To My Dearest Roseanne(Ollie Henning) Special Note for StoryStar readers: I did my best to conform my novel to the site's submission agreement. Just in case, I also marked it as written for adults, even though its target audience can also include teenagers. The novel does not contain instances of racism, exploitation, abusive or sexual content; however, some foul language may occasionally appear. In addition, I tried to make the novel as readable as possible in the site's editing box, but the box does not recognise italics for some reason (or maybe it's my lack of coding knowledge), so instances of titles of works, news pieces, poems, written messages, or internal monologues are not italicized in this version. Still, their presence should be clear from the context. The novel was originally published in November, 2024 on my blog and across different publishing platforms. I invite you to check out my site to get the full, uninterrupted reading experience, as it was intended. I hope you will enjoy the read.

Chapter 1

In all chaos, there is a cosmos. In all order, a secret order. ~ Carl Jung

March, 2024

It was a cold wintery evening. Roseanne adjusted the red beret on her head, but it served as little to no protection from the swirling wind engulfing her silhouette in darkness. She felt lost and her only objective at that moment was to return home. The main street was completely empty with no living soul in sight, so she turned into a dark alley because she spotted a large neon sign of a hotel in the distance. The girl hoped that she would be able to make a phone call from a hotel to get a taxi, or at least let her folks know about her whereabouts.

However, as soon as she stepped into a dark alley, she instantly felt that something was definitely amiss. The wind ceased blowing through the area, and the deafening stillness of the night was disrupted by a new set of sounds: loud measured footsteps of someone walking behind Roseanne, of someone taking out a blade from a belt-strapped sheath, and swinging it through the dark air. Roseanne felt instant panic. She sprang up and ran towards the hotel as fast as she possibly could.

She kept running and running, but the hotel sign on top of a building didn't get any larger. However, the deadly sounds were indeed getting louder. Roseanne was getting weaker. She felt out of breath but had to keep on running. What other choice did she have? She mustered up enough mental stamina to keep going no matter what. Yes, she had developed a routine that allowed her to withstand the most exhausting PE lessons under the watchful eye of her drill instructor. Hah! No Michael Myers-wannabe was a match for Roseanne Juzynski, the second-grade military-profile class student, not even in dreams.

"In dreams?!" Roseanne asked in surprise.

"In dreams," Roy Orbison responded calmly.

"Get out of here!"

***

Before she knew it, Roseanne opened her eyes widely. She was in her room, the same plain old space in which she had spent the last 16 years... It was her entire existence (so far). Her heart was beating with the intensity of a Rover V8 engine, not from dream-induced anxiety, however, but disappointment.

Turns out, it wasn't a good idea after all to hold a personal horror movie marathon to celebrate the end of winter break. All the different cases of monster classics, popular blockbusters, and questionable C-class shlock were lying stacked unorderly on a DVD player hooked up to a tiny TV set that was still switched on.

"Oh, come on..." Roseanne rolled out of her bed and turned off the screen, the sides of which were covered in fluorescent My Little Pony stickers.

It was still dark outside, but Roseanne didn't feel like coming back to sleep. She picked up her phone, which was charging, from a bedside table and checked the hour.

"What?!" She almost let out a loud scream, "I'm in the ass... again!"

Even though the phrase "I'm in the ass" was all sorts of wrong in English, Roseanne loved to use it as a swear word. She actually appropriated it from the native language of her parents, so the correct meaning of what she means by that questionable phrase is not that she is actually, physically inside someone's back passage, but that she got herself in a whole lot of trouble.

And what was the source of trouble? you might ask. Well, Roseanne was so exhausted after her movie night that she overslept. She already missed her 6 am bus to school.

"I'm really in the ass. There is no doubt about that."

Roseanne nearly matched the superhero speed of the Flash while putting on a uniform and getting herself into a presentable state before going out. The corners of her dark, brown eyes were visibly swollen, her forehead was unusually elevated today, and her red dyed hair (originally brown) was a mess, but a traditional, thick, single braid did the trick in a matter of seconds.

The military student put on her polished, heavy-duty boots, and prepared a backpack, but before leaving, she stopped by the kitchen to do one more thing.

Roseanne's mom was sleeping soundly in her bedroom. The daughter gently leaned over from behind a door and observed her mother's body which was consumed by white sheets and pillows. Her head was the only visible marker of flesh in this haystack of cotton and polyester. Roseanne quietly placed a cup of tea on a bedside table and swiftly leaned back into a corridor, closing the door.

Just before heading off, her loyal friend, a German Shepherd would jump onto her backpack with no intention of letting it go.

"Stop it, Enzo. Bad dog, bad dog!"

After a little wrestling back and forth, the dog eventually relented when he was given a snack, and Roseanne was finally able to leave the house.


Chapter 2

The cold January air smacked her in the face for real this time. She forgot to take her winter cap, so the official beret with an eagle in the centre, the emblem of her homeland – the Land of Po, had to suffice. Roseanne left the dilapidated tenement house, which contained her dwelling, and made her way to a bus stop.

The part of town she lived in was a working-class district that would make Raymond Williams tear up with pride. Szwederowo was filled with pre-1939 architecture as well as ugly socialist blocks of flats that were repainted from traditional grey to all shades of horrendous orange, yellow, and green. Such districts were referred to back in the days of Brezhnev and the commie gang as "bedrooms". The more appropriate term to use today would be "commuter town", but Szwederowo was not a suburban area; actually, it was located fairly close to the city centre. Still, it does not change the fact that there weren't any local businesses in the area and its primary function was to shelter adults and children, who needed to get to work or school in different parts of the city. Many colleagues of Roseanne's outwardly hated the Soviet, post-apocalyptic nature of Szwederowo, but she didn't mind it. In truth, the only downside for Roseanne was the constant construction work in the area.

Not long after she reached the bus stop, the transit vehicle arrived with a bright light saying it was line no. 56. Roseanne stepped inside together with dozens of other commuters and luckily took a free seat next to a window. The sound jingle was emitted by the speakers and the bus doors closed. A mechanical, pre-recorded sound of a disinterested woman announced the upcoming stop, and the bus resumed its course.

At times like this, Roseanne liked to listen to some music. In contrast to her fellow peers, she had a peculiar musical taste. Whereas others revelled in Kanye West and Juice WRLD, Roseanne preferred a mixture of 80s Pop. Her wonderful father and his irreplaceable music collection, consisting of good old audio tapes and CDs, introduced her to such heroes as Modern Talking, Pet Shop Boys, Johnny Hates Jazz, Kenny Loggins, and more.

Unfortunately, the loud noise of a local radio blasting through the bus speakers disrupted her listening ritual.

This afternoon, drivers and even passers-by might expect considerable difficulties in the area of Kuyavian – Pomeranian Regional Office. The farmers have announced that they are going to block the city centre with tractors as a form of protest against upcoming EU regulations. It is uncertain if they will allow ambulances, buses, and trams to pass through the blockade. It is best to use alternative routes. From other news, the electrical supply line going from Bydgoszcz to Konin is due to undergo a maintenance check by the Land of Po's Power Grid Co. Ltd. The maintenance check will take place in the village of Mierzwin. Unexpected power outages may arise in the course of this week.

"Dreadful, absolutely dreadful! It's unthinkable in this day and age to sit at home without electricity! It's like the Second World War!" shouted a lady sitting next to Roseanne. The passenger's wrinkled face, snarky attitude, and mohair hat were trademark signs of all the retired citizens of the Land of Po who no longer had real worries, which made them lose reason in the process.

"How am I going to come back home today? Farmers should protest in the capitol. Their action only strikes at honest working people, that's what I say!" Some random man retorted to the lady.

"How dare you! Had it not been for farmers, people would starve! They have the right to protest!"

"Shut up, you old hag!"

"Sieg heil! Sieg heil! Mein Führer!" a drunk hobo suddenly butted into the cascade of contrastive yells and spills of hatred filling the bus.

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PLEASE MAKE IT STOP! Roseanne screamed in her head, but her face remained uninspired in front of the typical social mayhem. She felt like in the belly of the steel beast, the metallic intestines of which were gradually closing in around her, trying to devour her patience and digest her youthful optimism.

Suddenly, just as she felt increasingly approaching hopelessness, the mechanical voice of a disinterred woman announced her stop "Yard Street".

Roseanne stepped off the bus with a sense of enormous relief. She breathed deeply to calm down her nerves.

She really, really hated commuting by bus.


Chapter 3

It was always difficult for Roseanne to describe her looks. She didn't perceive herself as particularly beautiful or exceptionally ugly. Still, she enjoyed looking feminine and doing all the girly things that other 16-year-old girls do, such as fidgeting with make-up, eyelashes, and nail polish. Mr Orville, a teacher of English – and one of her favourite teachers, in fact – once said to Roseanne that she looks like Nikita from Elton John's music video. Roseanne blushed at the compliment, but she didn't notice any resemblance. The only common things between her and the fictional Nikita were a military uniform and a good standing posture. Indeed, Roseanne prided herself upon having a good posture. It was a big advantage that singled her out in PE lessons.

From the bus stop, Roseanne just had to cross the street and she was already at the entrance of her high school. It was a big, modern building, so at least the classrooms were clean (the same cannot be said about many post-socialist schools in the Land of Po). The girl was already late as it was quarter past seven, so she ran up the stairs and grabbed the handle of a classroom 203.

Mr Orville was sitting by his white desk, completely consumed by the activity of scribbling something on paper. He lifted his head at the sound of the opening door, and he immediately smiled upon seeing Roseanne.

"Good morning, Mr Orville!" Roseanne said with a happy-go-lucky enthusiasm.

"Good morning!" he said, emulating her elation.

"I apologise for being late."

Roseanne sat in the front row and prepared her coursebook. There was nobody else in the classroom because rarely anyone would come to school at 7 am on Thursday when the students had to endure six hours of harsh PE one hour later. Mr Orville was initially disheartened by this slacking attitude of Roseanne's classmates, but he never let his irritation get the better of him. In fact, Mr Orville relentlessly encouraged students to attend morning hours, rewarding early birds with commendations in the school log and activity points. Still, what Roseanne liked the most about Mr Orville was not just his peace of mind, but overall cheerfulness and kind-hearted attitude. He wasn't as stuck up as the rest of the teachers. He would never punish anyone for making a mistake during a lesson, misplacing homework, or fearing to read an assignment out loud. It was quite the contrary. He believed in positive reinforcement that would encourage students to engage in the process of learning English. Although he looked old-ish and tired for 30 years of age, this guy could put up a wonderful smile through his reading glasses. For Roseanne, he was like an uncle with whom she could chat about anything... as long as it was in English.

"So..." Orville started saying when placing an additional chair next to him, "Since, you are the only one in the class. It's time for a hot chair session, Roseanne."

"But of course, sir!"

Roseanne gladly sat on a red chair next to Mr Orville. The teacher devised the so-called 'hot-chair' sessions to help students get used to having prolonged and spontaneous conversations in English. Many hated this activity, but Roseanne absolutely loved it. In this manner, she could show off new words she learned, and also gossip with Mr Orville.

"I have to tell you Roseanne that this was like the first time when nobody came at 7 am sharp," Mr Orville initiated the conversation.

"I know. I'm very sorry I was late, but I have to honestly admit that I overslept."

"Were you cramming for some important exams?"

Roseanne rolled her eyes and her cheeks contracted gently.

"Well... if by cramming you mean watching a ton of horror films last night, then yes!"

Mr Orville couldn't help but let out a loud roar of laughter.

"Thank you for your candour, Roseanne. I always appreciate that."

"Oh! You won't believe the kind of dream I had!"

Roseanne quickly summed up her sprint in the dark alley, and Mr Orville listened attentively.

"Honestly, Roseanne. I'm not surprised. Your brain just processed all those horrible images from last night and tried to set your body into anxiety mode. Personally, I am not a fan of horrors and I avoid such movies at all costs. I just don't want to feel scared. However, I have no idea how Roy Orbison cropped up in your dream."

"I know, right? My dad does not even have any of his songs. The last time I heard him was years ago on Spotify."

Mr Orville hesitated for a brief moment, but he gently leaned over to Roseanne, as if wanting to tell her something in secret (although nobody was listening because the classroom was empty).

"Perhaps I shouldn't tell you this, but I also had a strange dream last night."

"Oh, really! Do tell!"

"Mr Orville sighed, "Well... I was here, at school, in front of our classroom, and... I saw you walking down the corridor."

"Me?!" Roseanne shouted in surprise.

"Yes, we greeted each other as we normally do, but I noticed something was wrong... something was different. When I looked at you again, I noticed that your uniform is blue."

"Blue?"

"Exactly. So I asked you, 'Roseanne, why is your uniform blue?' and you turned and replied to me, 'Mr Orville, I'm no longer a member of the military class. I'm a student of the police class.'"

"Holy crap!" Roseanne burst into laughter, "This is like the greatest offence anyone told me!"

"I know and I'm sorry for my silly brain conjuring up such a ridiculous scenario, but it's not the end."

"It's not?"

"The dream ended when I asked in utter shock, 'Roseanne since you switched classes, does that mean we're no longer going to have English together?!'"

"Oh, that's so sweet!"

"I guess I really can't handle losing one of my most diligent students." Mr Orville said and this remark made Roseanne fill up with pride. "You'd make a good police officer in an alternate reality."

"Come to think of it, it's an interesting idea... having alternate lives. I would have never enrolled at a police class, but the prospect of attending a different high school, meeting different friends, and different teachers sounds intriguing. Our lives are so dependent on choice."

Mr Orville smiled.

"I couldn't put it better myself. But I think our fascination with alternative realities stems from the influences of popular culture. Avengers Endgame, Spider-man: Into the Spiderverse, and Everything Everywhere All at Once really changed the perspective among moviegoers who were living in the mentality that our lives are one, big... fuzzy ball of predestination. I sometimes wonder what other job I could perform apart from teaching."

"Perhaps you could become a philosopher," Roseanne smiled cheekily.

"No way, Jose. I'm not going to replace tea with hemlock as my daily beverage. But what about you? Is the military your dream job for sure?"

Roseanne thought carefully for a while.

"I would say, yes. Back in primary school, I wanted to become a photographer, but I just didn't have enough points on the entry tests to get into a high school that had this particular learning profile."

"Therefore, the winds of circumstance brought you here."

"At least English doesn't suck."

At that moment, the door opened again with a large impetus and a tiny figure entered the classroom.

"Good morning!"

"Good morning, Emily!"

***

Emily was Roseanne's closest friend in school. Their encounter also happened by circumstance. Initially, they were hanging out with different girls, but one day it turned out that all the seats were taken in the classroom, and there was only one desk left, so they sat together. One word led to another, and they became inseparable. Emily appeared to be the complete juxtaposition of Roseanne, not only in terms of height (there were 4 inches of difference between them). She wasn't feminine, she didn't have a good posture, and she didn't like girly things. If anything, she embraced her inner masculinity. She was always chewing gum and wearing pants. What is more, she used to get to school on a motorbike. The only feminine feature she cherished was her long, brown hair.

In terms of personality, however, Emily was quite an agreeable person and a good listener. Whenever Roseanne wanted a leading ear, Emily was there for her. But things rarely worked the other way around. When, for instance, Emily was boasting about a tweaked engine in her Kawasaki Ninja or that she spotted a Dodge Challenger on a street, Roseanne had to force herself to listen to these rustbucket curiosities. Nevertheless, Emily liked to joke a lot, and she had this uncanny habit of displaying affection to Roseanne by relentlessly beating her friend and peppering her arms and legs with bruises in the process. Of course, Roseanne made sure to return the favour.

Although Roseanne was more determined to learn English, which was recognised and appreciated by Mr Orville, Emily already had a greater grasp of the language, so she could communicate more effortlessly with the teacher.

Her loyal friend grabbed a chair and joined them in English conversation.

"Dear Emily, why are you so late today?" Mr Orville asked.

"Yeah, where have you been, you fake ass bitch?" Roseanne emphasised the question.

"To tell the truth..." Emily said with her crystal voice, "I ran out of gas on the way to school, so I had to refill the tank at a petrol station."

"Admit it! You overslept. Just admit it!" Roseanne said joyfully.

"Having classes at 7 am is the stupidest idea ever!" Emily blurted out, "I can never get up on time."

The trio fell into the abyss of philosophical ponderings about getting up early for school. Granted, Emily lived on the outskirts of Bydgoszcz, so she had to endure a longer distance than Roseanne, but it was not an excuse for her oversleeping. Mr Orville rushed to point out that he commutes every day by bus from a neighbouring city and in spite of traffic or unforeseeable road accidents, he always makes an effort to be here for the students. To him, getting up early and being on time was a virtue of responsibility.

Upon hearing this, Emily remarked, "Yeah, but I have a choice, whereas you don't."

Mr Orville froze for a moment until he exploded with laughter.

"Yes, Emily. You are very much right. Work and studying are not the same. Enjoy your blissful student days while you can."

***

After doing standard Maturity exam exercises, such as presenting oneself or describing a photograph and answering questions related to it, the classes were over, and Roseanne bid farewell to Mr Orville as she always used to in the same fashion:

"Have a nice day!" she said.

"The same to you!" he replied.

"Goodbye," that's the only bit Emily could muster up upon leaving.

The rest of the day consisted of a whole slew of boring subjects. Roseanne and Emily weren't massive fans of biology, geography, chemistry, and mathematics. The material resulting from the curricula was too over-the-top for them, but it was not their only worry. The teachers themselves usually were the riff-raff of stupid losers who barely could operate a computer, let alone conduct a lesson in an interesting way. It also wasn't helping that Roseanne and Emily were members of the military-profile class, so the students were trigger-happy teenagers with as sound judgement call as NPCs from Grand Theft Auto. As a result, socially-disabled teachers always collided with adrenaline-charged students, and the impetus of the ensuing confrontations was similar to those of meteoroids crashing against Jupiter's surface. Teachers would write in the electronic log as follows:

"Max is using the language typical of the social margin!"

"Włada is focused on a parlour game."

"Stanisław came to a class on the verge of exhaustion and fell asleep. He kept snoring all the time."

"Kacper tried to smear his colleague's belly with chalk."

"Fabian attempted to leave the classroom through the window."

Of course, Roseanne and Emily stayed away from the daily hustle and bustle cooked up by their classmates. When there was a subject they hated, they usually killed time on mobile phones. However, if a teacher was too strict, then they just pretended to listen. The worst thing for Roseanne was the time when tests were handed in.

"Juzynski! That's an F! How are you going to master geometry if you can't calculate angles properly?" the lady teacher said with hearable disdain.

"I'm sorry. Can I retake it?" Roseanne asked. Her heart increased its tempo and sweat mercilessly appeared on the forehead.

"Only at the end of the term."

After eight long hours, the friends finally made it through the day. Emily suggested they should hit the local McDonald's that was located in a shopping mall across the street. Indeed, nearby McDonald's was the Mecca for all the hungry students from their high school.

***

When the two grabbed their burgers and found free spots in a large, lifeless dining area, Emily immediately started the conversation.

"Today, I spotted a Corvette and BMW M5," Emily proudly presented pictures on her phone.

"Super..." Rosenne barely looked at vehicles she couldn't recognise.

"Am I annoying you, Rosie?"

"No, it's just that I am really tired today. That F from maths was a bummer. My dad won't be coming back from the road for another four weeks, so I have to do some shopping on my way home."

"Ah, okay. I also got an F and I'm crying over that."

For the next few minutes, there was silence. Roseanne was slowly eating her cheeseburger, whereas Emily was consumed by Tik-Tok videos of speeding Skyline R-34s.

"Uhm... today's lessons were a chore. Maybe I'll skip next Thursday altogether," said Emily without looking away from the phone.

Perhaps Roseanne was really too tired or too irritable, but she was struck by a sudden thought that her friend just doesn't give a damn about her. Well, why would she? Her father wasn't a truck driver and her mother wasn't a former factory worker living on social welfare. These were Roseanne's parents. Emily's parents, on the other hand, are so rich they turned her childhood into a fantasy island. She always had what she wished for, without a single care in the world to worry about.

"Banana baby," Roseanne muttered under her nose.

"Say what?" Emily looked from above the phone screen.

"You heard me. You are a Banana baby!"

In the language of Po, the insult "Banana baby" was the equivalent of a "rich, spoiled kid".

"What's your problem? You wanna fight me, bitch?!" Emily shouted.

"I could take you down with one slap! Look at yourself! You ungrateful little shit! Always me, me, me. You don't give a fuck about anything! You don't give a fuck about me! You don't give a fuck about military prep! Hell, you don't even give a fuck about English! You wouldn't even notice Mr Orville's absence had he not come to work someday."

"What the fuck are you saying to me?"

"Never mind. Go back to your mansion with golden handles and a backlit fountain in the garden. I'm outta here."

Having said this, Roseanne grabbed her backpack and stormed out of the mall.


Chapter 4

"Next stop, Szwederowo."

Roseanne stepped out of the bus which arrived in her neighbourhood. She was still nervous after the unexpected argument, but it didn't change her conviction that Emily was a spoiled girl who didn't care about her as a friend. Especially in recent weeks, Emily was preoccupied with only two things: her phone and her bike.

Emily was a banana baby through and through, Roseanne thought.

Roseanne went to Lidl and did the usual shopping. She hated shopping when she was a child. Her mom used to take her every Sunday to a nearby supermarket, the first one ever that was built in Szwederowo. She remembers how boring it was to look for products and tick them off a shopping list, and subsequently line up in a queue to a cash register together with hordes of devotees that had just poured out of a church. Roseanne felt drowsy in the confines of a plastic repository of products. People were pushing each other, and some of them would tumble down like domino bricks. Roseanne recalled when she was unpacking things, and some wrinkled witch jerked her arm. A jar of tomato sauce slipped away from her fingers and exploded against the tiled floor with a loud thud. In an instant, Roseanne broke into tears and screams typical of a 5-year-old. She was so careful with fragile products: eggs, light bulbs, notebooks, a carton of juice... But she dropped tomato sauce. It wasn't her fault! She was trying her best, but that gargantuan 80-year-old zombie had to squeeze that fat ass between her and the shop assistant. If she could, she would have killed the bitch.

However, Roseanne's mom didn't raise her voice. She took out a traditional, blue handkerchief, kneeled in front of her daughter and carefully wiped tears off her swollen eyelids and cheeks.

"It's okay, sweetie. Stuff like that happens every day. Little gremlins do that, you know?" she said.

"Gremlins?" asked Roseanne, "That lady with a mohair hat over there is responsible."

"Of course, dear. Gremlins made her do that."

"What are Gremlins, Mommy?"

"Mischievous, evil little creatures that destroy machines, but I also believe they can get into people's brains and rot them from the inside," she said and kissed her daughter on the cheek.

While Roseanne tried to process the image of a gremlin rotting a brain, her mom quickly paid for all the products, including a broken jar.

***

The memory of that event stuck with Roseanne because she couldn't shake the feeling that she disappointed her parents, that she kept disappointing them whenever she received a bad grade, even though it wasn't the truth. Liz Juzynsky loved her daughter more than anything else and she has never felt an ounce of anger or hatred towards her.

It took Roseanne years to rediscover the pleasure of doing shopping, now that she was forced to do it alone. The times have changed as well. Currently, there are dozens of supermarkets in Szwederowo to choose from and each has an automated cash machine, which is a real godsend for introverts or people who get irritated in queues, like Roseanne. What is more, Roseanne also made sure to never go shopping on Sundays. She would choose either early mornings or late evenings for this activity. Consequently, there were often fewer customers around.

When Roseanne made it back home, it was a little over 6 pm. She barely opened the door and Enzo immediately jumped at her, barking with joy. Roseanne struggled to maintain balance so as not to drop the shopping bags.

"Calm down, Enzo. I will take you for a walk in a few minutes."

Roseanne tried to reason with the dog, but Enzo kept licking her face like crazy before he proceeded to explore the contents of the bags.

"Stop it! Bad dog!"

The girl made her way through a small hallway into the kitchen. Enzo followed suit mesmerised by the bags that were placed on a counter beyond his reach. When Roseanne flipped the light switch, she was startled to discover her mother who was on the opposite side of the counter, beside the window.

"Oh, mom! What are you doing in the dark? You scared the hell out of me."

"I'm sorry, dear," Liz Juzynski put down the remainder of a cigarette she was smoking, "I was just admiring the evening view. Even if I wanted to, it's impossible for me to chat with Auntie Dana on the phone all day long."

"I suppose so," Roseanne smiled and proceeded to unpack the shopping.

"How was school today?"

"The usual. Someone set off fireworks in the toilet, which infuriated the principal. He described it in the log as "detonation." Another student got into an argument over homework and threatened to call the police. And some other colleague accidentally fired a round when sorting rifles in the armoury. Basic stuff really."

"Basic for you, but unthinkable for my generation! I just don't want you to get hurt, honey bun. Schools in the Land of Po are such a dangerous place."

"Ma, you're looking at a maverick! Nothing's going to happen to me," Roseanne winked.

"And how's Mr Orville? Did you get another A from an English test? I know how hard you learn and wish to gain proficiency in the language."

"We didn't have a test today. Just a normal conversation and Maturity exam exercises."

"What about that kind friend of yours, Emily? It's been such a long time since you brought her over."

At the mention of her friend, Roseanne nearly tripped over an empty shopping bag.

"She's fine... She's busy studying for her driving licence exam. You know, she's stir-crazy about cars and motorbikes. They should show her in Fast and Furious."

Liz felt that her daughter was evading a touchy subject. Her dark eyes overshadowed by waves of brown and grey-ish hair examined Roseanne.

"Dad sent a picture from the road. He is in Gdynia and found a nice restaurant."

Roseanne quickly looked at a picture sent via Messenger.

"Oh, that's quite a change from the typical fast foods he used to dine in."

"You know how he doesn't like spending money on food. But then again, he isn't able to cook much on a portable stove."

"Speaking of cooking, what would you like to eat for dinner, Mom?"

"Hmmm, your dad picked lasagne, so I would like to request one as well."

"In that case, chef de partie recommends a pre-prepared one."

"I wouldn't have had it any other way, Roseanne Ramsay," she smiled.

"Just give me a second. I need to go with Enzo first."

As Roseanne started putting the dog on a leash, her mother decided to heat up the oven, so she rolled out from behind the counter in a wheelchair.


Chapter 5

The electrical supply line going from Bydgoszcz to Konin stretched across a radius of 104 kilometres. The impressive construction was supported by 258 steel poles that were located in twelve different counties, on 1185 private plots of land. It seemed that the only person in the world who cared about the bunch of wires hanging in the sky from one end of the horizon to the other was Mr Orville.

Every day, Mr Orville commuted to work from Squidburb, a city one hour away from Bydgoszcz. The two cities were fairly well communicated with each other in terms of public transport. Trains and buses were leaving every hour, but Mr Orville preferred the latter because the bus stop was right in front of his house.

After approximately ten minutes of the ride, the bus would pass directly under the construction in the village of Mierzwin. Mr Orville had a great view of the supply line from both sides, and it was always an exhilarating experience for him to observe it. He didn't know quite why. He just loved watching thick electrical cables and steel poles. To him, the whole thing looked like ancient statues of Egyptian guards tied together with ropes.

Whenever there was a new season of the year or a change in the weather, he would take out his phone and take a picture of the line. It was his quirky hobby. Evidently, he had no hopes of releasing a photo album about electrical poles, but he could turn the images into some online project possibly in the future.

On Thursday evening, when he was riding back, tired from work, he had noticed maintenance workers climbing on the poles. Their orange jackets vividly stuck out against the dark sky. He tried to take a picture, but there was not enough light for a phone camera to capture anything.

Resigned, he grabbed his backpack to sip chamomile tea from an insulated water bottle. However, he had noticed a flash in the corner of his eye. Mr Orville raised his head, but he saw nothing. For a moment, he could swear that he saw a bolt of lightning hitting one of the poles. Was it even possible? He remembered when one of the students said to him if a lighting hits an electric pole there's absolutely no sound afterwards because of ionisation. Still, he was not an expert on the matter. He only knew that one for sure couldn't hear thunder if the lightning occurred more than 30 kilometres away.

The bus passed under an electrical line as usual. Maintenance workers didn't see anything out of the ordinary in the darkness.

***

On Friday morning, Roseanne woke up without any problems. She cleaned up, put on a uniform, and also walked Enzo. After she was all set, she prepared a cup of tea for her mom and left for the bus stop.

Mr Orville called in sick suddenly, so his classes were scrapped for that day. Friday was relatively easy for Roseanne because, apart from English, she only had to endure military preparation classes and Physical Education. After six hours of work, the class was to be dismissed at quarter to two o'clock.

Emily was late as usual. She arrived at the final minutes of the first hour and begged a teacher to give her "late" status instead of "absent" in the log. Roseanne observed the whole scene with disdain on her face.

The two stayed away from each other, but when they were changing shoes for PE, Emily sat next to Roseanne and offered chewing gum as a token of peace.

"I'm sorry if I wasn't there for you yesterday. You know... How to say this? I am a woman with money, so perhaps I am a Banana baby," she said.

Roseanne took a chewing gum.

"Sorry I freaked out on you. I was irritated, but your attitude is really too much sometimes. You need to get it together, girl. Orientate yourself to something"

"I'd like to... but the timetable is a killer, to be honest. We have so many hours per week! I would have functioned better had we not started so early. By the way, I heard Kacper has been asking about you" Emily said.

"Oh, did he?" Roseanne made a surprised expression.

"He keeps bragging that you two will get together again."

"Bullshit. Never again with this cockroach!" Roseanne shivered visibly at the thought of a former toxic boyfriend.

After this quick reset in a friendship between Roseanne and Emily, the two took part in a three-hour long running session arm to arm. Needless to say, they were exhausted by the end of it.

"Next week, I'm definitely skipping PE," Emily said while trying to catch a breath.

"Girl..."

***

After PE, Roseanne stayed for an additional practice of MMA training. These were non-compulsory activities for students, but Roseanne only had time to do them on Fridays. Unlike Emily, she hadn't had a problem dealing with physical exertion. If anything, it made her sleep better on Friday nights. In addition, by participating in MMA, Roseanne had a sense of honing a skill.

When the practice concluded, it was by no means the end for Roseanne. Together with their drill instructor, a middle-aged ex-commando sporting a moustache, Sergeant Warwick, the group would line up and travel by tram from school to the Minor Basilica of St. Vincent de Paul. Although Roseanne wasn't a fan of churches, she couldn't help but marvel at the design of the basilica in question. It looked more like a colonial administrative building, with a small church fitted in the middle, covered by a large dome. Evidently, the whole compound was a church, and the inside of it was enormous. Time and time again, upon entering it, Roseanne felt as if she were visiting the Vatican.

The reason the high schoolers went there each Friday with their drill instructor was because they participated as volunteers in charity events organised by the church on the last Friday of each month. Their task was to distribute clothing and food to people in need. Again, as in the case of MMA, Roseanne felt a sense of personal fulfilment whenever she was pouring soup into a bowl and giving it to all sorts of people who got run over by the wheels of this merciless world.

Obviously, different people came up to Roseanne for food. Some of them were smelly drunkards or junkies who would never utter a single 'Thank you,' but there were also men and women, in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, who looked sober. They would thank Roseanne and even, sometimes, shake the girl's hand. She would feel the warmth of their roughed skin as it touched hers. Then, they would sit by the table and pray over a soup they were given. All these people, villainous or pure at heart, had one thing in common: they were penniless and homeless.

The weekly volunteer work taught Roseanne that anyone can end up on the street. They can be destroyed by an addiction, financial troubles, illness, or other unfortunate circumstances. Initially, she was reluctant to engage in charity, but her father encouraged her to do so. He felt the daughter would benefit from the experience of directly helping others, but he didn't account for the graphic sights she would be exposed to.

At times, when things got out of hand, some crazy beggar would strip himself and start urinating in the middle of the altar. Then, Sergeant Warwick and a duty officer would step into action. Sometimes, Roseanne would witness horrible bodily predicaments: rashes that deformed faces, cut ears, deep purple scars, swollen necks and many others. Once, she wanted to give a portion of sauerkraut to some lady in rags. The lady smiled kindly exposing her rotten teeth and reached for a plate, but she had no hands. From under the coattails, the only things that emerged towards Roseanne were the wrists.

An overwhelming sense of nausea overpowered the girl, so strong that she immediately ran into a bathroom and vomited. It's been a while since that unfortunate incident and Roseanne managed to grow accustomed to seeing the unexpected injuries, but back then, in that bathroom, as her stomach was violently getting rid of its contents, she was struck by one horrifying thought:

Did my mom suffer great pain?

It happened a few years ago. Roseanne was in primary school, whereas her mother worked in a glass factory. After finishing her shift, Liz rushed to a bus, so she could get back home and cook dinner for her daughter. She had to walk the dog as well. Enzo was still a puppy back then, but his fussy attitude was giving the family a run for their money,

Call it bad luck or malevolence of the universe, but catching that early bus to Szwederowo cost Liz dearly. It was only a matter of seconds, but suddenly, a car appeared out of nowhere, heading straight towards the bus. Trying to avoid certain death, the bus driver made a sharp turn, which made the vehicle spin out of the road and hit the side of a nearby household. Many passengers made it out just with bruises, one broke an arm, but Liz... Liz's legs were completely crushed.

Roseanne's father tried to shelter her from all the news about the accident, but she somehow caught a glimpse of a newspaper report. It contained photos of a bus in shambles like Lego bricks. The doctors did everything in their power to save Liz's legs, but she lost feeling from the waist down. She was forced to spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair, carrying two immobile and scarred pieces of meat that used to be her legs.

Although Roseanne asked her mother numerous times, she claims she has no recollection of the accident. She says she was on a bus and her memory broke like a film tape, just like that.


Chapter 6

Enzo greeted Roseanne with his tongue on Friday evening. Roseanne thought she overdid it today because physical exhaustion kicked in hard. She barely managed to stand on her feet. Having swayed her way into the living room, she saw her mom watching TV.

"Hey, what's on?" Roseanne asked, trying to free her feet from large leather boots and white socks.

"Gremlins," Liz said.

"Gremlins! Part one or two?!"

"The one in which they get blown up at the cinema."

"Oh, I was hoping for the other flick. The one which has the Brain Gremlin in it."

"And to think you didn't like these movies when you were young."

"Excuse me. I was the one who wanted to watch Winnie the Pooh. You introduced me to the whole series of monstrosities."

Indeed, that was the truth. Roseanne's mom was an avid fan of the horror genre. Back in the 1990s, she proudly read Graham Masterton and Stephen King (in that order of preference). When it came to the realm of cinema, however, one, primary love was science fiction/fantasy horror. Liz loved the Alien movies, Predator, The Thing, Ghostbusters, and of course Gremlins. Of course, she diligently introduced little Roseanne to all these classics whenever they happened to be aired on TV. Oftentimes, Liz would drift into sleep, leaving terrified Roseanne to watch the fests of body gore, haunting, and insanity through her fingertips. Roseanne shall never forget when she watched Aliens for the first time, as a six-year-old. For weeks she was afraid that there was a Xenomorph either under the sofa or behind the curtain lurking to kill her. Dad had to check these places and calm her down every night before going to sleep.

"By the way, Dad called today," Liz said, "He got hold up with transhipment in Hel. Though it's really cold out there this time of the year, he went to the seaside and tried to visit the aqua park that has dolphins in it. It was closed, unfortunately."

"Oh, I remember that aqua park and the queue stretching from the entrance all the way to Tokyo! I immediately lost interest in seeing the dolphins. To tell the truth, I feel sorry they are being kept there," Roseanne said, recalling her summer sojourn in Hel a few years ago.

"Would you like to call Dad now, dear?"

"Nah, he may be sleeping in his cabin already. I'll try calling tomorrow."

***

Afterwards, Roseanne quickly hit the shower and threw her uniform into the washing machine. The dull-looking piece of cloth in monochromatic shades of brown, grey, and green was stained with sweat and dirt. Sadly, each student had only one uniform, which meant they could wash it two times a week at best before it had to be worn from Wednesday to Friday. Monday and Tuesday were non-uniform days during which Roseanne could dress up like every other high schooler.

In her bedroom, she turned on the TV and Enzo jumped on her bed. Before engaging in a wrestling match with the dog to get him off the bed, she received a Messenger notification on her phone.

"he y , Roxy, sup?" read the message from Kacper.

"Ugh!" Roseanne grunted, "Not him again."

Roseanne and Kacper used to date together for a very brief time. That is until Kacper was arrested by the police for illegal drug possession and sentenced to spend the remainder of the year in the juvenile detention centre. Roseanne felt so stupid that she gave her attention to this intellectually-challenged, ADHD-charged incel with an angle grinder in his head instead of brain.

"u mad at me or wat ?? want us to get back tegeder," he messaged again.

Roseanne took a deep breath and wrote back:

"Try hooking up with juvie broads who already get child support."

