Annie sat at her desk, alone in the English workroom. She had already finished the salad she'd purchased for her lunch, having discarded the remaining organic tuna in their house, which she would definitely be replacing with synthetic tuna in the future to avoid any further issues.
Today had been a fantastic day so far. She'd spent the previous afternoon and evening grappling with the idea that she had lost her sanity, but Carl had unraveled those fears with his typical methodical approach, which was another of the many reasons she loved him. Sure, it annoyed her at times, the most memorable being when he'd used literal timesheets to effectively split his time between their daughters in a good-intentioned way of doing his utmost to reassure her that Sammy and Bobby would never have a strained relationship as she did with Becca, but it was so endearing how thoroughly he considered the matter from her perspective and strove to act according to her interests.
Carl forced her to be better, and that was the foremost reason she had fallen in love with him. She had grown up on the lesser side of mediocrity, had wallowed in it for years towards the latter end of her time in school, but there came a day when she'd decided that she would never settle for less than what she wanted again. With that decision came the need for someone who would constantly push her, challenge her to improve herself in ways she would not otherwise consider.
Someone like Carl.
Her preparation of his favorite burgers the day prior was but a single example of it. A lesser Annie would settle for throwing together something quick and easy, or perhaps push off making dinner onto her husband when it was her turn—even after he'd deliberately prepped for a double taco night in order to ease her burden from the exhaustion that Mondays tended to bring—claiming that she was tired after going out for her yoga night.
A lesser Annie might ignore the obvious stress her husband was under, assuming it would work itself out in time without her help.
No, this wasn't who she was. Even when she worried that she was losing her mind, she would still do her utmost to be better.
Maybe she couldn't have directly solved his stress, since she knew much of it came from the girls, such as his hangups about Sammy's learner's permit, or his desire to see that Bobby got a fair chance at having fun playing games with her friends like he'd done in his youth, but she could certainly improve and ease other parts of his life to remind him that he wasn't alone.
Annie moved to the next page of the fantasy novel she was reading on her tablet, only half paying attention while her thoughts wandered. Reading had been one of her first hobbies, being the cheapest way to spend her early years and escape the confines of the tiny, ill-maintained apartment she shared with her mother. She'd always enjoyed fantasy novels; they brought her to fantastical places with strange creatures and people that kept her entertained for years, reading and re-reading everything she could get her hands on. She had certain preferences, but there were more than enough books at the library to keep her occupied even when that particular well ran dry.
That Carl also enjoyed some of the same books she had was one of the earliest things she'd found she liked about him. He seldom read for his own enjoyment anymore, even when she suggested something she thought he might enjoy, preferring instead to read almost entirely nonfiction ever since she'd given him that choice decades ago.
She sighed, her eyes crinkling in dismay at the bittersweet topic she'd once again crashed her thoughts into. I never meant for him to give up everything forever. About the only thing he does for his own enjoyment anymore is go to the gym since he doesn't have time to go fishing. Carl's the best, but sometimes he's too good. I think even if I told him to go buy himself a brain link thing now and have some fun playing games, he'd say he had better things to do. Almost like he's afraid to stop improving.
Annie ran her top teeth over her lower lip. I can't exactly ask him to stop in case he takes it too seriously again. Maybe I should try mailing Connie or Karen, see if Tim or Max have talked to him lately. He hasn't mentioned any of his friends in a while, but they must still keep in touch, right? One of them might be able to help break him out of his cycle and get him back to having his own interests. Some outlets for all his stress. And while I think of that, we're almost out of coffee, aren't we. That's an entirely different type of stress for him. And me with how zombie-like he gets in the mornings without it.
She sighed again, completely halting her progress in the very average bestseller novel she was skimming through more out of habit than genuine enjoyment. Ugh, this is making me stressed. Like I don't have enough of it with Becca around and this supposed "restructuring" of the departments here. I'm not looking forward to this meeting at all. Why the fuck would they think combining English into an overall "Languages" department is a good idea? How does that help the kids? We don't even teach the same skills! Public hearing for the proposal my ass, they've already decided to do it to cut costs, and they're trying to cover themselves.
Being a teacher wasn't the glorious job of enlightening students and pushing them to better themselves that she'd envisioned. Sure, she did get to do some of that, but always it had to be framed in the context of helping them memorize whatever bullshit the state and federal education agencies thought was important for the damned standardized tests that had infested her classes.
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Everything had to be consolidated and streamlined.
