AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You’re so full of shit,” his brother countered.
When I arrived at the shelf, I removed the leatherbound book with all the reverence it deserved. Paper books were a thing of the past, so much so that one only saw them in museums and private collections. We all read off tablets now.
“May I?” I asked, gesturing to his bed.
He waved his arm graciously. “Feel free.”
I sat down and opened the book. The pages were thin and smelled old. I carefully turned them. As promised, my name really was inside.
Acedia. Noun. Apathy in the practice of spiritual virtue, or lack of care. One of the Deadly Sins. Synonyms. Sloth. Laziness. Latin from Greek. Without care.
“Oh.” I was a bit shocked and a little embarrassed. I turned to the “S” section.
Sloth. Noun. Disinclination to action or labor. One of the Deadly Sins. Synonyms. Idleness. Sluggishness.
I kept looking up names like it was a baby name book. Some definitions I recognized, but many entries had descriptions I had never seen before.
Inertia. Noun. Lack of Energy. Indisposition to motion, exertion, or action.
Torpor. Noun. State of inactivity due to numbness and/or lethargy.
Blasé. Adjective. An attitude of indifference and boredom. Unimpressed.
And on and on.
Disgusted, I slammed the book shut and returned it to the shelf. Why would the universal computer essentially lie to us about the meanings of these names—or rather, words? Why were these namesakes even a thing? It seemed cruel.
I spied my ballet flats by the bed. Without a word to the men, I walked past and put on my shoes.
“Where are you going?” Huck asked.
“Home.”
“We told you already, it’s too dangerous,” Garrett replied, his tone carrying his displeasure.
“I don’t care,” I said, moving toward the front door. “I’m going to find my family. Rescue them from their extraterrestrial slavers.”
“Slavers?” Huck echoed. “Who told you they were slav—”
“Hush,” Garrett ordered, tossing up a hand his way. “And you are not going anywhere,” he directed to me.
“You can’t stop me,” I countered over my shoulder, glaring. “I’m a grown woman. And I can’t just sit here and do nothing.” I’m not my name.
I was a better person than that. I was not lazy or without care.
“Get back over here,” Garrett demanded.
Though I turned to face him, I reached behind me for the knob and swung open the door. “No.”
Huck burst out laughing. “Oh boy, this is going to be good.”
“I said to get back here,” Garrett ordered. “Now, Acedia.”
Walking backwards onto the porch, ready to bolt at any second should he come after me, I flipped off the overbearing asshole with two middle fingers. It was an old gesture, but as Anachronists, I figured they knew what it meant.
My back suddenly collided into something big, and I bounced forward. When I turned around, I looked up into the hard expression of my rescuer.
“Too late,” Huck chuckled, sitting down at the table. He stretched out. “You’re about to see what I mean when I say I’m the nicest.”