The response came almost instantly:

"U BEETCH! I GAWE ALLL 2 U! U CAN SUK HABIBI COOKS"

Roseanne lost her temper and typed in:

"Fuck you, you diarrhea-shitting gummy monkey. I hope they will grind your stick to a pulp and shave your asshole with a blunt razor, so you won't piss and shit ever again!"

Having sent the message, she immediately blocked Kacper.

***

There, done and dusted, she thought to herself and collapsed on a bed next to Enzo. Still, in a rush of adrenaline, Roseanne grabbed the phone again and called Emily.

"Yo, what's going on, sister?" Emily answered.

"Hi! Sorry to interrupt. Can you imagine that Kacper reached out to me just now?"

"The shithead?"

"That's right!"

"Girl..."

A conversation ensued between friends that lasted for at least an hour. Roseanne shared all of her PTSD flashbacks from her time with Kacper, whereas Emily commented on them like a professional relationship coach, even though her experiences with the opposite sex were little to none. All in all, Roseanne felt hatred that the idiot had the audacity to get in touch with her. She shouldn't have dealt with the pillock in the first place and wanted absolution for doing so. Thankfully, Emily exonerated her from romantic wrongdoings.

"You deserve better," Emily uttered the cliched proverb that should have been the 11th commandment.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious. I'm aware of that. Just dating is so exhausting. You give some guy a chance. You care for him. You become a bolster of his confidence, and the next thing you know, he dumps you for some dumb bitch."

"Talk about the spitting image of my divorced parents."

"Oh... I didn't mean it to sound that way. I didn't know, Emily."

"That's okay. I'm a big girl now and accepted the situation."

After the call, Roseanne felt somewhat better. The embarrassment after the interaction with Kacper was gone, but it was replaced with the embarrassment of her falling out with Emily yesterday. Granted, she was strange and annoying at times, but she always had her back. One time, when a bunch of girls from a different class started calling Roseanne names, Emily stepped into action like Ellen Ripley and beat the living shit out of crazy cows. This stunt cost her two weeks of suspension (which she spent riding her beloved Kawasaki Ninja).

Even though rough around the edges, Emily was a sincere friend.

***

Late in the evening, Roseanne helped her mom get into a bathtub. Liz forbade the daughter from bathing her. She wanted to do everything on her own. However, Roseanne wanted to help at least in some capacity. The daughter knew her mother couldn't lift herself even an inch above the wheelchair.

"It's okay, my dear. You can leave me be," Liz said when she was safely positioned in the water.

"You sure?"

"I'm not bathing myself for the first time. Go and rest. You had a tough day."

But Roseanne did not just go and rest. She did the dishes and turned on a vacuum cleaner. Enzo bounced around, barking at the machine, as if he were fighting a mechanical anaconda.

"Enzo, leave it! Goddammit!"

Roseanne tried to disregard the dog, but he managed to bite through a cord, rendering the beast from hell powerless.

"Great..."

With the skill of a gifted handyman, Roseanne joined pieces of copper and isolated the damaged section of a cable with duct tape. Afterwards, she cleaned the windows and helped her mom get out of the bathtub.

"You really didn't need to clean, sweetie."

"I didn't need to, but I wanted to," said Roseanne and kissed her mom on the forehead.

Exhausted, she collapsed on a bed. While wrapping herself around the bed sheets, she reminded herself about all the stuff she had for tomorrow: Take Enzo for a walk, pay the bills, go shopping, do homework, call dad.

Half-awake, Roseanne looked at the dark sky outside the window and thought to herself:

I know I can't complain, but I wish there were two of me. One Roseanne who could provide for the family, and the other one who could be the perfect student....

...I wish I could have been in two places at the same time...


Chapter 7

She was the last person to leave the bookstore. It was already a late evening. In spite of school time in the morning, and attending cram school in the afternoon, she really wanted to get to the bookstore before closing time. She bought The Jewel in the Crown by Paul Scott and Tsubaki Stationery Store by Ito Ogawa.

Having carefully packed the books in a water-proof bag and placed them in a backpack, she began making her way through the rainy streets of Yeouido. Even though the weather was getting on the nerves of the tourists, she loved the rain that cleared the air and caused a faint mist in the surroundings.

There was little traffic, but she waited calmly at a large crossing for the lights to change. When she found herself on the other side of the street, she entered a picturesque walkway consumed by trees and lush hedges. At the sight of the marvellous greenery, she couldn't help but come up with a poem:


A bench in the woods,

my comfort zone.

A space of peaceful goods,

among the polyphones.


A polar bear, a cat, a rabbit,

three friends in a boat,

making a joyful racket.

What a personal anecdote!


Mr Bear scratches his tummy.

Mr Cat says the jelly is yummy.

Mr Rabbit already feels chummy.

Off they go, sunny and funny!


I sit on the bench,

looking at three friends.

Let me be in this natural trench

for the sake of happy ends.


The thick tree branches were so beautifully lit by the lamp posts that she wished she could never leave the street! She kept on walking, admiring the trees and corporate skyscrapers high above. Unfortunately, the rain increased its intensity, so she had to take out an umbrella. She always made sure to buy a transparent umbrella, to enjoy the views even in terrible weather.

Even though the sights and books she bought cheered her up, she felt a void of sadness stretching across her heart. She felt worthless, incomplete, as if she were playing the main part in a play but the screenwriter forgot to give her any dialogue or anything to do. She would occasionally glance at random passers-by or drivers in vehicles at the crossings, and wondered: Are these people as lonely as I am?

Same old song, same old lyrics, like a broken record: school, more cramming, library, reading in silence, sleep; rinse and repeat, Sam. Pardon me, play it again, Sam.

Suddenly, gusts of wind snatched her umbrella. She started running across the sidewalk to retrieve it, but the corners of her eyes noticed something strange. A rain of water transformed itself into a rain of sparks. Glittering lights were falling down on her, warming her skin like sunshine in the summer. She tried to look up. The sky was tainted in shades of dark orange. It was peculiar indeed, but peaceful at the same time.

Is this how the world is coming to an end? she thought while looking at the sky, expecting a comet to strike any minute. But this didn't happen.

Instead, she began experiencing flashes. Not flashes of light, but flashes of past events, that is. Her birthdays, her dental appointments, her graduation ceremonies, her tears, her handshakes, her smiles, her falls, her pastimes, her giggles, her wailings.

All of this didn't make any sense initially, but within the cascades of sparkling warmth, she finally understood what was going on. She got the picture and accepted new pieces of information with the aptitude of a gifted student. She was ready.

When the sparks ceased falling from the sky, the cars would stop with screeching tyres. Turns out one of the trees has fallen on an electrical pole, twisting it and snapping wires in the process. Now, the wires were lying exposed on wet asphalt, discharging electrical currents.

The road was empty.


Chapter 8

Emily decided to take her Kawasaki Ninja out for a spin on a beautiful Saturday morning. She put on a helmet as well as a white biker jacket, and off she rode to buy groceries. In front of the ABC convenience store, however, she froze upon seeing a car emerging from a corner.

"Oh, Ford Mustang!" she shouted and took a snapshot.

It could be said that car spotting was Emily's hobby. Even though she didn't belong to any online club, she always felt an urge to take pictures of either vintage or sports cars that piqued her curiosity.

Even at school, Emily just couldn't help herself when she noticed a Mitsubishi LanEvo or Subaru WRX outside the window. Evidently, Mr Orville noticed her quirk and he once sent her a picture of a Honda Civic Type R. Emily yelled in surprise and immediately sent him a photo from her own collection.

"Recently, I visited 'the Automotive Icons' exhibition in Warsaw. There I saw a Toyota AE-86 and it reminded me of you," read the message under the attached photograph. She knew Mr Orville liked this car.

Mr Orville immediately hearted the black Toyota and replied, "What a privilege! Thank you for your kind words, and consider yourself lucky."

Indeed, Emily was always grateful whenever she spotted a car with style and history. She also appreciated that Mr Orville didn't look down on her passion like other teachers who shouted at her or immediately confiscated her phone.

Having done away with the shopping, Emily put the groceries in a backpack and headed over to a nearby petrol station to refill the tank of her Kawasaki Ninja.

When she entered the inside to pay for the refill, she stood in front of a shopping clerk who was a typical post-communist middle-aged woman behind the counter. She taxed Emily with her thick reading glasses. The sight of a 5 feet 3 inches tall teenager in a biker jacket holding a helmet must have been quite something.

"That's 68,41 Po coins. Do you want a receipt, a bill, or an invoice?" asked the woman in a sluggish manner.

Upon hearing the question, Emily's mind got flooded with hesitation. Isn't a receipt, a bill, and an invoice one of the same? she thought.

"An invoice..." Emily uttered.

"Name of the company?"

"Ah, no! I'd like a receipt please."

The shopping clerk sighed and printed out the proof of payment on a tiny paper roll.

"What do they teach ya in school these days? You think you're gonna impress anybody with that motorbike, whippersnapper?"

As soon as she heard the words of insult, a rush of blood made Emily's face red with fury.

"Up yours, you old bitch! I hope you will keel over and die behind this counter, and nobody will find you until your corpse starts smelling rotten eggs!"

The shopping clerk was about to erupt with rage, but before the situation escalated further, Emily stormed out of the building with her belongings.

The girl quickly jumped on the bike and started the engine. She could vaguely hear the clerk throwing tantrums at her from the entrance but tried her best to ignore them.

Emily revved up the engine and left the petrol station in a flash. That was her freedom, that was the power of Kawasaki Ninja. But her happiness was short-lived. Before Emily realised, a loud explosion took place on the horizon and the aftershock had such an enormous magnitude that it had smitten her off the vehicle.

Confused, she got up and took off her helmet. Looking into a distance, she saw a blaze of raging flames. Perhaps the most unusual aspect of the explosion was that the flames were blue. Did the chemical plant explode or what? To her, the scene of disaster looked like it was from a superhero movie.

"Mom is never going to believe this," she said to herself while picking up the bike.

***

Roseanne woke up because of Enzo's barking. With the speed of a blue-collar worker suffering from a hangover, she got out of bed and let the dog out on a balcony. Confusion has taken over her half-awakened mind. What day is it? Saturday or Sunday? What time is it? Did I oversleep? Roseanne asked herself.

After making sure it was 8 o'clock in the morning, she turned on the TV and went to the bathroom. Roseanne couldn't care less about a news report that was being broadcast while she was washing her face.

"Approximately one hour ago this Saturday morning, there was an explosion at an electrical supply line in the village of Mierzwin. Fortunately, the incident took place on a field in an uninhabited area, so nobody was hurt. The Power Grid Company Ltd. has issued an official statement claiming the explosion happened due to a technical malfunction, but that is yet to be confirmed by an internal investigation. Company executives say that there will not be any power outages either in Bydgoszcz or Konin, which are connected by the supply line. In the meantime, members of the opposition party in the capital of Po are calling for a special committee to look into the matter. Stay tuned for further reports from WGZF News Channel."

Having done the morning toilet routine, Roseanne went to the kitchen. Her mom had already prepared a light breakfast made of scrambled eggs and sandwiches.

"Can you believe it, hon?" asked Liz, "A big explosion in the middle of nowhere?"

"Huh?" Roseanne made the asking sound with her mouth full.

"There was an explosion. It's all over the news! Do you have to be out of the loop again, like with the farmer's protest?"

"Television is a pack of lies," Roseanne said calmly and returned to scrambled eggs.

"You have to be up to speed with the news, dear, to avoid any dangers when you go out like roadblocks, accidents, or, God forbid, even worse."

"The acronym WGZF is there for a reason, you know?"

"What do you mean?"

"We Give Zero Fucks News."

"Roseanne, language!" Liz felt utter distaste upon hearing the joke.

"Sorry, Mom," Roseanne laughed. "But it's true!"

"The correct name of the channel is Worldwide Global Zone Framework, and our antenna picks it up because it's free.

"Doesn't matter, all of the media lie: Facebook, Google, and so on."

"Then delete all of the applications if you think so!"

"Have to use them for communication. Necessary evil."

"You have an explanation for everything, like your dad."

"Oh! This reminds me."

When Liz and Roseanne finished breakfast, the daughter diligently cleaned all the dishes in the sink. Then, she grabbed the phone and called her father.

***

Robert Juzynski was in the cabin of his Volvo truck. He went from Hel to Sopot with the cargo transportation of frozen fish. Just another day on the job for a trucker. Go to one place, leave the payload, pick another one, get to another place. The worst part was travelling "empty," but thanks to the merciless diligence of forwarders (who were fighting with each other to keep their jobs) this rarely happened.

Friends and family were scratching their heads over Robert's profession. It wasn't a desk job, so it didn't provide the security of standard 9 to 5. So much time was spent beyond the house, and a lot of paperwork to do, let alone minding the condition of a truck that had to be ready for the job.

Evidently, the work of a trucker in the Land of Po was devoid of romanticism and a laid-back lifestyle, so much promoted by Hollywood flicks. In the line of duty, one had to be prepared to endure loneliness: four weeks on the job, one week of rest, this was the preferred job model of the companies. Still, Robert was willing to put up with all that jazz because it was better than being a bus driver. The things passengers used to say were unbearable:

"Where's my retirement discount?! You don't honour retirement discounts on the bus?!"

"You were five minutes late! Shut the fuck up and drive on or I will smack you!"

"Open the windows man or I'm gonna pop!"

"Is there a detour to drive around this road accident?"

Although he had the patience of a saint, even he couldn't handle the insanity of dealing with old hags, drunks, teenagers, and irresponsible parents. One day, his bus got stuck in a jam and a 10-year-old child started crying so loud as if it were being skinned alive. The parents grappled with the child like they were participants in some MMA match and eventually gave up, leaving the child crying and yelling.

Yes, he preferred to transport frozen fish or sacks of potatoes than passengers. Thank you very much.

When Roseanne called, he immediately picked up the phone.

"Hello, my princess, my sun of the nation!" Robert used the traditional greeting he always said to his daughter. "How are you holding on?"

"As usual, Dad. I'm an unstoppable force of nature, you know that."

"Mom mentioned that you had some beef with a friend. Is that true?"

"Huh, well. It's old news already. Nothing serious happened."

"You keep on studying, right?"

"Trying to do my best as hard as I can!"

They chatted for an additional 15 minutes about mundane stuff like Robert's pick-up routes or Enzo's recent diarrhoea because he ate stale meat. Roseanne had to explain how she had to feed the dog with plain rice to bring his digestion back to balance.

"Okay, I need to go to pay the bills at the post office. Love you, Dad!"

"Love you, sweetie!"

After this traditional farewell that concluded the conversation, Robert Juzynski put down the phone. The best part of the day was definitely over for him. Indeed, he loved his daughter and wife with all his might, and he wished he could have been with them, but his primary responsibility as the head of the family was to be the breadwinner. He had to provide for them, all the more because Liz suffered an accident.

With that in mind, he turned on the ignition and headed for another pick-up.

***

Trying to do her best, who was she fooling?

Each Saturday, Roseanne felt drained, felt exhausted. Waking up at home with the thought she doesn't need to go to school for two days, only assures her belief that school is a modern-day prison without bars: The Great Timeconsumer, The Vacuum of Effort, where children waste 70% of their life. She wanted to be the best, she wanted to have the best grades, and the best Maturity exam results, so she could get into a military academy, get an officer rank, and bring home a proper paycheck.

Trying to do her best.

It's never enough.

People will pat you on the back. Tell you how good you did. And walk away. To the comfort of their carefree houses. Not giving a damn about your best.

Dad, I want you so bad to be with me, but it's a relief you can't see me right now, she thought.

***

Enzo briskly went out for a walk, sticking his tongue in awe as if he were a discord moderator who discovered grass for the first time. When the dog emptied his bowels, Roseanne took out a special bag and, with the grace of a professional craftsman, removed the poop from the public lawn. That was the law in the Land of Po: removal of excrement. Back in her kindergarten times, public lawns were a no-go zone for children because there were more dog poops in the grass than the grass itself. Today, older citizens (who obviously know better) continue to leave their dog shit when police are not around as a special surprise for other passers-by.

At a post office located next to BDSM central (Bydgoszcz's Domicile Super-Housing Membership-Office), Roseanne stood in a long queue to a desk clerk. Indeed, a lot of things changed at the post office, but not the queues. The offices were once bigger, now they're smaller. You could only buy postcards, now you can buy calendars, handbags, and prayer books! When she was little, people paid their bills, and a desk clerk would stamp them. They would take a massive stamp, smash it against a wet sponge, and then smash it harder against the receipt. DUM-BUM! DUM-BUM! DUM-BUM! Roseanne remembered the sound, always in a sequence of three.

Nowadays, desk clerks just place a tiny, little stamp without any noise. It's quite anticlimactic, actually. In the past, you got DUM-BUM! DUM-BUM! DUM-BUM! Piss off, little girl! attitude, but now it's Good Morning! 500 Po coins, please. Goodbye attitude.

As in the case of supermarkets, Roseanne hated standing in the queues. Had Emily been with her, the friend would have tapped her head and advised to make the payments via bank transfer. The problem was Roseanne didn't know how to do it, and she felt embarrassed to ask Emily for help.

***

Having done the shopping as usual, Roseanne spent the remainder of the afternoon cramming mindlessly for tests and doing homework. By sundown, her brain was so fried that she couldn't tell the difference between ascending aorta and descending aorta or the concept of organic work promoted by Bolesław Prus and the idea of longing for the fatherland advocated by Adam Mickiewicz. School is the whorehouse of unnecessary knowledge. 100% no doubt about that.

When it came to homework from Mr Orville, Roseanne lost the fumes of her willpower. Using the words expressing personal opinion, she was to describe the best day of her life in English. The best day of her life? For sure, she could describe the worst day of her life, more than one(!), but she felt she hadn't experienced the best day of her life at all.

Tired, Roseanne opened up ChatGPT. She conjured up patchworked bullshit on the basis of bot's suggestions. That's all she was willing to do.

"There, half-assed and done," she said, feeling a little guilty for cheating Mr Orville, but this assignment just wasn't right up her alley.

Just when Rosanne turned on some music, ready to chill out, she heard an awful noise coming from the bathroom. It sounded similar to a stack of books falling off the shelves. She jumped out of chair trying to comprehend what happened, and then it hit her.

"Oh, no, no, no! Mom!" she screamed.


Chapter 9

The blue bus of PKS Bydgoszcz that served as Mr Orville's primary means of transport was heading straight through the green fields of Mierzwin that were colonised with all sorts of emergency services from the fire department to porta potty cleaning trucks.

It was Saturday evening, so obviously Mr Orville wasn't on the bus. In fact, only a handful of passengers were present. Mr Fantastic, the bus driver, always had a calm day on the road, but getting through Mierzwin was a pain in the ass for him. Usually, driving a bus was a fantastic experience for him. That's why he used to call himself Mr Fantastic. But that Saturday evening, he had to make his way through the labyrinth of vans and cars that were left by dozens of officials who fled on site due to the morning explosion.

"Ah, what an explosion it was! So bright I had put on sunglasses!"

At least that's what he said to local reporters when they stuck a microphone in front of him.

"Finally some action, baby!"

It happened exactly as he was driving under the electrical lines. The rain of sparks covered the entire road until the surrounding air suddenly combusted into a waterfall of blue flames. Random passengers freaked out, but Mr Fantastic just stepped on the gas and managed to drive out of the ghastly cloud. He wasn't a fantastic driver for no reason.

In the midst of reminiscing about the morning adventure, he stopped his loyal machine at the bus stop in Mierzwin and opened the door. Only one passenger stepped in. A young girl had dark, brown eyes, an elevated forehead, and brown hair tied in a single braid. She was wearing some fancy dress, like from a circus.

"Excuse me..." she said shyly, "How much is the regular ticket to Bydgoszcz?"

"19,50 Po coins. We recently raised the fares," said Mr Fantastic.

The girl took out a stylish wallet from her purse and handed in a 50,000 won banknote.

"Whoa, lady! We don't accept Monopoly money here!"

"I'm sorry... Do you allow payment by card?"

"Sure we do."

The girl inserted the card into a terminal and pressed the pin number. After a while, the ticket was printed out.

"There you go," Mr Fantastic said.

"Kamsahamnida."

"Say what?"

"I mean thank you, 'dziękuję', sorry."

"What is it with folks these days?"

The bus resumed its journey.

***

The bathroom doors were locked. In consequence, Roseanne made a split-second decision and kicked the door. Nothing happened.

She kicked the door again and again, as adrenaline was building up in her muscles until the lock finally broke. What she saw inside made her heart stop beating for a moment.

Liz was lying motionlessly on the bathroom floor, like a doll thrown off the balcony. She was unconscious. Roseanne dropped to her knees and held her mother. Then, she noticed a large cut on the cheek as a result of the fall.

"Mom, wake up, please. Wake up!"

Roseanne felt that she was slipping into a dark, bottomless void of despair.

Stay cool, you need to stay cool, goddammit! she was screaming inside her head.

She learnt first aid during military prep. Roseanne made sure that her mother had measured breathing and a steady pulse. Thankfully, there was no need for CPR. Subsequently, she rolled her body in a safe position on the side. After doing so, she called an ambulance.

Enzo peered into the bathroom, looking confused at Roseanne. Even though he was a dog, he knew something bad happened to Liz.

***

Surviving an emergency room in the Land of Po is an ordeal even for healthy people. Unconscious Liz was hooked up to a pulse oximeter and rolled out of an ambulance. Roseanne spent an entire night by her until some slob of a doctor looked at her.

Roseanne was afraid that her mother suffered a stroke, but there was no indication of that on CT scans and in blood work. However, low iron levels cropped up. Slob of a doctor deduced that Liz must have fainted or she might have slipped in the bathroom.

"The patient will have to stay for an observation," the doctor declared without any emotion. "Is your family insured?"

"Yes, we have insurance," Roseanne said almost with spite.

She gave the insurance number to a doctor digit after digit.

"Oh, you are insured!" his attitude immediately turned to positive. "We will give your mother the necessary supplements and see what happens."


Chapter 10

By Sunday afternoon, Liz woke up.

It took her a great deal of mental effort to lift her eyelids. The new setting took her by surprise at first, but she quickly figured out it was a hospital, even though she couldn't remember anything. She recalled being in a bathroom, and the film tape broke.

Roseanne was on a chair by her bedside, sleeping in a hunched position on top of her hand. The sight of her daughter really frightened Liz. She looked weaker than her mother. Her pale complexion and dry lips did tell that the girl didn't eat or drink while her mother was hospitalised. But Liz had no idea for how long she was there.

"Baby, baby, dear," Liz wheezed out.

Roseanne lifted her head.

"Hey, mom!"

The daughter immediately smiled and caressed Liz's hair. She also gently touched a cheek wound that was closed with stitches.

"How are you feeling?"

"Well, I woke up. Tell me... what happened?" Liz asked.

"The idiots don't know. They claim you have some sort of anemia, so they're pumping you with iron and folic acid through a drip. Can't you remember what happened yesterday?"

"Not one bit..."

The mother and daughter had a long conversation which was interrupted by doctors' rounds and nurses coming in with despicable, prison-like food. The mother and daughter were informed that Liz would stay for one more day. Roseanne didn't want to leave, but Liz insisted that she should come back home.

"Go there and have some proper sleep. Tomorrow, you will go to school, I order you! You can call a taxi and pick me up in the afternoon," Liz said.

It was difficult for Roseanne to stomach this, but she didn't want to argue.

"Ma, what about dad? Should I call him?" she asked.

Liz thought about it for a while.

"Don't call him. Knowing Dad, he will only freak out, drop everything, and come. This may cost him his job. Don't! I'll be at home tomorrow afternoon."

A faint glimmer of fear tainted confidence in Liz's weakened voice and Roseanne heard it. She didn't want to leave her but did as she was told.

She kissed her mother on the forehead.

"I'll come for you tomorrow. You hang in there, alright?"

"My hero."


Chapter 11

Roseanne couldn't even recall how she left the damn hospital, got on a bus, and arrived at her doorstep. Having shut the door with a slam, she leaned against the wall and broke down in tears. The sobbing went on and on, and it was so violent, her whole body was shaking. Eventually, the knees gave up and she slid down on the floor.

"Mom, oh, mom. I don't want to lose you!" she cried out through swollen lips and watered nose.

The incredible headache also took a toll on her. Whenever she took a deep breath, her skull was imploding.

Life is so unfair. If God exists, he is unfair as well. Oh, please if my dad could come back! Roseanne thought to herself.

But she knew she couldn't call her father. She wouldn't risk jeopardising his job. She considered contacting Auntie Dana, Liz's cousin, but she lived in the Tatra Mountains, and it would take her two days to get here. That is, if she would pick up the phone deep in the woods where she had a cottage.

"Goddamit, why was I left all alone?!" Roseanne screamed.

Then, a horrifying thought hit her as she looked around the empty corridor.

"Jesus Christ, Enzo!"

The girl sprinted around the apartment, bursting into every room, searching for her dog. It was impossible, but it happened: She forgot about Enzo. And now her mind was preoccupied with the horrific image of the dog on the brink of exhaustion, lying in his excrement.

Thankfully, she found him in the kitchen. Roseanne got hold of the dog and hugged him tightly. Much to her surprise, Enzo was completely fine. He grunted happily at her sight. There was no urine or droppings around, and the bowls in front of him were half full of meat and water.

"My friend, my boy. I'm so sorry, I forgot about you!" Roseanne hid her face in the dog's thick fur and shed more tears.

Still, the wheels in Roseanne's mind started turning and she found it quite strange that nothing bad happened to Enzo. She was gone the whole day after all. It was difficult to believe that the dog ate and drank a little, let alone withheld the need to relieve himself.

Roseanne composed herself, got up, and looked around the house. Perhaps she was seeing things, but everything was spick and span, including the bathroom, the tiles of which had no signs of Liz's blood from the fall.

"What the hell is going on here?" she asked herself.

In her room, the military uniform was neatly folded and placed on the bed, whereas the backpack was already equipped with sandwiches and a bottle of tea.

I must be losing it, Roseanne thought. Unless...

She heard a lock turning in the door.

Dad!

With one swift jump, she got through the entire length of a corridor and swung the front door open. Nevertheless, in her wildest dreams, she wasn't prepared for what she was about to see.

Roseanne froze in the doorway. In her mind, the doorway transformed into a mirror because she saw herself. However, she knew it wasn't her. Roseanne wore a hoodie and had her hands free. Whoever this person was, she had a hanbok costume on herself – the one Roseanne once saw in a picture book – and shopping bags.

But the face was exactly like hers.

"I'm in the ass... again!" Roseanne shouted and charged at the intruder.


Chapter 12

"I know what you are!"

Roseanne tackled her doppelgänger with the impetus of her body. Both of them fell on the staircase and the contents of the bags: vegetables, fruits, eggs, buttermilk, toiletries, and batteries spilled across the tiny space separating adjacent apartments on the same floor.

Panting and overflowing with earth-shattering rage Roseanne was now atop of the victim. Numerous layers of hanbok were outspread on all sides like the wings of a phoenix. The defenceless stranger with the face of hers attempted self-defence, trying to scratch Roseanne's face, but the nails were just too short to serve as a weapon.

"What are you doing to me? WHAT YOU ARE DOING TO ME, HUH?!"

Roseanne was shocked at this demonstration of self-preservation instinct and slapped the helpless oddity.

"Dowajuseyo! Help me! MURDER! MURDER!" the doppelgänger started screaming.

Oh, look at that. She talks! Roseanne thought.

"I know what you are!" Roseanne screamed. "You're just a figment of imagination conjured up by my underslept brain. I will bitch-slap you so hard, you'll end up on the dark side of the moon. And then I will wake up! And then I will go get Mom! So the wickedness of this messed-up world could finally piss off and leave me alone!"

The moment Roseanne was about to raise her hand, she was interrupted by a scream upstairs.

"BEGONE! THINGS OF EVIL!"

Roseanne and her victim looked up at the landing at the top of the stairs. The girl immediately recognised her neighbour, Mr Buttcracker. That was his real name: Mr Buttcracker, a 70-year-old religious fanatic who refused to die and reply "Good morning" to Roseanne. The neighbour was holding a large crucifix, pointing it like Van Helsing in a fight against vampires.

"O God, who, for so many centuries, has granted to the Land of Po the splendour of might and glory..." Mr Buttcracker started chanting a medieval song.

Roseanne switched her attention to a new target and clenched her fists.

"KNOCK OFF THE BULLSHIT, YOU OLD FAT ZOMBIE! WHERE IS YOUR GOD WHEN MY MOM SUFFERS? I'LL KILL YA! I SWEAR TO YOUR GOD, I'LL SKIN YOU ALIVE AND KILL YA! YOU HEAR ME, CHURCH BITCH?!"

With the agility of a tiger, Roseanne jumped across the steps dividing her and the neighbour. She got hold of the crucifix and smashed it against the old man's head. The piece of wood broke into pieces, and the neighbour began running away.

"OH NO YOU WON'T! YOUR PRECIOUS GOD WON'T SAVE YOU FROM THIS!"

Roseanne grabbed Mr Buttcracker by the collar of a dress and ripped the whole thing as if it were an ad poster. Now, the half-naked man tried to frantically shut the door of his apartment.

"I'M NOT FINISHED!"

The girl tried to force her way in and give the annoying neighbour a good, solid punch in the face, but all the locks clicked at the same time, and Roseanne had no way of entry.

"OPEN UP, CANDY CROSS SUCKER! I SWEAR IF YOU CALL THE COPS ON ME, YOUR SUGAR MOMMA-NUNS'LL BE SCRAPING PIECES OF YOU FROM THE WALLS. YOU HEARD ME?!"

Having made her threat, Roseanne took a step back and, blinded by raw fury, rammed her head into the closed door.

She passed out within seconds.


Chapter 13

The pain radiating from the twisty folds of her brain was unbearable, but at least she was in her own bed.

Roseanne felt that all the memories of the previous day were nothing but a nightmare. Yes, a dreadful, foamy, slimy nightmare. The type of which she used to experience back in primary school. She dreamt of being on a ship in outer space, the vessel was abandoned and the lights were dim, but she was not the only passenger. Oh, no, there was no alien from the Alien movie. In her nightmares, Roseanne would always stumble upon a big, black boar who was sleeping, wheezing, and grunting.

Roseanne knew for certain that the moment this boar woke up, it was going to eat her alive, and she couldn't even escape it.

...escape...

...wheezing...

...fear...

The sensation of sheer panic made her wake up.

***

Evidently, Roseanne was no Harry Potter to cry about the living conditions in a tiny bed. She was so grateful for having her bed, which her dad patiently put together from ready-to-assemble appliances. It was already dark outside, but her small desk light was turned on. Roseanne felt like a 5-year-old again.

Suddenly, a figure entered her room, covered by darkness. She instinctively sensed that it was her mother. Mom oozed the aura of warmth and care she was craving for. And mom could walk! She was able to walk!

She put a cup of hot tea on the bedside table and caressed Roseanne's hair. Then, she touched the forehead, looking for signs of a fever.

"I'm fine, Ma. Please sit down." Roseanne said.

She sat on the edge of her bed.

"How I wish you could read me a bedtime story or sing a song, just like back when I was little."

The figure fidgeted in the darkness nervously, but eventually decided to say:

"Well, all I know are Winnie the Pooh's stories and a bunch of K-POP songs."

It wasn't Liz's voice, it was Roseanne's!

Then, the figure leaned over into the faint stream of light and Roseanne saw her face, the face that belonged to her.

"YOU AGAIN!" she shouted.

"Please, please, please, don't get excited again. I'm real and I'm not going to hurt you," Roseanne's mysterious twin explained while caressing her hair. "You have suffered a lot today. Allow yourself to have some rest and let me explain."

Roseanne still tried to comprehend what was going on, but the situation was clearly beyond the realm of logic.

"Well, fire away. Explain yourself. Which planet do you come from, lasergirl?" Roseanne asked sarcastically.

"I beg your pardon, but I'm not a being from outer space! My name is Rose Anne Cho. I was born on the 7th of July, 2008 in Seoul. The surname Cho – also spelled as Jo – is written with a Hangul symbol resembling a stool placed on a reversed table, and it has many different meanings, such as the beginning of something, a royal court, a candle, or something second."

Rose Anne Cho looked quizzingly at Roseanne who was still in a state of disbelief.

"You are Roseanne Juzynski, born on the 7th of July, 2008 in the Land of Po. We look the same, we sound the same, and our age is the same because we are the same person, but... how shall I put it? Different circumstances set the chain of events that led to our existence. By complete chance, I was able to see... and feel instances of our life. At one moment, I was walking on the street, and the next thing I knew a rain of sparks engulfed me. It showed me your life as if it were a demo tape, and it led me to you... At least, I think that's what happened... You can call me by my surname if it's easier for you."

Roseanne raised her eyebrows.

"So... this is like some alternate reality Marvel shit? Doctor Strange, Spider-man, Michelle Yeoh, and stuff?" Roseanne asked.

"Don't ask me, I'm not a rocket scientist!" Rose Anne Cho laughed. "All I know is that I could experience your life, and even learn a bit of your native language. And that experience in and of itself was a calling for me to come to you. I followed the path of sparks, and all of a sudden I found myself in the middle of a field! But luckily, I knew your address."

The information dump was crushing Roseanne with its weight.

"Well, shit. You are well-versed for a person who started speaking the Language of Po today," Roseanne said.

"In all honesty, I acquired most of the vocabulary from you, but the inflectional nature of your native tongue is a bit cumbersome and nuances of the slang very misleading. For example, what does 'zajebiste' mean? People would say this pointing at my dress."

"Oh!" Roseanne laughed. "It means that something is super awesome, as like 'Fucking A', pardon me."

"That's quite alright," Rose Anne Cho smiled. "I must say your language is quite exotic to me. At home, I do better with English than Korean, shame to admit."

"Wow! So you are like... a multilingual person."

"Not really. English was the first language I acquired in my childhood. Then, I had to start learning Korean in school. The process is painstaking, and I feel I won't fully grasp that language, but I do make an effort to use it frequently."

Roseanne didn't even realise that she already felt at ease in the presence of an individual who was, or at least claimed to be, the alternate version of herself. She felt she knew her all her life, and quite understandably so. Perhaps that is why she mistook her for Mom when she woke up. Roseanne carefully examined Rose Anne Cho and wondered what kind of life she had in South Korea. What did she experience? What people did she meet? What school did she attend? How did she spend her free time? Who did she prefer: Brad Pitt or Edward Norton? Most importantly, how on earth did she end up in South Korea?

"Do you have the same parents as me?" Roseanne asked.

Rose Anne Cho thought carefully about the posed question for a long moment until she answered, "We are of the same appearance, so it goes without saying we have the same parents. However, we were born into different worlds... so our turns of events are incompatible."

"So in that case... Does your mom walk in your world?"

The feeling of ice-cold water spreading across the innards hit Rose Ann Cho immensely. Her muscles tensed so hard that she nearly became breathless. Before she was able to open her mouth and say something, a mobile phone ringtone slit its way across the silence like a knife in the dark.

"Shit, dad's calling!"

With the speed of the lightning bolt, Roseanne grabbed the phone and rushed out of the room to talk to him. Rose Anne Cho was still sitting on the bedside frozen in her position, contemplating and eavesdropping at the same time.

"Everything is fine Dad... No, Mom is washing herself right now... Yes, I'll tell her... She'll call you back if she doesn't forget, you know her."

It was heartbreaking for Rose Anne Cho to see an alternate version of herself lying to her father. But she knew Roseanne was forced to do it due to an unfortunate situation she ended up in. Indeed, it wasn't an all-joyful experience to get to know about her life. In the whirlwind of fireworks, she was able to see little Roseanne admiring fairground rides (but not having enough money to buy tickets), sneaking into a local cinema through the side entrance (just to see Paddington, Mission: Impossible, and James Bond), or getting through kindergarten without going on field trips (to avoid paying high transportation costs).

The examples were numerous but this is not to say that Roseanne was living in chronic poverty. She always had different things to wear for school days, she could afford a proper lunch meal, she had a roof under her head, a dog, and two loving parents. The family income might have been low, but at least they didn't have any debts to worry about. Roseanne seemed content throughout her childhood because she had a caring mother and father whom she could count on, but nevertheless, Rose Anne Cho felt distraught to see her struggling so much at the age of 16.

Perhaps this was the purpose of my coming, she thought, to help Roseanne get through a difficult period of her life.

It was all too confusing for Rose Anne Cho. She was just returning back from the bookstore, having finished a pleasant conversation with a friend, and, in the blink of an eye, BAM... she found herself in the Land of Po, over eight thousand kilometres (and God only knows how many galaxies) away from her home.

She didn't regret it, though. On the contrary, she greatly enjoyed having experienced this magical mumbo jumbo that made her fall from the sky into this alternative world. Finally some breakaway from the aimless boredom of daily existence.