Focus groups dictated the so-called optimal facts which must be learned to generate productive members of society.
Critical thinking was nice, they said, but with automation driving so many industries now, it wasn't necessary. No, many people simply lived at home on their government-issued stipends, content to slowly descend into old age within the safe, all-encompassing space that social media and interactive VR television now provided.
Her own daughters were hardly unaffected, try as she might to avoid permitting them to fall into such a trap. Carl probably wasn't even aware of it, she imagined; no, for him it was natural that his daughters wouldn't be anything but the best.
She'd wondered for years now whether he planned for it or if he was just far more brilliant than even she had imagined. It had surprised her when he'd begun watching NBA games regularly with Sammy a short while after she was born. Carl had never shown any interest in sports, yet he would sit down with Sammy on his lap at least once each week to watch a game, easily rattling off facts for each player that he'd somehow memorized.
Abruptly, around when she turned eight, he'd stopped, claiming he was too busy.
And now Sammy was obsessed with basketball, one of the few remaining sports that most schools offered due to dwindling interest from students and the slow failing of a number of pro sports leagues for the same lack of interest as people turned to other, more immersive pursuits. Where other kids tended to stay home and vegetate, her eldest daughter was constantly out of the house, whether with friends or at practice with others who had avoided the same trap.
So, too, did Bobby…
All thoughts fell from Annie's mind as a soft green light suddenly covered her desk.
"Greetings, Annie," a beautiful feminine voice said.
Annie inhaled deeply through her nose, and she slowly looked up.
It had happened again, but her joy at knowing she was probably not crazy was suppressed by her amazement.
The succubus from yesterday now stood before her, staring down with the prettiest green eyes she'd ever seen. They were not simply green; no, her eyes glowed slightly, seeming almost to pulse with the rhythm of a heartbeat.
Annie couldn't look away.
"If you have time, I would speak with you," the succubus said, her voice so smooth that it immediately caused Annie to wonder what it would be like to have the demoness whisper into her ears.
The realization that this was happening broke Annie out of her trance after a moment. Oh fuck, this is… Her eyes widened.
This was, in fact, how her preferred subgenre of fantasy novels tended to begin, with a female being of supernatural power and beauty contacting the heroine during an ordinary day in order to begin her journey. She always preferred stories with female leads; too often did male-led fantasy novels turn into orgiastic, unnecessary displays of power, truly primitive character-building, and unbelievable love stories that made her wonder whether the author had ever spoken to a woman. Sure, perhaps in many of the novels she'd enjoyed the heroine and her female mentor did eventually fall in love over the course of several lengthy and well-reasoned character arcs, but it tended to also be the case that the mentor would die tragically and heroically in defense of her forbidden love that could not…
Annie attempted to focus, just as her husband so often could. This is a once in a lifetime chance. Don't fuck it up! "Um, hi?" she said. Wait, is this actually real? She looked to the side of the succubus, who was wearing spotless, glowing, magical armor and confirmed that there was indeed a portal between them, if the purple ring just in front of her desk leading to an entirely different landscape was any indication. What if… "Actually," she interjected just as the succubus, whose name she felt she'd heard but couldn't quite recall, was about to speak, "what do you think about speaking in your world? You can bring me back when we're done talking, right?"
The female being of supernatural power and beauty paused for a moment, seeming to consider the suggestion. "If that is your desire," she said at last.
Annie shot to her feet, barely able to hold back her excitement. It's real? It's really real? I'm not going crazy? She wiped her surprisingly sweaty palms on her jeans and walked around her desk.
"'Ware your balance," the succubus said, stepping aside and looking quickly back and forth. "The terrain is uneven."
Annie stared through the portal, taking in the reddish soil and rocks along with the barely extant plant life, all of which reminded her of the Mojave Desert, which she'd seen on trips to the Grand Canyon.
Then she spotted the second sun and stepped through immediately before she could convince herself not to or something happened to leave her again with only the deeply uncomfortable feeling that she was losing her sanity.
The heat, which had been gently radiating through the portal, assaulted her immediately, as did the rays of the suns. She brought her hands up to cover her eyes, still needing to squint.
A force pressed down on her, a heaviness that refused to abate and made remaining standing a small challenge. Her breathing deepened, if only to help steady herself.
The sudden and total silence struck her next. Gone even were the ever-present, faint hums of various electronic devices. She felt as though having her tiny phone in her pocket and her linked contact lenses were some form of invasion on wherever she was.