Thirty-seventh day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lira was no longer exactly a child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She\u2019d grown a few inches without meaning to\u2014her body catching up to her mind\u2019s exhaustion. Sunken eyes, longer tangled hair, voice sometimes hoarse from commanding creations. Still wore the dress she\u2019d imagined on day one, now crusted with dried light and dream dust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That morning, she appeared in the cloud palace with a gun in hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heavy. Black. Too real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Geraldo was at the counter drinking coffee that never cooled when she entered. The giant stuffed bunny\u2014the only friend left from the old world, with her father\u2019s voice\u2014limped behind, one ear torn since last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGeraldo,\u201d Lira said, voice firm. \u201cGet out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He turned slowly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOut of what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy dream.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She raised the gun. Steady hand. Steady eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Geraldo didn\u2019t blink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t want that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bunny tried to speak:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHoney\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lira didn\u2019t look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShut up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bullet roared like thunder inside a skull. Entered Geraldo\u2019s chest, spun, tore through everything that wasn\u2019t real flesh, exited his back. Fell to the floor like a worthless coin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Geraldo wiped the hole with his hand. Black blood smoked and vanished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t kill me,\u201d he said, voice calm as ever. \u201cI know the trick.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lira fired again. And again. Five times. Each bullet clinked to the floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bunny stepped in front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLira, stop. He\u2019s helping you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She turned the gun on the bunny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bunny exploded into cotton and memory. Her father\u2019s voice cried one last \u201cI love you\u201d cut short\u2014and turned to silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lira dropped the gun. Cried like a child who breaks her favorite toy and realizes too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sky cracked. Glass rain. Tourists below screamed, ran, froze into panic statues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Geraldo approached slowly. Knelt before her. Wiped a tear with his thumb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEasy. You need me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lira sobbed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to wake up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI do!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThen try.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She tried.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Closed her eyes tight. Frowned. Clenched fists until knuckles went white.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The whole world shook. Buildings swayed. Neon seas rose like tsunamis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it didn\u2019t break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because deep down, Lira didn\u2019t really want to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Geraldo hugged her like hugging a bomb that gave up exploding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSee? You don\u2019t want to wake up. Out there is pain. Needles. Beeping machines. People crying for real. Here you\u2019re everything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lira cried into his shoulder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI killed the bunny\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe was just memory,\u201d Geraldo whispered. \u201cMemory hurts. We can make another.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That afternoon she made another bunny. Identical. But silent. Just stared with button eyes and moved when she commanded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That night, Geraldo sat beside her cloud bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWant me to make them pay extra tax for the broken glass?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lira nodded, voice small.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWant me to expel the ones who ran?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another nod.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd anyone who screams again?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWant me to make disappear anyone who reminds you this isn\u2019t real?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lira looked at him. Her eyes no longer a child\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Geraldo smiled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next morning, the palace was clean. Glass gone. Runners vanished. No one asked. Everyone paid the extra tax without complaint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lira sat on the throne, silent bunny in lap, staring at the horizon now lined with crystal skyscrapers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGeraldo?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCan I still kill you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He laughed low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou can try.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She tried again. Made a knife. Stabbed his neck. The knife melted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Made poison. He drank and asked for more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Made fire. He walked through and came out smelling of smoke, but whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSee?\u201d he said, brushing ashes from his shirt. \u201cOnly those who know the trick are immune.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lira dropped the silent bunny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s the trick?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Geraldo knelt before her once more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe trick is knowing you don\u2019t want me dead. Because if I die, you wake up. And if you wake up\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEverything ends.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lira looked at her hands. Nails now painted black\u2014she\u2019d imagined them that way last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want it to end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThen it doesn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She held out her hand. He took it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The world stopped shaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Lira, for the first time, smiled without being a child.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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