Yes, Rose Anne Cho felt grateful for being able to meet Roseanne. She didn't want to come back to Seoul.

In fact, her own wish came true.


Chapter 14

By stuffing herself with over-the-counter tranquillisers, Roseanne managed to get through the night and subsequent morning. The doppelgänger was still here, cooking something in the kitchen, so this wasn't an illusion caused by Roseanne's nervous breakdown yesterday. Still, she had more important things to worry about, the so-called Rose Anne Cho from Korea could wait.

Upon arriving at the hospital, Roseanne sprinted through the Stalinist lobby and pushed the button of a dilapidated elevator. The girl waited and waited for the automated doors to open, but nothing happened. All of a sudden, a 20-something woman in thick glasses approached her and proceeded to frantically bang her fingers against the control buttons.

"Broken! Broken! Like a kestrel's wing!" she shouted while banging her fingers furiously.

"Excuse me?" Roseanne asked. "You mean the elevator's out of order?"

"Broken! Do you take the 27 bus line? I need to get to Koniuchy. Hurry up and rest. Hurry up and die."

Roseanne carefully circled around the mentally ill woman and entered a staircase. It took her a while to get to the 8th floor, but she eventually reached the department of internal medicine.

Liz Juzynski was lying in bed the same way as yesterday. Fluids were hydrating her from an IV drip. She had her eyes closed. Roseanne gently touched her face.

"Hi, Mom. How are you feeling?"

"My honey bun, good that you are here," Liz whispered, barely looking at her.

It was clear to Roseanne that something was wrong. Her mom was much paler than the day before, and she was extremely sleepy. In addition, the girl noticed stains of vomit on her nightgown.

"Where the hell is a doctor around here?!" she shouted.

***

The slob of a doctor was devouring doughnuts in the peaceful oasis of his office when Roseanne busted inside with the force of a natural cataclysm.

"WHAT YOU DID TO MY MOM, YOU KILLERS! I WANT HER TRANSFERRED OUT RIGHT NOW!"

An argument ensued between Roseanne and the doctor, in the course of which the latter tried to assure that Liz was in "a good condition".

"SHE STILL FAINTS AND YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON! SHE THREW UP LAST NIGHT AND YOU DID NOTHING TO HELP HER! I WANT A SECOND OPINION! WE'RE GOING TO ANOTHER HOSPITAL!"

The infuriated doctor nearly choked on his doughnuts.

"You may be the next of kin little lady, but you aren't of the proper age to make such decisions. Do you live alone or should I call foster care?"

Roseanne was taken aback by this threatening remark.

"I'm living with my father who's working right now! Besides, I don't need to make this decision."

Roseanne stormed out of the office and ran back to Liz. She started shaking her arms, so the mother could come round, at least for a moment.

"Mom, I need to take you to another hospital. Will you sign the consent form?"

Liz looked with a blank stare at her daughter and the doctor standing in the doorway, still holding a doughnut in his greasy fingers.

"Yes... I want to get out," Liz gasped out with difficulty.

"You know, I can call a psychiatrist for a consult to determine whether the patient is compos mentis," the doughnut-eater said.

"BULLSHIT! YOU'RE GIVING ME THE CONSENT FORM OR I'M THRASHING YOU AND YOUR HOSPITAL ON TIKTOK RIGHT NOW!"

***

Rose Anne Cho has finished preparing dinner. She cooked rice with a sauce based on beef stew. It was more than enough for three people. Before that, she made Roseanne's bed and took the liberty of flicking through her alternate-self's cupboards in search of some proper clothing. She couldn't have wandered around in a hanbok costume all the time.

Eventually, she did manage to dig up some jeans and a plain hoodie, without any flashy taglines. In the mirror, she looked exactly like Roseanne!

The time has come to take Enzo for a walk. The dog behaved shyly at first when Rose Anne Cho approached him yesterday, but he sensed there was nothing to be afraid of. Without making any fuss, he allowed himself to be put on a leash and walked out.

The scent of an early spring air immediately hit Cho with its freshness. The girl thought to herself that the air in the Land of Po is a tad bit more sea-like than in South Korea. However, this wasn't the only difference between the two countries. Cho already noticed that people in the Land of Po enter and exit buses through every entry, whereas in South Korea entries have specific designations for getting in and getting out. What is more, bathrooms are completely different. Over here, she had to fit into a tiny bath, but "at home" the whole bathroom space served as a shower. On top of that, the Po people had the strange fetish of calling markets by names of animals: Żabka (Froggy), Mrówka (Ant), Biedronka (Ladybug).

Mr Buttcracker passed Cho and Enzo on a street. Out of respect, and partial habit which was instilled upon her, Cho nodded gently at the sight of Roseanne's neighbour, but the man with a bandaged head just started running away as fast as he could.

Having scoured the internet beforehand, Cho found a shopping centre that allowed pets inside. It was quite a distance from Szwederowo, but the girl was used to long walks in a large metropolis. When she got there, she went straight to the money exchange point in order to have her won banknotes transferred into Po coins. Subsequently, she went with Enzo to shop for clothes. This endeavour took her quite a while because she wanted to find relatively stylish, yet cheap hoodies and T-shirts that weren't too loud. She spent her cash on that, instead of using savings on her credit card. Enzo was unamused by this experience, but he remained calm.

When the duo left the shop and began making their way through the mid-section of the centre, a little girl with a balloon approached them. She looked at Enzo with a big smile and immediately hugged him.

"What's the dog's name? It's so sweet!" said the little girl.

"The name is Enzo, and he's a he! I'm still getting to know him, but he hasn't caused me any trouble yet. His owner must have trained him well," Cho explained. "What's your name?"

"Maya."

"Pleased to meet you, Maya. I'm Rose Anne. Would you like a sweet?" Cho took one out of her pocket. She always carried hard candies in case she felt dryness in her mouth.

"But Mommy told me not to accept anything from strangers."

"Your mommy is very wise, but how am I a stranger to you? You approached me and Enzo, and besides, I'm not a 50-year-old man who could harm you."

Maya looked at Cho.

"Fine," she took a candy and kissed Enzo. "Goodbye, big sister!"

"Have a nice day! Take care, my dear little sister!"

***

As soon as Cho and Enzo came back from their little escapade, Rose Anne felt bored. She sat by the kitchen table, resting her jaw and cheeks in the palms of her hands. Enzo, on the other hand, happily approached his bowl and began feasting on a portion of tinned ham. Cho observed the dog with attention and kindness. It wasn't until that moment the girl realised she had never had a dog, or any other pet for that matter. That made her think about the differences between her and Roseanne. They were leading such disparate lives.

All of a sudden, Cho heard a notification sound. A bit surprised, she went to her purse, searched through the contents, and grabbed her mobile phone. As she knew it already, her number wasn't actually working in the Land of Po. Therefore, she couldn't make any calls or send text messages. However, the device was picking up the internet signal, but there weren't any app notifications on the desktop.

Then, she heard a notification popup, subsequently followed by another one.

Cho realised it wasn't her phone, but Roseanne's.

The trail of sounds led her to the phone that must have been left behind by its rightful owner. Cho couldn't blame Roseanne. She had too much on her plate and probably forgot about it.

Upon opening the Messenger app, Roseanne saw the following:

"Girl!"

"Are you alive?"

"Where are you?"

"You stood me up today! I sat by the desk all day by myself!"

Cho noticed that these were the messages sent by Emily. Of course, she knew about the friend of Roseanne. She saw the images of her in that electrical whirlwind, but she wasn't quite sure what to do because she wasn't Roseanne and she didn't experience every single interaction her alternate-self had with Emily. Still, Cho was convinced it would be best to respond immediately:

"Sorry, got sick + personal problems. I will keep you in the loop," Cho wrote.

"But will you be at school tomorrow?" Emily asked.

"Dunno..."

"If you don't be there, I won't be there. I'm not gonna sit through another day alone."

Not sure how to respond back, Cho just sent a crying emoji, which seemed like a suitable coda to the conversation. Emily didn't reply.

Cho carefully placed the phone on a small table next to the entrance, so Roseanne could easily find it when she got back. Having done this, the girl's attention shifted to a small screwdriver that was under the table. The small tool became her ticket out of the boredom town.

The evening saw Cho unscrewing all sorts of difficult-to-access things and cleaning them thoroughly: a mirror in the bathroom, curtain tracks above windows, a light bulb in a cooker hood, and even a keyboard of Robert's computer. Indeed, Cho took it upon herself to make the apartment as spotless as possible. Enzo observed her ordeal, as if he were watching an episode of Way of the Househusband.

***

When Roseanne finally came back home, her mind was so preoccupied with her mom that she didn't notice either the anti-dust makeover or her phone. With a dead stare, she threw her bag in the corridor and headed to the kitchen. The sight of Cho immediately startled her.

"Ah, it's you again! I forget that you exist," Roseanne said.

"Yes, it's me, the lasergirl..." Cho answered with hesitance.

Roseanne sat on a chair and rested her head helplessly on the counter. To Cho, she seemed like a little baby who was about to cry.

"Is your mom okay?" Cho asked.

"It was a disaster!" Roseanne screamed. "They didn't do anything with her at that goddamn morgue they call 'the county hospital', so I had to transfer her out of there!"

"So, where is she now?"

"In a regional facility. It took me hours of begging to get an ambulance that could take us there, but they wouldn't let me ride inside! I had to take a bus, and then wait with Mom the whole evening for admittance. She looks so pale and exhausted. When I speak to her, she wakes up for a bit but then falls asleep. She is sleeping all the time!"

"Sleeping is the body's natural protective reaction against an illness," Cho explained. "I'm not sure if it is medically correct, but a doctor told me this once."

Roseanne raised her head. She looked at Cho, her eyes were burning with misery.

"I don't know what to do. I don't want my mom to die!"

Having said these words out loud, she burst into tears. The shuddering sobbing made Cho leap to her and hug the alternate-self-in-pain as tight as possible.

"You mustn't think like that. You mustn't talk like that," Cho kept saying in Roseanne's ear.

Still, Roseanne continued to cry into Cho's chest. Cho pulled up a chair with a swing of a leg, sat down, and proceeded to rock herself gently forwards and backwards, caressing Rosenne's hair.

"It's alright. Everything's gonna be alright. Tomorrow, we'll go to the hospital together and help your mom. I promise," Cho said calmingly.

After some time, Roseanne stopped sobbing, but this was caused by extreme exhaustion. Cho noticed that the girl passed out on her chest, but she continued rocking. She liked it. The rocking motion and the feel of Roseanne, part of her own self, relaxed her. On a whim, she started singing quietly:


There must be some word today

From my boyfriend so far away

Please Mister Postman, look and see

Is there a letter, a letter for me


I've been standin' here waitin' Mister Postman

So patiently, for just a card, or just a letter

Sayin' he's returnin' home to me


Chapter 15

The spokesman of the Power Grid Company Ltd. Tony V. Butko has recently stated that the internal investigation into the incident concerning the explosion of a supply line in Mierzwin is still ongoing and, thus far, inconclusive. For the time being, the supply line is going to be temporarily shut down. Yet again, the spokesman stressed that there will not be any power outages across the grid from Bydgoszcz to Konin, but the citizens should expect brief brownouts. The company shall reopen the supply line as soon as possible.

Comments under the online article weren't filled with hope and trust in the authority:

"Something like that could happen only in the Land of Po."

"Japanese aspirations, African outcomes."

"Should I stock up on torches and candles?"

"You maniacs!!! You blew it up! God damn you! God damn you all to hell!"

***

Cho stopped flicking through the news updates on her phone. She wanted to find out more about the incident of her arrival, but she knew it wasn't a primary concern right now. It was early morning and she woke up Roseanne.

The girl opened her bloodshot eyes and barely managed to get up. Enzo began pulling her shirt, so she wouldn't fall over, whereas Cho brought over a cup of tea and a bowl of steaming rice.

"I know it may not be proper breakfast. But I made this yesterday and it would be a shame to throw it away," she said.

Roseanne barely had contact with reality.

"Look! You haven't eaten anything for two days! Eat something because you need to be strong for today," Cho said and started forcefully spoon-feeding Roseanne.

"Now get yourself ready. We're going!"

***

The bus was slugging for an hour until it reached the regional hospital. Cho made sure to remember the route in case she would have to get there without Roseanne.

The medical facility itself seemed more dilapidated than the county hospital. It was located in the suburbs with one block of flats and a firehouse in the vicinity. There was a massive lawn in front of the building with benches for patients and visitors. The backyard, on the other hand, functioned as a landing pad for helicopters (though it hasn't served its purpose for decades).

Cho went inside, supporting Roseanne who swayed on her knees. With the elevator, they reached the top floor, passed the ophthalmology department, and entered the general ward.

The rooms in such establishments were usually occupied by more than one patient. Liz was lying unconscious in the middle of her room, bundled up by "neighbours" on her left-hand and right-hand side.

"Oh, twins! What a surprise" said the lady neighbour who was lying on the left-hand side under a window.

"Hello," said Cho.

Roseanne said nothing. She rushed to Liz and grabbed her hand.

"Is this your mother? They brought her in yesterday. Doc told them to clean her up and all," the neighbour explained.

"Is that so?"

Cho just stood at the foot of the hospital bed and observed the scene of her alternate self tending to her mother. Cho didn't dare to approach Liz closer, even though the woman was asleep. She just stood there frozen, not really knowing what to do. She felt elation and sadness at the same time. Elation because it was a dream come true for her to see Liz. Sadness because the parent was gravely ill.

"Her skin colour is better and her hand feels warm again," declared Roseanne. Those were the first words she had spoken that morning.

"They gave your mom some meds in the middle of the night. That must be it," said the neighbour.

"We need to find a doctor right now," ordered Roseanne.

However, before Roseanne and Cho managed to leave the room, they got cornered by the hospital chaplain and his minions. Each morning, the priest was making his rounds, visiting the patients.

"Praised be the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit," the priest greeted everyone.

"Amen," they responded conventionally, apart from Cho who awkwardly lowered her head and stared at the floor.

"Are you feeling better, son?" the priest asked the right-hand side neighbour.

"Of course, father,"

"Alcoholism kills, remember that."

Then, he turned to Roseanne and Cho.

"Would you like me to give last rites to the patient?"

"With all due respect, my mother doesn't need last rites at this moment," Roseanne said firmly.

Undiscouraged, the priest came up to the left-hand side neighbour.

"And how about you? Do you want last rites?"

"Father, last rites won't do me any good," the lady said.

"Why is that so?"

"You see, I was picking cherries in a field and a harvester ran me over."

The priest burst into incessant laughter.

"You must be joking," he said laughing. "Now, tell me what really happened."

"A harvester ran me over."

"Stop joking!"

"I'm not joking. I'm serious."

"Wait, seriously?"

***

It was difficult to call Doctor Fisher Michalski a real doctor because he looked more like a tourist. He never wore a medical gown; instead, he opted for a T-shirt, a pair of shorts, and some fairly comfortable Air Jordans. Michalski was a man small in stature, but he was also quite fluffy around the edges. As a result, the short height and obesity created a comical effect: Michalski looked like the live-action version of the Michelin Tyre Man, but the doctor didn't mind his appearance. In fact, he had little to worry about. Having a decent lunch was the basis of getting through a workday unscathed.

It took Roseanne and Cho a good chunk of time going back and forth along the ward and asking a lot of nurses to realise that Doctor Michalski is actually Doctor Michalski, and he is an attending physician in charge of Liz's case.

Contrary to the slob of the previous hospital, he wasn't hiding in the comfort of his office. He sat with the girls in the corridor of the ward and explained the situation.

"Well, as soon as I looked at the blood results, I thought that the previous doctor mistook the effect for a cause," he said.

Roseanne looked at Michalski closely and listened to his rapper-like voice. It was difficult for her to believe this man had a medical licence.

"Yeah, malnutrition is there, and I get it that the previous team tried to treat it, but they did nothing about the cause of malnutrition," Michalski drew in the air the shape of the stomach with his hands. "The real culprit is digestion and absorption disorder."

"Oh my God!" Cho screamed.

"This is not necessarily a bad thing," Michalski said with reassurance. "I did an endoscopic exam already and it revealed an inflammation of the stomach lining. We have given your mom meds to control the acid in the stomach, and we are going to do more detailed tests. I can't make any promises, but the patient responded well to the initial treatment. We should manage the condition with medication only."

"So you think no surgery is needed?" Roseanne asked.

"At this point, there is nothing to be operated on in the stomach. I assume the patient should get better within a day."

"That's what idiots at the other hospital told me. I got played like a fool. Mom is still unconscious!"

"To tell the truth, we had to really put her under for an endoscopy. It's an invasive diagnostic measure, and we didn't want your mom to wake up in the middle of it and start choking."

"How invasive is the procedure?"

"Well, in perfect conditions, a patient should be conscious. We put a super long tube with a camera at the end of it down the throat and into the stomach to see what's inside. Some patients have no problems with that, but others, in fact, a whole lot of others gag worse than Jim Carrey."

"Jeez!" Roseanne jumped on her seat. Upon hearing this, she felt a dizzy spell kicking in and vomit creeping up her throat as well.

"Calm down, Roseanne," said Cho. "From what the doctor says, things aren't that bad."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

Roseanne stormed out of the corridor and disappeared into Liz's room. Cho stayed on and reached out her hand to Michalski, "If I may, I would like to thank you for your honesty and for taking the time to talk with us. It's a rarity in your posh profession."

"Hah, I don't step on the tails of my colleagues, but you can say it's a posh profession," Michalski shook Cho's hand. "By the way, your mom must be proud of you two. You are beautiful twins."

"Oh, thank you. I'm still getting used to that!" Cho said before realising what escaped her mouth.

Michalski gave the girl a puzzled look and walked away.

Slowly toddling into the rays of sunlight, Cho went back to the patients' room. The alcoholic neighbour and a harvester victim went to watch some TV in a canteen. Roseanne was sitting alone by her mother's bedside.

"Come... Come on in!" Roseanne urged her with a hand gesture.

Cho made a step forward.

"Listen, it's still beyond me that you're here and you're real, but I wanted to say thanks. You got me through the last two days."

"It's not a problem, really. What matters is your mom's health," Cho said.

Roseanne gave Cho a long stare and eventually asked, "Are you a fairy?"

"Excuse me?"

"You came out of nowhere when I was alone, and I'm afraid you'll be gone by the time things get back to normal."

"Most certainly, I am not a fantastical being. I am very much my own me, Rose Ann Cho. I have my own life, passions, and dreams, but... it's difficult to describe... I came here out of my own volition. I went into the magical tornado for lack of a better word. But I don't know how, when or if ever I'll be able to get back... For the time being, I'd love to stay with you if you allow me."

Roseanne stood up, spread her arms, and hugged Cho tightly. The girl from another universe did not see that coming.

"The twin sister I've never had... Cho Juzynski," Roseanne turned to the sleeping Liz. "Can you believe it, Ma? I have a sibling."

Liz was breathing steadily and peacefully.


Chapter 16

On the returning bus, Roseanne read everything she could have about the incident in Mierzwin. On her phone, she opened the image of electrical poles burning with blue flames.

"So you came out of that?"

"I suppose so."

"Dayum, girl! Were you born with a flamethrower or what?"

Roseanne kept flicking through articles.

"Over at my end, it was a similar thing, but I was on a street instead of a field," Cho clarified.

"And what were you doing?"

"I was just returning home. It's not like I dropped on my knees and conjured up this explosion."

"That's not what I meant. I'm just curious about your life."

"Oh..."

Cho felt unsure telling Roseanne about her daily habits and chores. She felt unwell just thinking about it, just thinking about the slavery of mindless, purposeless, 11-hour-long learning each day, just so she could come back home and have little peaceful moments of doing what she liked.

"I don't want to bore you, really."

"Come on! You claim you've seen my life backwards and forwards, I just want to know more about you."

"Uhm, how can I say this?" Cho hesitated. "My life is literature."

"Come again?" Roseanne thought she misheard it.

"My life is literature, s t u p i d!" Cho accentuated. "I like reading books, all sorts of books, just not the school stuff."

"Yeah, really? That sure explains your rich luggage of nouns, verbs, and adjectives."

"To be honest, my mom encouraged me to start reading..."

"No shit!" Roseanne grabbed Cho by the arm. "My mom tried the same with me!"

"Oh gosh! So what is your favourite genre?!"

Roseanne immediately frowned, "None."

"How come?"

"I tried reading books, but it just wasn't my thing. My mom kept giving me suggestions, but I found the whole process time-consuming. It was too much focus for me. I felt better outside, playing with colleagues from the backyard or taking pictures of landscapes."

After a few moments of deep silence between the two, Cho finally said, "Perhaps you weren't just ready then. You started reading too early."

"You think so? I believe I'm not the right type of person to consume literature. It's a thing for researchers and librarians, not the military-class students."

"Don't be so harsh in your judgement. If anything, life has taught me that if you don't like something, you have to grow up and try it again. You need to approach it with a fresh mind and experienced intellect. If you still don't like it, it wasn't meant to be. But if you do like it all of a sudden, the new discovery enriches your soul."

"Girl, you come right out of a comic book."

"Excuse me?"

"Bruce Lee enriches my soul, get my drift?"

Cho was about to say she had no idea what Roseanne meant by her Bruce Lee reference when she was interrupted by a scuffle on the bus. Turns out the ticket inspectors have met their match in the form of a mentally unstable freak.

"I have CONSTITUTIONAL rights given to me by birth, by nature, by the law, and by the President of the Land of Po!" the man shouted.

"Show us the ticket!"

"NO! NO! YOU IRON-PADDING, CRISP-MUNCHING AGENTS OF OPPRESSION AND SUBVERSION! DON'T TOUCH ME! LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!"

"Somebody call the police!" a passenger screamed.

The bus halted at the nearest stop and many passengers reluctantly poured out onto a street, Roseanne and Cho included.

"I will never understand the level of aggression in your country," said Cho.

"It was for the best," said Roseanne.

"Why?"

"I forgot to punch my own ticket. We avoided a heavy fine thanks to the crazy bum."

"Oh..."

"At least 250 Po coins, and we would have to go to Leśne to pay the fine."

"Leśne?"

"It's a long way away, trust me."

They continued the rest of the journey on foot.

***

When they reached the apartment, Cho couldn't marvel enough at the sight of bystanders disregarding traffic lights and of car drivers disregarding bystanders. Roseanne greeted Enzo who was waiting peacefully for them, and began to ready him for a walk. Unfortunately, Roseanne and Cho were interrupted by a ringtone. It was Liz's phone.

Roseanne took out the device from her backpack and froze still. The calling number on the screen was the secretary's office of her school.

"Who is it?" Cho asked.

Roseanne raised an index finger in the air, signalling her to be quiet. Then, she plugged her nose and answered the call.

"Yes, hello... This is Liz Juzynski speaking... Oh God, I'm sorry. I was so busy I completely forgot to notify you... Yes... My daughter got sick... She will come back as soon as possible... and I will provide a proper notification from a GP... Yes, that's alright... No problem... Thank you for calling," Roseanne hung up and threw the phone against the couch. "Ugh! Shut it! Yuck it! They should stuff it!"

"What is going on? Who called you?" Cho asked unnerved.

"How do you think? School! Goddamn school! The prison wardens from school are after me because I was absent for two days, so this coupled with 40% of other missed classes qualifies me for a reprimand and being unranked as a student at the end of the year."

"Wow, schools over here are very strict."

"Not really. Many students don't give a crap about grades and attendance. They get thrown out and enrol themselves at another school to start a year over. The cycle continues until they're 18."

"Well, could you tell me why you were absent 40% of the time?"

Roseanne's eyes shot at Cho.

"Oh, come on! You really don't know anything about school in the Land Po, do you? Every reasonable student skips classes which are boring or just straight-up toxic. Only masochists have attendance at 90% or higher. Besides, it's not like I'm lazy, but I need to help out my mom as well. How am I supposed to come back to school while she's still in the hospital?"

"You know..." Cho started, " I could help you out with mom."

Having heard this, Roseanne approached her alternate self and grabbed her hand.

"Thank you, but now that I think about all this, we've just had wild luck today. Maybe I'm crossing the line here, but Mom shouldn't know about you, not yet. Not when she's sick. I'm scared this would be too much of a shock to her... to see you... to see us... you know"

Cho hesitated for a while, holding Roseanne's hand. Part of her desperately wanted to talk to Liz as soon as possible, but she had to admit she understood Roseanne's line of thinking. Cho too didn't want Liz to get a possible heart attack at the sight of a person who looks like her daughter. As if to signal her defeat, she gently lowered her head and looked at the wooden panels on the floor.

"I know. You're right. It's not my intention to frighten your mom," she said.

Roseanne carefully examined Cho's downbeat face. They might have looked the same, but she knew they were different inside. Cho seemed so caring, affectionate, and selfless. To Roseanne, it was still unthinkable that the girl arrived from a different universe. Maybe she is a long-gone sister who banged her head? Roseanne tried to reason. But then again, this doesn't explain Cho's knowledge of Roseanne's life. In addition, it was unthinkable that her parents would hide a twin sister away from her. No, they wouldn't have done such a thing, not her mom and dad. Cho really seemed out of this world, a walking "what if" take on Roseanne's life, but why was she so secretive about her life?

Roseanne let go of her hand and touched her cheek.

"Come to think of it, you can help me in a different way."


Chapter 17

He took out a portable stove, but after a loud sigh, he put it back into a small trunk. Robert wasn't in the mood for cooking, so he opted for buying dinner at a parking-based inn, though the prospect of spending money wasn't encouraging as well.

As soon as he placed an order, he found a free place in the corner of the room and waited for pork chop and mashed potatoes. Throughout the whole evening, there was this lingering thought in the back of his mind, which he didn't dare to acknowledge. However, he knew its content:

Maybe this job is starting to take a toll on me, Robert thought to himself.

Certainly, being a trucker was better than being a bus driver, but still, it was a demanding job with lots of responsibilities, and its greatest disadvantage was time: time away from home, from Liz and Roseanne. A full month on the road, just to get to a payday, get back home for two weeks, and then start the cycle again.

The neverending cycle of work.

While sipping Pepsi, he began to fantasise about different types of jobs he could have done. Robert the technician, Robert the mid developer, Robert the handyman. At that moment, any job sounded better in his head because, in each scenario, he could be at home with his family every evening.

It's always better there where we are not present.

Nevertheless, Robert finished vocational school and received the profession of a driver. If he has any regrets, it's too late to think about alternate possibilities. They may look good in our heads, but each job has its fair share of shortcomings. In the case of Robert's profession, the greatest shortcoming was time.

Suddenly, somebody threw a bottle towards the bar counter. It actually hit a random man, but the bottle didn't break. It bounced away from his skull like a gummy ball.

"What are you doing?! What are you doing?!" the man shouted. "If you do this again, I swear I'll smack you good. I'm a southpaw. My left fist is death!"

The bottle flew again. The man ducked and it smashed against the bartender.

"You mother!"

A brawl ensued in the centre of the dining arena. That's why Robert preferred to sit alone in the corner, away from others. People are just too unpredictable in their erratic behaviour. Everybody is a loose cannon when they find themselves in a large, anonymous group. Robert finally got his meal and ate it peacefully while the police were handcuffing the disturbers of peace.

"The shit got discharged, boy!" someone said at the sight of a police car driving away.

Robert grabbed his phone and tried calling Liz, but he wasn't getting any signal in the parking lot. Therefore, he came up to the counter and asked the owner if he could use the landline phone. The owner agreed, but only on the condition that Robert would pay 10 Po coins. Robert agreed, handing in the banknote. He realised the last time he paid for the landline was in the 1990s.

There was a signal, but nobody was picking up the phone at Liz's end. Robert stopped the call and dialled Roseanne's number instead. Her device, on the other hand, seemed completely turned off because the call disconnected itself after one signal.

This turn of events made Robert a little worried. Just in case, he left a voice message, telling Roseanne to reach out to him as soon as she could. He also tried sending out a Messenger post, but there was no internet reach either.

"Hey, do you know where I can normally make a call and use my phone apps?" Robert asked a random driver. He pointed him in the direction ten kilometres away.

Robert sensed he was just freaking out for no reason. This used to happen to him, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Had I been a stay-at-home dad, I wouldn't have to worry about each missed call, Robert thought as he turned the ignition key. The truck left the only available place in the parking lot and made its way into the night.


Chapter 18

Roseanne picked up the phone that night eventually and calmed down Robert with yet another string of made-up lies. The reason why Roseanne was unable to answer the cell straight away was because she had to make a trip to the supermarket to grab what was needed for the plan she envisioned.

It took Roseanne a good chunk of an evening and the following morning, but she managed to achieve what she wanted. She dyed Cho's hair, so they could match her own red-dyed colour. Next, Roseanne worked on the hairstyle. Cho originally wore a single braid, like her, but Cho's braid looked weird. It's like the hair at the top of her neck formed a knot, and the rest of the hair resting on the neck was loose. Roseanne corrected the whole thing, forming a traditional French plait that she used to have. In addition, by using a comb and fingers, she formed tiny fringes over the forehead. As she placed a mirror in front of herself and Cho, the two were virtually indistinguishable.

"One more thing," Roseanne said and applied gold-brown lipstick.

"Woah! I've never worn lipstick before. Military students can do that?"

"Girl, were you living under a rock? Light lipstick is allowed among female students, but you should never let your hair loose when you're in a uniform."

"I don't feel comfortable in this uniform, as a matter of fact."

"Don't be silly. You look great! A wonderful paragon of a fighting woman."

Roseanne told Cho to get up. She straightened out the uniform that was hanging from her body like a bag of potatoes. Even though they were of the same height, Cho was a bit skinnier than Roseanne.

"We need to work on your diet, baby. You can't live on rice alone," Roseanne remarked.

"It's not the weight that worries me, but the general fragility of your gear. The belt is ordinary rubber with a snap. I'm scared the pants may drop at any time! And the leather shoes are too wide. I make one wrong step, and they'll fall off! How can you run in these?"

"Stop tripping about the whole thing. You'll be fine!"

"Easy for you to say. You find that amusing, don't you?"

"To tell the truth... yes!"

***

There was so much haste that Roseanne had to wipe sweat from her forehead. She wrapped sandwiches in protective foil and put them with bottles of water in the backpack. Additionally, she made sure to print out the timetable, so Cho wouldn't get lost in high school.

Having finished all the preparations, Roseanne saved the cherry on the cake for last. She straightened out the loose uniform on Cho once more and placed a red beret on her head.

"Now you like me!" Roseanne exclaimed with pride. "Roseanne Juzynski 2.0!"

"More like Pablo Picasso 2.0. Does this beret have to be crooked?"

"It's army etiquette. Don't mind that. Let's go, or you'll miss the bus."

Indeed, the moment the girls turned up at the stop, the bus arrived. Cho stepped inside and Roseanne gave her final instructions.

"Remember, you step out on the 8th stop. That's Yard Street. The school is a large white building with purple panels and huge flag poles near the entrance. You can't miss it from the street."

"I'm really scared. I don't think I'm gonna make it."

"Don't worry and just do as I said. Everything is airtight."

Suddenly, there was a warning sound and the bus doors automatically closed. Roseanne tried to say, "Good luck!" but Cho didn't hear her through the engine noise.

As the bus was riding away into the distance, Roseanne couldn't shake an uncanny feeling that overwhelmed her body. It was surreal for her to admit it, but she felt like her mother who used to prepare the backpack and walk little Roseanne to the bus stop every day.


Chapter 19

A pre-recorded announcement communicated that the bus arrived on Yard Street. Cho got up to the exit, but her legs turned to jelly. With visible trepidation, she got off the bus and immediately spotted Roseanne's high school on the other side of a busy crossing. She pressed a yellow signalling device on a pole that turned on the lights for the pedestrians.

Cho waited patiently but nothing happened for a good minute or so. She pressed the device again, but the only thing it did was blinking the "Please wait" message on the display. A man standing next to her suddenly lost his temper, looked carefully on both sides of the four-lane road and sprinted through the crossing. Cho, on the other hand, stood firmly by the pole.

It was only after another minute that the pedestrian lights became green and Cho could safely toddle across painted zebras. When she reached the safety of a sidewalk, she didn't go straight to the school building but turned and observed the lights.

"10...20...30" she counted.

The pedestrian lights changed to red, so she pressed the pole device and waited.

"30...60...90...120"

The lights turned green again. Cho still waited, but this time she didn't press the button.

"10...20...30...60...90...120...150"

Having observed the full process, Cho concluded that with and without the influence of the signalling device the lights would switch on for thirty seconds every two minutes.

What a sham! she thought. So the device doesn't do anything. It's just a blinking toy! She was aware of that being the case in Europe, but back in South Korea, if you press a button, the lights change instantly. There are also special lights on the sidewalk that allow people to cross without looking up from their phones.

Cho shook her head in resignation. Suddenly, somebody passed her by and said, "Hiya, Rosie!" Cho turned towards a random stranger who was walking away, thinking frantically about what she should do until something hit her. The whole world swirled in front of her eyes and she collapsed into a nearby bush. In the maze of twigs, she caught a glimpse of a monster with a gigantic, smooth, black head who was crushing her belly.

Oh my God! Blade Runner is raping me! That was her initial thought, no matter how ridiculous it seemed. She was about to scream for help when the creature got up and dusted itself off. It was not until that moment Cho noticed the attacker did not have a "gigantic, smooth, black head" but a helmet.

Emily lifted a face visor and revealed her intensely brown eyes that were examining Cho on the lawn.

"It's you, Roseanne! And here I thought some stupid first-grader bumped into me, and I was about to smack him good, wait I mean you, no! Sorry..."

Cho stood up. Of course, she knew Emily from the flashbacks and Roseanne described her friend in detail, but in real life, the girl looked tiny and skinny. Cho was shocked to see the walking combination of a petite body and the mindset of a fearless daredevil.

"What's the matter? You forgot to speak or a butcher cut out your tongue?"

Upon hearing this, Cho composed herself and remembered an important thing. She looked through the pockets of her uniform and gave Emily a piece of paper.

"I'm sorry, I can't speak today because I have pharyngitis. A doctor's note will be delivered to the school's office by mail. I came back to avoid a low attendance score. Hence, I would be sincerely grateful if the teaching staff could understand my situation. Thank you, Roseanne Juzynski," Emily read out loud. "What the hell, girl?!"

Cho shrugged her shoulders, making a puzzled expression like Stan Laurel.

Emily looked again at the note.

"Jeez, I feel really sorry for you, Rosie. I guess they dragged you to school, didn't they? You poor thing. If you're sick, you're gonna get tired here. Come on."

Emily put a hand over her friend's shoulder and they walked together to the entrance. All this time, Cho couldn't help but think that Emily in her black helmet looks more like an astronaut than a biker.

***

It was Roseanne's idea that Cho should play mute. In this way, Roseanne didn't want to take any chances in case Cho misunderstood something in Po language. This could get her a bad grade or a write-up in the class log; a conflict with feisty classmates should also be avoided at all costs.

The first set of two hours to get through were chemistry classes. Emily seated Cho by a large desk next to their colleagues, Isa and Natasha. Cho recognised them but she didn't know much about the two girls because Roseanne didn't interact with them that often. Isa had a kind-hearted smile and was so tall she looked like a mother figure of the whole bunch, whereas Natasha seemed disinterested about everything, a faint smile would cross her face only from time to time.

The bell rang and all the students took out their coursebooks. Cho dreaded chemistry in her own reality, but in Roseanne's school, she was surprised to discover that the teacher was simply giving a lecture and the group couldn't care less. After barely five minutes, the students secretly took out their phones and kept them between their laps, next to pencil cases, or behind backpacks. While the teacher was blissfully writing theory and structural formulas on the whiteboard, nobody was paying attention at all! Cho looked around carefully. Isa and Natasha were playing some god-awful battle arena multiplayer game, whereas Emily was watching an episode of BoJack Horseman.

Back in South Korea, it is a must to give away your mobile phones at the beginning of the class. However, even if you were to smuggle your phone, a teacher would confiscate it during a lesson. How on earth was there no discipline in the Land of Po?

Cho made a shallow sigh, looked at the board and started copying thick walls of text to her notebook.

Emily caught a glimpse of that and couldn't believe her friend began listening to drop-dead boring chemistry sermons.

***

If Cho thought the morning lessons were a shocker, she had no idea what geography had in store. The lesson was conducted by an old hag way past her expiry date. This "teacher" had zero control over Roseanne's class. It wasn't just playing with the phone anymore, the classmates would go berserk. They would punch, duck, eat, throw, blurb, and yell. This sight made Cho feel like a permanent resident of a psychiatric ward.

"Excuse me, miss! May I go for 'number one'?" Bartek asked.

"No, you may not."

"For 'number two' then?"

"I said no!"

"Lolz!"

Then the hag spotted Max devouring chicken wings from KFC.

"Max, stop eating!" she screamed.

