At 12:00 PM. The third flight hour. An hour Helen thirsted for had finally arrived. And a new goal attracts her attention, to get to China on time. No long after an airplane flew through the blue sky, tangling with white clouds.        In the plane, Helen looked out the small window, hoping to see an object. The clouds attract her attention, as they formed different objects. One resembled a mountain. And another resembles a woman breastfeeding her child. As if to stave off catastrophe, a lady walked to her. To tell her to close the window. Looking at the beautiful lady on duty, she closed the glass.         “Thank you, madam,” the lady said and walked away        Madam? The lady just called me madam, she thought. Did I look like a mother?         Maybe yes. She realized the lady address

    Arthur POV        Chris drove me to Mr. Eric’s house early in the morning. Mr. Eric’s car was gone. His door had been locked, too. I climbed the fence out back and hurried to Chris’s car.        “He’s gone,” I said        Chris turned the key in the ignition. “He fears you.”        I noticed a car stopped behind us and turned instantly. I tapped Chris. “He’s Eric. Be quick.”        Chris turned the car too and drove after the car. But we lost the car as it turned to the right and disappeared like a flash of light.        “Shit.” Chris bang his leg        “Easy,” I said, “it’s a trap. Tur

    In Maryland. Arthur opened the window, and a cool breeze dashed his hairs back. Trees waves beyond, throwing leaves on top of houses, bikes, and cars. Silence streets glistened under the sun. One could misunderstand it as a life of people living their lives. When one opens each house, one would understand that there’s no peace in Maryland.        Looking beyond, Arthur saw an old man walking to his car with his dog. The old man and the dog reminded him of a day he met himself in a hut. A hut of an old man and his dog called foxy, who saves him after he gets drowned. He tried not to remember the night the old man begged him to flee with his foxy. Now, the breeze darted the words of the old man to him. “If you save foxy, I will be fine.” The deep meaning of the old man’s words was what he wants to know. For he had saved foxy, but the old man ends up dying. Could dying be fine? Perhaps, it might be, since fo

    Arthur slides into the room expecting to hear the noise of guns, but nothing sounds. Nothing clicked. Nothing moved either. No one is here except for Chris’s dead body gushing out blood. He raised his eyebrows, widened his mouth, and can’t close it back again. His eyes filled. Chris’s body looked misty. A tear dropped, and then another. His childhood friend died for his sake. Only five words are dropping like a sharp stone from his agony mouth. “No. Can’t believe this yet.” And then, the blood of Chris moved down and stopped before him. Arthur touched it. It feels tepid, like the warm water he used to treat him on the bed, back then.         Now, he believes. Chris had gone. Holding his gun tighten without looking back, he shoots two men hiding behind the fridges. He rose and yelled as the pain of losing his friend stung him within. A whisper was heard from a room. Furiously, he stormed t

    Isobel POV        That night in Maeve’s house, her servants switched on a new electric generator. Which she told me she bought in Greenland city.         Here in her room, the bulb flicked, and then off. Two seconds later, it seemed, the light flicked once more. I felt uneasy as I stood under the darkness now. The bulbs flicked again, and I exchanged glances with Maeve. We looked away. And then, the bulb brightens. But now, it stays.         Maeve looked into my eyes, frowning. “Leave my room.”        I was startled, not knowing what to do. Looking back into her eyes, I felt uneasy. And it grew stronger. The uneasy might be because of her frowning face. Maybe it might be because of her words. Or it might be because of the light flickering again. But after some seconds, the light stays. And her frowning face and harsh words resume