CHAPTER 9 - OLD FOLKS HOME 

By about the same time the next day, which was a Saturday, a wheelchair came to a screeching halt. The tassels of Esmerelda Delacroix’s grandma glasses rattled as she adjusted them, and patted the knee of Rufus Springly, who faced her in his wheelchair. “Not a scratch on you, yah big oaf” she smirked. “Felicia, what are they talking about?” Priya asked while adjusting the direction of the chair. “These old timers are all veterans of the war” Felicia explained, as they wheeled them side by side to their tables so they could get situated before the bingo game commenced. “I used to shoot laser beams” Esmerelda blurted out like a teenager hurtling in their parent’s stolen car, carefree down the road. “Wait, what?” Priya winced. Rufus laughed and turned towards her to retort, as if it was a competition, “I blew up a spaceship!”. Felicia smiled politely at their repartee and glided them to their spot. They quickly took their seats. Dominique stood at the front, revolving the crank and calling out numbers. “Can you illuminate me kiddo, I’m a little rough on history” Priya asked. “Not a lot of press about it now. About sixty years ago Earth started getting visitors from an alien race, they were explorers mostly. If you’ve seen the photographs, they looked a lot like us, but blue and with ribbon strands on their shoulders. After a while, things went south and the Rikiral war began. We didn’t stand a chance until out of nowhere a throng of heroes – they say from another dimension – came to our rescue. Their leader was a fellow with the strongest powers. Telenon was his name. According to records, he loaned us some sort of power. Eventually we pushed them back, and he left with everything when the loan had completed. We were told that after the war we would reap the benefits, but the general populace was so bitter and disappointed after the loan expired that most of the record of that time has been lost” Felicia recollected; her knowledge amplified by studying the history of the era. Nadine sat beside Felicia and passed both of them a soda. Priya reclined back on her chair and snapped the lid, lapping up the syrup-flavored carbonated liquid. She closed her eyes as a circus of bubbles danced on her tongue and the world became a much happier place. A moment passed in cordial silence. Priya managed to open her eyes and took another sip.  Nadine put her elbow against the table, letting her cheek lean against her fist, and leered at her as a smug look inched across her face, “You should know honey, your half Rikiral”. A spray of soda ejected from her mouth, and she coughed for air …, “Too soon” she pleaded. “We always thought that’s why you were so introverted and … frosty” Felicia clarified in a shy, let’s try not to knock her over and break her like a vase in an art exhibit voice. Priya looked at Nadine’s blonde hair brushing the table so perfectly, “You little book psycho. It’s okay, we love you now”. “Bingo!” Springly cried as a seven was called, and Felicia got up to wheel him to the front, where everyone clapped in copious recognition. He grinned ear to ear and threw his hands over his head. Forgetting their prior conversation, Esmerelda leant to the right towards Priya, whispering to her a juicy piece of gossip, “I heard he blew up a spaceship”.