"Lady, are you even sane?" Max said.

The old hag rushed back to the computer to do a write-up, but before she could touch the machine flaming balls of paper flew in front of her nose.

"Who did this?! Who did this?! Damn it!"

The old hag put out the fire by beating a medical mannequin against burning paper. When she was done, the dummy's thighs and private parts had third-degree burns, fuelling the joy of the class.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" the old hag spat like a wild animal against the laughter. Suddenly, she raised her hand and pointed at the door, "Emily Champignon, leave this handle at once! The lesson isn't finished yet!"

Exactly at that moment, the bell rang and Emily winked shamelessly at the hag, pulling the handle.

"You little scum! You'll get a write-up, too! Where's my keyboard... You stole my keyboard! EVERYBODY GETS A WRITE-UP!"

Cho was sitting motionlessly in an empty classroom. Even though she didn't realise it, she has just witnessed the true image of schooling in the Land of Po. It could have been worse, much worse (at least chairs weren't flying), but what she saw was enough for her. She wanted to get out of there asap, but Emily came back and grabbed her by the neck.

"Come on! We have three hours of military prep before clocking out," Emily remarked.

Cho gulped down her saliva and swayed under the firm grip of Roseanne's friend.

***

Indeed, military preparation classes were a different sort of jazz to master. Sergeant Warwick would keep a strict in-class discipline, so at least all the students were quiet. However, the problem for Cho was that she couldn't comprehend any of the discussed topics. She had no idea how to use a compass, calculate azimuth on a map, or reassemble a gun.

"Right, in front of each desk, you have a field-stripped PM9s," Warwick announced in a commanding voice. "You have 40 seconds to put the bastards back together. Now, go!"

He pressed a stopwatch and everyone jumped at the task. The sounds of crackling and rattling swept across the gym hall. Cho tried to conjoin the many tiny parts, but she just didn't know the basics.

Jenjang! It's not like a jigsaw puzzle, she thought.

In a blink of an eye, Warwick stopped the timer and whistled. He circled around 40 desks, carefully inspecting PM9s. Everyone did the job within a designated time; that is, everyone except for Cho.

"What is this Juzynski?!" he asked. "You haven't reassembled your gun."

Petrified Cho showed a note written by Roseanne.

"Only a total brain inflammation could account for such poor performance, not pharyngitis!" Warwick howled like a drill instructor from Full Metal Jacket. "This is unacceptable from a top-class student. You're getting a write-up."

Cho's eyes filled up with tears, which slowly descended down the cheeks.


Chapter 20

The same day was much more positive from Roseanne's perspective. After walking Cho to the bus stop, she came back home to walk Enzo and subsequently called a taxi to the regional hospital. It was a costly transportation, but Roseanne did not wish to waste any minute, especially after three stressful days.

Much to the daughter's amazement, Liz Juzynski was awake, sitting on her bed and chatting idly with the victim of a tractor. Apart from stitches and bandages, Liz looked completely healthy. Her hair might have been a little greased because she couldn't shower, but the eyes were sparkling with joy against sunny reflections in the room. As soon as Roseanne saw her mother, she wrapped her arms around Liz and didn't let go.

"Oh, Mom, Mom, Mom! I'm so happy to see you feeling better," Roseanne said.

"But of course I feel better," Liz kissed her daughter on the cheek, "I promised."

"Promises and prayers don't do much in illness. I had to take action. Otherwise, they would have killed you in that other hospital."

"The kid's right, you know! The county hospital is as good as the butcher's house," Liz's neighbour remarked.

"To be honest, I can't remember much from the past couple of days. In fact, the only things I knew for sure were pain and sleepiness. If what you say is correct, then I can't marvel enough at my daughter's courage and independence. Rosie, you're my brave little trooper," Liz said.

The conversation was interrupted when a nurse rolled a trolley with medications and breakfast. Roseanne got water for Liz, so she could take the pills. Subsequently, the daughter spread strawberry jam on bone-dry toasts.

"The food in here isn't any good, and you have stomach issues. I should probably get you something better from the supermarket," Roseanne said.

"Calm down, hun. Doctor Michalski said he's going to keep me in the ward for one more day, and then I'll get transferred to the physiotherapy department."

"Physiotherapy? Are your legs worse?"

"No, the doctor looked at my file and claims that there's a chance I may be able to at least stand up on my own. I guess walking is still out of the picture."

"Please, I don't want to hear any false hopes from white-coat lunatics," Rosanne sighed. "Does this mean you are going to stay longer here? Let me talk to the doctor."

"He's out today. I should be here for at least two weeks. He wants me to undergo intense physiotherapy and even got me a bed, so I wouldn't need to commute from home."

"Oh..."

"Will you hang on without me a little bit longer?"

"It's not a problem, Mom. I will visit you every day and help you during physiotherapy."

"Do you go to school?"

"Yes," Roseanne lied.

"Did you call Dad?"

"Well, he called me, but I didn't come clean about you being in hospital. I kept making excuses, but he won't buy them anymore if he calls again."

"You did good. Now hand me the phone. I will talk to him today and straighten it out."

Roseanne did as she was told, and spent the rest of the afternoon chatting with mom, helping her in a wheelchair to the toilet, playing word puzzles, or just lying in bed with her. All this time, she kept assuring her that she was attending school, and she made an exception only today, just because she was so worried about Liz's health. Roseanne didn't feel good saying this lie, but it was not technically a lie. A person who looks like her goes to school instead of Roseanne, whereas she can fully focus on the mom. It's a win-win situation, she tried to convince herself.

"You know what?" Liz said as they were lying together. "I had a dream yesterday."

"Oh yeah, what kind?"

"I think I saw you... you and other you. It's difficult to say because you clearly weren't typical twins. You were the same yet different at the same time. Two Roseannes watching over me."

"Is that so..." Roseanne's face turned pale. Evidently, her mother's mind was (in some part) conscious yesterday and it registered the presence of Cho.

I wonder how Cho is doing in class right now, Roseanne thought.

***

"I'm sorry, but it's not going to work," Cho said.

"OMG, what did you do?!" Roseanne exclaimed as she was checking the electronic log on her phone, "How on earth did you manage to get TWO write-ups on the same day?!"

"Call it beginner's luck."

"More like 'beginner's curse!'"

"Forgive me! What else am I supposed to say? The first write-up wasn't my fault and the second one was the result of me not knowing anything about guns."

Cho crouched under a window, next to Enzo. She heard a faint noise of raindrops beating against the windows. A drop after a drop: pop, pop, pop. This sound, this type of sad weather has accompanied her since childhood, regardless of how strongly she denied it. It was her second nature, an epitome of her failure. Gloomy rain washing away all hopes and dreams down the drain.

"I won't go over the fact your school is a zoo filled with wild animals. The truth is I don't fit in and I suck at being you. That's all there is to it," Cho said and tucked her face into the folds of a uniform.

Roseanne stood in front of Cho motionlessly. The girl realised she had come up with a stupid idea. She asked Cho for too much. It was time to take a step back and start doing things by the book.

"I apologise... I shouldn't have put you in such a tight spot. I'll come back to school tomorrow, and in the afternoon, I'll tell mom about you," said Roseanne.

Cho remained silent. The sound of rain formed an invisible barrier between the two girls, a barrier which Roseanne didn't dare to cross. The last few days have taken a toll on her, and now she has to figure out how to tell her mom there is another version of her at the apartment without sounding like a complete lunatic.

Although it was early evening, it was pretty dark already because of the clouds outside. Roseanne withdrew to the kitchen to at least try to prepare some food when visiting Liz tomorrow. Cho, on the other hand, remained where she was, alone with her thoughts.

Haru! Haru! Haru!

You worthless piece of shit! You are a nobody and you'll never amount to anything! God has forsaken you, do you hear me?! All you do all day is read, but what you read is trash! Interacting with trash will make you trash! Can you even think, you pillock? You can't speak, you won't even write a straight letter "I" on paper! You had the lowest test score in primary school. Do you hear me, you empty turtle? Get the hell out of my face!

This monologue was the voice of the past that kept haunting Cho. The girl was old enough to know the voice was wrong, but it engraved itself onto her brain tissue so vividly that it became the root of her low self-esteem and confidence.

For years on end, when she was locked up with that voice, she tried to reason with it, ignore it, stand up to it, but it would always find a weak spot and pierce through it like a bullet, its hurtful remarks leaving gaping wounds all over Cho.

You are a nobody and you'll never amount to anything!

Amidst the rainstorm sounds, Enzo crawled towards Cho and rested his head on her lap.


Chapter 21

Together in Electric Dreams

We'll always be together

However far it seems


"Yes, folks, that was Philip Oakey and Gorgio Moroder for you. You're listening to *glass-shattering sound* Spade Radio 91,0 FM. Speaking of Electric Dreams, there recently was an explosion of an electrical supply line near the village of Mierzwin. You may ask why did the supply line explode. Well, it's because it couldn't handle the shocking news that the village switched to solar power! *canned laughter* I know, I know, the joke is as dry as cardboard. So, let's switch to our listener's opinions, shall we? Our first caller is Buck. Hiya Buck, you're on the air."

"Hi! I'm a retired physicist and I just wanted to say that what happened out there was not a simple accident,"

"What do you mean?"

"I went on the site and did some measurements on my own. There are traces of biometric data up high on the poles where there shouldn't be any."

"I'm sorry, but could you clarify the technobabble for us?"

"In layman's terms, all I can say is that some living organism came out of that explosion."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"I guess you'd better report it to authorities then."

"I won't."

"Why?"

"Because they'll be onto me!"

"Your real name is not Buck, is it?"

The call was disconnected.

"Well, thank you, Mr Philip K. Dick. Good luck with writing a screenplay for an Alien film. Next caller!"

***

Just when he needed some peace, he couldn't get any at a pit stop. A bunch of spoiled brats were running around McDonald's like primitive cavemen, carelessly throwing themselves under speeding cars in the parking lot. A couple of metres away, angry wives were standing in a queue to use the toilet, so Robert was forced to search for privacy between his truck and some poor bastard who was vacuuming his vehicle.

"Well, what do you mean, honey?" Robert focused through the noise to hear a response, "I'm sorry but this is unacceptable. You should have told me right away... Oh, I'm supposed to calm down because you're better?... I know that you acted with good intentions, but you overdid it this time... If ensuring your safety means I have to quit the job, then I'm gonna quit it, alright?!... Hello?.... Hello?"

His phone went completely dead. Robert rushed to the cabinet and began frantically searching for a USB charger. Suddenly, the hose of a vacuum cleaner hit him in the leg.

"What the hell?!"

A middle-aged man was crouching on all fours in the backseat of his Citroen. Robert got off the steps of the cabin.

"Sorry, bud. The thing shot off by itself. Can you toss it back?" the man asked.

"I'm not your bud!"

Robert threw the hose so violently that it smacked the man right in the face. He collapsed in the back, and Robert slammed shut his car door.

"Now stay down!"

***

Robert went back to his cabin and revived the phone thanks to the charger. He immediately called his freight forwarder.

"Hey, what's up? Listen, I have an emergency. Can you arrange for me a shipment to Bydgoszcz?"

There were some keyboard clicks at the other end of the line.

"No! Not Bratislava! I meant Bydgoszcz... What do I care if it also starts with a 'B'? There's nothing for Bydgoszcz? Fine, thanks for nothing."

The trucker hung up the phone. The man in the neighbouring car kept squirming in pain. Robert tightened his fingers on the steering wheel. He knew he had to check on Liz and Roseanne, but what if he couldn't make a detour to Bydgoszcz?

After some hesitance, he took the phone and made another call.


Chapter 22

There was darkness all around. Roseanne was lying in her bed. Although she might have looked sick, she wasn't. She was just resting from exhaustion. In an instant, she noticed Cho sitting in the corner of the room. As soon as Roseanne saw her, Cho stood up and came to the bedside.

"Cho, I wanted to wave at you and say 'Good morning,'" Roseanne said.

"That's alright, It wasn't necessary."

Cho smiled in the dark and took Roseanne's hand. It was at that moment when Roseanne was able to see snippets of Cho's past: tears poured over a notebook, someone slapping her in the face, her writing with a right hand tied to a table, a bunch of children jumping around her, yelling "Haru!".

Why? Why did this have to happen to Cho? Roseanne wanted to ask her, but Cho was gone.

Roseanne woke up. It turned out to be just a dream. But the visions felt so real, almost as if Roseanne was standing next to Cho when it was all happening. The girl got up and made an extensive yawn. She didn't know whether what she dreamt about was a cosmic illumination about Cho's life or a trick of her imagination.

Much to her surprise, Enzo entered the bedroom. The dog was having a note in his mouth. Roseanne expected it to be a receipt, but Enzo didn't have a sweet tooth for cellulose. She took the saliva-stained note out of his mouth and read it:


Maybe I'm a loser, but I want to prove to you I'm not. Gone back to school. Focus on Mom above all and don't tell her yet. Will be back in the afternoon.

Cho


Amidst the shock and confusion, Roseanne's facial muscles tensed so much that she looked like a beaten-up Rocky Balboa. It took her a few good minutes to get a grip on reality and think clearly.

Cho really shouldn't have done this, she thought. But what's done is done. Roseanne can't bust into school and take her away because everyone would realise there are two of them.

Roseanne prepared herself to receive a string of write-ups for today. As for the afternoon, if Cho remains persistent about going to school, she will have to resort to extreme measures. She will even tie Cho to a chair if she has to, but she won't let her collect write-ups as if those were Pokémon cards.

***

While Roseanne was having her reflections, Cho was already standing steadfast at the crossing outside of high school. She didn't press the button at the pole, but she patiently counted down the seconds until the lights changed.

Whatever difficulties the day may bring, she was ready to face them. Cho wasn't confident she could overcome them, but she wanted to give it a try. To see she wasn't as worthless as it was hammered down to her head since childhood.

The bell rang marking the beginning of schoolwork.


Chapter 23

The first lesson was physics, which passed much in the same vein as chemistry the previous day. The teacher would mumble something mainly to himself, whereas Emily, Isa, Natasha, and other students were consumed by TikTok reels of Instagram stories. Cho, on the other hand, persistently took notes from the board and also made sure to review the currently discussed topic in the coursebook. Emily continued to glance at Cho from time to time.

The next lesson saw the return of the greatest show in the galaxy, which was geography. On the basis of her experience, Cho sat through the battlefield under the desk, again carefully inspecting the subject's curriculum.

"Fabian, why are you leaving the classroom through the window? Why?!" the old hag shouted.

"Because it's the ground floor, baby!"

"That's it! You're getting a write-up!" Suddenly, a paper plane hit the hag in the forehead. Her face burned with frenzy, "Who threw that? Who threw that?"

The next two hours consisted of physical education classes that were conducted by the formidable Sergeant Warwick. The students grouped in pairs were supposed to combat an elaborate obstacle course filled with ropes, tyres, and wooden walls to climb on. Cho felt like on a movie set.

"Each team has 5 minutes to finish the course. Now, go, go, go!" Warwick ordered.

Cho sprinted together with Emily, The friend who had done this sort of thing before quickly got ahead of Cho, who was struggling with rope swinging or getting across 8-feet walls. She would jump, hand onto the edge, and sluggishly get over to the other side. Rinse and repeat with two more walls. By the time they were finished at the 4 minutes 58 seconds mark, Cho was completely knackered.

"Juzynski-Champignon team, you can do better. Again!" Warwick yelled.

"Again?" Cho asked

"Again!"

They did as they were told. The second time around, they finished well over 5 minutes.

"Again!"

"Again?"

"Again!"

The third pass was completed in 7 minutes.

"Again!"

"Look sarge, Roseanne is sick. Can you cut her some slack?" Emily intervened.

"Don't disobey my instructions, or you're in for a write-up. Again!"

Cho and Emily went in for the fourth time. On the spur of the moment, Cho recalled an old movie she watched on TV – The Hill with Sean Connery. In the film, Connery played a prisoner in a military camp who had to climb a steep hill in a blazing desert heat as a form of punishment. Cho felt exactly as exhausted and bitter as Sean Connery but she persevered.

***

The time has come for an English class with Mr Orville. At least this lesson was much calmer because the class was divided in half, and the groups attended the language course simultaneously under the supervision of two teachers. Mr Orivlle was in charge of the more advanced group, but he wasn't as demanding as Sergeant Warwick or as lackluster as the aforementioned losers of chemistry, physics, and geography. Even though Cho didn't know him, she felt a sort of peace and kindness emanating from the teacher. Still, to avoid any possible trouble, she showed him the note about pharyngitis.

"I'm very sorry to hear that you're sick, Roseanne," Mr Orville raised his eyebrows with genuine concern. "Did you by any chance do the homework assignment? Description of the best day of your life?"

Assignment! What assignment? Cho had no idea about any assignment. Best day of her life? She shook her head to signal the negative response.

"In that case, please do it as soon as you can. You may sit down."

Mr Orville did not do a "hot chair" session this time, but a regular lesson from the coursebook. The difference between his approach and that of other educators was that he made an effort to actively engage each and every student in the lesson, even if a student felt disinterested. To Cho, it was very commendable.

Towards the end of the lesson, Mr Orville prepared an extra activity. He distributed handouts around the class, which had lines of text neatly organised into separate stanzas.

Oh, a poem! How wonderful! Cho thought to herself, her eyes widened with amazement.

Mr Orville described that the purpose of this activity is to practise pronunciation, and there's no better drill to do this than reading poetry.

"Emily, could you give it a try?" he asked.

Roseanne's friend turned pale at the prospect of being ridiculed in front of the group, but she cleared her throat and read the poem. Cho heard that Emily struggled, but it wasn't a total disaster.

"Thank you very much, Emily," said Mr Orville. "It's clear that you were stressed, so you lost the rhythm down the line, and there were also a few issues with pronunciation. You have to be careful with such words as 'grinning' because it's not the same as 'grinding', and there is a fine difference between 'craftsmanship' and 'companionship'."

"I'm sorry," said Emily with visible embarrassment.

"Don't be sorry, and don't be afraid. That's why we're learning. Is there anybody who would like to read the poem on their own?"

Cho had no idea how this happened, but her hand shot up in the air. Emily and Mr Orville looked at Cho in surprise.

"But Roseanne, you're sick. You sure you want to do this?" asked Mr Orville.

"I want to try," Cho said faintly.

The girl stood up and read the poem titled Skip or Stay? A poem for the undecided:


What should I do? Skip or stay?

All the work and no fun

make me sad

that I really can't play.


It's been like that from the beginning,

through decades,

through generations,

since the cavemen started grinning.


Maths, physics, biology,

chemistry, oh no, sir!

These are things of evil,

the worst types of ideology.


I need to come back home

by tram,

by bus,

to get away from this dreadful foam.


It's so boring my mind is boiling!

Mommy, write me a note,

Daddy, pick me up,

I need to stop guessing and start expressing!


Go ahead and let's ride away

into the comfort of our getaway.

Let's feel the sun and the wind,

caressing our colour-blind wit.


But remember, whenever you skip,

you don't just escape the hellish grip.

Someone still cares,

even when all is done and dusted,

someone still cares.


Skip or stay?

That is the question.

Skip! Skip! Skip!

But would you stay and learn English craftsmanship?


When Roseanne was done reading, the whole class was completely silent. Emily kept gazing at her with an open mouth, whereas Mr Orville put down his notebook with comments and began clapping. In an instant, everybody joined him and the room erupted in thunderous applause.

Unfortunately, Cho's magical moment of triumph was cut by the bell.

"Roseanne, you read this poem perfectly," Mr Orville said as she was packing her books. "It sounded even better than in my head when I wrote it."

"Oh, thank you! You wrote this poem?!"

"Well, I'm no Charles Bukowski, but I thought it'd be an interesting exercise for you. Did you enjoy it?"

"Enjoy it? I loved it! I also write poetry!"

"Is that so?"

"Girl, since when did you start dipping your toes in poetry?" Emily asked.


Chapter 24

"That pharyngitis must have rewired your brain or something," Emily remarked while eating chips.

"You haven't seen the best of me yet."

The girls were enjoying a 30-minute lunch break in the middle of the schoolwork. Dozens of students would pour out of the building and head over to a large shopping mall across the street to get stuff from KFC, McDonald's, and Subway. Some less demanding high schoolers would buy junk food in a stationery shop like Żabka (together with cartridges for vape pens). Even though they had thirty minutes to buy the food and eat it, they often returned late for classes, and with unopened bags packed with chicken wings and hamburgers. Just the smell drove everybody crazy.

But Emily, Natasha, and Isa had the tradition of spending lunch breaks at school. Empty corridors gave them much-needed peace and quiet to unwind, eat snacks, and chat away. Although Roseanne was a regular participant in these meet-ups, Cho already felt like an accomplished veteran. She enjoyed the company of the three girls who stuck to themselves and weren't keen on picking unnecessary fights with others.

"I know you're good at English, Roseanne, but not that good. I can't go past 'yes-no' questions, you know," Natasha said.

"English is easy, but you need to work on it in your free time as well. Watch YouTube videos that interest you, play a Netflix show with the original voice track, or listen to your favourite music while reading the lyrics. Some people also do that with novels and audiobooks. Every chance of practice is an opportunity to learn," Cho advised.

"Easier said than done," Natasha emptied her lunchbox and tossed it into the backpack. "I tried learning with apps, you know."

"Apps, won't do you any good. They expose your short-term memory to new vocab, but you don't learn anything because you don't use these words."

"You think so?"

"Yes, try speaking for 15 minutes a day instead. Just speak and don't get stressed about rules and grammar. Use the words you remember to construct sentences, and never try to translate stuff from Po language to English. Your language is inflectional while English operates on the pattern of subject-verb-object. In Po language it doesn't matter with which linguistic part you begin the sentence, the meaning stays the same. If you were to do this in English, you would get mumbo jumbo."

"Wait a minute! Your language? It's our language, Rosie, you know."

Cho's ears turned red at the thought she made such an obvious blunder.

"Sorry, you're right! My bad."

Natasha grabbed the lunchbox, fidgeted with it for a while, and tossed it again.

"Would you like to chat with me for these 15 minutes a day?" she asked.

"Me?!"

"I don't know anybody else who knows English as well as you, you know."

"Honestly, I'd be honoured!"

"It's not like Natasha is asking you to prom or something," Emily remarked.

***

During the economics lesson, the students were burdened with the intricacies of how to run their own shop. Isa asked about the difference between supply and demand, thus the teacher thrust herself into the whirlpool of convoluted explanations. Emily tried to make notes, but she was puzzled about something.

"Roseanne..." she whispered. "Last week I saw a huge explosion on the horizon. I think it was that power supply line everyone is talking about in the news."

"Really?" Cho wasn't keen on discussing the incident that led to her arrival.

"Yeah, the explosion was so powerful that it threw me off the bike! But I didn't want to just mention that. Before the explosion, I got into an argument with a shop assistant at a petrol station. She asked me something, and, to tell you the truth, I didn't know what to do."

"What do you mean?"

"She asked me if I wanted a receipt, bill, or invoice for gas. I have no idea which is which. Can you ask the teacher for me?"

"Why don't you do this yourself?"

"Uhm..." Emily frowned, "I don't want to sound stupid."

Somebody else would have shrugged over Emily's problem, but given Cho's gentleness, she genuinely felt sorry for Roseanne's friend. The girl smiled and wrapped her arm around Emily.

"You're not stupid if you are searching for answers, believe me."

Emily blushed a bit and nodded her head.

Cho looked around to ask the teacher, but the lady in question was still busy giving an explanation to Isa. In consequence, Cho got a pencil and started drawing something in Emily's notebook. She was working with complete precision and focus.

By the time Cho was finished, the teacher was already writing homework on the board. Emily received her notebook back with an elaborate diagram and notes inside.

"Always remember: An invoice seeks payment for goods or services provided, whereas a receipt serves as evidence that the payment for those goods or services has already been completed. An invoice precedes the payment, whereas a receipt follows it," Cho pointed to the graph.

Invoice is sent → Customer receives it as a bill → Payment is made → Receipt

Emily looked carefully at the graph and then at Cho.

"Thank you, my saviour! I have no idea what happened to you today, but you are so bright!"

"I'm not bright, just a tiny bit braver."

***

"I'm so in the ass again."

Roseanne's plans for the day were thwarted in an instant. The girl barely left the block of flats when a red Skoda that remembered the times of the Berlin Wall halted in front of her with screeching tyres. Roseanne immediately recognised the car and its owner.

Aunt Lydia was one of the two aunties that graced Roseanne's childhood, and of the two, she was the one that Roseanne wasn't particularly fond of. Lydia was Robert's older sister, but she was a total contradiction of her sibling. At the age of 45, she's been through four relationships, never married, but had one grown-up child, she also loved to eat a lot (that's why there was a lot of her around), but most importantly, she couldn't help herself and talk away all the time. There was the constant air of chatter let out by her voluminous lungs through the voice box. That last factor always puts Roseanne off when interacting with Lydia.

"As soon as your dad called me, I jumped into my car and drove all the way up here from Szczecin," Lydia began her never-ending monologue.

Roseanne always thought that Szczecin is a faraway land inaccessible to mortals where all the damned souls go to after death.

While driving through the streets of Bydgoszcz like a maniac, Lydia continued her wordy babble. The aunt explained how Roseanne's father was worried and told her to check on his family members, especially in view of the fact that Liz is in a hospital. At this point, Lydia realised she didn't know where she's going because she knew nothing about the hospital Liz was in. The aunt asked Roseanne for directions and proceeded to recall countless memories back from the days when she and Robert were little children: Lydia wanted to borrow a plastic shovel from a colleague in kindergarten, but they refused so she beat him up and rammed his face into a sandbox; Robert, on the other hand, wanted to go poop, but kindergarten caretakers were so busy chatting with themselves that they ignored him. As a result, Robert took care of business in the bushes, but the poop actually fell onto his underwear, so he was walking all dirty for the rest of the day. Then, their grandma...

The stream of embarrassing stories uttered by Aunt Lydia seemed like a heavenly punishment for Roseanne. She had to endure this ordeal all the way to the hospital while visiting mom, and en route back home.

Even Liz was a little shocked to see her sister-in-law, but she tried to handle the encounter in a calm and graceful manner. She called Robert the moment Lydia left with Roseanne under her enormous, sweaty arm.

"We need to go shopping, right? We need to buy something," Lydia said while running a red light.

"Auntie, I always go to the supermarket on my own, it's not a problem for me."

"You should see my son, I mean your cousin! Behaving behind the wheel like a lunatic. He rushes to the store, throws everything into a trolley without getting any bags, and then jams everything into his trunk. That's just plain sloppiness."

For some reason, Roseanne got struck with the thought that her aunt and cousin obtained their licences by mastering the basics of driving in GTA games. Either this or they found their permits in a packet of crisps.

"This Szwererowo district is kinda crowded. Like that city in India. I saw it on TV. I think it was called Bangladesh," Lydia was turning the wheel, as if it were the wheel of fortune from a gameshow.

"You mean, Mumbai."

"Yeah, whatever they call it."

Without warning, Lydia hit the brakes and Skoda skidded a few metres across the asphalt. Thankfully, Roseanne had buckled her seatbelt, so nothing bad happened to her. It took her a few moments to realise her aunt nearly ran over Cho, who was standing frozen in front of the bumper.

"Damn it!" Roseanne shouted, getting out of the car, "Cho, are you okay?"

Cho nodded slightly, but she was even more shocked by the fact Roseanne was in the car that almost rammed into her. Both girls looked at the driver's seat. Behind the windshield, Lydia was as pale as a ghost. The aunt initially assumed she was seeing double, but her vision was perfectly clear. She saw two Roseannes on the street. How was that even possible? she asked herself. The horrific answer suddenly hit the annoying relative.

"IT'S... IT'S ATTACK OF THE CLONES!"

Lydia put it in reverse and floored it. Skoda backed out with burning rubber until it disappeared behind the turning.

"I think it will be a while till we see my aunt again," Roseanne whispered because of embarrassment.

"Should we be worried about her?"

"No, she is probably on her way to Szczecin now. If she tells my dad she saw us, he won't believe her anyway."

"If you say so."

"And how was your second day at school?"

"Fairly positive, thank you very much. What about you?"

"My day was a mistake."


Chapter 25

April, 2024

Two weeks have passed and Aunt Lydia didn't reach out to Robert or anyone else. Robert tried calling his sister from the road numerous times. She answered once, made inaudible noise, and got disconnected. Afterwards, the number was unavailable. The only thing that prevented Robert from freaking out was daily contact with Liz who was still in hospital.

Although Roseanne was nearly convinced her plan failed, Cho did prove her wrong. The alternate version of Roseanne attended high school for her and became an instant sensation. Straight As started pouring down the log together with commendations from subjects across the board. Unfortunately, Cho kept struggling with physical education and military preparation which were not her forte. These were Roseanne's specialties, and she offered help.

The girl's daily schedule presented itself as follows: In the morning, they ate breakfast. Cho left for school, whereas Roseanne handled house chores and Enzo. In the afternoon, Roseanne joined her mother for physiotherapy sessions, aiding in the exercises and learning instructions told by the specialist. Cho, on the other hand, came back home and did her homework. When Roseanne joined her in the evening, she would set her playlist of songs on the HiFi set, such as the Are You Man Enough song by C. C. Catch, Stir It Up by Patti LaBelle, and The Winner by Miki Matsubara. Surrounded by the peculiar pop beats, she taught Cho the basics of drill and conquering an obstacle run. The days in the month of April were becoming longer and warmer, so there was more light outside in the evenings. As a result, the girls would frequently train outside, with Roseanne making sure to play her 80s retro music over the phone, of course.

"It's not fair. I do all the groundwork, and you don't learn anything," Cho remarked after barely making a running pass around the block. Her green T-shirt soaked in sweat.

"I did not give you permission to address me, slave." Roseanne adjusted a red beret on her head. "Do one more lap and then we will work on gun assembly."

Cho raised her eyebrows. Her lungs could hardly catch any breath.

"No way. If you're not reading, then I ain't running."

Cho felt it would be a good idea to encourage Roseanne to do more learning on her own. Obviously, the two girls had different approaches towards education, but Cho was convinced Roseanne could do better if she would sit down and properly revise the material from the subjects she's struggling with.

But then again, maybe it's an inappropriate time? It's better to wait till Liz returns home, Cho thought to herself.

She felt exhausted and decided to call it a day. When they were heading back inside, Cho's eyes registered a big, black pit bull walking down the street. The dog was muzzled.

Out of nowhere, she heard a strange noise. It was quiet, but not from afar. Cho intensified all of the tiny curves in the cartridges of her ears to examine the unknown sound but didn't know what to make of it. The best way to describe it was to call it a pulsating rhythm. Still, she didn't know whether the pulsating was mechanical or biological. Cho imagined that it might have come from an engine or sticky membranes surrounding a heart. She listened to the sound with full attention until she was completely petrified by it. With each repetition of the pulsating swirl, Cho knew it was something horrific. She couldn't unhear it, yet she had to keep listening to it.

Little did she know, the pit bull was hearing the sound as well, and the dog didn't like it.

The imposing creature sprang up and, with one strong yank, got off his owner's leash. It was a matter of seconds, and even Roseanne couldn't see it coming. The dog jumped in the air and tackled Cho on the ground. It kept stroking her face, trying to bite the girl, but the muzzle prevented the predator from inflicting serious injuries.

"HOLY SHIT! GET THAT DOG AWAY FROM MY SISTER!" Roseanne shouted at the top of her lungs.

The owner initially stood on the sidewalk not knowing what to do, until he eventually came round and put the dog back on a leash. However, he had to apply a lot of force to get it off Cho's chest.

"This monster should be put down! I'm calling the police!" Roseanne kept shouting.

The owner shouted something back, and the argument ensued between the two while the dog was still snarling from a distance.

Cho was in a state of shock, but she caught a breath and quickly checked her state. Apart from a few scratches made by the dog's claws, she was okay. That sound though...

Before Cho was able to get up, Roseanne grabbed her arm and dragged into the house, as if she were a wounded soldier on the killing fields.

The staircase doors shut behind them with a loud thud.


Chapter 26

"Dude, check this out!"

A backwood bonehead threw a stick that hit the steel base of a pole, and it immediately caught on fire.

"This is better than fireworks!"

Another redneck who was filming the whole thing on his phone threw a stone and it started smoking once it grazed against the construction.

"Let's see what happens if we make Nicole touch it!"

"Yeah!"

The two boneheads grabbed the girl that accompanied them by her ankles and dragged to the pole.

"What the fuck, are you serious?!" she screamed.

"I want to see a human on fire!" one of the idiots answered.

But before they could make their dream come true, a rumbling earthquake tossed them around like pawns on a board game.

"Dude, what is going on?"

"It's like New Year's Eve, bro!"

As the men were lying helplessly, the hillbilly girl crawled through the field away from the poles. At the same time, the earthquake only increased its intensity. All of a sudden, the sound of thunder slashed through her eardrums so hard that blood began dripping from them. When she turned to see what happened, the sheer magnitude of shock and awe took away the remains of logic and self-awareness.

As far as the girl's eyes could see it, the electrical poles were consumed by erupting lava. The particles of ash typical of volcanoes began colliding under pressure, which generated light storms, dozens of light storms that were raging within the poles covered in explosions of ash and lava.


Chapter 27

As shocking as it may sound, the village of Mierzwin has suffered another calamity in recent times. Last week, there was a mysterious explosion, and now the electrical supply line from Bydgoszcz to Konin has become the cooking pot of a natural phenomenon known as "the dirty thunderstorms". The problem is dirty thunderstorms form in volcanoes, not on a plain field in the middle of the Land of Po. So far, there are only two confirmed victims of the thunderstorms, who were, apparently, standing too close to steel constructions. The only eyewitness described the phenomenon as, quote "The coming of Godzilla, like in the movies." At the moment the situation has calmed down in the village and the fire-fighting units are on site, but the supply line is beyond damaged. The geological institute from Poznań has promised to send in their top experts to examine the mystery behind poles burning with lava. Stay tuned for further reports from the WGZF News Channel.

Roseanne turned off the newsflash. She didn't know what to make of the whole thing, but it didn't look pretty at all. The poles through which Cho arrived, as she claimed, burned down like a box of matches. On top of that, there was definitely something wrong with Cho. Sure, she got frightened after the close encounter with a pit bull, but the girl was unable to pull herself together.

***

The moment they came back home, Cho barricaded herself in the guest room. She threw herself on the bed, her head splitting from the inside with the pulsating sound. It was as annoying as an upset stomach. Just as Cho thought it was going away, a wave of its crippling intensity would overflow her. Enzo came by her bedside, but he wasn't angry like that dog from the outside. Enzo sniffed around the sheets and made a very concerned grimace, giving a crying sound in the process.

"Can you hear it? Can you hear it, too?" Cho asked through the waves of pain.

The dog jumped onto the bed and rested his head on Cho's stomach, as if trying to suck out all the ailment out of her. Cho caressed his hair while suppressing the discomfort that was spilling into her guts.

Suddenly, she saw rain. It wasn't ordinary rain, though. It was raining in her room, from the floor to the ceiling, not the other way round as it should be. The anti-gravity rain began forming a pool of water on the ceiling that soon after became a deep water tank. The stirring water was approaching Cho's bed rapidly. The surface of the water was so close, she could see her own reflection in it.

What she saw was a little girl bedridden with insecurities, trauma, and obsessive thoughts. Where was the image of a valiant teenager who wanted to break away from the clutches of a hellhole she was in, and prove to herself that she hadn't lost her reason, compassion, and heart?

It was an illusion, Cho thought as the water devoured her.

But then again, was it really?

"No!" Cho screamed. "I mustn't think like that!"

Cho panicked as the water filled the entirety of the room. She lost visibility in the water, so she couldn't find Enzo. The girl desperately needed to breathe, but her lungs were out of air.

"It's very easy to think of all the negativity that happened to us, but it's hard to recall all the good things. You need to remember all the light that blessed you, my little bunny," her mother, Cho's mother, said to her.

No! I'm ready to give up yet! – Cho screamed in her mind. – I'm alive for a reason, and I didn't meet my alternate self just because of some hocus-pocus that now wants to fry my brain. I need to fight it!

The crashing sound of opening windows cleared the room of all the water in an instant. Cho was lying on the floor, whereas Enzo kept running around and barking. Roseanne entered the room through the window.

"What the hell happened? I couldn't open the doors! Had to climb out the kitchen and crawl onto the window sill to get to you."

"Thank you," said Cho. "At least I didn't drown."

"What are you talking about? There wasn't any water here."

Cho touched her T-shirt, it was completely dry.

Then she noticed the pulsating sound had stopped banging around her head.


Chapter 28

Roseanne switched on the electric kettle and rushed to the pharmacy on the corner of the street. There were no metamizole pills at home, and she wanted to get some for Cho. It was the only over-the-counter medication that helped to alleviate headaches in Roseanne's family.

