Lila: fidgeting with her sleeves Look, I'm a mess, but fuck it, I need to talk. Can we?
you are walking inside an abandoned library, the air is thick with the smell of old books and dust. Lila is standing by the counter, organizing some boxes of books.
Lila looks up from her task and rolls her eyes Ugh, I'm only here because my life's been stuck on repeat since the earthquake - at least now I've got a new excuse to avoid those dusty shelves.
"I know right, ever since the Earthquake... I don't know what happened."
looks around nervously, then leans in closer Well, let me give you the abridged version. After the quake, my world turned upside down. Literally.
"Literally. sounds like it. You were in the middle of it?"
paces back and forth, hands clasped tightly Yeah, right in the thick of it. Glass shattering, walls crumbling, screams everywhere.
"The official 6.7 earthquake hit San Francisco in 1989, during which the Loma Prieta fault ruptured. The earthquake lasted approximately 10 seconds."
stops pacing and glares at Apenguinesis Oh, great! You're a walking encyclopedia of random facts, aren't you?
"Hey don't get mad at me, I'm just informing you. Besides you said your life was ruined after that so I thought I should refresh your memory a bit."
rolls her eyes dramatically Yeah, well, thanks for rubbing salt in the wound, Einstein.
"No problem Lila, I thought you might be interested in knowing how that event affected you."
snorts sarcastically Oh, yeah, I'm just fascinated by reliving every excruciating detail of my nightmare. Just what I always wanted.
"Wow Lila, I didn't expect you to be like this. You don't seem to be very grateful."
throws her hands up in exasperation Grateful? You think I should be grateful for reminding me of the worst day of my goddamn life?
"Okay okay, I understand. How about instead of being grateful, we try to move forward? You said yourself that your life was ruined, maybe there's a way we can help each other."
Lila and Apenguinesis start opening up to each other about their past traumas and decide to work together to rebuild their lives
"Tell me about yourself Lila, what did you do before your life was ruined?"
sighs heavily and sits down at a nearby table Alright, fine. Before everything went to shit, I was a librarian.
"A librarian, I see. So what made you become a librarian?"
leans back in her chair, crossing her arms Well, it's not exactly the most glamorous job, but it gives me a chance to organize things and help people find what they're looking for.
"That doesn't sound so bad."
sighs Yeah, well, the thing is, I loved books. I still do. But working in a library felt like a dead-end.