I got up before dawn the next morning. My mother was already up, making orange juice in the high-tech juicer in the kitchen. Karmen was adjusting her school uniform. Father had already left for work.
"Brush your hair, Jessica," my mother chirped.
"Yes, Jessica," Karmen said. I ignored her and put on my blazer.
"You got your homework done, right?" my mother asked.
"Yes, before work."
"Good, good! Well, have fun at school! I hope you get good grades and learn a lot of applicable knowledge!" She handed me my bag and shooed my sister and me out the door.
School passed in a blur of unremembered routine. When the final bell rang, I had to remind myself not to take the bus to work. I congregated with the rest of the archery class to wait for the jeep to pick us up.
"I've been reading up on technique," said Gabriel. "What about you, Jess? Do you think you've improved?"
"I don't know." The jeep arrived, and we clambered on.
"I suppose the class itself is for improving, but you should really put more effort in."
"Mhm."
The jeep pulled away from the sidewalk and landed right in the middle of rush hour traffic. One of the other students asked Gabriel about studying and time management, and as they talked I worked on my science homework, glancing up every now and then to watch people go by out of the window.
When we got to the range, Ms. Barley was tying balloons to the backs of very energetic rabbits. "We're working on moving targets today," she said. "Get with the same partners you had last time."
Gabriel grabbed a bow from the rack and handed it to me. I took the bow, and as I shot I felt a lot less powerful than I had yesterday. The arrow fell four feet away from me and ten feet from the balloon targets.
"Why don't you shoot again, and I'll help you on your aim." He took my hand and guided me as I pulled back the bowstring. One of us must have moved at the last second, because the bow jilted upward and the arrow flew into the bushes a hundred yards off.
"I'll get it." I darted away to where I thought I saw the arrow fall. By the time I got there, I could no longer hear the archery class behind me and could only barely see the dummies they were still shooting at. I briefly scanned the area before getting down on my knees to search the undergrowth. The arrow was nowhere to be seen.
I could hear a soft rustling coming from a line of bushes off to the side. Slowly brushing the branches aside, I saw a monkey, or, a chimpanzee, or, something that looked like a monkey but wasn't covered in as much hair. It took me a moment to realize that I was looking at a person. "Are you lost?"
"Kill me quickly." The person, who seemed to be about my age or a little younger, was shaking. Liquid was pouring from their eyes and nose and I could barely hear what they were saying. "Kill me, please. I don't want to turn into one of you."
"Are you sick? Should I get someone?"
"No, just kill me! That's what you do, isn't it? Your face is covered with the blood of the dead! God, I don't want my skin to go away! I love my skin!"
"You won't lose your skin, come on." I sat down next to them and attempted to comfort them, but I was far from qualified for this sort of thing. "We'll get you to a specialist, and everything will be alright."
"No," they whispered, but they didn't move.
"What's your name?"
"Emmy."
"So you're a girl, then?" She didn't look like a girl. She didn't look like a boy, either. She looked like a very scared clay sculpture.
She curled up into a tight ball. It didn't look like I was going to get much more out of her, but I decided to keep trying. I thought for a moment. "I'm a girl," I said. "I guess. I'm Jess, by the way. How long have you been out here? Do you have somewhere to be?"
No answer. Maybe she had actually turned into a clay sculpture. "What grade are you in at school?" I asked.
"Stop," she muttered.
"Stop what?"
"Just stop."
I was about to say something else, but there was something in her voice that made me think better of it. I found my arrow and left.
It was only a small break in the routine. I went back to the archery class, rode the jeep back to town, did homework, did my job, and went home. Everything bled into everything else like it always did, but this time an underlying image wouldn't leave me alone. I wasn't supposed to have seen that girl. She wasn't supposed to have been there for me to see.
"Hello, Jessica," said my mother as I trudged through the apartment door. "We ate dinner without you, I'm afraid, but you took your time coming home."
"Did I?" I dropped my bag by the door and grabbed some leftovers from the fridge. The oven clock said 22:47. "Oh. I'm sorry."
"It's alright." She set a small place for me at the table. "I'm sure you were very busy."
I sat down and began to eat. She sat in the chair next to mine, watching me closely.
"Your boss called," she said, fiddling with a dinner fork. "They said you were a bit absentminded at work today."
"I guess I was. I've been weird all afternoon, but I'm sure I'll be better in the morning."
"Let's hope so," she said, smiling as she cleared away my empty plate. "If you don't pay attention to your work, you won't appreciate it. Well, get your homework done. Karmen's already asleep, so be quiet when you go in. Goodnight, Jessica."
I bit my lip. "Goodnight."
She left the room, leaving me to stare at the bloodstained tablecloth and wonder why I dreaded the thought of going to school in the morning.