Page 29 of Paradox
It’s cold out here.
I don’t want to get sick.
Where is Tek’s jacket?
I need my shoes.
Why am I…
I roll onto my side, but as soon as I sit up, a tan work boot kicks me back down. “You ready for round two?”
“I just…” I squeeze my eyes shut because my face feels like Eden is pounding at it again and again with his hammer. “...inside.”
“Fine by me.” The same fist that just knocked me down is in my hair, pulling me along the grass.
Instantly, my hands are clawing at it while my feet try to gain purchase. “Ow! Stop, please!”
“Your chances are up, you ungrateful fuck.” Eden flings the shack door open and throws me inside. I skid along the old and splintering wood until I hit the hearth beneath the stove. “I don’t want to have to look at you anymore.” The door slams, and the building shakes around me. Dirt falls from the roof and beams onto my skin.
I'm really screwed now.
I hurt my own hand more than I hurt him. And for what? A tree?
A fucking red alder?
Why did I think that was a battle that was worth fighting?
We’re off-grid in the middle of nowhere, six miles down a dirt track.
The door is thrown back open, and my clothes are flung at me.
Eden stands tall in the doorway, his body nearly taking up the whole thing. Reaching into his pocket, he takes out a box of matches and throws them at my feet.
“Do not give me the displeasure of having to look at you again.”
“I’m sorry, Eden. I shouldn't have—”
“I just don’t care anymore,” he says with a sigh; his voice lacking any emotion. “The deal is off. If you’re stupid enough to still stay here, do it on your own. I don’t want to see you. I don’t want to hear you. I don’t want to know you exist. As far as I’m concerned, you did die at the lake.”
This time when the door slams, I flinch.
This time, I feel it in my bones.
The day he banished me, the storm never came.
It's snowed a little each night since, but nothing substantial. I leave the bowl, pot, and bucket out, and by morning there's enough water to get me through the day. And so far, the wood I brought in when I got that first match, has been enough.
I’m doing fine.
I can keep going.
I’m bored out of my mind, but I’ll get through this…
Finding time to sneak out has been the hardest part.
The shack's window doesn't face the main cabin, so I have to push against a board by the door to make a gap big enough to see out of, but it gives me a perfect view right into the living area. Eden always sits in the same spot on the sofa, so every morning after he clears the snow off the solar panels, I watch as he walks through to the bathroom, and that's when I leave.
That's when I explore.
