“What do you want to know?” I asked.
“Just what's going on that is causing you so much trouble.” Tom responded, and I got started.
“It started just before you called on Tuesday. I had just come home and it was absolutely destroyed. The entire lawn was overgrown, a chunk of the roof had caved in over my room, everything I had was ruined, including my clothes. There’s water stains everywhere, the entire upstairs was leafy and moldy, and there was no power or water. I’ve been fine just using the burgerhouses bathrooms during my breaks, but I have no laundry machines or shower. I have no idea where to go to fix that, it hadn’t even crossed my mind until you brought it up.” I realized that I had been talking for a while, but once I had started explaining it was like I couldn’t stop, and I just kept explaining.
“I don’t have any food at home that doesn’t need some kind of preparation with something that’s broken… so I'm stuck sleeping in a glorified dust pile… my house feels dead without the sounds of my family giving it life…” eventually I wasn’t even talking about the house anymore. “My car is gone… I just have this job to focus on, I don’t know what else I can do… the only person I know won’t contact me.” After almost 15 minutes of just letting loose I managed to get a handle on myself. I looked up to see a slightly blurry Tom, his expression distorted. I quickly wiped the tears that had started forming in my eyes, realizing how unprofessional I looked. I had just spent a sizable portion of an hour just crying and pouring my heart out to my employer, how pathetic was that. The expression on Tom’s face was an expression I had never seen on him, his brow furrowed, and a slight frown on his face.
“Sorry about that, I should be more professional.” I tried to apologize for the display, but Tom cut me off before I could continue. His face softened as he responded to me.
“You don’t have to apologize for being in a bad situation, especially one like this.”
“Well yeah, but I still shouldn’t-”
“Ethan, you don’t need to justify having emotions, you’ve had everything you thought was certain uprooted in a single moment, and you are the most routine focused person I know. You had to get that out, and you need to take some time for yourself. It’s been a while for me, but if I remember correct you were overworking yourself before the return as well, and were supposed to be taking a break..” I opened my mouth to protest, and Tom cut me off. “I’m giving you paid time off, you need a break and you need financial security. I can’t solve all your problems, but I have an Idea of where to start. The ONRR has a program for people that have been put into a tough situation from the return, such people who’s living situation has been affected.”
“Are you sure, it's pretty bad, and they-
“None of that,-Tom interrupted- they give specialized support based on your needs, and it has quite a bit of funding. They may just get you an apartment, but there is a chance they could do more. Fortunately they are easiest to contact during return week. Today is the last day and no one has descended yet you’re going there, and you're going to ask for the help you need, okay.” Tom wasn’t asking anymore, he was giving me an order, and following orders was something I was quite good at.
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“Okay, I’ll go after my shift.” and Tom agreed.
“Alright, just make sure you go in time, the stands go down around 6 so you may want to wrap up a bit earlier than usual.” Tom went back to Johnsons and I followed. I wasn’t quite sure how I felt. On the one hand Tom had been confrontational, making me tell him what was wrong. On the other hand it had been to help, and I was becoming more disheveled by the day which would probably start hurting business if it kept going. I was still conflicted when I clocked out at 5:30 and walked down maple lane. It was less busy than the last time I had been there, conversely when I went around the roots and the castle was in view I saw tons more people than last time. Most of the people were training with probably fake weapons, while several more experienced people helped give pointers. Up ahead were the ONRR kiosks just like last time. There weren't too many people there and I found the kiosk labeled residence return assistance pretty easily. It had the same little laptop as the one I had visited on Monday. There was a guy in his mid twenties with brown hair in a messy bun standing waiting. When he noticed me hovering uncertainly around the kiosk he waved me over with a small smile.
“Good afternoon, can I help you?” he asked politely, and I uncertainly answered.
“yeah, so my house or uh my parents house is kinda wrecked, and I just wanted to see if maybe there was something that you could do to help with that?” He gave his laptop a few taps and then gave me a smile.
“Yeah we can probably do something, but we will need to give the building a look so we know what we're dealing with. If you could give me your address and number we can be over Monday morning and contact you with more information, does that sound good?” When I agreed he gave me a pen and slip of paper to use. After filling out and handing back the paper he let me go, and before I left I spied another kiosk: Vehicle Locating. It took a moment of mental debate, but I decided to approach the kiosk. This time I was a little more confident, actually initiating the conversation with the 30ish black haired lady.
“Hello, I was driving when I, um, vanished. Do you know how I could find my car?”
Ah, yes. If you know its license plate we could search for it, but unfortunately we are quite limited beyond that.” she explained. My heart fell, I had no idea what my license plate said.
“Ok, sorry.” and I left to go home. I was happy that they had been so willing to listen about my home, but the dead end about my car was discouraging. The good and the bad mixed in my stomach as I lay in bed that night, keeping me up late into the night.
The next morning was Sunday, and I didn’t know what I should do. I always went to church with my family. We went to one of the many LDS buildings that you couldn’t go 4 blocks without running into in Utah, but now what? I hadn’t even thought about it since I got back, but what was I going to do now, what did I believe now? A glowing giant had torn a hole in the sky and grown a giant tree full of monsters while giving people superpowers, where was that in the doctrine? Beyond that, where was the fairness, the benevolence of returning to my home in shambles? I wasn't sure what to think. Around nine I realized I didn't have any food at home, and around ten after debating with myself I decided to grab my wallet and go find something to eat. I eventually found a little cafe on Maple lane that was open, where I bought a few muffins and some free water before going back home. I spent most of the day in the weathered wooden chair in the backyard wondering what I believed in to no avail, and I eventually went to bed feeling worse than I had since the first day.