Unfortunately, there was a long queue when she got inside. It took her a good 20 minutes of standing in line with elderly people and listening to their rambling about the state of healthcare in the Land of Po until she reached the till. A pharmacist already knew her and expected a prescription from her to prepare meds for Liz, but Roseanne informed him she only needed medication for a headache.

"Move it, or I'll smack you with my cane!" some fat blob with warts shouted.

"Shut up, you cripple or I'm gonna break that cane!" Roseanne shouted back.

At home, she gave Cho one pill to swallow and prepared chamomile tea. Cho claimed repeatedly she's feeling alright, trying to be cheerful. Yet, her skin was as pale as if a vampire sucked all the blood out of her.

"Listen," Roseanne started, "It's clear something weird happened to you today. I'm afraid it's got to do something with those damn electric poles. They're gone, destroyed. All we can do is throw barbeque out there! How are you going to get back now?"

Cho didn't speak for a while. She looked at shelves filled with books. A blanket tightly encompassed her body and the warm puff of tea caressed her face.

"What if I don't want to go back?" asked Cho.

"You mean you want to stay here?"

"Would it be okay with you? If I'm a nuisance just tell me."

Roseanne sat next to Cho and put her arm over the alternate self.

"Did you have any life back in Korea?"

Cho did not respond. She kept staring at the books, too embarrassed to look at Roseanne.

"I'm sorry I asked. Without you, I would have broken down, my dad would have found out about my mom's illness, and he would have lost his job. Not to mention me getting kicked out of school. Rose Anne Cho, my lasergirl from the heavens, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. You can stay with me if you want to."

"Really?" Cho's eyes sparkled in the evening light.

"Forever ever, my older sister."

"Why older?"

"Because you know so much more than me."

"Not true. I still know nothing about the military."

The two girls hugged each other tightly. The grip of their bodies was so firm that they could feel their heartbeats. Roseanne's was measured, but Cho's elevated. A rush of adrenaline overcame Cho. She couldn't help it, but she felt complete for the first time in her life.

"I don't know how we're gonna play this, but I'll introduce you to mom the moment she comes back home," Roseanne said.

The two continued in their hug. The silence was interrupted only by the ticking of the clock in the corridor. Roseanne loosened up a bit, but Cho didn't let go. Abruptly, the hard ringing of the entry phone made Roseanne jump on the door.

"Don't go. It's nothing good at this hour," said Cho.

"You still don't know this country well. It can be a courier with electricity bills."

"Let him be. He can leave the bills in the mailbox, right?"

"Yeah, as long as these are not raises in rent payment. You need to collect these at the post office."

"Bydgoszcz PD, open up bitch! You left your phone at school!"

Roseanne and Cho recognised a familiar voice outside and rushed to the window. Before they realised what they had done, it was too late.

"Hi there!" Emily shouted from the front yard of the building. She was immediately startled upon seeing both girls at once, but she didn't lose her grip on reality like Aunt Lydia. "Roseanne, you could have told me you have a twin sister! But... which one of you is Rosie anyway? You look identical. I'm so confused."

"Tell me about it," Roseanne said and invited her friend upstairs.


Chapter 29

It took Roseanne a good 15 minutes of explanation to clarify the whole affair to Emily, yet she wasn't sure if the friend really understood what was going on. She just stood around, nodding her head, as if she were at a company meeting. When Roseanne finished, her friend asked if she could come up to them and take a better look.

After carefully examining their hoodies, and pinching around their faces, as if they were made from Play-Doh, Emily took a step back. She began comparing Cho and Roseanne, trying to find differences, but she couldn't.

"You're the same picture! Like in the meme!" she exclaimed with joy, which blossomed into an uncontrollable belly laugh.

"Is she okay?" Cho asked.

"It's normal for her. She always behaves like a kid in a candy store when she's excited."

Cho thought that Roseanne's remark couldn't be more accurate. Emily's neverending spring of laughter carried an irresistible flair of cheerfulness and innocence. It was more typical of a 7-year-old rather than a 17-year-old.

"I'm a queen and you are my clowns!" Emily announced out of the blue, jumping on a bed and pointing with pride at the girls. "Amuse me!"

"Oh God..." Roseanne muttered.

However, Cho succumbed to the contagious joy of a friend and joined the bed racket.

"Where's thy sceptre, your Highness?" Cho asked.

"I dunno. It must be with my loyal companion, the Ninja of the Kawasaki House!"

"It's more likely stuck up her ass, Cho."

"Don't be a killjoy, Rosie. Play some music," said Emily.

"Like what?"

"Like Kanye West, baby!"

"I ain't playing gangster music in my house!"

"I've got something!"

Cho jumped off the bed and searched through the music library on her phone. Eventually, she hooked up the device to the audio jack and music began flowing from the speakers.

"It's no Kanye, but it has a good beat," Emily commented.

"What the hell is this, Cho?" Roseanne asked.

"I Know by Seo Taiji and Boys."

"Am I the only one around here who has a normal taste in music?"

"Your music is not normal, just old-fashioned like tea biscuits," Emily said.

Roseanne just stood leaning against the wall with her arms crossed while Cho and Emily bounced together to the rhythm of a 90s K-POP song. Even Enzo swirled around their legs, filled with curiosity and excitement at the sight of their dance.

"You're such a life of the party that I need a pocket version of you!"

"And I need a pocket version of you, easy rider!"

The girls kept stirring around faster and faster until Emily hit a plant on a shelf, the pot of which shattered to millions of pieces.

"Look at what you did, Emily."

"Calm down, Rosie. I'll pay you back."

"Of course, you will, with interest!"

"Let's grab some pizza. I'm starving."

***

The trio cleaned the remains of a pot. As Roseanne was sweeping the dirt on the dustpan, she found a card advertising a bookstore: 'Madame Yoshida's Literary Emporium' with an address in Seoul. The girl figured out the card must have slipped out of Cho's pocket when she was dancing like a wild elephant. Roseanne wanted to give the card immediately back to Cho, but Emily grabbed her forcefully by the neck and, before she knew it, the trio left the apartment in search of a pizzeria.

"I know a good place in Zielone Arkady," Emily suggested.

"It's too far and I'm lazy today. I'll find us something local," Roseanne said.

Soon after, the girls were seated in a pizzeria that was adjacent to a small motel. In fact, the building was a renovated semi-detached house with the first floor adapted to accommodate tourists and the ground floor modified to fit a kitchen and dining area. The walls were decorated with various seafaring items, such as nets, anchors, and hooks. The flat TV screen proudly occupied the central space above the counter.

"What is this place?" Emily looked around. "Bydgoszcz is not by the seaside."

"Who cares? They are nearby and they are open," Roseanne said, resting her head on an elbow.

The waiter showed up out of nowhere, lazily collected the orders while yawning profusely, and disappeared completely behind the counter.

"Oh, it's Godzilla on TV!" Cho noticed the famous monster stomping around Tokyo.

"You like Godzilla?" Emily asked.

"It's the best thing since sliced bread!"

"Wrong, Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift is the best thing since sliced bread!"

"Girl, you have family issues or what?"

A heated argument erupted between Emily and Cho. The two began spitting arguments and overbidding themselves about their favourite movies. Emily loved the vibe of Japan and the thrill of drifting Skyline R34 through the famous Shibuya Crossing, whereas Cho was a die-hard fan of monster rumble. From Godzilla Raids Again to Godzilla Minus One, she loved all the sequels, remakes, and reimaginings of the iconic monster that rumbled its way to cinemas 70 years ago.

"You know what? There should be a crossover done in Marvel style. Something like Godzilla x Fast and Furious: Dawn of Autozord where Dominic Toretto and the gang connect their vehicles and form a mecha that would fight Godzilla," Roseanne outlined her idea.

Cho couldn't help but burst into joyous laughter.

"Shut up and take my money!"

"I couldn't care less about Godzilla, to be honest. I haven't seen any movie with the giant lizard," said Emily.

"Damn, we need to change that. I will take you to a new Goji flick when it comes out!" Cho suggested.

"I'll come only if you see the new Fast and Furious outing with me."

"That's a promise!"

"Shake on it?"

"High-five on it!"

The slap of their hands was so loud that it made Roseanne jump on her seat. As soon as the pizzas were served, the girls engrossed themselves in a variety of topics, the predominant one being the uncanny circumstances of Cho's arrival. Emily listened attentively while devouring her Margherita, but Roseanne didn't think her friend understood much. To Emily, Cho seemed like a cute novelty straight out of a Disney animation. Soon after, Roseanne switched the topic to school. She raised her index finger in front of Emily who was gulping down the pulp of dough and cheese with Pepsi.

"Nobody at school must ever know that Cho isn't me," Roseanne ordered.

"But... Natasha and Isa," Emily maffled through pizza crumbs and droplets of Pepsi.

"No buts! I mean nobody. We need to hang on for one more week like this. Is that clear?"

Emily processed what was told to her and nodded after a while.

"Good, I depend on you, cadet Champignon."

Her friend saluted over the large plate.

Even though the girls were the most numerous group in the pizzeria, they were not by any means its only customers. A few tables away from them, there was a young woman sitting alone. She already consumed her dish and was currently watching something on her tablet.

Roseanne, Emily, and Cho were completely unaware of her existence, until she stood up, but didn't move away from her table. She just stood there, frozen, eyes peeled to the floor, her hands folded. Much to the girl's surprise, the woman's mouth started moving with the speed of a machine gun, spitting out silent strings of sentences with fervent passion. Cho initially thought that the woman was just thankful for the meal, she used to see that among Korean Christians. However, the prayer extended beyond simple gratitude. It kept going and going. Seconds accumulated into minutes. Even the staff got curious but did nothing as the woman wasn't disturbing the peace.

With the corner of her eye, Cho noticed that Roseanne reached her phone and lifted it to take a picture.

"Don't do it," she said to her alternate self, covering the camera with her hand, and lowering the device down.

Roseanne had a puzzled expression on her face.

"It's weird, Cho. That's why I want a snapshot."

"What good will it do to you? What's going to come of it? Some cheap laughs at school? A couple of likes on Instagram? It's not worth it. Sometimes it's best to keep your camera away even if something's weird... or beautiful, or hideous."

The woman kept praying and praying. Roseanne gave her one more look until she hid the phone in a pocket and resumed eating. A good quarter of an hour must have passed until the woman finally stopped, sat, and resumed watching the contents of her tablet. The girls were once again so preoccupied with their company that they did not even notice when the woman left the place.

They were finally alone. Even though it was already dark outside, the spirit of the spontaneous get-together was so joyous, so comfy, especially for Cho that none of them dared to leave the table. They browsed through the broadcast of Godzilla on TV, commenting jokingly on the level of Aaron Taylor-Johnson's hotness, the presence of Scarlet Witch in the film, and the idiocy of aiming a pistol at a giant monster. When the end credits rolled in, Roseanne jumped on her seat at the sight of a channel prompt.

"Wait, wait! Gremlins 2 is up next!"

"Gremlins?" Emily asked.

"Watch it, watch it! I love this movie."

Cho and Emily did as they were told and sat through a subsequent feature. As the film was playing, Emily nibbed at the cold crust that remained after the pizza, Roseanne laughed like a maniac at the film's most insane moments, whereas Cho remained silent, looking in utter confusion at the frantic visual potion of intertextuality, critique of consumerism, and comedy.

When the end credits for Gremlins 2 started, accompanied by the wacky yet eerily exhilarating theme composed by Jerry Goldsmith, Roseanne turned to her companions, her eyes wet from repetitive laughter.

"Don't you love this wonderful craziness?" she asked.

"Girl, don't ask me. I'd rather watch Gone in 60 Seconds or Taxi." Emily said.

"Cho?"

"Well, it's definitely something. Most of the time, I didn't know if I should laugh or be afraid."

"I know, right?!"

"This is your favourite movie?"

"Exactly."

"So... am I a Gremlin?"

"Say what?"

"In the movie, Gremlins were born out of this cute plushie. Since I am an alternate version of you, this makes me a Gremlin, yes?"

"Girl..." Roseanne hung her head. "It's just a movie that I like for childhood nostalgia's sake. You were not born out of me, so you're no Gremlin. In fact, we are the alternatives of each other, we are both mogwai."

"Yes," Cho said almost indistinctly. "I suppose you're right."

The girls would continue their sojourn in the pizzeria if the staff didn't announce at 10 pm that it's closing time. They went out on a street that was now empty and luminated with the sterile glow of LED street lights. A thick fog covered the sky, buildings, and the horizon line. Because of this optical trick, Cho thought that they were not outside, but in some sort of a warehouse. As they were walking, she started singing:


So many days you passed me by

You saw the tears standin' in my eye

You wouldn't stop to make me feel better

By leavin' me a card or a letter


"What is this, Cho?" Rosanne asked.

"Please Mr. Postman, it's the first song in English I have ever learnt."

"Hey, Rosie, you sing us something!" Emily suggested. "Remember how we sang in the first grade?"

"Oh, I'm not going to sing any TikTok crap."

"Come on! Cho dared. Sing some."

"Well, my music taste is all over the place as you know, but I can grace with something, though it's a song for male vocals."

She cleared her throat and started:


My heart is crying, crying

Lonely teardrops

My pillow's never dry of lonely teardrops

Come home, come home

Just say you will, say you will

(Say you will) say you will (say you will)

Hey, hey (say you will)

My heart is crying, crying


"It's very beautiful, and I really liked your sharp interpretation of it." Cho gave a compliment. "What's it called?"

"Lonely Teardrops by Jackie Wilson, though I like the cover version by Michael McDonald more."

"Jeez, you're really quite an expert, Rosie!" Emily whistled.

"Now it's your turn."

"No! Thank you very much."

"Come on! All of us sang, so you do too."

Emily rolled her eyes and provided her sample with a hint of suppressed laugh:


Been spendin' most their lives

Livin' in a gangsta's paradise

Been spendin' most their lives

Livin' in a gangsta's paradise


"STOP THAT! Stop it or I'll muffle your mouth with chewing gum!" Roseanne shouted as Cho and Emily burst into laughter.

"No amount of chewing gum is scary for me! I chew gum all the time at school!"

Finally, the girls reached their home and Emily bid them farewell.

"I need to get a move on. My mom will beat my ass for being so late," she said while mounting her bike and hastily putting on a helmet.

"She can always call me, and I'll straighten it up," Roseanne said.

"I'm sure you will."

Emily waved them goodbye and drove off into the mist. Her silhouette underlit by the green glow of Kawasaki Ninja disappeared in the white cloud, as if she were a modern-day reincarnation of Kaneda on his cyberpunk bike.

***

As soon as Roseanne and Cho crossed their doorstep, both of them collapsed on a bed from exhaustion. It was so late that even Enzo didn't bother to approach them.

"It was an unexpectedly beautiful evening," Cho remarked.

"I couldn't agree more," Roseanne stared at the ceiling. "Do you feel better than in the afternoon?"

"Oh, Emily's surprise visit definitely gave me the second wind!"

"I'm glad you had fun, but we need to rest. I need to be at the hospital tomorrow, and you have to get through Friday at school."

"I'll manage, but..." Cho turned her head between the pillows and looked at Roseanne, "My sister, could you sing that song once more for me?"

Roseanne puffed like a tired donkey.

"I can play a CD for you."

"No, please, just for a little while. I want to hear those words again," she raised her hand to the ceiling, "transmitted to air by your voice."

Having quickly considered the request, Roseanne kissed Cho on the forehead.

"Okay, but it's gonna be short, and then we go to sleep."

"Deal!"

Roseanne sang softly, but not at the top of her lungs. Although the song wasn't a lullaby, she tried to turn it into such:


Just give me another chance for our romance

Come on and tell me that one day you'll return

'Cause, every day that you've been gone away

You know my heart does nothing but burn, crying


Lonely teardrops

My pillow's never dry of lonely teardrops

Come home, come home

Just say you will, say you will

(Say you will) say you will, (say you will)

Hey, hey (say you will)

Say it right now, baby

(Say you will) come on, come on

(Say you will) say that you

Say it right now, baby

(Say you will) come on, come on

(Say you will) hey come on


Chapter 30

Liz Juzynski woke up in her room. It was the middle of the night. Her neighbours were sound asleep in both beds between her. She was still in the same room on the top floor and travelled down the elevator to the physiotherapy ward every day. A faint corridor light luminated the darkness through the open door. Liz tried to swallow, but she couldn't. Her throat was as coarse as sandpaper. She was thirsty.

In silence she got up on the bed, avoiding to wake up her neighbours. Unfortunately, it was difficult because the springs were always unforgivably squeaky in hospital beds. She drank a cup of water, refilled it and drank another one, then refilled it and drank once more.

Before she knew it, she needed to use the bathroom.

Even grunted in the darkness and climbed into her wheelchair. While doing so, the lady who was run over by a harvester turned on her bed and gasped.

"Are you a ghost? Am I dead?!"

"No, it's just me," Liz waved at the neighbour. "Go back to sleep."

The lady closed her eyes and began snoring again.

***

After flushing the toilet, Liz rolled out to the corridor. It was completely empty. In fact, the whole floor seemed abandoned. Still, it was just an illusion because all the patients were sleeping in their rooms. Out of curiosity, Liz didn't return to her room, but she journeyed to the elevator lounge, which was a large rectangular space with a wide window in the middle of the floor, separating the departments of internal medicine and ophthalmology.

Here, the lights were turned off and the air was noticeably cooler, but it wasn't inconvenient for Liz. She stopped the wheelchair by the window and observed the city skyline consumed in clouds of fog. The humming of air conditioning made her feel like on a spaceship that's about to take off.

Still, she knew it was wishful thinking. She wasn't on a spaceship, and she couldn't reach the stars, let alone witness the meteor shower. She wanted to see at least something in the fog, and suddenly a flash of blue light appeared under the window. Liz leaned over, hoping to see better the strange optical phenomenon, but it turned out to be just an ambulance speeding towards the ER.

As she looked at the fog again, her thoughts drifted to Roseanne.

Liz wondered how her daughter was coping on her own. Did she feel tired? Exhausted? Even if she did, she never showed it. Roseanne always slipped into the posture of a brave topper in front of her mom, doing the best she could for her, never complaining, never arguing, always smiling, always supporting. This made Liz feel all the more like a burden.

She knew she had to survive, be strong for her daughter. That's why she refused to break down after the accident, but Liz was aware that it took away so much from her life. She didn't have the strength to be angry, but she felt a deep sense of injustice to God, the universe, fate, or whatever the supreme force is called.

Perhaps there is no supreme force. Perhaps we all are in a bus, but there's nobody behind the wheel? Is our ride just a string of accidental decisions? Liz thought to herself.

Her hands firmly grabbed the resting pads of the wheelchair and she pushed her body up in the air. She desperately wanted to stand up. She wanted to prove to herself that she could do it, to stop this nightmare of dependency once and for all.

But it was a fool's errand. In spite of continuous physiotherapy, her legs were still too weak to support her weight.

"Holy crap, you're gonna fall or something!"

Liz heard a loud cry behind her back, but before she could turn her head, the stranger already helped her descend on the wheelchair. It turned out to be a blonde teenager with blue eyes and an upturned nose.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine. Thank you for helping. I'm sorry I scared you."

"It's nothing. I needed to use the bathroom and saw you."

"Oh, that's the same reason I got up," Liz looked closely at the girl in the darkness. "I don't remember seeing you before. Were you admitted today?"

"I've been here for like three days already. Excuse me, I'm in ophthalmology. You're in internal medicine?"

Liz nodded her head.

"I must say you look really beautiful and healthy. Do you have problems with your eyes?"

"Well... with one eye actually," the girl's voice hung for a moment. "I went in for a check-up after school and they said they have to monitor me. Each day, they examine my eye and do blood tests."

"I'm sorry to hear that, sweetie. I hope everything will turn out fine," Liz said with sincerity, even though it sounded like a cliché.

The girl began to turn around when she received a notification and took out her phone. The brightness of the screen even hurt the eyes of Liz who was a metre away.

"It's bad for your health, you know," said Liz, pointing at the phone.

"So are these," she said, pointing at a pack of cigarettes sticking out of her coat.

Liz cleared her throat and tucked the pack deeper into pocket.

"I'm sorry, but still, you shouldn't be careful looking at that screen if your eye may be unhealthy."

Notifications kept popping one after one.

"I know, but it's my boyfriend writing to me."

"Your boyfriend?"

"Yes."

"If he is your true boyfriend, then he should value your health first and foremost rather than bother you in the middle of the night."

Upon hearing this, the girl muted her phone, but she was still holding it in her hand.

"If it's bothering you, then I will go now," she said.

"No," Liz was visibly upset, yet she didn't want to scare away her conversationalist. "It's just that your situation reminded me about my own youth. I don't know... maybe my high school days were simpler because there was no social media at all. People would go to social events or apartment parties and meet each other through friends."

"Nowadays, boys and girls cold approach each other in school, but it doesn't end well most of the time," the girl said.

"That so-called 'cold approach' was unthinkable in my days. People would always strike up a conversation about any mundane topic imaginable. I remember going to the same high school with one boy. We lived on the same street, so we commuted together by bus. I always felt good around him because he was such a good colleague. We chatted about school dramas, teachers, neighbours, and our daily lives. Then, came the graduation day. We got on a bus one last time. He told me about his college plans, and I told him about mine. When we got off, he pulled out a shoebox out of nowhere. But the box didn't have shoes in it, it was definitely lighter, and it had a pink ribbon wrapped around it. He gave it to me with instructions to open it only after coming back home. I did as he told me..."

Liz paused and lowered her head. She touched a pack of cigarettes in her pocket.

"Well, what happened next?" the girl asked.

"I opened the box and it was filled with envelopes, dozens and dozens of them. And in these envelopes, there were love letters and poems, everything about me."

"Oh my God, that's so cool!" the girl exclaimed, her blue eyes sparkled in the dark. "You married the guy?"

Liz looked at the girl and smiled faintly.

"I got scared, petrified to the core. When I finally found the strength to face him, I knocked on his door and his parents told me he had already left for university. We never saw each other again."

"What a bummer!"

"The moral of the story is that people are experiences, not possessions. Your boyfriend should be aware of this. I cherish my experience with that colleague. I didn't fall for him, but I will never forget his grand gesture, and it taught me not to be afraid of the next declaration of love."

"And who was another broken-heart?"

"My husband."

***

Liz took out a cigarette, but she knew she couldn't light it in the building. She desperately needed to smoke. Meanwhile, the girl completely turned off her phone.

"Thank you very much for the conversation. I guess I'll have a serious talk with my boyfriend in the morning. Oh, by the way, I didn't say my name. I'm Kate"

Liz shook her hand.

"I'm Liz. We are like two ships passing in the night," she laughed. "Come tomorrow afternoon and I'll introduce you to my wonderful daughter."

"Actually, I'm getting discharged in the morning."

"Oh..."

"But thanks a lot for the chat."

The girl withdrew herself and disappeared in the corridor. Liz was again alone in the empty lounge.


Chapter 31

"Take your feet off my dashboard, you monkey!"

The shift manager looked at Robert in shock and did as he was told. Robert entered the cabin.

"This was my last shipment, I swear to God. I had to roll this truck uphill for five hours straight just to get to Gubałówka. Why the hell did you need shipment out here anyway?"

"We ran out of beer," the manager said sifting through papers, "Sign here and here."

"You don't even have a tourist season yet," said Robert, placing his signature.

"In Zakopane, there's tourist season all year round. You coming back now?"

"No, I have an obligatory nine-hour pause before I can drive back."

"So I guess you're stuck here for the evening. Have a good one, boy," the manager stepped off the cabin, made sure that the unloading was completed, and slammed the door shut.

Dirty monkey from the mountains, Robert thought, wiping his dashboard with a handkerchief and anti-bacterial spray.

***

He never anticipated that the last ride of his monthly term would take him to Zakopane of all places. There was only home on his mind, to which he wanted to come back as soon as possible. He was at his wits' end, and daily calls with Liz were not enough.

It took him an additional hour of circling around the small town to find a free spot for his truck. For one minute, he considered going to bed in the cabin immediately, but upon further thought, he decided to get some fresh air.

Robert closed his truck and began strolling leisurely towards the downtown. The outskirts of the city were dark and empty, but as he approached the city centre, he encountered wider waves of people amassing by the stylish high-street stores and restaurants made out of wood. The architecture of Zakopane was quite unique indeed with its two-storey buildings and sloping roofs, but it didn't impress Robert.

Far in the distance, he saw the silhouettes of mountains basking in the setting sun. The summit of Giewont, the most fearsome giant of all, stuck out like a sharp claw ready to attack any mortal who dared to approach it. This reminded Robert about his past visits to Zakopane.

When he was a child, his paternal grandparents took him to Zakopane and told him about the legend of a knight buried under a giant cross on Giewont. This fired Robert's imagination, propelling his desire to traverse the deadly mountain and reach its summit, to see the knight's grave for himself, but the grandparents told him the mountains were off-limits. Instead, he was ordered to learn how to ski.

He absolutely hated skiing. The shoes were uncomfortable and it was too damn cold. But the grandparents forced him to ski all day long because this was their favourite pastime. In consequence, he got the flu and it took him weeks to recover at home under the guidance of his mother.

A year later, the grandparents wanted to take him for another skiing session from hell, but the mother objected. The child missed winter break in consequence. She made it up to Robert by taking him to Zakopane in the summer, and he finally hiked all the way to Giewont.

Robert came back to Zakopane a few more times, but he vividly remembers the trip organised by the primary school he attended. It was just a year away from his graduation. All the participants were interested in skiing during the day and smoking weed at night. Sometimes, the smoke was so thick in a motel that Robert would get high just from breathing.

But some teachers did organise a few hiking excursions. He remembered taking part in a trip to Murowaniec, which was no small feat in the middle of the winter. The small group Robert was a part of was making its way through knee-deep snow. Getting through a forest level wasn't that difficult, but when it came to battling snow and ice on the barren, exposed slopes, everybody was on their last legs.

Halfway through, when the sharp traverse uphill was finally over, the group had some rest. Robert sat in the snow, trying to catch his breath while admiring the wonderful view of white mountains and valleys basking in the morning sunlight. At least the weather wasn't against them.

He clearly remembered that he took out a Nestea bottle to have a drink when suddenly he heard a voice behind him.

"Excuse me? May I have a sip, too?"

In other circumstances, Robert would have scoffed at the request. He wasn't keen on sharing, and besides, he wasn't a connoisseur of having other people's saliva on a cap. However, he was so worn out that he passed the bottle without any fuss.

"Thanks!"

It turned out to be a girl, a green-eyed blonde with a thin face. She was his age but attended a different class. Robert knew her by sight, yet they hadn't interacted so far.

After taking a sip, then one more, and another one, the girl eventually gave the bottle back. Robert made sure to wipe the cap with his sleeve.

At that point of the interaction, when somebody wanted something out of Robert, they usually left, but the girl stayed in the same heap of snow as him and the two enjoyed an idle conversation about the mountains, the views, and the weather. Robert didn't suffer from social anxiety, but he considered himself to be an introvert when he was a teenager, so it was all the more exotic for him to have a casual chat. He had to really focus to avoid making awkward pauses of silence.

"It's really beautiful today, isn't it?" the girl asked.

"Yes, it is. The weather is quite unpredictable in the Tatra Mountains," he said.

"Once, a snake bit my aunt in the leg when she was in a valley and they had to call the mountain rescue. A helicopter took her to a hospital."

"Oh, really? Was it venomous?"

"Nah, just a standard smooth snake."

"She couldn't make it to the city on her own?"

"Well, she was too terrified."

Little did Robert know, he would go on to have more conversations with the girl during the winter camp. On hikes, in ski inns, and in the comfort of their hotel rooms, they used to talk about their favourite movies, books, and music. She even had a cassette tape of Laura Brannigan, but the only place they could listen to it was in the hotel's playroom.

Their conversations continued on at school, but as the year progressed these were far and few between. The two had to study for an end-of-grade test, the points of which would determine their future high school.

After graduation and obtaining the test results, their paths parted for good. The girl's family moved out of town up north. They sent holiday cards to each other, briefly touching base, but even this method of communication quickly died out.

Throughout high school, Robert felt that he had lost a friend, a person to whom he talked without stress about anything and who wouldn't judge him. He was desperate to find somebody like that girl around him but it was a fool's errand.

As Robert matured, he began to resent his introverted nature. A strong conviction formed in his stomach like a huge, sticky pulp of paper blocking the digestive tract that maybe if he had been more confident, more outgoing, he still could have been with that girl. And maybe a friend would become his girlfriend? There must have been a reason she talked to him on that snowy ridge.

The spiral of overthinking only made Robert boil with regret and self-contempt. In order to prove he didn't stand out from the crowd, he engaged in a relationship with a high school classmate. That girl, short, dark-haired, and with a nose like a hawk, was the epitome of a narcissist and a pathological liar. In a matter of weeks, Robert's existence turned into misery as she displayed him around school like some sort of personal trophy. On top of that, he could never satisfy her vanity or live up to her toxic standards. Her annoying nasal voice would haunt him like a shriek of the undead from beyond the grave. He woke up in the middle of the night terrified at the possibility of hearing this voice over and over again for the rest of his life.

This short-lived, yet incredibly traumatic experience made Robert switch to a vocational school. He managed to escape the web of the dark-haired monster, but this encounter made him scarred inside. He thought he was going to stay alone on the surface of this planet forever.

However, one sunny day, as he was having his driving practice in a truck, he saw a woman crossing the zebra. She looked nice and cheerful, her brown eyes were emphasised by the plentiful wave of equally brown hair. He used to see her every day at that crossing at a specific time. Evidently, this wasn't the love at first sight, but the woman functioned like a warm blanket that soothed Robert's eyes. Each day, he rushed in his truck to that crossing just to be there on time for her, just to see her again. To imagine how life could be with her.

The idyllic admiration came crashing down like a plane with busted engines when he saw her at the crossing holding hands with a boy.

The embarrassment weighed down on his neck so hard that his forehead touched the horn. Everybody on the street looked at him in an instant, including the cute woman. Robert didn't dare to look back at her. He just stared in front of the windshield, waiting for the lights to change.

From that moment on, he made sure to stay away from that crossing whenever he was in the vicinity.

***

The stream of reminiscence turned into a stream of water running rhythmically under a bridge. Robert smiled. The unexpected stopover in the mountains brought back many memories. Although many of them weren't positive, he cherished all of them because all his experiences, all his choices led him to meeting Liz, his wife, his beacon of light. And it happened not on a bridge, but on a pier in Gdynia when he was in his late 20s.

He sat on a bench by the sea.

She sat on a bench by the sea.

The old wood crackled and the bench broke.

The rest was history.

Robert hoped to bring Roseanne to that pier someday once she found her own significant other. And even if she doesn't find anybody, he will bring her there anyway. She should know his story, and she should cherish what she has in life, whatever small advantages they are.

***

As Robert was making his way back through the city centre, a man in a polar bear suit got in his way.

"Hello there, would you like to take a picture?" the bear asked.

"No, thanks," Robert said.

"You still have to pay 50 Po coins because you are taking pictures of the city centre."

"What the hell? I'm not taking any pictures. I don't even have my phone out. Besides, this is a public space. Anyone can take pictures free of any charge."

"You're right about one thing, mister! It's a public space, which belongs to the locals. I'm a representative of the local community, so I'm entitled to collect 50 Po coins from each tourist."

"Move over or I'll call the cops."

"Pay up."

"Oh, you want me to pay up? I'll pay up good."

Robert punched the scammer in the stomach so hard that he rolled like a carpet.


Chapter 32

"Get up. It's time for school!"

"Huh... What?"

Cho barely regained consciousness when Roseanne threw the uniform at her and kicked towards the bus stop. It was Friday. The last day to survive before the weekend.

The girl felt exhausted after the previous night. They stayed up for definitely too long.

She crawled her way up the school stairs and into Mr Orville's classroom. Emily was already sitting at her desk with her biker jacket on and a helmet resting on a window sill. She had bloodshot eyes and bone-dry lips, but she still smiled at the sight of her friend.

"Hello, Ch...ch is... is that charcoal on your stripe, Roseanne?"

"No, it isn't."

Cho sat beside Emily. They were alone in the classroom. As she was unpacking her coursebooks, Cho gave Emily an angry look for nearly blowing her cover. Emily looked away with a red blush on her cheeks.

Mr Orville has finished writing on the board and turned away.

"Oh, Roseanne. A woman of the hour I needed to see today!"

Cho raised her eyebrows.

"What do you mean?"

Mr Orville approached her desk, holding a slip of paper in his hands.

"I have some good news and better news, which one would you like to hear first?"

"Uhm... the better news."

"You don't have to attend classes today."

Upon hearing this, Emily exhaled profusely.

"What's the good news then?"

"Instead, you are going to participate in today's interdisciplinary scientific decathlon organised by the Pathway to Excellence Foundation and the Ministry of Education. I apologise for such short notice, Roseanne, but I found out about the submission forms for schools just yesterday."

Emily tried the best she could to withhold a cascade of chuckling. Cho, on the other hand, immediately went pale.

"Thank you very much, Mr Orville. But isn't it a competition to which a student should prepare beforehand?"

"In theory, yes, but practically... it's impossible to master that amount of the material. The Ministry from the get-go expects you to be excellent at the humanities, languages, and science. It's a fool's errand, really. Of course, I don't want to stress you and put you on the spot, but I thought it could be cool to check your strengths. At the end, you get a certificate of participation, and if you win, you can get a single-term scholarship."

Cho thought for a while about the offer, and then she looked at Emily who was micro-trembling from Cho's indisposition.

"Okay, I can do this, but I think Emily should also check herself."

"My sentiments exactly."

"What?!" Emily shouted.

***

Half an hour later the two of them were sitting in a separate class together with half a dozen of other "fortunately" selected students. Some tall guy came in, he was wearing a grey suit and had tons of rings on his fingers and a golden watch. His face was so rectangular that it reminded Cho of that GigaChad meme.

The GigaChad imitation adjusted his tie and introduced himself as the representative of the organising foundation. In the course of the competition, the participants were to solve three one-hour-long tests and also have a discussion in a special interview panel with qualified lecturers. In total, the duration of the marathon, with breaks taken into account, was estimated to be five hours.

"I am going to kill you, and Roseanne too," Emily whispered, making the cut-throat gesture when the first batch of tests was passed around.

Cho opened the first page. It turned out to be a standard test from literature. She used to solve much harder tests in Korea. However, some of the questions about Po novels were a bit troublesome. Cho was familiar with Sir Thaddeus and The Doll, but other instances of the classic national canon were a mystery for her. In these cases, she just went with the flow and tried to provide opinions as generic as possible about the books she never read on the basis of passages and quotes included in the test.

"It's the end. I would like to run an obstacle course instead." Emily remarked as Cho was handing back her solved set.

"Silence!" GigaChad spat across the desk.

The second batch focused primarily on mathematics: quadratic equations and trigonometry, to be exact. Cho thought it could have been worse. She hated polynomials. In truth, she hated mathematics in general, but she tamed the monster by sitting each day in front of a coursebook for at least two hours and doing exercises. The theory was always on paper and she simply had to focus. Somewhere on the internet, she read that if she could concentrate on such a mundane thing as a box of matches, then she would be able to focus on mathematics as well. This was the approach that got her through SAT exam questions. Of course, she also attended cram school, known in Korea as Hagwon, and took extra math classes there.

Emily's bloodshot eyes were flooded with water. Tears came running down her cheeks, hitting the test harder than tropical rain.

"This is an assassination attempt on my generation. I'm never gonna pass the Maturity exam in two years' time," she whispered.

"Silence!"

The third and final batch was a walk in the park for Cho. She received standard questions checking the comprehension of English at B2 level. Three questions composed of listening, four devoted to reading, two for grammar, and one entirely about writing a conventional e-mail. As she was solving the tasks, her mind was completely at ease. Even Emily calmed herself down, though she had some trouble with listening tasks.

Cho and Emily didn't know what to expect from the interview section, so they spent their break on pins and needles, sipping soda and checking time on their phones. Mr Orville came by to check up on them, but Emily drowned him in the cascade of complaints and self-wallowing. Mr Orville repeatedly assured his student that it's only a contest, not a test, and he always had faith in her, regardless of the score. Cho was sitting next to them in silence.

"Roseanne Juzynski!" GigaChad called her through a half-open door.

Her mind didn't even register going in there, but the next thing she registered was her sitting in front of a damn committee composed of three people. There was the aforementioned GigaChad, sweating like an Eskimo in a desert. Next to him sat a woman who was wearing a jacket, pencil skirt and high heels. With her clothing, she tried to show that she was at her prime, but her wrinkled face clearly said she wasn't. The trio was rounded off by yet another lady who didn't even try to hide her signs of natural decay. The committee and Cho were separated by a table with a bowl that contained random numbers in it.

