♖ . ˚ ◝ TRAGEDY / WISDOM.

The man does his best to stand back and avoid being, well, creepy, but he can’t help but observe the adorable child carrying more than she can hold. He suddenly misses his own children more than usual. He overhears the woman inform the girl she can only get one story and his heart jumps at wanting to read the rest to her himself. That’ll be extra creepy, he thinks to himself. He waves at the little girl as he nears them, greeting the woman with a pleasant smile. “I would love to join you for a bedtime story. Did I hear your name is Lupita?” He asks the little girl. “I’m Noah. Dr. Seuss happens to be my personal favorite.”

‘lupe!’ the girl tells him loudly. ‘just my mom and grandma call me lupita. and dad, but he’s--’ lupe’s words hang in the air. "still in greece.” nayeli finishes the sentence for her, finality in her voice. it’s not an unkind tone, but the reality that lupe’s father is likely dead seems to harsh a reality for a five year old girl. there’s a fine line between the appreciation of someone acknowledging lupe as her own person and the healthy fear of a strange man likely trading with someone in the camp.

“she likes dr. seuss too, but we’ve been reading more chapter books lately.” lupe was clever for her age and, thankfully, had the focus of two parents working on their phds. it made for a girl whose reading skills were above average before kindergarten, even if she didn’t always understand what she was reading. “i’ve been looking for a copy of the witches or matilda, but with the card catalogue out of date and no use of the computers, this place can be a bit of a maze.

Other than the occasional child with a cold or a scrape in need of a plaster, Mariella doesn’t get much interaction with the children in their camp. Her time, for the most part, is spent catering to much more serious illnesses and injuries. A kind smile is sent the woman’s way at her reassuring comment, eyes flitting back and forth between the pair. Though she doesn’t know either of them that well yet, they’ve both been kind to her in passing. “I’m sure they’re not that bad! But, to be fair, my American accent is horrid, so you definitely aren’t alone there.” Happily taking the books from Nayeli’s hands, she thumbs through the choices: Goodnight Moon, The Giving Tree, the works. “Well, they’re no Le Petit Nicolas, but they’ll do!” Mariella teases, deciding to hold up the copy of Mary Poppins. “Mm, what do you think? Could always go with the classic! Besides,” she pauses, winking at Lupe as she does. “you’re right, I think I could do the accents quite nicely!”

“shitty?” nayeli snorts, folding her arms across her chest and shifting her weight from one hip to another. “as in ‘not good’ and ‘i’d rather not.’” there’s part of her that would’ve rather died in that cave than be forced to see what this new world would subject her bright, carefree daughter to. “none of us deserve this hell, but lupe deserves a better world. she deserves a childhood.”

Restless as always, Devon found herself mindlessly meandering though the bookshelves. It’d been roughly a month since she found her way to the library, and though she’d started to develop a comfortable routine of venturing out, gathering supplies, and returning long enough to rest up, she realized she was as dangerously unfamiliar with the layout of the place as she was with her fellow residents. With the way things were, she figured her stray-cat mindset needed to branch out a smidge and attempt to develop… uh, well, something here with them. Whatever that would be, because it didn’t seem like things were just going to magically get better any time soon. “I was as tall as she was last time I remember a bedtime store. Aesop’s Fables, I think I was.” Devon closed the distance between her and the others, before crouching to the child’s height, “which one’s your favorite?”

the library stacks had a certain magic to them in the day that transformed into an eerie setting as the sun went down. nayeli could feel herself becoming a child again--fearing the mundane as it became sinister under the moon’s haunting shadows. it helps her to cozy up with lupe and nice book just as much as it comforts her daughter. there is something about lupe that gives nayeli an incredible strength that she lacks when she is alone; a child is a fountain of endurance. 

“does it count if my mamá was reading the story to lupe and i was just tagging along for the ride?” nayeli beams at the woman. “otherwise, it’s probably been awhile for me too.” lupe looks furtively from the blonde woman to her mother until she decides that her mother’s friendly voice is enough evidence she can speak safely to the woman. ‘i don’t know where my favorite book is here.’ she admits softly and nayeli knows part of that is lupe’s tendency to name any book she’s currently reading ( or any book she thinks has a cool cover of ) as her favorite. ‘i like bunnicula.’ it’s one of the more recent ones nayeli has read to her.

‘ found a bottle somewhere. ’ she spoke when a figure came close,  ‘ i could use a bit of company, you know. ’ she continued, pouring wine on a plastic cup ( who cared about the environment when there were zombies polluting the land? ) and giving it to the other. ‘ come sit with me, wine don’t come easy here. don’t let the opportunity pass. ’

“a sincerely generous offer.” nayeli smiled, missing the brilliance of a deep red. “please tell me it’s a pinot noir and not a cab.” there was nothing wrong with a cabernet, but pinots were her favorite for sure. taking the cup with a grin, nayeli took a seat next to the woman. “i can’t help you polish off the bottle--i’ve got a daughter to get back to--but i’m happy to have a couple glasses. it’s been a rough day.” she’d broken her backpack strap on a fire escape ditching a horde and lost half her gear. and after that, she'd skinned her knuckles on a brick wall while trying to scale it. scavenging could be a real chore somedays.

“it was good when it was good. while we were together, even as we split up it wasn’t so bad. it was a mutual decision, but ...” wincing, naya isn’t one to speak ill of the presumed dead. “once i had to move back to the united states, the custody battle made things worse. it brought out the bad in both of us." she has her own regrets, to be sure, but she can’t help holding a grudge even as she’s forgiven him. “the best thing he ever did for me was to send lupe to me before the world went to shit. i have to be grateful to him for that.”

“uh, no. not really.” she’s forced to sometimes. she trusts that people at camp will keep an eye on lupe and that they care about her to some extent, but there’s no one close enough that nayeli trusts them with lupe’s life. when it’s down to the wire, people don’t always look out for other people’s blood. “it’s nothing personal, but she’s my daughter.”

“uh, wow, okay … so that’s like–” it’s a lot to ask of nayeli. she’s not exactly sure of the answer either. “–a very loaded question.” things are easier in some ways without an international custody battle, but rodrigo didn’t deserve to die. if he even was dead. “i don’t miss being with him. or even really dealing with him either, but … i miss him for lupe. and i hope he’s okay. wherever he is.”