinkets he had gathered throughout the years.

With bribes in hand and disguises formed, they headed to the waterpark. It was a forty-five-minute walk for the boys, but they did not mind it at all. They considered it their “workout” for the day and made sure to get some extra work in during the journey. Jesse would occasionally stop and attempt to pull a street sign from the ground, considering he had managed to pull off the feat once before. Marcus would always laugh and cheer him on during his attempts. The boys had made it 90% of the way to the park before they realized they had forgotten one of the most important items, food. With no money and no time to spend working, given their planned-out day, they would have to figure that out as they went.

They noticed a small snack cart placed across the street as they approached the oversized doors to the waterpark. Marcus began to shuffle in the direction of the cart as his stomach grumbled.

As he got to the stand the woman behind the small grill and window leaned out and hollered “What can I do for you boys? He’s a big one, don’t know if I have enough for him!“.

“I don’t know why I’m here, I have no money, the smell just brought me drifting in like a cartoon character. I’m sorry mam’, you have a good on…” Marcus said as he sauntered off.

When Jesse approached the stand, reaching into his pockets he pulled out a wad of crumpled up credits, and his other pocket produced small bits of durable plastic in an assortment of colors. The only problem was that the credits were useless in a small town, they were only worth something if you lived inside of a Hive operated safe city. These were small towns with ‘everything a person could need’, all located within potential walking distance of the identical homes in perfect rows. Groceries, entertainment, goods, and services were all available through your ‘Safe City’, they liked to brag that ‘once you get here, you’ll never want or need to leave’.

Only the top ten percent of the individuals that went through the process were given access to these cities. It seemed like a way to harvest the most brilliant minds and seclude them from the rest of the world. Marcus always thought that this was an odd system but figured it would never be something he would have to deal with.

Out of sight, out of mind, right?

The woman in a state of awe asked Jesse “Where did you get this?!” as she grasped his hands pulling him closer so she could get a closer look.

“I don’t remember, pretty sure I found it in a house a while back… I thought they were Legos... They don’t stick together, but they look cool!”

The woman looked up at Jesse with a shocked face as he asked her “Do you want them? I mean, I don’t need them and I’m hungry. Can my friend and I have something to eat for this stuff? You seem to think it’s cooler than I do”.

She quickly grabbed the plastic from his hands, and from her first glance of them in her hands, her eyes sparkled. Grabbing a bag from behind the stand, she took off running.

Suddenly she turned and hollered “It’s all yours, enjoy the food kids!” and disappeared around a corner like she was running from the Hive themselves.

Jesse sat down behind the rather small stand and began reaching around, grabbing whatever food-like items were in front of him and piling them onto a plate, making sure to leave a fair share for Marcus. Jesse smiled at his friend and waved his hand in gesture to join him, handing him a plate from behind the counter. Marcus laughed as he remembered their first encounter. He grabbed the plate and plopped himself down next to Jesse.

When he sat, he pointed behind the counter and as Jesse leaned in to look, Marcus snagged his plate and replaced it with his own empty one in the blink of an eye. Jesse chuckled as he began to remake his plate with the remaining food. The boys sat there on the sidewalk behind the stand, leaning back and enjoying the sunlight as they munched down on their easily earned meal.

Jesse and Marcus stood up, disposing of their plates by tossing them onto the stand that had been abandoned by the strange woman, and continued to the gates. They approached the park and Marcus led Jesse around the side of the building to a small entrance on the side of a large cement wall, covered in graffiti from ages ago. It was an oddly placed door on the side of the building, and definitely stood out in contrast to the quality of the rest of the massive gate that surrounded the park. Marcus approached, and he did his typical secret knock to let whoever was there to receive them know it was him.

“One... Two—Three— Four—” he counted aloud as he knocked.

After a few moments the door opened and a hand reached out, Marcus reached into his bag and grabbed a small bag that appeared to be filled with a collection of microprocessors from small electronics. He placed the bag in the mysterious hand, and it rustled the bag around for a second or two before flinging the door open full force. When the door flung outward, Jesse and Marcus walked in. As they entered, they began to look around and saw no one to their surprise. Jesse looked at Marcus and tilted his head.

“He’s an odd guy, maybe he thought one person knowing he was breaking the rules was enough. Don’t stress it.” Marcus responded to the head tilt as they continued into the park.

They found a small building that didn’t seem to be in use and swapped from their normal attire into their disguises, bathing suits and smiles. Working their way from slide to slide, making sure to hit everything in the park at least once and the best ones twice. Before they knew it, the day had begun to dwindle away. The sun was setting, and the boys knew they had a good bit of a journey back home.

As they walked out of the park Jesse leaned into Marcus, “I think this was the most fun I’ve had in my whole life. Thanks brother.” and lightly punched him in the arm.

Marcus feigned injury while laughing and responded, “Anything for you man! We’ll have even more fun next year when we pass, and we’re ‘allowed’ to go in” as he threw his body into a goofy state for the sentence and putting air quotes as well as some extra emphasis on ‘allowed’.

After returning, and still filled from the oversized meal they felt had won earlier that day, they each grabbed their books and got comfortable for the night. Marcus made some tea for the two of them, a rare occasion but a warranted one. The boys sipped their tea and read their books, each drifting off to end the wonderful day that Marcus had worked so hard to achieve, knowing the next day would be intense for them both. That night, Marcus dreamed of a time before… before all the misery… and how they got to where they are now.