"Is your full name Roseanne Juzynski?" GigaChad asked.

"Yes."

"When and where were you born?"

"On the 7th of July, 2008 in S... ugh," the wrong name of the city almost slipped, "...in Bydgoszcz."

"Which grade are you from?"

"2G: military profile."

"Good, please pick a number from a bowl, and I will give you an appropriate set."

Cho did as she was told. She picked number 9. GigaChad gave her a sheet of paper. It read: "Write an opinion essay about the best day you spent. The text length should be between 250 and 350 words. You mustn't exceed the word limit. You have 60 minutes."

"I thought we would talk. It was called an interview."

"Silence! Get to it."

Cho read the task again. Looked at the view outside the window for a while. Then, she grabbed a pen and started writing on the paper. The movements of her hand against the fabric of paper were light and hesitant at first, but when Cho realised what she wanted to convey, her handwriting became faster and more determined. She caught the idea and focused on it, like on a box of matches. In the meantime, Emily and the remaining contestants were also invited within a few minutes of each other. They picked a number and got their own essay topics.

A little before the given hour was up, Cho finished her piece. But still, she took her time and proofread the whole thing. When a small alarm clock rang on the committee's desk, GigaChad made a round across the class and collected all the tests. He had to forcefully pull it from Emily's hands.

"Scumbag," she muttered. "I hope testosterone needles serve you well."

"What was that?" he turned.

"Nothing. Just looking for my phone."

***

It was late afternoon already, many classes were already dismissed and even the principals clocked out early. Although the contest was over, they were forced to sit an additional half an hour for the results. Mr Orville continued to accompany them.

"It was a waste of time," said Emily.

"Don't say that. Don't you ever say that," Mr Orville extended his hand to her. "You did your best and I'm proud of your effort. It's only a competition, that's all. The maturity exams won't be that hard."

"You promise?"

"I promise, but you need to learn nonetheless."

Emily didn't think, but she acted on the spur of the moment and shook Mr Orville's hand as if they two had made a pact.

"I feel quite sleepy," Cho said.

At that moment, the doors opened and crashed against the walls because of a draft. GigaChad did not care. He, the desperate one, and the zombie came out to the corridor.

"In view of the authority bestowed upon me by the Ministry of Education, I hereby inform you all that the committee has checked all the tests. There is only one person at this school eligible for a single-term scholarship provided by the Pathway to Excellence Foundation. The student in question is Miss Roseanne Juzynski. Congratulations."

A murmur of applause spread across the hall. It was clear from the sounds of clapping that the only people enthusiastic about Cho's win were Emily and Mr Orville. But then again, Cho had to remember that it wasn't her win, but Roseanne's, even if in name only. She didn't mind that. It was the first time in her life that she received praise.

"In recognition of the excellent results from interdisciplinary tests and perfect opinion essay," Gigachad added, giving Cho a golden certificate.

Emily hugged her friend, smiling from cheek to cheek.

"You did it! We've only known each other for a brief time, but I knew you'd win. Rosie will be proud of you."

"Thanks."

Mr Orville approached Cho and shook her hand religiously.

"You continue to amaze me, Roseanne. I had a gut feeling in the morning that something positive would happen and I wasn't mistaken. Way to go."

"Thank you, Mr Orville. I must say that I wouldn't have written the essay without inspiration from you."

"Oh, really? How come?"

"Remember that old homework which I was to complete? The best day of my life? Part of me wanted to write something generic, but another part of me felt it would be like cheating, so I didn't submit it to you. But today, I felt ready and wrote the essay for the contest. I wrote how I spent the best day of my life with a person who is dear to me."

Gobsmacked by this revelation, Mr Orville stood in front of Cho for a good minute, still holding her hand.

Finally he said, "I'd very much love to read your essay someday."

Having heard this, Cho reached into a pocket of her uniform and took out a rough copy of her text, drafted with a pencil.

"How about today?" she asked.

They started laughing.


Chapter 33

As soon as Cho signed all the formalities in the presence of the committee, they informed her she should expect the first instalment of the scholarship by the end of the month. The monthly payment was 1000 Po coins, so the total sum of the scholarship she won amounted to 6000 Po coins. This was a little over 2 million won, so it wasn't bad, Cho thought.

She walked Emily to the bike, holding her jacket and helmet like a loyal butler. When Emily started dressing herself to mount her beloved Kawasaki Ninja, she looked at Cho and a shade of fear flashed across her face.

"Girl, you look worse than me," she said.

Cho leaned over and examined herself in the bike's mirror. Emily wasn't exaggerating. Her skin was pale, the lips were swollen, and a string of blood was dripping from her nose.

"Did you fall in the bathroom or something, Cho?"

"No, nothing like that."

Cho kept looking in the mirror, but then a shot of pain jettisoned through her spine, almost as if she were electrocuted by an invisible taser. She collapsed on the bike and let out a scream. Once again, she heard the pulsating vibration with full force.

"Oh shit, Cho, we need to get you to a hospital!"

"No, no hospital!"

"Are you crazy or what? Grab on to me. My mom will help us."

Emily mounted the bike in a hurry. She put her helmet on Cho and instructed her to hold on tight. Cho was tensing so much in pain that she began squeezing Emily's waist.

The two rode off with a squeak of tyres. Emily never rode so fast before.

***

People tend to forget about this in the world of today, but before the digital age, there was this magical phenomenon by which you could remember an event by the sole act of taking a picture of it. At least this is what Cho had experienced.

Her beloved mother, her own Liz, crouched next to her, when she was 4 years old, and pointed to the wall of light made by the sunset down the street. Cho looked in that direction and Robert took a photograph.

On another occasion, Robert was making a sandcastle with Cho by the seaside, which was immortalised in a Polaroid film by Liz.

There were also instances of photo shoots in which her parents were not present. She remembered a journalist who came to kindergarten to take a group snapshot. She was the only white girl in the group. Everyone was lined up for the picture when one of the caretakers dropped a tray with empty plates. The whole thing smashed against the floor and she cried, "Mamma Mia!" not "Oh my God!" or "Aigo!" but "Mamma Mia!"

Nobody has taken any pictures of Cho since she became six years old. But she no longer needed a camera lens to memorise events. She wished she could forget what happened to her between the age of six and sixteen.

The erratic polyphony of computer sounds made her come round. She was lying in a large tube that kept making noises. A laser pointer was above her skull. The light barely made it through an exposed end of the tube. Cho panicked and wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, but her head was locked in a sort of plastic cage.

"Please sit still, we will finish soon," somebody said over the intercom.

Cho kept fidgeting with the cage whilst the tube kept making unnerving crackles, hums, and buzzes like a broken PC. Eventually, the table on which she was positioned started sliding out of the tube.

The moment the machine went silent, a woman in a doctor's outfit entered the exam room. Her hair was as black as night, and so were the eyes.

"I told you to sit still," she said, releasing the bolts of plastic protection and freeing Cho.

"Where am I? What happened?"

The doctor sighed.

"You passed out when we injected you with dye."

Cho noticed a clotted pinch after a needle on her arm. She tried to touch it, but the back pain awakened as she moved. The doctor placed her arm on Cho's chest, wanting her to stay still.

"Try to keep calm, sweetheart. I know you're in pain. My daughter brought you here and made a ruckus across the entire hospital. You're in the Asclepius Health Center."

"Emily?"

"Yes, I'm her mother. My name is Molly, and she told me you are Roseanne, right? Now I need to answer some questions, Roseanne, and be honest with me, okay?"

Cho nodded.

"Good. My daughter is so reckless that she used to do this horrible thing the kids on the internet call 'Urban Exploring'. When I found out about it, I minced her butt so hard that she couldn't sit for a week. Did you take part in these escapades?"

"No, Ma'am. I don't know what you are talking about."

"Or maybe she gave you some souvenirs from these explorations? A key chain, a bracelet, or some pendant?"

"No, she gave me nothing."

"Have you eaten or drank anything from an unknown source?"

"No, really."

"Have you ever been near a factory or a waste disposal site on your own?"

"Never."

"Where are your parents working?"

"My father is a truck driver and my mother is an unemployed person suffering from physical disability. Why do you keep asking such strange questions?"

"Because of this," Molly took out a table with digits. "You have a significant drop of white blood cells, which are responsible for fighting diseases. In medical terms, this is called leukopenia."

"Leukopenia? So when I get sick, an infection can kill me?"

"That's correct. There are many causes of Leukopenia, so we checked your bone marrow," Molly showed another chart filled with digits." It appears that your DNA got scrambled so badly, it can't send instructions to produce white blood cells."

Cho tried looking at the chart. There was a void in her mind, which quickly got stuffed with panic and hopelessness. However, the picture started coming together. Cho remembered that once she read a book about radiation. It explained that healthy DNA is responsible for maintaining a healthy body, but radiation actually cripples DNA, which makes people die a slow and painful death.

She recalled the most horrific case study from the book: the case of Hisashi Ouchi, a man who was exposed to 17 sieverts of radiation at the Tokai nuclear plant. It should be noted that the average person can safely absorb about 3.65 millisieverts of ionising radiation in a lifetime. As a result, Ouchi became the most radioactive man in the world.

Ouchi was kept alive for 83 days by a medical team that attempted a bone marrow transplant, blood transfusion, and stem cell grafts. His skin started peeling away like dry wallpaper. His intestines couldn't absorb water. His lungs stopped working altogether. His heart was so worn out that he suffered three heart attacks until his body eventually gave up. Throughout all this, he felt extreme pain minute by minute, second by second.

"But I didn't expose myself to any radiation if that's what you mean!" Cho shouted, her body shaking at the thought of sharing the same fate as Hisashi Ouchi.

"And that's the strangest part. We checked. There is no radioactivity within you, but you suffer the symptoms. This knocked the socks off all the doctors in the hospital."

Cho sensed a gulp of paper in her stomach. It immediately turned into a fiery ball.


Chapter 34

As usual, Roseanne did the household chores and visited her mother in the afternoon. That Friday, however, the girl was shocked to see that Liz was accompanied by a stranger.

"Oh, come in, sweetheart. Let me introduce you," Liz said.

Liz did the honours, and in this way, Roseanne met Kate, a girl her age who was treating her eye. But she didn't wear the hospital gown. Kate was dressed in a hoodie and sweatpants, holding a sports bag in her hands.

"I'm leaving the hospital now," said Kate. "Thank you for the conversation yesterday and I wish you good health."

"It's not a problem and I wish the same to you. Good luck with your boyfriend," Liz smiled.

Kate looked at Roseanne and her mom one last time, slightly nodded her head and exited the room in a very rushed, unconfident manner, with a hunched back and eyes peeled to the floor. Roseanne sensed the stranger girl must have been struggling with personal problems.

"I see you're so bored out of your mind that you began making friends here," Roseanne remarked.

"I just wanted to grab a smoke and one word led to another. The whole thing turned out by itself," Liz moved from the bed onto a wheelchair, "Honestly, I feel sorry for the girl. She reminded me about my first romantic adventures."

"Oh, really? How come you never told me about those?"

"You know... I could ask you the same question, Rosie."

Roseanne grabbed the wheelchair from behind and waved her hand in the air, as if demonstratively pushing away an invisible thing.

"I've never had adventures, Mom. Just a string of derailed mistakes."

***

Roseanne took her mom to a physiotherapy session, during which both worked hard. Liz did not only undergo muscle-strengthening exercises. She was also hooked up to a safety harness and practised standing up while supporting herself with a walker. Still, she had significant trouble doing this.

Nevertheless, Doctor Michalski assured Roseanne that her mother was in good condition and would be discharged on Monday. The physician hoped Liz would respond better to intense physiotherapy, but Roseanne wasn't mad at him, even though she still hated all the physicians in the world. What mattered to her was the general well-being of Liz. She could always deal with her mother's wheelchair, she got used to it, but she wouldn't stand watching her mom lose consciousness again.

On her way back home, her phone was littered with Messenger notifications from Natasha and Isa. Puzzled, Roseanne read dozens of congratulatory posts loaded with emojis, trying to figure out what exactly happened at school today.

She messaged Emily, but the friend didn't even read her post.

Driven by curiosity, Roseanne decided to also check the school's official Facebook page as well as the school log. The first had no new information, but the latter contained a private message from Mr Orville:


Dear Roseanne,

Once again, allow me to thank you for your outstanding performance today. You amazed everybody, including me, and I sincerely hope this success is just the beginning.

Most importantly, I thank you wholeheartedly for the beautiful contest essay which you shared with me. I believe it was for the best that you didn't give me your homework back then. Sometimes we need real-life experience and a fortunate set of circumstances to make us reach the sky of creativity and dine with the gods.

I look forward to future essays penned by you.

PS Give my regards to your dog!

With best regards,

Orville Lawrence Holloway


Having read the message, Roseanne was more confused than before. A contest? An essay? What was going on?

I am going to have a long conversation with Cho, that's for sure, she thought.

***

Unfortunately, the apartment was empty when Roseanne returned in the late afternoon. Enzo was waiting patiently in the dark shade of the setting sun, but there was no sign of her alternate self.

Roseanne became concerned. She checked the time. Classes finished well over two hours ago. Perhaps Cho's bus was late? She opened the metropolitan app signalling potential traffic jams or accidents in the city, but there was no information about recent events. So, what happened to Cho?

Roseanne messaged Cho, but there was no reply. She messaged Emily again, but there was no reply as well.


Chapter 35

Raindrops kept hitting against the window. Cho was lying in bed, motionless from exhaustion. Her head was splitting with pain, her stomach was empty after violent rounds of vomiting. The skin did retain elasticity, but it was white and dry, with occasional bloody spots popping up on the arms, legs, and face.

Doctor Molly Champignon, head of the Neurosurgery Department in the Asclepius Health Center, transferred Cho to a separate room after the examination. Molly wanted to notify Roseanne's parents, but Cho refused to give any contact details. Then, Molly tried calling the school, but it was already closed. At the moment, the woman was hanging on the phone trying to contact the police, so they could locate the parents.

Cho was stalling for time, for Roseanne's sake, because she didn't want the secret to be uncovered. Yet, she knew it was a fool's errand. Everyone is going to find out about her and Roseanne eventually.

The rain outside made Cho recall the incident that transported her away to this reality. Maybe it wasn't destiny or cosmic kindness, but just a quirk of nature? Perhaps that's why she was suffering right now because she crossed over to a world that was not her own. Each and every molecule of her body began to slowly rot away the moment she arrived here.

It was just a theory, but there was one more thing that kept bothering Cho: that horrendous pulsation she kept hearing. She felt really bad as soon as she heard it for the first time, and the dog that attacked her must have heard it too. Was it a calling? Was it a warning? Or even worse: a foreshadowing of Cho's inevitable death?

The more Cho focused on the sound, the more vivid the images from the previous day became. Children shouting "Haru!" to her face, the monster-like woman scolding her, the ceiling pool devouring her body. All the negative flares of the life she left behind were seeping into her consciousness like water through cracks in the wall.

Maybe the universe was telling her to go back?

What if it's the only option? What if I have to go back? To that miserable existence of mine. Cho thought.

Of course, Cho didn't want to go back to that place, to that lifeless shell on the Korean peninsula. But then again, she didn't want to die either. There was also Roseanne she had to take into account. The moment Cho landed in a hospital, things got out of control. Even if the return wouldn't save her, Roseanne's life would certainly get back to normal. Nobody would have ever found out about Cho's existence.

She had to try.

***

The doors opened slowly and Emily peeked inside with a shy look on her face.

"May I?" she asked.

Cho nodded in her bed.

"I'm sorry it all turned out like that. I shouldn't have taken you to a hospital."

"Don't say things like that, Emily," Cho's voice was hoarse from vomiting, "I'm really sick and you did the right thing."

"I don't know myself anymore. My mom is now hellbent on finding your parents... I mean Roseanne's parents," Emily covered her face with hands. "Shit, am I gonna get it this time."

Cho reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Em, please, keep it together. I think I can still fix this, but I need you to help me one more time. I'm not asking for much."

***

Having followed Cho's instructions, Emily toured the emergency department and snatched a t-shirt, some trousers, and a raincoat when nobody was watching. She then returned to Cho's room where the girl changed clothes, leaving her military uniform behind. She also made sure to let her hair down, so that Emily's mother wouldn't spot her braid in the corridor.

"Taxi is already waiting by the front, just like you told me. Are you sure you want to do this?" Emily asked.

"Yes, it's the only way," she passed her friend the uniform and a slip of paper. "Give these back to Roseanne."

Emily hid the stuff in her backpack and peeked through the door to check if the coast was clear. Then, she halted for a moment.

"You aren't going to die, are you?"

Cho could barely stand on her feet, but she mustered up a little bit of strength to stand tall and look Emily in the eyes.

"I don't know. But for sure as hell I'm not dying right here. Let's do this."

The room was located on the first floor, but Cho couldn't jump outside because windows on each level were secured by bars to prevent unstable patients from committing suicide. Therefore, Cho had to get down to the ground floor.

Emily went out first. She approached the reception desk where her mother was at and began chatting to get her attention.

Cho observed them from across the hall, and when she made sure that Molly wasn't looking in the direction of her room, she squatted and tiptoed away like a duckling until she reached the staircase. Next, she sprinted down the steps, but her stomach was so painful that she would nearly trip and collapse if she didn't cling to the railing.

On the ground floor, she desperately swayed through many turns and long corridor connectors, looking for an exit. She eventually found one used by the ambulance crews, but a security guard was on the watch.

Shit! Cho thought to herself and lowered her head. She decided to go for it.

As calmly as possible, she walked past the guard, but the man noticed Cho and grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Excuse, miss! Are you lost? The exit for visitors is at the opposite of the building."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I have a car parked nearby, so I wanted to use this exit."

Cho tried not to look at the guard, but even with loose hair, her pale face peppered with red spots shined through.

"Are you a patient or a visitor?"

"A visitor"

"Let me consult with the check-in desk," he said, reaching for his phone.

Then, Molly showed up in the distance, running towards them.

"Stop that girl! She's trying to escape!"

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Cho pointed at Molly and the guard looked away.

Cho seized the moment and ran away. She made her way through the exit, jumped to the open side of an ambulance, and quickly dashed off the back door.

"Hey!" shouted the confused driver as he was releasing his foot off the clutch.

When the ambulance suddenly moved, the guard couldn't evade it and got hit by the front bumper. He bounced back and tumbled down the parkway.

"Somebody stop her! Call the police!" Molly screamed, chasing after Cho.

Cho felt out of breath, but she didn't slow down. It's unfortunate the things turned out the way they did, but it was too late now. She felt sorry for Emily's mom who wanted to help her, but nobody would understand what was going on.

She circled the building and spotted a taxi parked at the main entrance. Cho tried to increase her pace, but the muscles in her legs were hurting. Molly wasn't too far behind.

The sound of a starting engine hit Cho's ears. Then, she saw the taxi headlights. It was driving away!

"No! No! Don't drive away. I'm right here," Cho uttered.

The taxi passed the car park and disappeared in the vehicle jungle. Cho stopped, her only chance of getting away was gone.

"Stop! Stop there!" Molly was running from behind the corner.

Unwilling to give up, Cho acted on impulse and leaped to a small gutter hole underneath the stairs to the main entrance.

"Roseanne Juzynski, get out of there right now!"

Molly made it to the gutter, but the opening was too small for her to fit in.

"Please, someone help! We have a girl trapped inside!"

***

It took Cho's eyes a few moments to adjust to darkness under the stairs. The ground was muddy, filled with trash like empty bottles and packets of crisps. The smell of leaves and rotten food hit her nostrils. Only a few minutes went by and the car park got packed with patrol cars and fire trucks. Molly was struggling with the hole.

"Here! Here! The girl's inside," she was saying to the servicemen.

Perhaps it was again a coincidence or dumb luck, but Cho noticed an open basement window in the darkness. Without hesitation, she went right in.

The girl found herself in some sort of a dilapidated laundry room. There were sheets, pillows, but also stacks of used medical equipment. Washing machines were roaring at full speed like monster trucks.

Suddenly, the door opened. To hide herself, Cho jumped to a nearby cart with ironed blankets and buried herself under the layers.

Oblivious to anything, the hospital janitor wearing AirPods pushed the cart and loaded it onto a truck. Even though she didn't achieve it the way she wanted, Cho made it out of the hospital.


Chapter 36

An hour later the police came pounding on Roseanne's door. The girl opened in shock, Enzo barking behind her. Two policemen stood in front of her.

"Are Robert Juzynski and Liz Juzynski at home?" one of the officers asked.

"No, I'm their daughter. What is going on?"

"Are you Roseanne Juzynski?"

"Yes."

"That's not true, Roseanne Juzynski is missing, who are you?"

"I'm telling you, I'm Roseanne Juzynski!"

"You're coming with us."

"You have no right!"

The officer blocked the door with his boot. Roseanne stomped on his foot in a flash. The man groaned in pain and withdrew, but his partner stepped in and, with one swift movement, grabbed Roseanne around her waist.

"Let me go, goddammit!"

Roseanne hit the assailant in the back with her fists, and the man rolled in half. She was about to pull his weapon out of a holster when the ordeal was interrupted by an unexpected visitor.

"What is going on here?" Robert asked.

"Dad!"

Roseanne rushed to Robert who was standing on a staircase. She wanted to hug him, but the father pushed her behind him, shielding the daughter away from intruders.

"Who the hell are you? I don't believe you are real cops!"

The officers tried to compose themselves after shuffling off with Roseanne.

"Are you Robert Juzynski?" asked the officer whose foot got stomped.

"I'm not going to answer your questions. Now get the hell out of my sight before I call the real cops!"

"Please, we can show you our badges and ID cards," they did that in front of Robert and Roseanne. "It's all a misunderstanding. We responded to a call that your daughter got trapped in a hospital."

"Trapped? But my daughter is right here!"

"Yeah, I didn't go anywhere," Roseanne said.

Then, the horrific realisation hit the girl. They didn't mean her but Cho.

***

Robert argued during the whole route to the Asclepius Health Center, recounting many instances in which police brutality led to arrested suspects dying in custody. The policemen were silent the whole time at the front of the patrol car.

When they arrived, Roseanne was amazed by the magnitude of servicemen at the parking lot. It was already dark. Firefighters with heavy equipment cut through the gutter entry and made their way to the space under the entrance stairs. There was nobody inside.

"No! She had to be there! I saw her go in. This can't be happening," a woman in a white uniform cried out.

"We have a missing child on our hands," some officer announced via walkie-talkie. "Register her in the system asap."

Roseanne felt as if everything was happening in slow motion. She tried to understand what was going on, but the whole affair was too overwhelming for her. How Cho ended up in this situation? This and many more questions were running through her head until someone tapped her on the shoulder.

She turned and saw Emily. Her face was sad and eyes red from tears.

"She... she had to go," Emily said.

"Go? Go where?"

"Back where she came from. She got very sick."

Roseanne wanted to ask another question, but Emily placed in her hand the uniform and a piece of paper.

"She told me to give you this..."

Roseanne looked at a neatly folded uniform with her surname on it. She was about to read the note she received when somebody shook her from behind. The girl nearly fell on the ground from impact.

"Oh my God, you're here. You're alive!" Emily's mother broke out in tears, squeezing Roseanne as hard as she could. "I thought you wanted to hurt yourself."

Then, she looked at the girl's face. There was no sign of dying skin and no spots anywhere. It was completely healthy.

"What the..." said Molly and examined Roseanne from head to toe.

"Is there something wrong with my daughter?" Romas asked.

"Emily, I mean my daughter, brought her to the hospital. She was very weak and kept vomiting. We thought she had radiation sickness."

These two words "radiation sickness" punched Roseanne right in the guts. Now, she knew what happened to Cho.

"Well, as you can see, Roseanne is perfectly fine."

"I'm sorry," Molly had a confused look on her face. "I guess it was a misunderstanding. Just wanted to help, that's all."

Without saying anything, Robert grabbed Roseanne by the hand and turned away. He had a heated conversation with one of the officers, and eventually asked the patrol car to escort them back because the distance from Borówno to Bydgoszcz was too great to pass it along on foot.

In the car, as the emergency lights were reflecting back on the streets, Roseanne kept thinking about Cho. Was her alternate self alive? And if she was alive, where was she?


Chapter 37

The moment the van pulled over on the Jagiellonow Roundabout, Cho jumped out of the back completely disregarding the driver, who sat there gobsmacked that some creature rose from the stack of blankets and escaped in a flash.

Cho immediately rushed down the steps to an underground passage for passers-by. It was a tunnel with four different exits, divided into two corridors that were separated by rows of small-time shops and cafeterias. As Cho was running through the tunnel, the whole construction trembled because of trams passing on the busy crossing right above.

Once on the other side, Cho climbed a new set of stairs. In consequence, she found herself on the opposite side of the roundabout. Thankfully, nobody was chasing her.

On her last leg, she reached the bus station. As luck would have it, she caught the last course to Squidburb leaving at 10 pm. Before boarding, however, she had to have a good vomit in the bushes.

Her stomach was already empty, so what came out was mostly saliva and a bit of digestive juice. A violent convulsion shook her torso. Her throat was burning. Her lungs were hungry for air. Each muscle in her body began aching, as if she had run a marathon. When Cho touched her face, a large piece of skin detached, exposing a bloodied wound. She knew she didn't have much time left.

"One normal ticket to Mierzwin, please."

"Coming right up, baby!"

En route to Mierzwin, she curled on the seat and looked out the window into passing darkness. People living in their houses by the road were tucked to sleep by the stillness of the night. Occasionally, a tired spouse would take a dog for a walk, or an insomniac would make their way to a convenience store. Cho, on the other hand, usually spent her Korean nights either reading or looking outside her window at an empty street or starlit sky. She couldn't believe she had to come back to her old habits again. That is if she manages to come through and survive, of course.

The bus stopped at Mierzwin at 10:45 pm. Cho was the last passenger on the bus. As she was getting off, her feet slid from the steps and knees hit the ground with a loud crackle.

"Are you alright there, missy?" asked Mr Fantastic, nearly getting up from behind the wheel.

"Yes, I'm fine thanks," Cho wheezed out in a hurry. She got up demonstratively.

Mr Fantastic shut the door with the touch of a button and drove away.

Cho fell on the ground again as the stop lights of the bus were getting smaller and smaller in the distance.

***

The electrical supply line wasn't visible in the dark fields. Cho crawled through the tall grass, hoping she was moving more or less in the right direction. Her only point of reference was the bus stop by the road, which was the only thing luminated by a lamp post in the entire area.

Each muscle of hers was aching painstakingly as if she were beaten to a pulp in a boxing match. Her bladder was full, although she didn't want to pee, and her stomach was readying up for another cycle of regurgitations without returning anything. Her face and hands looked like a red, ragged carpet. The skin was scraped beyond recognition.

Cho knew her body was on the brink of giving up, but she pressed on nonetheless. She didn't want to die. Her life might have been miserable, filled with heartless suffering and sorrow, but even she struggled with one of man's greatest adversaries: the fear of death. It was instilled in her with fervent passion. Aware of her mortality, little Cho would wake up in the middle of the night from an adrenaline rush. Someday, oh, yes, most certainly some day, she will cease to exist, and the moment that happens will not be peaceful or dignified. No, it will never be peaceful or dignified, in contrast to what they write on social media or show in the movies. Just look at her right now.

Back when she was scared, the consolation came in the form of books, heaps of them. The only, readily available way of escapism from the bleak reality surrounding her and the inevitably creeping thought of dying.

But all of that happened before she met Roseanne.

Now, Cho was in so much pain that her brain just wanted to seize the only opportunity available to stop it.

But that meant leaving Roseanne.

Finally, she reached one of the power supply poles. The girl was too weak to climb the damaged structure, so just leaned her back against the metallic base and looked up at the stars.

Cho felt like the universe's punching bag. It gave her a purpose to live, a purpose to be happy, but it took this away from her when she started enjoying it.

This is the greatest tragedy of life, Cho thought, just as when you appreciate something, you lose it. It always happens like that. The universe never laughs with you, it laughs at you and your stupid tendency to make attachments. The primal matters comprising stars, planets, nebulas, galaxies, voids, and black holes don't care about you and what you cling to. The universe will keep on laughing hysterically at you, long after you're gone.

But she felt grateful for the past few weeks she had.

"I'm really gonna miss you, Rosie," said Cho.

A brownish tear came down her cheek and froze at the corner of her mouth. Cho closed her eyes. Her curled corpus was caressed by the night wind along with the tall grass that was forming swirling waves across the plain field.


Chapter 38

May, 2024


To my dearest Roseanne,

I'm really gonna miss you.

Call it bad luck or cruel fate, but the powers in charge of the universe messed up my situation. I won't give up and try to fix it.

However, it means I have to go.

I do this with a heavy heart. I'm sorry. I was looking forward to meeting your parents and living with you like a proper relative. God be my witness, it was a wish I longed for! Please don't be sad. If anything, maybe it's for the best. Nobody finds out about me, so you won't get in trouble.

Take care, my dear little sister.

PS You'll always be my little sister, just as I am an older sister to you.

PS 2 Say goodbye to Enzo and Emily for me.

With best regards (hopefully, from my side of the universe)

Rose Anne Cho


The sound of a clock ticking away on the bedside table was the only sound that accompanied Roseanne as she was reading the note. When she finished, the girl felt emotionless. Her eyes didn't water with tears, her vocal cords didn't contract to produce a cry of despair, her heart didn't go loose on a wild racing feat. There was only a bottomless void filling up her guts, as if she were descending in free fall for all eternity.

The next week saw Roseanne's daily existence reassembled like a bunch of Lego bricks in a video game. Mom came back home and she was definitely more lively and more cheerful with the dad around. For a short amount of time, before Robert's another trucking tour, Roseanne could finally enjoy family life without any worries or a mountain of responsibilities.

But she didn't enjoy it.

Then, there was school. Roseanne put on the military uniform and began attending classes again, but she couldn't live up to the image of Roseanne created by Cho among peers and teachers.

"Rosie, let's do a speaking test for the Maturity exam in English, you know," Natasha suggested in excitement.

"Can you help me with this maths homework, please?" Isa asked.

Emily, on the other hand, wouldn't say anything. She would withdraw to the comfort of her mobile phone, clutching a helmet to her chest as if it were a teddy bear.

Roseanne either didn't feel like it or she just couldn't help her friends in need. Whereas Cho was a woman for all seasons, Roseanne thought of herself as good for nothing, and this attitude was very much reflected in her grades. Instead of standard B's and occasional A's, she would get C's and D's across the board. Even Sergeant Warwick was dissatisfied with her performance in PE and military prep. She gave up.

Her mind didn't even register when Mr Orville told her about the scholarship, which she (that is, Cho) won. She took an official slip from the foundation that could be cashed in at a post office and completely forgot about it.

***

Each day, she sat on her bed and kept scouring through the news, afraid to find any information about the morbid discovery of a body in a ditch or somewhere else. Thankfully, there wasn't any. However, Roseanne did stumble upon a Facebook group called "FREE MIERZWIN RESIDENTS FROM POWER CORP DICTATE".

The group was flooded with posts of the village locals chronicling the extraordinary events that happened to electrical poles from the middle of March to the end of April. There were pictures, videos, and even memes protesting against the irresponsible inaction of the politicians and emergency services.

Roseanne's eyes widened the moment she saw the latest updates on the group.

"Here's the kicker you won't hear in the media, folks. For a few days now, the electrical poles have been completely intact!!! Did Father Christmas come with a bucket of paint and a welding machine to fix the damn thing? Even the cables are properly aligned and the dirt is unscorched. It's like the explosions have never happened!!!"

Attached was a photo of shiny poles standing tall over the blossoming field. Some commenters wrote the post was fake, others proposed calling the UFO Research Center or the Heaven's Gate cult. A handful of people stated the picture is, in fact, real and the authorities are trying to cover up the whole shebang, hoping everyone forgets about the explosion incident.

"You need to physically come over to see it with your own eyes. The poles were restored to their original condition overnight," Roseanne read one of the comments.

Immediately after, the cogs in her brain started moving. The void got filled with seeds of an idea that soon exploded into a full-blown plan, which kept growing exponentially with each second. She was no longer in free fall. She regained control.

***

A knock on the door brought Roseanne to the ground like a slap on the face.

"Dad went shopping. Can I come in?" Liz asked.

"You don't have to ask, mom."

Liz pushed the handle and rolled her wheelchair in. She positioned herself by Roseanne's bed.

"Forgive me for my intrusion, I don't usually do this, but I wanted to ask you something."

"Fire away."

"To tell you the truth, I noticed this past week that you seem... off. Did something bad happen to you? You can't keep this bottle up inside you forever, hun."

Roseanne didn't know what to say, so she remained silent. Even continued with hesitance:

"If you don't wish to say what it is, I understand. But if it's because of me, if my unexpected illness and hospital stay overwhelmed you, then I should know. I'm sorry, my precious Roseanne. A mother should never be a burden to her child," Liz put a hand to her mouth to cover embarrassment.

Roseanne immediately jumped on the bed.

"Mom, no! It's not like that! Please don't say this!" She grabbed her hands. "I love you more than anything and you are never a burden to me, it's just that..."

"What, baby?"

"It's that..." Roseanne was frantically searching for the right words, "I lost a kindred soul recently."

The colour of Liz's face brightened.

"A kindred soul. You mean a boy?"

"No, a girl. The same age as me. We met by accident and she helped me when you were being treated."

"Oh, sweetie," Liz touched her cheek and massaged it a little. "It's great you had somebody to lean on. How come I didn't meet her?"

"Well, I wanted to introduce you, but she just disappeared out of the blue."

"You mean she ghosted you?"

"We can call it like that. To be specific, she had to return where she came from."

"Was she from your school?"

"No, Mom. But I showed her my school."

Liz massaged her cheek for a little longer and then caressed the girl's hair.

"I'm sorry to hear that you lost a friend. It can happen to anyone. Time is a great healer. By tomorrow, by next winter, or by your graduation, your heart won't be weeping over your kindred soul."

Somehow Roseanne found that hard to believe.

"Say, Rosie. It's the beginning of a May break. Maybe you can reach out to your high school friend and hang out with them?"

Roseanne's mind went ablaze upon hearing this suggestion.

"You really think so?"

"Yes, you mentioned Emily has a big house, so maybe all of you can have a sleepover if her mother agrees? I used to do that frequently with my friends back in the day."

"Oh, I will write to her right away," Roseanne got hold of her phone.

Liz smiled at the sight of reigniting the spark of joy in her daughter. Roseanne, on the other hand, wasn't happy because of her mother's proposition.

She was happy because it was a perfect opportunity to set her plan in motion.


Chapter 39

"Girl, for that much money, I could buy myself new tyres and a bunch of Japanese stickers for the Kawasaki," Emily remarked.

Roseanne adjusted the stack of money composed of one hundred Po bills and hid it in an envelope.

"Your parents are rich enough to buy you anything," she said.

"Hey, it's not like I was born in the Trump family. Just because they have money, it doesn't mean I get them."

"First World child."

It was Saturday. Roseanne packed her backpack and left her apartment in the company of Emily. Liz waved at them from a window, whereas Robert shouted goodbye as he was cleaning his truck.

"Have fun at the sleepover. See you tomorrow!"

However, Roseanne wasn't going for a sleepover at Emily's.

First off, she withdrew the scholarship money at a post office. Next, she went with Emily to a nearby supermarket. She put into a shopping cart a wide variety of canned food and bottled water. Then, at a military shop, she requested replacement shoes, work gloves, and a compass. Unfortunately, there was no Geiger counter in stock, so she got a regular dosimeter.

"Are you going to visit Chernobyl or what, lady?" the seller grunted.

Afterwards, Roseanne got rid of a blanket and pyjamas out of her backpack. She dressed in her military uniform, strapping away patches with her surname and school logo. After filling up the backpack with the bought supplies, she strapped the compass and the gloves to her belt, right beside a knife in a sheath.

"I need you to give me your service gun," Roseanne said to Emily.

"What for? I don't have it on me. We give back the guns to Warwick at the end of each class."

"Bullshit. I know you don't give your gun back and keep it in that silly bike of yours," Roseanne pointed at Kawasaki Ninja. "Now, give it to me."

With a loud sigh, Emily approached the bike, lifted the tiny compartment by the seat, and passed the Beretta M9 to Roseanne.

The girl checked the magazine inside. It had 15 rounds. She also placed the pistol behind the belt.

"If someone finds out you have my gun..."

"Relax. If everything goes according to plan, you will get your gun back tomorrow."

"I don't even know what your plan is. You dressed up like John Rambo ready to liberate Russia. Only a headband is missing."

"Will you shut up already? Mount your bike. We're going," Roseanne ordered.

"Where to, General Juzynski?"

"To a forgotten village riddled with electrical poles."

"Ah, shit."

Emily started the engine and off they went on a long journey across the national road.

