At 6 AM sharp, a series of duck quacks erupts from Destiny's phone. In an instant, she is awake and groaning. The warmth of her blanket hugs her, then the thought of getting out of bed hits her like cold water. She rolls to the edge of her bed, unplugs her phone, turns off the alarm, and opens her eyes.
On her lock screen are several notifications connected to the Instagram post she made last night. It is a mirror picture where the mirror shows Destiny sitting on the ground, surrounded by boxes, with her stuffed pine marten in her lap. Caption is "Couldn't leave Germany without Marten Freeman." While she was asleep, it got 768 likes. The corners of her mouth twitch up at the sight of that number. She starts to scroll through the comments:
"Ahh two cuties!!"
"Are you Sherlock Homo Sapiens?"
"Your roommates are blessed to be in the same house as you"
"A true icon of our time"
She scrolls and replies to a few comments for a few minutes before deciding it's time to get up. Her routine flies by from here: make bed, washroom, eat a banana and slice of whole wheat toast, brush teeth, and change into clothes appropriate her run. Maggie, Alex, and Felix are still asleep when she slips out into the dewy mountain morning.
She explores the new neighbourhood with excitement burning her lungs and giving her stamina. Her curiosity leads her to a park with a cliff that faces Velveteen Hills. She estimates the ratio of buildings to trees is 1:1 given the overwhelming amount of greens and warm colours there are. They are in the middle of autumn so all the red, orange, yellow, and brown leaves make the city look like it's on fire.
"Nice view, ain't it." A slightly older man in black gym shorts and a red t-shirt stands beside Destiny. He has on a black baseball cap with a crimson flower on the front. "Enjoy it while it lasts," he calmly nods to her before strolling to the ledge and stepping off.
Destiny is frozen in place. She expects him to fly back up or something else magical, but nothing happens after an eternity of waiting. Cautiously, she goes to the ledge and peers down. Only a sea of trees waits 100 m below.
"F*ck f*ck f*ck!" she shouts and backs away. "Sh*t, what was that? Did he die?" She goes back to looks again and make sure the trees are still there. A part of her wants to chase after him. Another part wants to sprint far, far away and go back to sleep. She paces back and forth and takes one more look. The trees seem closer like they are coming to swallow her too. Destiny decides to go home because she has Wealth and Poverty of Nations at 9 AM sharp.
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