“Good night Mr Gumpus.” I said, shifting him into the crook of my arm.
His patchy fuzz scratching my neck as it has for so long. Over the years his fur has slowly been going, I have replaced his glass eye’s so many times I can do it in my sleep now. I have repaired his arm onto his body that he lost in one of the many fights with my sister.
Neither of us even know what we fight for any more but it has been going off and on for the last year or so.
It had snowed during the night, even wearing the thickest layers she owned, Sophie felt the cold deep in her bones. They ached with the passage of time.
Day 355.
The drinking water no longer tasted weird. I can’t remember when I no longer noticed the foul taste to the recycled water. That should have worried me but I knew I was beyond caring.
“YOU SHOULD NOT BE HERE, HUMAN. WHY DO YOU CROSS MY DOMAIN?”
The timer dings next to my head pulling me out of a dream where I was trying to explain to my dog why it was not cheating to pat other dogs.
“Take the rest of the night off John. I am going to just have a quiet one and I am sure I can scrounge some left overs.”
My body man stared at me for a beat before nodding. “As you say Sir.” He closed the doors and I heard him walk down the stairs towards the Rolls.
I briefly thought about peaking out the stained glass windows beside the doors to watch him, to see if he still walked in an iron-rod spine way even when not around me. He has been my body man for almost 10 years now and I……
The colony was in danger. The Silo’s, the living historians of the colony had memories spanning generations. They knew of the Good Times, when we found that entire four leg and had it to ourselves, to the Lean Times when the Foragers had to push further and further from the colony to secure Nutrition.
Then there was the Dark Times, when the Fire Colony attacked and managed to strike deep into the heart of the Colony. When the Queen herself was forced into battle. The tales the Silo’s tell of the Dark Times were to ensure we are ever vigilant against……
The cool night air felt refreshing on my skin, I could almost convince myself that the grip of painkillers I had downed might do the trick this time. I threw the two empty sports drinks into the bin along with the mostly full packet of painkillers.
Couldn’t let Celia find the evidence of my nightly ritual. She would just make a fuss and force me to go see more specialists. Having spent over a year……
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