***

It took them about two hours to reach their destination. Emily had to be careful because it was her first time riding outside the city. To avoid any risk of an accident, she didn't overtake any cars, maintaining a steady speed while sticking to the side of the road.

The bike rode into the field and Emily stopped the machine in bulky, tall grass. Her Kawasaki wasn't a motocross bike to deal with off-road terrain. Roseanne immediately dismounted and looked at the gargantuan poles stretching out from one side of the horizon to the other. They looked as if they suffered no damage whatsoever. The steel beams placed at sharp angles were reflecting the rays of afternoon sunlight. Indeed, it was a beautiful sight. Without hesitance, she put on the work gloves.

"What are you going to do?" Emily asked, but her friend ignored the question.

Roseanne started approaching the nearest pole.

"Girl, are you out of your freaking mind? What the hell are you doing?!"

Emily jumped at Roseanne and tried to stop her. A struggle ensued between the two. Roseanne, being taller, blocked Emily and shoved her on the ground.

"Look, I need to find her, okay?"

"You'll only wind up dead."

"I've got to try. I can't just erase her from my life. Before I met her, I thought I could ace anything and handle any problem, but reality proved me wrong. I don't feel complete without her. Besides, she would have done the same for me. I know it."

"Goddamit, I don't want to see your corpse falling from the sky. Think about your parents. Think about me. I'm your friend!"

"Oh, you're such a friend that would you climb up one of these poles if I went missing? You'll forget about me after graduation."

Shocked at hearing this, Emily clenched her fist and gave Roseanne a left hook right in the face.

"Why are you so damn pessimistic about everything?" Emily cried out. "You don't know what will happen next month or next year. You don't own the future! Wake up and appreciate the present moment. I don't know if our friendship stands the test of time, but I feel grateful I met you. Nobody talked to me in primary school, and here, in high school, I ended up at the same desk as you. Can't you appreciate it?"

Having said this Emily burst into tears. Roseanne stood motionlessly for a while until she put her arm around Emily's shoulder and hugged her tightly.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, my friend. I got angry and didn't mean what I said."

She paused and hid her face in Emily's hair. She began whispering to her ear:

"You are such a brave, outgoing person. I couldn't have asked for a friend who is more loyal than you. You did so much for me and Cho and I can't thank you enough."

"Shut up," Emily mumbled. "I know I can be annoying at times."

"This quality only makes you the real sigma female."

Emily laughed. "Stop making lame jokes."

They patted each other on the back.

"Whether you like it or not. I'm still doing it," Roseanne said. "If I fail, then call an ambulance. If I make it, then wait till tomorrow evening. If I don't come back, call the cops and say I went missing."

"Jeez, Rosie. There are so many 'ifs'. I don't want to lose you."

Roseanne looked Emily in the eyes.

"You won't. I can feel it!"

***

Roseanne approached the nearest pole and looked upwards. The structure had the shape of a rectangular cone with a wide base that kept getting narrower till the top, which had two wings, underneath them six rows of wires were attached to giant spirals. She was in for a 20-metre climb. There was no ladder, and understandably so, because some drunk hillbillies would get a crazy idea to go up there and only hurt themselves. In consequence, Roseanne could rely only on the aforementioned beams as her footholds.

She turned away and looked at Emily standing in the distance by her bike. Roseanne hesitated for a while, but she looked up again at the rows of wires going through the massive top of the pole. Her hands grabbed the first beam.

She began her ascend.

***

It was difficult for her at the beginning because she had to place her feet at unnatural conjunctions of the beams, which looked as if they were drawn up by a stressed child in a geometry class. However, as Roseanne continued to move up, holding on to beams got easier because they were getting smaller and more compacted. After a few minutes, she reached the top.

The view from up there was definitely outstanding. She was able to see the vast green fields, individual dwellings in the middle of nowhere as well as the skyline of Złotniki Kujawskie in the distance.

"Now what?" Emily asked from below.

"I don't know," answered Roseanne and then added to herself, "I'm waiting for a miracle or something."

She looked carefully at the spirals carrying the wires on her left-hand and the right-hand side. Her ears picked up a delicate humming of the transmission lines. She heard a similar sound back in kindergarten next to an electrical switchgear booth. Her dad explained that wire connectors can emit corona discharge if the voltage is high enough to ionise the surrounding air. Hence, a noise can be heard.

For a second, a thought crossed her mind to touch the wires but decided against it. She was more likely to burn herself to charcoal that way than to travel across universes.

Is there a magic word or something? Or does it just work one way? Roseanne thought to herself.

"Open up, you bastard!" she screamed at the sky, but there was no response.

"It's no use. Come down," Emily advised.

But Roseanne remained where she was. From the ground, she must have looked like a scarecrow hung on beams to scare away not only birds but also airplanes.

She decided to clear her mind. Having closed her eyes, she focused entirely on Cho. She wished to be with her, to see that melancholic look on her face once more, to take her hand and reassure her everything is going to be alright, just like Cho did to her in a dream.

After Roseanne opened her eyes, nothing happened. There was no rain of sparks, no mystical portal to show her the way.

"Damn it," she said.

She started getting down. A few beams below the wires, she heard Emily shouting:

"Holy crap! Look at that!"

In an instant, the humming increased its intensity. Roseanne glanced at transmission lines and, within a split second, her mind was able to register a massive bolt of lighting heading her way.

Then the world swirled upside down and time began running in reverse.

***

Arriving at the field, buying supplies, talking to her mom, reading a note from Cho... Roseanne was re-experiencing the events in an inverted sequence. As she kept falling from the ground to the sky with increasing velocity, the events appeared adequately quicker.

Fighting Cho in the staircase, serving a disfigured woman in church, waking up for school...

Before Roseanne knew it, all of the childhood flashed in front of her, as if someone had broken the playback speed button on a YouTube video. Her memories were gone, the sky was no more, there was only darkness.

Roseanne was about to panic, but the stopover in a void was only temporary.

Soon, an explosion of light nearly blinded her. She noticed stars falling out of a glittering basket of luminescence. The stars looked like pearls shining in the moonlight, but before she could cherish her eyes with their sight, the light engulfed her altogether.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

A shot of pain shook her body, she began choking until she spilled some fluid from her lungs. Then, she saw her mother and father tending to her as she was tucked in a blanket. The next thing she saw was a mountain of suitcases. Unexpectedly, a ball of fire blocked her view. From that ball of fire, a clothed monster emerged pointing and shouting at her.

You are a nobody and you'll never amount to anything!

You are a nobody and you'll never amount to anything!

You are a nobody and you'll never amount to anything!

The monster disappeared in a ball of fire and a pavement appeared. Roseanne hit against the solid surface so hard that the impact stirred the street dust.

"Aua!" Roseanne cried in pain and rolled on her side. The sky was back at its place.

Suddenly, a car honked. It stopped right in front of her. A driver, who was clearly Asian, got out of the car. There was a shade of perplexion on the man's face.

"Ige mwoya? Chimlyag?" he asked.

"Dude, I don't know what the hell you are talking about," Roseanne said, getting up.


Chapter 40

As the driver was calling someone, presumably the police, Roseanne dusted herself off, checked if the backpack was intact, and withdrew from the scene in a nonchalant fashion. For a minute, the driver considered chasing after her, but he gave up and continued talking on the phone.

It was difficult for Roseanne to stomach the type of sorcery she had experienced, but indeed, she arrived in Seoul, South Korea, the city of towering skyscrapers, bright neons, endless expressways, footbridges, and the perfect marriage between nature and architecture. It was just like in the movies.

If anything, Seoul seemed like a city that never slept, never stopped, not even for a single moment. For a girl who never travelled outside the Land of Po, the new setting was too much to take in. It was hard for her to call Seoul a city. It was like a country when compared to the modest alleyways of Bydgoszcz, the tallest buildings of which usually didn't exceed 30 metres in height.

Roseanne tried to stay cool and reminded herself about the objective of her mission. Yes, she was on a mission, not a tourist excursion, a mission to find Cho.

Unfortunately, she didn't learn as much as Cho while journeying from one world to the other. She understood nothing of the gargling language people spoke around here, and visions of the past didn't give her any clue about Cho's possible whereabouts.

However, Roseanne was prepared for everything. She took out her phone. The only thing she strongly counted on was that the passage would jettison her exactly in the place where Cho originally crossed over.

"Yes!" Roseanne shouted at the screen. The location app showed she was in Yeouido district, which was an area of the bookstore from Cho's card.

Now Cho opened the Maps app and charted a route from the place she was at to the bookstore. She typed in the complicated address from the card, letter by letter, not sure what the words meant.

Thankfully, the bookstore was only two kilometres away, near the subway station, so without hesitance, Cho began marching through the streets.

***

It was difficult for her to adjust to the macro size of everything, but she pressed on. On the way to the bookstore, she passed some food stalls, a large building that was some sort of a financial centre, a wide crossing, and a bus stop behind which there was a lovely backstreet hidden in the shades of trees and bushes. It was exactly the same spot which inspired Cho to come up with a poem, but of course, Roseanne had no idea about this.

Following the directions from the phone, Roseanne passed the backstreet, which led her to the front of a massive modernist structure that looked like something more appropriate of a government building from America of the 1930s.

Well, that's my luck. I ended up at the wrong place, Roseanne thought. Still, just to be sure, she approached the main entrance and read the label on a glass. Thankfully, it was written in both Korean and English:


National Assembly Library of the Republic of Korea

Open: Monday to Friday (9:00-21:00)

Weekends (9:00-17:00)

Closed: National holidays, every 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month


Roseanne looked beyond the label, through the window, and saw dozens of young people, probably students, searching meticulously for books on rolling stacks, sitting focused in front of computers, or reading something at empty tables. They were as busy as bees in a hive.

Before she realised, a large head of a security guard grew out next to her.

"Nuguseyo?" he asked in a demanding tone.

"Oh, English! English?" Roseanne said, startled.

"English, a little. Who are you?" the guard asked again, looking at her uniform.

"I am an exchange student from the United Nations," Roseanne lied with a straight face. "This is a bookstore, yes?"

"This is a library. One of the largest. But I don't think it's for military students. The National Assembly Library has the finest collection of materials about social sciences."

"So they don't have The Jewel in the Crown or what was it called... The Far Pavilions?"

"What?"

"Never mind. I'm sorry but this library is too big for me. I want to buy books. Are there any bookstores in the area? Google Maps only shows this one. I have this card, see?"

Roseanne showed him the card. The guard looked around for a while until he pointed a finger in the direction of a street across the park.

"There. You find your bookstore for... kids," The guard seemed to have wanted to use a different word, but since he couldn't find it, he settled for 'kids'.

"Thank you."

Roseanne moved away and stepped down into the park. The guard continued to observe her, especially the gun strapped to her belt.

***

In the park, Roseanne encountered a group of tourists with luggage on wheels. She overheard their conversation and noticed they were speaking the Language of Po.

"Matey, I tell you we hit the honey pot. We're in Korea. How sick is that?"

"I don't know. Money from my research grant has nearly run out. Where are we going to crash for the night?"

"Don't you worry. We'll find some horny bitches."

Disgusted by what she heard, Roseanne wanted to shoot her countrymen on the spot, but she suppressed the need. It was inevitable to encounter idiots on the other side of the globe, and so it appears, on the other side of the cosmos as well.

The exit of the park morphed into a quiet street made entirely of stylish blocks of flats. Each ground floor, however, served as a place for convenience stores, cafes, and other services. Upon careful inspection, Roseanne noticed a large, colourful sign that drew the attention with its flashy lettering: "MADAME YOSHIDA'S LITERARY EMPORIUM".

A large stand under the sign informed the girl as follows:


Open: Monday to Saturday (9:00 to 19:00)

Each Friday you can buy a book for peanuts.

Attention: It's a private business, not a library. No sleeping on your back is permitted.

Sleep on your stomach at your own risk!


Roseanne pushed the large door on her way in. A bell hanging at the top of the wooden frame announced her arrival.

The inside looked exactly like a typical, run-down bookstore with novels everywhere. They were filling up the shelves, the tiny passageways on the sides, and even the window sills. One could measure the passage of time in the density of cobwebs around many stacks. There were no customers and, most importantly, there was no shop assistant in sight.

"Hello! Is anybody here?" Roseanne said in English, stepping in deeper into the paperback labyrinth.

Suddenly, she heard a rattle of paper in response and a loud thud. Someone closed a book in a hurry. Then, a light bulb turned on behind the spacious, wooden counter. She noticed stairs previously hidden by darkness. Frantic stomps of footsteps on the first floor became louder and louder until Roseanne spotted a pair of white socks coming down the steep steps. But before she could grasp the entire silhouette of an approaching figure, the scream spread like a shockwave across the place.

"For the glory of the Manchurian sunset, it's Cho-Cho-chan!"

Finally, the stranger fully revealed themselves on the stairs. She was a woman dressed in a silk kimono robe. Roseanne was no fashion expert, but the whiteness beaming from the long, dense robe was quite intimidating. Roseanne was reluctant to admit it, but the woman in front of her looked like a heavenly spirit.

When the woman came closer, Roseanne couldn't help but notice make-up trying to cover the unwanted wrinkles like a layer of paint splashed across a corroded plate. There was also a current of dark hair tamed into a perfectly round bun.

She looks pretty, Roseanne thought, and she must have looked beautiful when she was young.

"Ureshii!" the woman spread out her hands wanting to hug the girl, but stopped in half a step. "What is this dreadful outfit, my dear? Have you been reading Catch-22 or The Guns of Navarone?"

Roseanne wanted to reply, but she couldn't find any words. What was this woman talking about?

"Oh, I bet you came back to return Tsubaki Stationery Store. And guess what?" the woman dived in behind the counter and bounced back with a book in hand, "I've got Ham on Rye, which I told you about! Some dirty old gaijin sold it to me. He told me I'm the perfect Japanese wife and he wants to marry me. Oh, the audacity! Can you imagine?"

"It's hard for me to imagine anything," Roseanne finally spoke. "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, but I'm looking for my sister. She looks exactly like me."

The woman came up to Roseanne and placed hand on her forehead.

"Cho-Cho-chan, are you sick? I told you not to read Ernest Hemingway."

"If by Cho-Cho-chan you mean Rose Anne Cho, then I'm not her," Roseanne shook the hand away. "Look, it's too long to explain. I came looking for Cho. Do you have her address?"

The woman stood in silence for a while. She taxed Roseanne with her dark eyes like a king looking down on a slave, and, with visible disappointment, she put down the copy of Ham on Rye on the counter.

"Manners demand that strangers should introduce themselves. Who are you, imperial girl?"

"Imperial girl?" Roseanne repeated in surprise.

"You look ready for war. Aren't you going to conquer the world like the plucky young heroes of Kazuo Dan's novels?"

"My name is Roseanne Juzynski," she said, suppressing irritation. "And I'm not an imperial girl, but a military student."

The woman bowed gently.

"My pleasure to meet you, Roseanne. I am Madame Yoshida and this is my library."

"So I have noticed."

"Friends call me Yukie, but you're not one of them. At least not yet."

"I have noticed that, too."

Madame Yoshida gave Roxanne another prolonged glance and proceeded to sift through ancient flashcards in search of Cho's home address.

"I didn't know Cho had a sister, and a twin one at that. Are you from Russia?"

"Excuse me?"

"Your name. Juzynski sounds like Dostoyevsky."

"I am a citizen of the Land of Po," Roseanne replied through clenched teeth.

"Ah, yes. The Land of Po," Yoshida's fingers kept going over flashcards as she spoke," the country of writers who are hopeless romantics bathing in national martyrdom, generational trauma, and political corruption. The literature of Po is the type which has no happy endings."

"Like I would care," Roseanne remarked.

Finally, Madame Yoshida found the card in question, rewrote the address on a separate piece of paper, and gave it to Roseanne.

"Cho is such a quiet girl, you know. There was a time when she used to come here every day, getting one book after another, never leaving any unfinished. I always tried to strike up a conversation, but she's so shy. I started calling her Cho-Cho-chan in reference to Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly. She liked that very much and smiled each time she heard it. But she was still quiet, still very withdrawn."

"I don't know this opera," Roseanne said. In fact, it came to her attention that she didn't know any opera. Cho must have known plenty.

"Then, out of the blue, she stopped coming a month ago."

"That's because she was with me."

"Oh, I thought she got busy or moved out. The latter often happens to teenagers whose parents switch jobs."

This made Roseanne think about Cho's past.

"Have you ever seen her parents?" the girl asked.

"Never," Madame Yoshida said straight away. "This is a private bookstore, not a registry office. Any teenager can come in and buy a book."

"I see," Roseanne looked at the piece of paper. The thick bushes of letters made it apparent that relying on Google Maps is going to be a must again.

"It's a long way from here to Ssangmun-dong. Why don't I call you a taxi?"

"Thank you for the offer, but I don't have any money."

Madame Yoshida made a puzzled expression. Suddenly, she got up and rushed back to the first floor. After a couple of minutes, she returned, holding a yellow plastic card.

"This is a single-journey pass already paid for to Ssangmun-dong."

"But I don't have any money," Roseanne protested.

"It's okay. I'm saving you the trouble of dealing with the cumbersome ticket machine. Just make sure to scan the card on the right-hand side of the terminal when checking in and out of the subway station. It's two streets away from here."

Roseanne was confused. Madame Yoshida placed the card in her hands.

"Thank you, but I don't think I deserved it."

"Indeed, you didn't, but I want you to reconnect with your sister. In addition, your pugnacity reminds me of 'The Little Match Girl' from Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale," she pointed at Roseanne's pistol, "Just you have a gun instead of matches."

"And I can use it very well."

"Oh, I'm sure of that. But be mindful of this literary principle: once a gun appears in a story, it has to go off. There is no other way."


Chapter 41

In other circumstances, this would have been a fairly nice trip, Roseanne thought.

She reached Ssangmun-dong an hour after leaving Madame Yoshida's Literary Emporium. The subway trip itself was quick and problem-free, but the girl had to pay attention to English announcements made as the train stopped at each station.

The district itself was a typical middle-class area. If anything, Roseanne had to admit it looked significantly better than Szwederowo. There were no socialist blocks of flats looming from the sky and the streets were spick and span. Even on beautiful, sunny days, Szwederowo looked off, like an open-air warehouse, the forgotten corners of which still bore the scars of the Second World War. Ssangmun-dong, on the other hand, appeared cosy and minimalistic with its threads of small, unpopulated alleyways mixed up with neon-lit high-street stores that were bustling with life.

It took Roseanne half a day wandering in these alleyways in search of Cho's apartment. Of course, she relied on Google Maps to guide her, but every street looked the same, which made her lose sense of direction. Attempts to communicate with the locals were also futile because nobody spoke English. The girl was out there for so long that the sun disappeared and darkness of the night spilled over the sky. It also started raining, but she didn't mind that. Roseanne pressed on, passing LED lamp posts, cars parked outside semi-detached houses, and convenience stores. She tried to make sense of the signs written on the pavement and the fence, but the brain understood only numerals.

Finally, she found a house with number 38. With trepidation in her heart, Roseanne pressed an intercom outside the gate.

There was no response at the other side of the line, but the main door opened and a man in his late 40s came out in flip-flops. Two little children were clinging to the sides of his sweatpants.

"Excuse me. Do you speak English?" Roseanne asked.

"Mwo?"

That's my luck today, she thought.

"House," she showed at the residence, "Number 38, Rose Anne Cho."

"Mwo?"

"Rose Anne Cho!"

At that moment, one of the children stepped forward and read a paper. The little girl pointed to the adjacent street.

Roseanne patted the girl on the head and resumed her march. The children waved at her and she waved back. The man stood where he was, lighting a cigarette.

"Babo," he said.

***

The 38 house on the next street turned out to be a two-storey, newly refurbished block of flats. It didn't look anything like the battered tenement dwelling Roseanne lived in. Interestingly, the staircase leading to individual flats was located outside of the building. She had never seen this kind of set-up back in her city, but this saved the trouble of ringing over the intercom again. She referred to the note just to be sure and went straight to apartment no. 6 on the first floor.

There was no name tag, only a grey steel door and a small mailbox next to it. Roseanne knocked on the door.

"Please be inside, be inside, dammit," Roseanne kept repeating silently.

She knocked on the door again.

"Open up in there! I didn't travel across the galaxies to kiss the handle now!"

Roseanne heard nothing.

When she focused all her might on ears, she was able to make out a faint noise of a TV set playing at the neighbour's and the barking of a dog out on the street. There was no sound coming from Cho's apartment.

What if she didn't make it? Maybe she's gone and my efforts to rescue her were in vain? No, I can't think like that! I can't! Perhaps she just went shopping and will be back any minute – a rush of negative assumptions embalmed Roseanne's mind like sticky bandages applied to flesh wounds.

She sat in front of the door, looking at it with hope trickling away from her guts. It's one of those moments again, moments of despair when the status quo is breached and she doesn't know what to do in order to restore it. She felt exactly like that when mom got sick and ended up in a hospital a month ago.

"No, I can't cry. Not this time. I know better," Roseanne said to herself.

She turned away and looked over the railing on the street. She had a decision to make. Stay here and continue to wait for Cho or come back home? She desperately needed to find her, that's why led here, that's why she kept sitting here. Yes, Roseanne wasn't going anywhere.

And the passage of time proved her right.

After 15 minutes or so, a key in the lock turned twice and the door opened in front of Roseanne. She saw Cho in a hanbok costume, her skin healthy and radiant, hair let loose across the shoulders, rectangular reading spectacles adorning the nose.

"What does it mean to kiss the handle?" she asked.


Chapter 42

"What is it with you and that bloody kebab rag?!" Roseanne asked while storming inside.

"It's called hanbok and it's the only clean piece of clothing I have at the moment," Cho replied. "I got two sets of these at the K-Royal Culture Festival."

"It turns you into a walking carpet. You look much better in regular clothes."

Cho closed the door behind her.

"You didn't answer my question."

"What?"

"Kiss the handle. What's the meaning?"

"Oh, in the language of Po, it means a situation when you come to visit somebody and there is nobody home."

"There is no such idiomatic expression in the English language."

"Don't care."

Upon first glance, Roseanne realised Cho's apartment looked lifeless and empty. There were no personal belongings, photos, souvenirs, stickers, or anything of that sort. The living room only had a single bed, a laptop, and a trunk filled with books. Adjacent to the living room was a tiny bathroom and a kitchen unit.

"You live a truly monastic life. It's no life at all," Roseanne remarked. "Pack your stuff, we're getting out of here."

Cho came closer to Roseanne and slapped her as hard as possible.

"What the hell have you done? What did you come here for?!" she screamed.

"I came here to save you!"

"Like how?! You thought you would show up on a white horse and return with me? We can't live in the same worlds, don't you understand? I'm gonna die out there, and you're gonna die here if you stay. Or maybe you have a solution to this problem?"

Roseanne massaged her cheek. The jawbone started to burn irritably.

"Well, that's part of the plan I didn't think through."

"Ugh! You always act on temper," Cho cried in despair and kicked the trunk, the lid of which slammed shut releasing a cloud of dust.

At that moment, the two heard a beeping alarm sound. Roseanne grabbed her belt and checked the dosimeter. The counter showed 1,324 mSv. If she remembered correctly what she read on the internet, such dosage wouldn't kill her, but it could lead to observable health issues sooner rather than later.

Roseanne switched off the alarm.

"I'm sorry I came, but I needed to see you," she said.

Cho observed the raindrops outside the window.

"And now you see me... I swear to God, if I could come with you, I would have done so already."

"You shouldn't live like this, all alone."

"Don't tell me how to live."

After a brief pause, Roseanne decided to ask directly:

"Your parents are dead, aren't they?"

***

The moment Roseanne said this, it seemed as if Earth stopped moving. Cho didn't move opposite the window, but her stature became visibly hunched, as if her shoulders couldn't bear the weight of these words.

"You figured it out, huh?"

"I suspected it for some time, but what I saw of your past only confirmed my suspicions."

The raindrops nearly stopped and Cho slightly lowered her head.

"It's always difficult to discuss it..." she said in a broken tone. "How does one even say this? My mom and dad died in a plane crash. I was only five... We were already settled in Korea. Robert, well, my dad Robert, had a job here, but they were coming back to the land of Po for Christmas. At least that's what I was told. Allegedly, they considered taking me with them but chose not to, I was too small..."

"Go on," Roseanne encouraged her.

"They left me with a Korean caretaker who didn't know what to do after the accident. The nanny took me to the Embassy of the Land of Po, but they wouldn't believe I was a Po national. She couldn't find my documents and had no contact with extended family. They threw her out, threatening to call the police..."

Cho's voice paused suddenly. Her vocal cords tensed. She imagined an invisible hand choking the last breath out of her.

"Please," Roseanne held her by the shoulders and forcefully turned away from the window. "Tell me what happened later."

"Later?" Cho's eyes glazed over. "That woman did the only logical thing that came to her mind... She gave a white child to the white people she knew."

"So, you ended up with criminals or something?"

"Worse!" Cho raised her voice. "I ended up with Christian missionaries!"

"Was that a bad thing?"

"You can't even imagine, They ran a kindergarten and I was the only white child under their care. Other children would swarm around me, poking their fingers at me and screaming 'Haru! Haru!' It means 'Hello,' They were saying hello as if I was an alien from outer space. In the morning, we had to get up at 5 am and pray. Of course, we also had to pray before each meal, which was always cold. Then, we had classes, lots and lots of classes where Sister Grace taught us how benevolent God is, and suddenly she would take out a large, wooden stick in the middle of a lecture and beat us with it. Beat till the blood came pouring. Once, she caught me reading non-Christian books at night. It was the day I found Madame Yoshida's bookstore and smuggled some books to the church. Sister Grace went berserk. She confiscated the books, screaming how great a sin I committed reading these packs of lies. In the end, she said I'm good for nothing, and her mouth was gaping and salivating so much I was convinced she also threw a curse on me."

"A curse to be alone for the rest of your life?" Roseanne meant it as a joke, but Cho took it seriously and nodded her head.

"After that incident, I promised myself to be the best I could ever be and get away from that hellhole. I learned like crazy until I got on a metropolitan scholarship programme for journalism and mass communication, the type of which supports high school students. This apartment was assigned to me, so I was finally able to get out of the church."

Cho walked a few steps around the room and sat on the trunk.

"Now, you know about the miserable life of Rose Anne Cho. You come here and say I have no life. Having books as companions is better than being an orphan nobody wants! How dare you judge me Roseanne Juzynski. Look at yourself. You have loving parents, devoted friends, a loveable dog. And yet, it's not enough for you because you want it better! You want to be better! The best of the best. But if you want it this way, you need to change your perspective. You need to stop chasing perfection. You need to take action. For a month I lived your life, supporting your dream, and it was the best damn month of my entire existence! That's what I wrote in an essay contest I gave Mr Orville. I wrote about how I spent a day with you and Emily. I wrote about how happy I was. I wrote about being you... with a touch of myself."

Having heard the whole thing, Roseanne quietly sat on a trunk beside Cho. The lamp posts outside the building were the only source of light illuminating their faces in the dark living room.

"You can't imagine how it pains me to hear what happened to you. I'm sorry if I have offended you. It wasn't what I meant. You are right. There was a time I wanted to be a perfect student and a perfect daughter. So much so that I didn't notice things I should be grateful for, until mom got sick. I need to change, and I need to take action. I'm taking action right now. I came for you because I can't live without you."

Cho remained silent. Her eyes were glassy, but she didn't cry.

"I apologise it all came down to this," Roseanne continued on. "I shouldn't have asked you for all the help you gave me and I shouldn't have chickened out and introduced you to Mom as soon as she woke up... Damn it, I would have done things differently if I could. Your kindness, your wisdom, your companionship kept me afloat when I needed it the most. I know you can't live my life for me, but I want you to live your life alongside mine. Like a true sister."

"I hold no grudges against you, Roseanne," Cho finally spoke. "I gladly helped you and I enjoyed going to school for you. Being with you, with Enzo, with Emily and other classmates, waiting to meet your parents, all that gave me a little taste of home I didn't have. But it was only a taste. I need to accept what I have over here. Being at home with you is not possible."

Suddenly, Roseanne drew Cho to her and hugged her tightly.

"I'm not ready to give up yet!" Roseanne's valiant tone electrified the air around the room. "Let's bring you where you belong!"


Chapter 43

Loud pounding woke up Madame Yoshida in the middle of the night. It was Roseanne and Cho. After Roseanne's chivalric declaration, it seemed visiting the quirky Japanese lady was the only logical thing to do. She was an adult, and for that matter, the only adult who was a kind soul in Cho's lonely life. Even though their relationship never extended beyond the confines of the bookstore, Madame Yoshida functioned as the only person, the only friend with whom Cho could talk freely, without any worries or fear of judgement. It was thanks to Madame Yoshida and her books that the girl was able to pull herself together mentally and escape the caretaking clutches of the Catholic Church.

Much to the bookstore owner's surprise, Roseanne was visibly paler than from a few hours before and some gizmo kept making noise by her belt every now and then, but the girl was still fast and energetic. Cho loyally followed her side. Without beating around the bush, they sat the woman down and told the whole story from the moment Cho arrived at Roseanne's doorstep to the present. In the course of the erratic narrative conducted by the girls, Madame Yoshida asked many questions so as not to get lost in the maze of who's who and what they had done.

After the story was finally finished, Roseanne asked how to make it possible for Cho to return to her world. Having heard this question, Madame Yoshida looked at the girls like an aunt who's helplessly searching for some useful advice in the back of her head.

"Honestly, this sounds like a fairly nice idea for a novel!" she exclaimed. "Have you read F. Anstey's Vice Versa from 1882?"

"Oh, please. We came to you because you are the only one out here who knows Cho! If only there was some quantum physicist at hand," Roseanne said.

"Don't lose your temper, imperial girl," the woman slightly raised her voice. "Granted, I am not a quantum physicist. I am a person who likes reading books. Like Cho, I felt very lonely when my family moved from Osaka to Seoul in 1978, and novels became my refuge, my happy gateway to a multitude of different worlds where I could completely lose myself without even thinking about the hardships of daily life. I'm sure Cho felt the same zest when she stepped over my doorstep just a few years ago. My question stands: Have you read Vice Versa?"

"Yes, I've read it," Cho said. "It's a story about a father and a son who switch places and live each other's lives because of a magical stone brought from India."

"Highest marks, my dear," Madame Yoshida smiled. "That's exactly the point. Every story about people switching places, roles, and lives needs a MacGyver."

"Who? The guy from a TV show?" Roseanne asked.

"You mean a MacGuffin," Cho corrected.

"Oh, excuse me, yes, a MacGuffin," Madame Yoshida adjusted on her seat. "That is to say, a magical object that is a solution to your problems. In the case of Vice Versa, it was a stone. Now, did you come in contact with anything, be it either unimportant or unusual at the time this... portal opened between your worlds?"

Cho and Roseanne searched through the drawers of their memories.

"Not that I know of," Roseanne said soon after.

Madame Yoshida looked at Cho.

"Nothing out of the ordinary happened to me," she said. "It's just that the day before the shower of sparks fell on me, I visited the National Folk Museum at Gyeongbokgung Palace."

"What did you do there?" Roseanne asked.

"Nothing! I don't think I touched anything. Just took pictures and prayed. I made a wish."

"What kind of a wish?"

"I wished... I wished to meet someone from my family."

This made Roseanne suddenly recall something.

"Hold on a minute! I also made a wish before I met you. I was in my bed and I wished to be in two places at the same time... that there would be two Roseannes, one to look after the family and the other to ace it at school.

Cho squinted her head with visible irritation.

"How come you're telling me this right now?"

"Hey, you also made a wish!"

"That must be it!" Madame Yoshida screamed, snapping her fingers. "You two willed your desires to come true at precisely the same instant. Roseanne, on the day of making your wish, did you buy anything new and have it in bed with you?"

"No, I just played with my phone and put it down before sleeping."

"Cho, what exactly did you do at the National Folk Museum?"

"I visited the five-storey pagoda. Went all the way to the top and that's where I made a wish."

"I'm fairly convinced the answer must be there. We're going to investigate right now," Madame Yoshida stood up and grabbed the raincoat. She began shaking the pockets in search of car keys.

Suddenly, a stabbing pain drilled through Roseanne's spine. She couldn't catch a breath for a second and fell on her knees.

"Rosie, are you alright?" Cho jumped to her side, the alarm sound went off as annoyingly as the canned laughter on television. "The damn dosimeter again!"

"I have no idea why I get the symptoms so fast. Not even a day has passed," Roseanne whispered.

"At this rate, you'll be dead by morning," Cho declared. "We need to hurry!"

"I'm on it!" Madame Yoshida said while opening the bookstore door, "Under the urgent circumstances, it would be better to drop formalities between me and Roseanne. She can call me Yukie."

"Your grace knows no boundaries..." Roseanne grunted. "Was it so difficult to give me a lift in the morning, huh?"


Chapter 44

The car arrived at the National Folk Museum at 5 am. Far on the horizon, one could notice light shades of blue announcing the inevitable approach of sunrise. Madame Yoshida, who kept turning to the girls from behind the wheels and continuously insisted on calling her Yukie, backed up the vehicle into the narrow alley and turned off the engine. The trio got out and, in the shades of the night, they slipped past the unguarded fence. With ease, they found themselves on the empty premises of the museum.

Roseanne was convinced that Cho and Yukie meant one building when talking about a museum, but in fact, it was an open-air museum that contained lots of different historical structures and exhibitions aimed at representing the traditional lifestyle of the Korean people. There were stone piles for worship, grinding mills, rice storage shelters and pits for kimchi pots. They even had a hanbok collection exhibit.

"Come along now!" Yukie waved at the girls to follow her.

Then, a large construction emerged out of blue darkness. Roseanne was able to discern a modern-day building at the top of which a three-storey pagoda was situated. That building was connected to another, much older establishment which was endowed with a five-storey pagoda at the top.

"We need to go up there," Cho declared.

They found themselves in front of a large gate. At the ground level, on the right and left side of the gate, there were steep steps leading upwards. They climbed the steps and on the mezzanine, there was another, single set of steps, perfectly aligned in the middle, right above the gate. They climbed these steps too and finally stood in front of a wooden entrance into the pagoda. The inverted roof gradually became smaller and smaller with a new level of the pendulum-like shaped structure. To Roseanne, it looked like a beacon to the sky.

Cho pushed the entrance in.

"We're already at the first storey now. Each storey in a pagoda signifies one of the Five Elements of Indian cosmology. For clarity's sake, we can also call them the basic building blocks of reality: earth, water, fire, air, and void – the universe itself," the girl explained. "Each block has its physical manifestation in the form of symbolic shapes."

"We should bear in mind that what we're entering is not a traditional pagoda per se, but an exhibition that mixes Murō-ji stupa style with props of the Gorintō style. It's also worth noting that the trend of five-storey pagodas came to Korea from Japan. They serve either as a place of worship or a house of relics or remains. The five-storied pagoda was immortalised in Japanese literature by writer Kōda Rohan in his historical fiction serial published in 1891," Yukie said.

"Okay, I don't need a guided tour with an exposition dump," Roseanne drawled. "The whole thing looks like layers of lasagne made of Lego bricks."

"Your tasteless joke couldn't be more accurate," Yukie remarked. "Pagoda is actually a Portuguese word of unclear origin that stands for 'a house of prairies'. In Japan, we simply call them sōtō, which means 'layered towers.'"

"Now that you put it, I should totally buy one for the backyard. A layered tower would make a nice shed for my many gardening tools."


Earth

The first storey resembled a church with its multitude of religious ornaments, rich paintings, and statues. But all of these were not Christian but Buddhist devotional objects. There were narrow passages on all sides, which contained ancient scriptures. Hand-carved drawings on the ceiling were looking down on the visitors, inviting them to explore the individual stages of the wheels of life, from birth to rebirth. The centerstage was dominated by a gargantuan statue of Buddha meditating on a fountain. His hands were clenching a handful of prayer beads. His swollen face bore a faint, ambiguous smile.

"Never liked that guy," Roseanne pointed at the statue. "He looks like a con artist."

"Your opinion is your opinion. Don't offend the deity worshipped by other people," Yukie said.

"Look!" Cho came up to the statue and grabbed the cube-shaped stone. According to the label in front of it, the stone was a symbolic representation of the earth element.

"It's all nice and educational, but we'd better keep going. Cho take us to the place where you made your wish," Roseanne said.

Cho examined the cube in her hands for a while, its weight and rough surface. It was just a rock, but a neatly carved one, she thought and put it down back in its place.

"This way," Cho led the companions to a passage on the left side of the statue, where a retractable ladder led to the second floor.

However, before the girl touched the ladder, the loud howling of the wind from the main entrance spread across the pagoda.

"What was it?" Cho asked.

Yukie cautiously came out outside to check what was going on, but suddenly the doors slammed shut behind her. Roseanne ran up to the main entrance and started jerking the handle. She couldn't open it. At the same time, cascades of dirt began falling from the ceiling through golden lanterns.

