Nancy stared in disbelief at the victory message, she didn’t know what to say. To think that they won in that manner!
It turned out that the remaining two players couldn’t outrun the cloud of poisonous gas. That’s how they won without a final fight!
Zack’s hearty laughter came over the headset, “Hahaha… what luck! We finally won!”
Nancy wasn’t that pleased. She said nonchalantly, “Yeah, my job’s done. You have finally graduated.”
Zack noticed that her reply was somewhat strange but he couldn’t put a finger to it. Before he could say anything, Nancy continued, “It’s getting late, I need to rest now. We’ll play again another day. Good night!”
Nancy logged out of the game as soon as she finished speaking. Zack glanced at his watch, it wasn’t even nine o’clock. Her hurry to log out seemed to be avoiding something, he wondered.
In the early hours of the following morning, barely awake, Nancy dragged herself and went to the family supermarket with her father.
Mr. Xavier was his usual jolly self while Nancy who has given up on life, followed behind, “Old man, why can’t we do like the others, pre-cut the meat and place them on the shelves? Why must we cut the meat as the customers’ orders?”
Mr. Xavier said solemnly while looking at Nancy, “This was a skill passed down by your grandfather. We must treat it as an art and pass it on to the next generations.”
Nancy dragged her feet and said, “Dad, did Gramps instruct you only to pass it on to males in the family?”
Mr. Xavier said righteously, “Your grandfather was enlightened and regard men and women equally.” At this moment, his eyes lit up with pride as he handed the butcher’s knife over to Nancy.
Nancy lowered her gaze in resignation, she accepted her destiny as she picked up the butcher’s knife. Draped in an oversized apron, she sat quietly next to the meat stall.
As soon as the supermarket opened for business, some early riser old folks came to buy their groceries. A majority of them are friends of Nancy’s mother who she met during her dancing sessions. Thanks to her efforts in networking, their supermarket has a decent following of return customers.
Nancy naturally knew some of these customers. Last night, just that one word “Honey” caused Nancy to toss and turn in bed the entire night. At least now she is able to cast aside last night’s incident and was chatting gleefully with the customers while selling the meat.
At this moment, Mrs. Xavier walked into the supermarket with breakfast in hand. Her face lit up as she placed the breakfast, which was double the usual portion, on the table. “Come come come, let’s sit down. Let’s have breakfast together, we’re practically neighbors.”
Nancy was curious as she stared in mom’s direction. Just behind her mother, there was a middle-aged lady and a casually dressed young man. Nancy rubbed her tired eyes, let out a yawn and suddenly Zack appeared before her very eyes!
Nancy couldn’t believe her eyes. She closed her eyes and thought she must be dreaming!
“Nancy dear, come over for breakfast. And pack 2 pounds of ribs for this nice lady!” Mom’s voice rang out and snapped her back to reality. She wasn’t dreaming, after all, this was real!
Mom’s words woke Nancy up and she looked intently at the lady and Zack. Nancy and Zack’s eyes locked. Nancy stood dazed looking at Zack with those weary eyes, a butcher’s knife in hand, and draped in an oversized greasy apron. The image burned deeply into Zack’s memory.