“Can you pass me the potatoes?”

Pops voice sounded muffled, as if he was speaking underwater. Or maybe I was the one who was underwater. But everything was so dark, so calm.

“Can you pass me the potatoes?” his voice sounded louder, but still muffled. I was feeling warm. Was I cold before?

“Cass? Can you pass me the potatoes?” his voice finally was able to snap me out of my stupor.

Blinking a few times, I tried to get my bearings. For some reason, I had no memory about how I got here. Was I doing something before? Wasn’t I in danger? “Are we having soup again?” my body moved almost mechanically to the pantry. Knowing what Pops just asked.

“Not today. I was reading the recipe book from the old world that talked about baked potato, and I want to try making it,” Pops replied.

“Are you sure this is going to work? I remember the last time you tried something from that recipe book. Was it meat bread? That thing was raw in the middle and burnt in the edges.”

“It was meatloaf, and cooking is an art. It takes practice to master.”

“You can practice all you want, but other types of art don’t require you to torture your granddaughter.”

“Some people might disagree with you. Or are you forgetting Shirley’s concerto?” he chuckled.

I stopped, the potato still in my hand, “I don’t want to remember that, much less the fact that she dragged the entire village to the basement for it. Some of the children will never be the same. But it doesn’t matter how awful her singing is. I’m not her granddaughter. So my point stands.”

After I finally gave him the potato, my grandpa, Rakeen, started making his new experimental dinner, “Fine, fine. By the way. Are you ready for tomorrow?”

Just thinking about it made me groan loudly, “Yeah. I am. I have everything I need, but I really didn’t want to do this.”

“You can delay if you want,” Rakeen said.

“I know. But it wouldn’t be fair. Besides, they already want to know about it. Vanessa menstruated for the first time during class today. It’s not like I can pretend nothing happened. The kids saw a decent amount of blood. And I’m not even that worried about them.”

“The parents?” Rakeen glanced back as I just nodded in reply, “Yeah. They never take it well. You figure they would be happy having the kids understand that, but I guess some things don’t change. Even in the old world, there were people who freaked out when it was time to talk about the birds and the bees. Still, I’m more surprised about Vanessa. She’s 10, isn’t she? She got her period early.”

His phrasing made me shiver, “The fact that you associate bees with sex is terrifying. Apparenlty, Vanessa’s mom also had her period early, so maybe it’s a genetic thing? I don’t know. Not like we can figure that out. But she seems fine.”

“That’s good. Also, bees were much smaller back then. And they still do the same thing. Pollinate flowers and mostly leave us alone. Hornets are the assholes. Still, let me know if I can do anything to help. I may be retired, but I was a fine teacher.”

“True, and the kids miss you. Why don’t you teach tomorrow’s class then?”

“Not even if you were giving me some chocolate. You already tricked me into doing that with the last class. I won’t make that mistake again.”

“C’mon, it’s been four years already. You really need to get over that. Can’t you teach tomorrow’s class? I’ll love you forever if you do it,” I pouted, trying my best puppy dog face.

“You’re going to love me forever even if I don’t, and I know it,” Rakeen chuckled.

With a scoff, I continued, “That’s why you’re still single. No one wants to be with someone so cocky.”

“I’m single because no woman in the world can compare to your late grandma. I’m the one who refuses them, not the other way around.”

“Yeah, right,” I rolled my eyes.

“Speaking of her,” Rakeen placed the potatoes in the oven and walked towards his bed. We lived in what could be called a large metal container, making the entire thing a single large room. Reaching inside a drawer, he pulled out a wooden box with various patterns split by diagonals all over it.

The old man smiled, looking at it, his almost black eyes filling with sadness. With a sniff, he turned around, took a small towel from the drying rack on the side of the room. He patted his forehead and gray beard dry before returning to the table where I was sitting.

“Here. Happy birthday.”

“Pops…” I reached out for the box, seeing how each unique pattern fought against each other all over the entire frame. Still, it was oddly beautiful, “But my birthday is only tomorrow,” I glanced at Rakeen, who raised an eyebrow, “You know what I mean. To everyone else, it is tomorrow.”

I didn’t know the exact date of my birth; after all, I had lost my parents when my previous home was attacked by the Eaters. Luckily, Rakeen was there to save me, to bring me to this village, and take me in as his granddaughter. It helped a lot that we shared the same skin tone, a dark bronze that glowed when under the sun.

Even our facial features were similar: deep-set brown eyes with round noses that ended in a round tip. Both had an oval head and plump lips. In the past, Rakeen also had the same type of hair as I did: long, wild, and untamed. But with age, he decided against what he called ‘the jungle man’ look and wrapped his long gray hair in dreadlocks. This was a good call since many would ask if he was around 50 despite being in his mid-70s, and most of the women in the village were charmed by his appearance.

The fact he still maintained his muscles also helped. Not that I was that far behind, although I focused more on flexibility and agility than pure strength. In the end, that gave me a leaner build instead of the somewhat hulking physique of my father figure.

“I know, but tomorrow, everyone will be showing up to celebrate with you. I just wanted to have a moment, just us.”

I smiled, “I get what you mean. The party will be fun and all, but this is more us,” looking back at the box, I tried to open it, but it didn’t seem like there was a way to do so. Yet, there was something rattling inside, “What is this? Am I supposed to break it?”

“NO!” Rakeen almost jumped to stop me, “That is the last gift your grandmother gave me. Please don’t just break it.”

“Then tell me that kind of thing first!” I gasped.

“Fine, fine. There goes the moment,” Rakeen huffed, “That is a puzzle box. There is a way to open it. Without breaking it! All you have to do is find out. Inside, you will find the first gift your grandmother ever gave me.”