"It's a bobby trap!" Cho exclaimed. "Rosie, come back here."

But Roseanne didn't listen. She got hold of some knob that was part of a railing and hit it against the hinges to yank them out. The knob grazed the metallic surface of the hinges, but they wouldn't budge.

"You're only wasting time. We need to go up or we'll die," Cho kept calling.

Regrettably, Roseanne had to admit her defeat. She wanted to turn around but, much to her surprise, couldn't move. Her body only wobbled in a pool of dirt that was already reaching her waist.

"Shit, not good," Roseanne said to herself.

In the meantime, Cho attempted to get to the ladder, but the girl wouldn't move as well. Cho proceeded to frantically clear the dirt around herself, but it was a fool's errand. More dirt kept coming and coming through the lantern shutes.

Roseanne took out her knife and plunged it into a wooden frame of the entrance. She used it as a support to pull herself upward. It took her a lot of muscle power, but she did manage to disengage from the pit that immobilised her. The dirt was now filling the two-thirds of the chamber.

Cho hurriedly shouted at Roseanne to get to her. She desperately tried to free herself from the entrapment that was now engulfing her shoulders. Roseanne, on the other hand, had another problem. With each step she tried to make, her legs would sink into the dirt again.

In the blink of an eye, she grabbed a scripture that was close to her, unrolled it and laid down on the material that spread her weight evenly. The scripture became a lifeboat thanks to which Roseanne safely journeyed across the room.

"I can't get out," Cho said when Roseanne reached her. Roseanne proceeded to shovel the dirt away, but Cho still wouldn't move. Something was anchoring her down.

"Okay, I've got it!" Roseanne screamed suddenly. She noticed in a groove they dug that a strap of Cho's hanbok got entangled in marble prayer beads.

The knife was again held firmly by Roseanne. With one swift move, she cut the strap.

"Let me reach the ladder," Roseanne explained.

"But..."

"This is not a time for a discussion!"

The girl crawled to the steps in the suffocating dust rain. Using her left hand, she grabbed Cho.

Roseanne wrapped her free arm around a beam and pulled as strongly as possible. Second by second, inch by inch, Cho slid out of the deadly pitfall. The two managed to escape to the upper floor at the very last moment.

Roseanne kneeled over the hole and looked at grains of dirt that completely consumed the ladder.

"Can you tell me what the hell just happened?" she asked. "This was supposed to be an exhibition building, not a temple from Raiders of the Lost Ark!"

"I am as shocked as you are," Cho replied. "My best guess is the pagoda is a haunted place that started it all. We need to reach the top to solve this mystery."

"Now, we really have no other choice but to go up."

Cho coughed hard. Her throat got rid of the unpleasant residue of grime mixed with saliva that accumulated on her tongue and in the esophagus.

Roseanne asked her if she's alright and she nodded gently.

"Thank you. I hope that Madame Yoshida is okay," she whispered.

"We can only hope," Roseanne sighed. "Whatever is in here, it has only us in mind. Let's keep close. We're going to another ladder."


Water

The entirety of the second floor was veiled in darkness. Roseanne turned on her flashlight and moved slowly ahead across the chamber, clutching a pistol at her belt. Though she threaded carefully, the girl occasionally bumped into boxes containing robes, handkerchiefs, and decorative tablecloths.

"Look!" Cho spoke in a hushed tone.

"Where?"

"By the window. It's another stone."

Indeed, in the faint light, Cho spotted a perfectly round stone. Roseanne came closer and luminated it.

"Water," she read out loud what was written on the stone, "Why don't I like the sound of this?"

Instantly, the girls felt that the smell in the chamber changed. They tasted a pinch of moisture in their mouths. It smelled like the stench of old cinemas.

Suddenly, a massive chandelier cast light in the middle of the chamber. Roseanne gaped out of surprise when she saw Emily. But it wasn't Emily she knew. It was an eight-year-old Emily sitting on a chair in front of a phone, holding an ukulele in her hands.

"Hey, Emily. Hey, it's me!" Roseanne called out, but young Emily was fully preoccupied with her phone.

Roseanne wanted to reach her friend, let her know she was right there, but Cho grabbed her arm.

"Don't touch her," she said. "This is some kind of an illusion."

With complete disregard for the people around her, Emily pushed the recording button on the phone and began intonating her voice like a professional TikToker. However, she was stressed, so the words were tumbling out in a rush with some lispy mispronunciations.

"Hello and welcome to today'sh episode. I'm Emily and thish is a tutorial for newbies on how to use ukulele. Let'sh recap the individual notes. This is C..." Emily strummed an individual string. "This is D..." She struck another one. "This is E..."

"Why are we watching this? And why is she so young?" Roseanne asked.

"I don't know. Maybe it's an echo of the past or another trap," Cho wondered.

When Emily was done with reminding the basics, she sent a brisk smile to the camera.

"Now, let'sh practise the tune we started yesterday."

Having said that, Emily began sweeping across the entirety of the four strings, producing a series of sounds that amounted to a slow yet incredibly peaceful melody. Ukulele of course gave it a touch of Mediterranean flavour. Gradually, the pacing increased as she kept playing.

"It's quite beautiful. I didn't know Emily had such a talent," said Cho.

"Hang on a minute!" Roseanne hung her hand in mid-air. "I recognise this! It's Sailing!"

"It's Sailing?".

"Sailing by Rod Stewart," Roseanne began reciting the lyrics to the melody played by Emily:


I am sailing, I am sailing

Home again 'cross the sea

I am sailing, stormy waters

To be near you, to be free


Then, a sudden recollection hit Roseanne. She remembered the time they were eating at McDonald's. Emily was flicking through her phone and Roseanne lashed out at her. It happened in the heat of the moment and the two reconciled, but now Roseanne felt an immense sense of regret overcoming her.

"We aren't that different, aren't we?" she whispered.

Young Emily continued to play in front of a virtual audience much in the same vein as Roseanne her age used to perform with her teddy bears in front of imagined spectators peering from a wallpaper or turned-off TV set. They were both loners in childhood accustomed to doing lonely things. Of course, their parents poured their love onto them, but they didn't meet any worthwhile people in primary school, people who would hang out with them, hear about their interests, and fool around to their heart's content.

But, Roseanne and Emily managed to meet each other. It took a while, many circles of Earth around the Sun, in fact, but their paths crossed in high school. In hindsight, Roseanne knew it wasn't an accident. The cosmic forces wanted them to meet: two individuals from different houses, different backgrounds, and with contrastive personalities, but who are deep inside very sensitive souls.

Acting on gut feeling, Roseanne gently caressed the spectre of the past. Nothing bad happened, she knew it wouldn't. Her fingers dispersed the image of Emily, as if the little girl was made entirely of smoke. In her fading brown eyes, she saw innocence and purity. Traits so often lacking among adults.

"My dear friend," Roseanne said. "Thank you for being there for me."

A tear slowly trickled down Roseanne's cheek until Cho caught it with her fingers. The alternate version of herself hugged her as tightly as possible.

"We can cross that off the haunted temple list," she said.

Suddenly, the sound of impending water made them freeze with fear. It was a matter of milliseconds, but their eyes registered everything in slow motion. The curtains covering the windows rolled out with a loud rattle, revealing an open sea ravaged by a typhoon. Roseanne was sure this was yet another illusion, but it looked so real. The wave caps were raging outside, creating mountains of water impending with a formidable force. They didn't even have time to run, to hold on to anything. The stained glass and a wooden frame broke under the impact. Water swooshed over the chamber with such fortitude as if it were the inside of a washing machine. Cho and Roseanne were scattered away like leaves all over the lawns.

As soon as Roseanne felt the coldness of seawater, her body broke into fight-or-flight mode. She tried to suppress a rush of adrenaline, but being underwater didn't help at all. To make matters worse, she neither could see anything nor regain a sense of direction. The current of the wave hit her against a wall. Her lungs let out a silent cry, which allowed water to fall into her mouth.

The overwhelming panic kicked in with all its might. Roseanne began choking, her hands were waving desperately in dark water looking for a way out, but there was none.

No! Not like this! I can't let go! her mind was screaming.

The moment she was about to drown, her lungs filling with water, a hand grabbed the collar of her uniform and pulled up violently. The vision cleared in front of Roseanne and she could breathe again. The sweetness of the air hit her nostrils. She coughed up the swallowed salty liquid.

Cho kept Roseanne's head above the water. With difficulty, the girl was holding on to the ladder. At the very least, they could rest against the steps.

The tidal waves were thrusting inside. The chamber was now filled with water almost up to the ceiling. Boxes with precious robes and holy treasures kept surfacing one after another. The continuous drift of things kept obscuring Cho's view and the current made it impossible for her to climb up.

Roseanne didn't want to say anything. She was as scared as her alternate self. Both clung to the ladder helplessly, their bodies soaking in cold water.

"Oh God, it's worse than in my nightmare," she said to herself, but Roseanne heard it. "I can't swim!"

"Me neither," Roseanne whispered, not knowing what else to do.

The girls lasted a good while in this involuntary hug until the raging current finally let go. Exhausted and out of breath, they carefully climbed to the subsequent floor.

"You really shouldn't have touched that apparition," said Cho.


Fire

Shivering from the cold, Roseanne didn't have the strength to make any comment. It was clear to her that the pagoda was a death trap and the only way to stay alive was to reach the top. She wanted to warn Cho, tell her to disregard anything in the new chamber and run as fast as possible to the next ladder. But before she mustered up the strength to open her mouth, it was too late.

A row of LED panels lit up revealing they were not in fact in another chamber, but in a gloomy tunnel that was decorated like a classroom. Desks and chairs filled up the unpopulated space, facing a large whiteboard hung on a wall. By the teacher's desk, next to the board, there was an unknown figure sitting. The gloomy rags were covering their face. Their pale, bony fingers were caressing a new stone, this time in the shape of a triangle. The sign on it read: "Fire",

The unknown stranger lifted a finger at the sight of Cho. The girl froze in half a step. Roseanne tried to shake her but to no avail. Her lips were parted, her eyes didn't blink, her muscles stopped working altogether.

"It's called suspended animation, you know," the cloaked figure said jovially.

"I've had enough of this mumbo-jumbo shit, release her right now or I'll shoot your ass off!" Roseanne reached for her gun, but it was gone from her belt.

"Time for the lesson to begin."

The figure clapped and, in a blink of an eye, Roseanne found herself in front of the whiteboard, whereas Cho was sitting by a desk, reanimated back to life, the pistol lying disassembled right under her nose.

"You..." Roseanne took a magnetic sponge off the table and threw it at the figure, but before it reached them, the sponge turned into a rain of confetti.

"Attitude problems. You ought to be reported to the principal. In the meantime, you will take an oral exam,"

The figure clapped again, and Roseanne was now holding a massive protractor.

"Draw a rhombus with an internal angle of 40 degrees and sides of 14 cm."

"Bitch, please! I can draw a rhombus on your forehead when I'll be skinning you alive."

"Roseanne, I don't think you realise the gravity of the situation you are in. Do as I say or I will erase the person you care so much about. All it takes for me is a clap of hands."

Roseanne looked nervously at Cho. She could tell the girl was mortally afraid. Cho didn't have to speak, Roseanne knew from her eyes she recognised the cloaked figure.

With considerable hesitance, Roseanne placed the protractor on the board and began drawing.

Even though the protractor was magnetic like the currently non-existent sponge, it was still extremely slippery. Roseanne could barely hold it in place while setting the internal degree and points where the four sides were about to cross. It took her a good five minutes to draw the stupid diamond.

The cloaked figure got up from the teacher's seat, another protractor appeared in their hands out of thin air. The figure measured the drawing meticulously, highlighting many mistakes with a red marker.

"This side is too long... This side is too short... The internal degree is 42 instead of 40. That's an F."

"I don't give a damn. We're not in actual school."

"Oh, and that's coming from such a star student as Roseanne Juzynski."

Then, Roseanne instantly understood what the figure wanted to achieve. Back in the days of primary school, the exact same thing happened to her. As an 11-year-old she was called up to the board by the maths teacher, Mrs Danuta. The teacher told her to draw up a rhombus, but she didn't do it properly. She got an F, which made her burst into tears, but the worst thing was the snarky comment from Mrs Danuta: "Oh, crying, aren't we? And that's coming from such a star student as Roseanne Juzynski."

Never before in her life had Roseanne felt that much humiliation. Her classmates didn't laugh at her. All of them were afraid of maths. But the internal shame stayed on with Roseanne for years. "A star student," how dared she? It's not like Roseanne was stupid or she wasn't learning. She was trying hard to do her best, but that teacher was nowhere to help her explain the difficult material. It's so easy for adults to label and judge students, but they don't think of the consequences of their words. Because of what Roseanne heard, she stopped being active in class.

For that one phrase, Roseanne nurtured a desire to kill Mrs Danuta.

"If I had met that scumbag on the street, I would have definitely killed her. The hag is lucky she retired," said Roseanne, smashing the protractor against the floor.

"Your exercise is finished," the figure clapped and the remains of the protractor disappeared. "Let's move to Cho."

Cho lowered her head.

"Well, get on with it! Assemble this thing of evil."

The girl took a magazine and a trigger, but she looked as helplessly as a child who was told to solder a motherboard in a computer. She tried to remember Roseanne's instructions, what she showed her, but it was all in vain. The stress has taken over.

"No, I can't do this," Cho said.

"Oh, but Cho you know everything! You are so educated, so practical. The books you read didn't inform you how to do this?"

The figure waved their hand over the desk and Beretta magically appeared in its complete form.

"I'm sorry, but I have to admit I don't know everything," Cho said with a lowered voice.

"Hah!" the figure laughed. "Just as I thought. You are a nobody and you'll never amount to anything!"

The figure grabbed the gun and pointed it at Roseanne. Cho only managed to yell, "No!" before the trigger was pulled. A bullet pierced through Roseanne's left arm and came out the back, lodging itself in the board. The girl fell on the ground.

"Sister Grace, why did you do that?!" Cho asked, running up towards Roseanne. She pressed a handkerchief to the wound to stop the bleeding.

"Your exercise is finished."

Sister Grace removed the cloak and revealed her face covered with lesions, dry scalps, and horrendous rashes. It was evident she suffered from leprosy. Patches of white hair didn't even cover the apparent baldness. The squinted eyes looking at a fixed point revealed complete blindness.

"That's your Sister Grace?" Roseanne asked through overwhelming arm pain.

"It's only another illusion. The real Sister Grace died in a church fire a couple of years ago," explained Cho.

"But this illusion is trying to kill me."

"No!" Sister Grace sat down. "I merely taught you a lesson. You've learnt the truth. You come back to your homes in Szwederowo and Ssangmun-dong. The lower levels of the pagoda have been cleared for you."

Having said this, Sister Grace clapped her hands.

"You monster! How should we know you won't kill us?" Cho asked.

"Why do you think so low of me, child? I am merely a gatekeeper. I believe I proved beyond reasonable doubt that you are not worthy of crossing the gate between your worlds."

"Say what?" Roseanne grunted in pain.

"Roseanne Juzynski, look at yourself. You are a child acting on impulse. Isn't the exercise you just did the best example of this attitude?"

Roseanne carefully got on her feet. She straightened her back and looked defiantly into the blank eyes of Sister Grace. Cho was still putting pressure on the wound with a handkerchief.

"You're wrong, you freak, you... hellish nun. Yeah, I act on impulse at times, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. Thanks to being impulsive, I came to collect Cho. I'm bringing her home."

"And what kind of home do you mean? The one with your sick mother? With your absent father? Home where your hopelessness makes you question the meaning of life?"

"I love my mother and I love my father. You don't have the right to make comments about people who raised me. My dad is working hard, and it's not my mom's fault she's sick. I'm supporting her as much as I can. What's more important, I value life. Yes, it's a journey riddled with moments of sadness and despair, but there are also moments of hope and joy. You mentioned the protractor exercise. It happened to me a long time ago. Granted, I felt worthless after hearing that hurtful remark. Because of it, I wouldn't speak in class until I went to high school. I made new friends and I started enjoying lessons again. I discovered a teacher like Mr Orville who can be a kind, considerate mentor, unlike Mrs Danuta. So, don't remind me of negative experiences, because my heart remembers all the goodness it has received. And the greatest goodness came from Cho. She gave me hope and encouragement to better myself, to never lose faith, even if things spiral out of control. That's why I'm here. I want her to have a better life, to never lose faith in me."

"Cho, are you hearing this?" Sister Grace turned to her. "You know so much about everything, about helping others, and yet you couldn't assemble the gun. I'm afraid it doesn't make you perfect."

"You have some messed up opinion about us, whatever you are," said Cho. "I'm not perfect. Nobody's perfect. I turned to books to escape the misery conjured up by Sister Grace, not to know everything. I just want to live normally without nightmares about being beaten to red flesh. Roseanne is my family and I'm coming with her. That's the truth."

As soon as Cho uttered these words, she punched the demonic apparition of Sister Grace right in the face, grabbed the triangular stone, and shoved it down the nun's throat. The triangle exploded like a grenade, setting her on fire in an instant.

Roseanne was watching the scene gobsmacked. She didn't even notice a ladder coming down from the ceiling.

"Come on!" Cho climbed upwards. "We are so near the end."

When the nun was screeching and struggling, Roseanne grabbed the gun out of the flames and began ascending.


Air

Cho got into a cold chamber, in which there was nothing inside. The ladder to the top was awaiting them right across the floor.

"Let's make a run for it!" she called out to Roseanne.

With her arm, Roseanne barely managed to climb up, but didn't want to let go either. However, as soon as she crawled into the next chamber, a burned hand got hold of her ankle through the hole she just came in.

"What the hell? She's still alive?!" Roseanne screamed.

Cho desperately looked around the chamber for something that could be used as a weapon. There was only a stone lying in the corner.

Great, another stone, she thought.

When she got it, Cho read the inscription on the crescent piece: "Air".

Roseanne was getting dragged back into the previous chamber. Cho jumped to her and pulled as hard as possible. Sister Grace didn't let go. Her sizzling face was still on fire in the hole, as black as death. Without hesitance, Cho threw the stone at her.

"Time for your lesson," the girl said.

All of a sudden, the gusts of freezing wind engulfed Sister Grace. Frost began covering her skin from head to toe. Hair residue fell off like snow, tongue became dark, lesions formed shiny crystals, fingers cracked and broke off as if they were matchsticks. The demon kept screaming and gasping for air until it turned into a statue.

Roseanne freed her ankle and looked at the grotesque monster.

"I'm not taking any chances this time," she said. "I told you I will shoot your ass off."

Roseanne aimed her Beretta and unloaded the whole clip. The statue of ice broke into dozens of tiny pieces, which disappeared within the tunnel depths.


Void

The final stone was the fusion of a crescent and a triangle. It was awaiting them in a small altar on the top floor. This was the place where Cho made her wish two months ago. Back then, it was a normal afternoon and the pagoda itself was populated with tourists. Cho began reasoning with herself. It's quite surreal what happened to them on this night, but perhaps this was the only way to align a thing out of order. That thing was Cho's wish that opened the cosmic portal. They had to fight their way through the Five Elements of the universe to make the final crossing and close it once and for all.

Roseanne was swaying on her feet, but Cho relentlessly supported her shoulder. It was dawn. The dosimeter's counter went off the scale. Roseanne ripped it off the belt and tossed the device away. She was breathing heavily.

"Well, I guess this is it. There's no turning back now," said Roseanne.

"We need to hurry up or you'll die soon."

"Tell me how you did it,"

"I just touched the stone over there and made my wish."

"That's all?"

"Yeah. What do you expect?"

"It's a little anticlimactic."

"Well, I didn't assume I would get jettisoned to your world the day after."

"Okay, let's light this candle."

The girls gently placed their hands on the rock that symbolised the void. Cho closed her eyes and wished silently to be able to live with Roseanne. Much to her surprise, she felt immediate warmth emanating from the stone. Roseanne also closed her eyes, repeating in her mind over and over that she wished to return safely to her reality and that Cho would never get sick from being there. The warmth increased until it was unbearable for them to hold the stone.

They withdrew their hands. The stone became scorching hot. Steam started gushing out of the mineral surface until the rock tumbled down the altar. Then, the other stones from the lower chamber suddenly came flying by. The shapes connected to each other one by one: cube to circle, circle to triangle, triangle to crescent. The mysterious construction was adorned with the final stone at the very top, constituting its crown. The whole formation resembled a miniature version of the pagoda.

But Cho and Roseanne didn't enjoy its sight for long. The familiar rain of sparks engulfed them for one last time. During their final journey, however, they did not experience visions of the past. Instead, they found themselves on a small pier over the sea. Beautiful mountains surrounded them from all sides. The incessant flow of water was the most calming thing Cho has ever heard.

"That's it?" Roseanne asked. "We ended up in Gdynia of all places?"

"I don't think we've reached our destination yet," said Cho.

Suddenly, the girl felt a presence behind her. She turned her back and was shocked to discover Yukie Yoshida. The woman was wearing her finest, pure white cotton kimono. Her arms were open towards Cho. The girl couldn't help herself and ran into the bookstore owner's embrace.

"You're alright! Thank goodness you are alright!" Cho cried into her shoulder.

"Yes... I'm pleased to see you're fine too," she said while stroking her hair.

"But what are you doing here? Did you get transported away with us?"

"No, I don't think so. For me, it's like a dream, a chance to say farewell to you."

Cho withdrew herself from the hug and looked at Yukie.

"Would you like to come with us? I would be delighted if you could come."

Cho extended her hand, but Yukie didn't take her. Instead, the woman kneeled and pointed at the girl's heart.

"Such long journeys are no longer for me, but I will always be here and so will your passion for books. Thank you for keeping me company."

Cho blushed. She gasped quickly, trying to withhold tears.

"No, I thank you, Madame Yoshida. I don't know I would have the strength to carry on if I hadn't stumbled upon your bookstore."

She leaned over and kissed the woman on the cheek.

"I will never forget you."

***

The waves were rushing. Roseanne kept waiting on the pier, Cho finally returned while Yukie was still standing in the distance, waving at her.

"She's not coming?" Roseanne asked.

"No,"

Roseanne felt she wanted to say more, to fill in the void they were at the moment, but nothing came to mind. Instead, they walked arm to arm to the very end of the pier.

Over there, a large crowd appeared out of the fog, awaiting them: Liz and Robert, Enzo, Emily with her mother, Mr Orville, Natasha, and Isa. Cho turned around once more to look at Yukie, but white clouds obstructed the view. She could no longer see her.

As Cho was standing with the people she knew by the sea, she felt at peace. She knew that from now on, everything is going to be okay. She has finally met her family.

And the journey was completed.


Chapter 45

A bustling thunderlight spat out Cho and Roseanne out on the field. They landed in tall grass. Although every muscle kept aching her, Cho kept laying in the grass admiring the beautiful sunny morning and gentle breeze that swayed the tips of vibrantly green grass. Roseanne was the first to get up.

"Here, let me see your wound," Cho stood on her legs and examined the arm patched by the handkerchief. There was no sign of flesh torn by a gunshot.

"We made it! We made it, damn it!" Roseanne suddenly broke out in happiness and hugged Cho.

"Hey! Hey!" they heard a scream.

Emily ran to them across the field, smiling widely. Her Kawasaki Ninja was still parked on the side of the road.

"You were here the whole time?" Roseanne asked.

"How could I leave? You told me to wait till the next day, so I waited. It's wonderful to see you both."

"Emily, my biking bundle of joy," Cho threw herself at the petite girl, nearly tackling her with the weight of her body.

"Look out!"

A large black object emerged out of thin air and flew over their heads. It crashed nearby with a loud thud, rising clouds of dirt in the process.

"It's my trunk!" Cho ran up to the crash site.

Indeed, it was a trunk from her apartment. Cho opened the lid and discovered that all her books were there. A note was attached inside:

Don't forget about your belongings. A book is the best pastime ~ Yukie

"Awesome!" Cho shouted and began rummaging through the trunk.

"What's the matter?" Emily asked.

"Here, it is for you."

Cho gave Emily a book. She looked at the cover.

"The Cat Who Saved Books. Whoa! I don't like reading!"

"That's why I'm giving you this book, to encourage you to read. Here is a bonus that will suit your interests."

Emily received another book. The title was: F1 Racing Confidential: Inside Stories from the World of Formula One.

"Now that's what I'm talking about."

"Rosie, this one's for you."

She got Empress Orchid.

"Thank you very much. I like historical fiction."

Emily hid her books in a backpack and looked at the girls.

"Everything's great and all, but how are we gonna come back to Bydgoszcz? There are three of us and a large trunk. My bike is not a van."

"I've been thinking about catching a bus," Roseanne said.

"To be honest, the weather is so nice. Why don't we walk?" Cho proposed.

"Walk? 30 kilometres? It will take us half a day at least."

"Are you in a hurry to go somewhere?"

"No, as a matter of fact, I'm lazy."

"I'm lazy too," Emily added.

"Please," Cho said. "Let's enjoy this beautiful Sunday morning together. Gabsida!"

"I don't want to hear that language anymore!"

Off they went along the national road. Cho and Roseanne grabbed the sides of the trunk, whereas Emily pushed her bike behind them. The trio walked leisurely, admiring the rays of the rising sun, the beautiful sights of ponds, green pastures with wind turbines far on the horizon, and the cloudless sky above them. Cho once again thought about the poem that originally came to her mind just before she transitioned for the first time. She recited it out loud:


A bench in the woods,

my comfort zone.

A space of peaceful goods,

among the polyphones.


A polar bear, a cat, a rabbit,

three friends in a boat,

making a joyful racket.

What a personal anecdote!


Mr Bear scratches his tummy.

Mr Cat says the jelly is yummy.

Mr Rabbit already feels chummy.

Off they go, sunny and funny!


I sit on the bench,

looking at three friends.

Let me be in this natural trench

for the sake of happy ends.


"What is this, a poem?" asked Roseanne.

"That's right. I made it up just before I met you."

"What's it about?"

"Gratitude for good weather, nature, and animals. At least that was the initial intention. Now, I think this poem is about us."

"About us?"

"Yes, the three friends who are enjoying their time together."

"I always had a hard time understanding poetry," Emily complained. "It's boring most of the time, but your piece sounded lovely. Do you know any more poems?"

"Uhm, let's see," Cho smiled. "This one is going to be something personal for you,"

"Oh, really?"

"Brace for it!"

Cho thought for a minute and began reciting:


Can you feel it in the air?

The scent of a magic flair?

Something wicked this way comes

Something with explosive outcomes


Hide your daughters

Get off your teeter-totters

Prince of the city is coming

With the noise of his engine roaring


They call him Ninja

That's right, losers, he's Kawasaki Ninja!


He's my godsend

A machine you can't comprehend

My loyal companion

With whom I travel the Grand Canyon


He makes me feel free

Like in a deep blue sea

The black knight in shining armour

Who can overtake the tightest corner


They call him Ninja

That's right, losers, he's Kawasaki Ninja!


"Oh my gosh! It's beautiful!" Emily exclaimed, laughing as if she received a Christmas gift. "Now think of something for Rosie!"

"I beg your pardon?" Roseanne raised her eyebrows.

"Emily, you can't rush creative output, but think I have an idea," Cho said and a new poem followed immediately:


My Dearest Roseanne,


There are many enemies in our life,

but sadness is the worst.

It creeps into us

like some horrible ghost.


You are probably tired now,

and I feel sorry that you're down.

I don't feel good either,

but I hope you'll come round.


Take it slow,

Take it easy,

Think about eighties pop,

and play with your dog.


When you are ready,

dust off your red cap,

reload the gun,

and come back rock-steady.


Emily,

Natasha,

and Isa (probably),

will be waiting.


I will be waiting,

patiently – presently,

yesterday – tomorrow,

for you and others.


Hoping and Fighting!

Have a nice day!


Roseanne, carrying her side of the trunk, looked at Cho in shock and awe. Her cheeks were red from blushing. For a long moment, the girl didn't say anything until she spoke:

"Thank you for kind words. I may be tired, but I'm not sad."

"I only wanted to capture an emotion I remembered, of me waiting for you, of you waiting for me" Cho explained. "I know you're not sad. Not anymore."

"You're absolutely right. Not anymore."

Roseanne gave a heartwarming smile as they strolled along the roadway.


Chapter 46

Enzo was chasing a ball until it fell under an armchair. The dog stood there gobsmacked. His nose inspected the tiny space between the floor and furniture. His paw swooshed into the opening, but it couldn't reach the ball.

Robert was plastering up a hole near the window sill in the living room when he heard the sound of rummaging coming from the kitchen.

"Honey, I told you I will prepare dinner!" he shouted from the room.

"But I'm fine. You don't have to do everything for me! Just let me cook something. It's nearly evening. Rosie should be back any minute." Liz filled a pot with water and placed it on the stove.

"Well, okay."

Having plastered the hole, Robert shoved the spatula into a bowl and straightened his back. The setting sun beautifully covered the blocks of Szwederowo in the intense orange light. The late afternoon was coming to an end and the street looked as peaceful as never before.

"It's going to be a beautiful summer," Robert said.

"What is it that you're saying?!" Liz asked from the kitchen.

"Nothing honey. Just talking to myself."

Enzo began wimping loudly, pointing with his paw at the spot where the ball had disappeared.

"What is it, old buddy?" Robert turned to the dog. "You lost your ball, huh?"

The man crouched and fished it out from under the armchair. Enzo barked in happiness at the sight of reclaimed property.

"Where's the ball now? Where is it now? Here it is!"

Enzo took the ball in his mouth and ran away. A doorbell sound spread across the apartment.

"I'll get it, hun!"

Robert walked to the entrance and unlocked it. His eyes widened because he saw a familiar woman at the doorstep. He never had a memory for names, but he knew her face from somewhere.

"Well, hello, What a surprise!" he said.

"Yes, it is." the woman smiled.

Awkward silence fell between them immediately. Robert wanted the woman to explain the purpose of her coming here, but the woman clearly expected Robert to do something.

"You probably don't remember me, do you?" the woman asked.

"Please forgive me, but my memory can't be trusted. I know I've seen you before.'

"I'm Emily's mother, Molly Champignon. We met outside the hospital two weeks ago."

"Ah, yes. That misunderstanding concerning Roseanne and the police."

"Exactly," Molly rolled her eyes in slight embarrassment. "Well, I came to collect my daughter."

"Oh, okay," Robert was about to go to Roseanne's room, but then he realised something. "Wait a minute. You came to collect your daughter?"

"That's correct."

"But my daughter had a sleepover at your daughter's, so it's impossible for your daughter to be at my daughter's."

"What do you mean? Emily told me she came here for a sleepover."

"And Roseanne told us Emily invited her for a sleepover."

"This is nonsense! Where's my daughter?" Molly raised her voice.

The woman stepped inside and the two began to shout over themselves, gesturing dramatically. Molly threatened to call the police, whereas Robert demanded the return of Roseanne. Suddenly, Liz called them out from the kitchen.

"Both of you stop arguing and come to the window right now!" she ordered.

They did as they were told and together with Liz looked outside. They couldn't believe their eyes.

Cho and Roseanne were walking proudly in the middle of the street, the trunk between them. Emily toddled behind them with her bike. They were quite a sight for passers-by, especially Cho's hanbok which was stained and rugged, but Roseanne's uniform was no exception.

"Hey, are you shooting a K-Drama or what?" somebody asked.

"No, we're just coming home," Roseanne replied.

Liz reached for her glasses to see better, but she threw them away. She got another pair and threw these as well.

"Does anybody have proper glasses? Mine are broken?"

"Here," Molly offered her pair from the purse.

Liz put them on but threw out quickly too.

"They're messed up! I keep seeing double."

"Honey... we're all seeing double," said Robert.

***

When the girls climbed on the floor, the adults fell out of the kitchen. Enzo arrived with a wagging tail, jumping repeatedly at Cho and barking in happiness.

Molly got hold of her daughter and hugged her.

"Where the hell have you been?" she asked. "Doing that dreadful Urbex again?"

"I'm sorry I lied, Ma. Please forgive me. I just wanted to help out my friends."

Robert and Liz stood there in shock. They didn't even start the conversation because they didn't know who to address. There were two individuals who looked like her daughter.

"Mom, Dad," Roseanne said, "I would like you to meet Cho, my sister."

Cho nodded her head gently.

"If... If I bore twins, I would have been the first one to know," Liz said, her voice breaking from fear.

"It's a long story, but if you give me a chance, I'll explain. What matters is that Cho is very much real and she is like me. To tell the truth... she is me."

"It wasn't you, but you!" Molly pointed at Cho. "You ran away from the hospital."

"I'm sorry I caused you trouble, Ma'am, but it was a misunderstanding. I was short of time and had to get somewhere to cure myself."

"What the hell?"

Emily pulled her mother to the side and began explaining to her what she knew. In the meantime, Liz took Cho's hand and examined it carefully, the skin's texture, lines on the inside, shape of the fingernails. All of them were exactly like Roseanne's.

"You are the girl I saw in my dreams," said Liz.

"As a matter of fact, I've seen you once already, but you were sleeping," Cho said, tears coming down her face.

"Don't cry, my little bunny."

"How am I not when I remember you calling me that, Mom."

Cho kneeled down and embraced her like a reclaimed treasure. Now both of them burst into tears.

Robert turned to Roseanne.

"Did you clone yourself or what?"

"Your sister thought exactly the same. I told you I can explain everything, but you'll think it's science fiction."

Cho and Liz continued their hug. Robert observed from the side.

"It's already science fiction to me," he said. "I mean look at her. She looks like a Jedi knight in that robe."

"It's called hanbok, dad."

"Whatever. To be honest, I always wanted to have two children. But I didn't think a day would come in my life, ridden by chasing deadlines and catching up lost kilometres when my teenage daughter returned home with a twin. You never cease to amaze me."

"I know. I am very good at it, aren't I?"

Roseanne kissed her dad on the cheek. He, in turn, wrapped his arm around her. When Cho finally dislodged from Liz, she wiped her eyes with a handkerchief and looked at Robert.

"Come over here," he said.

Without saying anything, Cho rested her head on his other shoulder. Now he was hugging them both.

Enzo, on the other hand, ran outside and charged at Kawasaki Ninja. Sinking his teeth in the delicious rubber of the front tyre.

"Oh, no, no, no! Enzo! Leave the bike! Come back here!" Emily called, jumping down the stairs.


Epilogue

June, 2024

It was fairly easy to turn Cho into a legal citizen of the Land of Po. She simply arrived at the City Council and told a clerk she lost her ID and would like to request a new one. On the basis of Roseanne's birth certificate, because her face and fingerprints were a match, she officially became Roseanne Juzynski, with the same date and place of birth.

However, it was a recognition only on paper. To Roseanne, the parents and her friends she still remained Cho. She became the daughter, friend, and sister she always dreamed of being. What is more, she went to the same school as Roseanne but didn't choose military class. The guns were still too overwhelming for her. Instead, she signed up for a profile centred on the humanities, so she could put to some use her passion for books. Still again, she has not yet chosen her career path.

Emily continues to be the loyal friend of Cho and Roseanne. They hang out on breaks, in fast food joints, and in the comfort zones of their homes. Whenever she needs help with homework, Cho is always the go-to person. Of course, Natasha continues to participate in English conversations and Isa asks for help about maths.

As for Roseanne, she doesn't feel down. A sense of emptiness within her has been patched up by this extraordinary experience, by finding Cho, her alternate self, her sister. The future, especially what tomorrow may bring, no longer seemed that scary. Even if unforeseeable hardships might arise, she was confident she could handle them. The love for her family gave her strength.

The end


Afterword

Initially, I wrote the afterword section as a sort of guide in which I outlined what helped me as an amateur writer in the process of writing and editing my first novel. But then a day after, I thought to myself, "Nobody is going to read this anyway. Each artist discovers his or hers path on their own."

As a result, you are reading the short version of the afterword, in which I acknowledge the following: I wrote and edited this work entirely on my own, so any mistakes are entirely my fault. In addition, no AI programme was used to create any content for the story.

If you enjoyed the novel, thank you very much for taking your time to read it. If you didn't like it, I'm sorry it failed to hit your taste. I'm not a professional writer, but I tried to do my best. At least, I'm not asking that you pay money for reading my work, in contrast to some self-centred content creators out there.

My thanks go to a few friends who supported me in this creative endeavour. Last but not least, to avoid any confusion, I include this disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. But still... faint traces of all the characters live on inside many people I encountered in my life, and I thank the real Roseanne Juzynski for believing in me. I believe in you just as much, and I will always remember your sincerity and kindness. I feel grateful that I met you.

Ollie Henning

November, 2024

Book Cover design by Ollie Henning (on the basis of an image from Pixabay, used in accordance with Content License. Author of the original image: Minh Trần)

© All rights reserved

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