Juna

“How was school, sweetie?” The mother asked her daughter across the table of french fries, burgers, and a blockbuster-sponsored toy.

“It was great. Miss Waters said I could bring in treats for my birthday next week.”

“Really? What do you want to make?”

“Brownies!” The daughter smiled.

***

Tessa jolted up. “What the hell?” She jumped out of the metal bed and ran, bumping into her peers.

Once at her destination, she knocked on the door while opening it.

“Yusra, something’s wrong with my teleportation device,” she started and sat down.

“Tessa, you can’t always barge in like this.”

“But I knocked.”

“And then proceeded to enter without permission.”

“But it’s important.”

“But my job is also important.”

“Sorry, but something’s wrong with my teleportation device.”

“Nothing’s wrong with it.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I was just tracking your progress this morning. It’s a part of my job, remember?”

“Yeah, but it’s so boring. Literally, it’s just a mom and daughter eating dinner. Where’s the excitement? The adventure? Other kids get to chase down monsters and fight in duels. And what do I get? School night dinners! Come on, Yusra. You gotta fix this.”

Continuing to type, she replied, “There’s nothing to fix. Everything is how it should be. Keep with it.”

With arms crossed and lips pouted, Tessa stared at her mentor. With thirty seconds of computer keys clicking, Tessa scoffed and got up to leave.

“It was nice seeing you, Tessa!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Tessa swore at the clean floors, giving her no rocks to kick. She shook her head at passing peers boasting about their latest battles.

“Keep with it,” she repeated to herself and stomped back to the Dream Study Chamber. Once there, she stood in line, tapping her foot. As people inched forward, she would look around, peeking like a meerkat. When she saw the front of the line, she counted six people in front of her.

“Keep with it.” She hummed her mantra with each step closer to the front. Soon enough, she was up next. She ran to the open bed, jumped in, and closed the top. She shut her eyes and counted to three.

***

“Juna?” The mother called from the kitchen.

Her daughter ran in. “Yes?”

“Can you take out the trash?”

“Sure, Mom.” She grabbed the bag with a smile.

“Thank you, sweetie.” The mother kissed her head.

Juna skipped down the hallway as high as the sack of waste would let her. Once outside, she hustled down the stairs, ran to the bin, and threw in the trash. She dusted off her hands like she saw the adults do in a movie once and marched back into the house, chin high.

Rather than follow the girl, Tessa’s brain was stuck on the street, panning over the surroundings for a clue as to why she was still there. Then, she saw him. A man wearing a baseball cap and dark coat, standing underneath the burnt-out lamp post across the street.

***

“Your session has expired,” the machine told Tessa as she woke up.

“I need to get back in there.”

Security guards approached her. Two stood at her sides, with her arms in their grasp, and a third stood in front of her.

“I need to go back.” The guard raised a cup of vapor to her face. “I need -- “

 ***

Tessa yanked back her eyelids with all her strength. Greeted by the moonlight streaming across her cell ceiling, she knew it was past lights out. She was supposed to be asleep, but she needed to dream elsewhere. She would be wasting precious z’s on this room. She needed to get back to the chamber.

The only way she’s gotten out before was by requesting to use the bathroom. It only worked when she was on her period. Sanitary products were only available in the shared bathrooms. Nothing besides the bed frame, mattress, blanket, pillow, toilet, and sink furnished her “bedroom.” No snacks, no pictures of family, no trinkets.

Her only problem was that she wasn’t menstruating. She needed proof. The guards don’t trust without evidence. She needed blood. The solution she thought up the quickest wasn’t her best, but it was all she had. If she headbutted the wall, then the bloody face would give her away. She never tried getting out because of an injury. Would it work, or would she be ordered to wait until sunbreak?

She scanned her room. Falling off a two-foot-tall bed couldn’t cause a pressing enough injury. How could she explain running into her sink head first? They’ve seen a suicide attempt via hanging blanket before. Plus, she couldn’t disgrace Jerry’s legacy like that.

What could she do?

“Guard.”

Tessa’s ears pulled her to her door. Then, her eyes followed the guard walking past her. Once they were out of sight, she pressed her ear to the bars. She heard a door unlatch, two new feet shuffling, and the door slamming shut. The visitor said thank you. As the steps grew louder, Tessa searched her brain’s discography to match the voice. Who was it?

“Number 87.”

Tessa looked up to see her guard and Yusra through her window.

“Yusra, what are you doing here?”

Her cell door opened.

“It’s a family emergency.” But Tessa had no family, and Yusra knew this.

“Is it my dad?”

“Let’s speak somewhere private. Thank you, guard.” The two women walked down the hall. As they based others as if driving past trees, Tessa kept quiet. She wouldn’t say a word until past that door. She kept her eyes forward, giving the guard no reason to question her. Who would want to disturb the night shift anyway?

They stopped and waited for the door to open. Damn heavy doors for taking their sweet time. Once the door pulled back all the way, the women made their way through with a nod to the guard.

When she turned the corner, Tessa asked, “Yusra, what is going on?”

“Keep with it,” she said as she grabbed her arm. Tessa felt something drop into her hand. Once Yusra pulled away and kept walking, Tessa looked down at the chamber keys in her palm. Before the cameras could linger, she turned around and strode toward her destination.