Another journal

You can find all the sections here.

Janice got Emily inside quickly, with at least one worried look around the trailer park. Emily stopped cold just inside the door, open backpack hanging off one shoulder. Everything appeared the same on the surface, but the more she looked the more incongruities popped up. There were new throw pillows and rugs covered what were probably worn spots in the carpet. On the coffee table was what had to be a portable computer, but Emily had never seen one that slim, or known anyone who owned one. Next to it was the painfully familiar half-full tumbler of iced tea. Before she could take in much more, Janice steered her niece to the couch, her grip tight on Emily’s arm. While her aunt twisted the blinds closed, Emily slid the backpack to the floor and rested her head in her hands, looking at the unfamiliar rug beneath her feet.

“Why don’t you want the others to know I’m here?” Emily’s voice was muffled, aimed at her knees. She felt the old couch sink and shift as her aunt sat down.

“I’ll explain it to you soon, but can you wait until Becky gets here?” Janice pulled something from her pocket that Emily knew was a mobile phone, even though it was the size of a pack of cards and had a full colour picture of a meadow on the screen. Her aunt pushed at buttons, sighed and leaned back, still holding the phone.

“Is it on speakerphone or something?”

“What?”

Emily frowned. “Is it ringing right now?”

“Oh.” Janice laughed, the sound harsh and close to tears. “I texted her—like with a pager you send short codes? Only you can do sentences now.”

“But that’s a phone.”

Mirrored from Journal of a Something or Other.