As I advanced towards the posters hung on Amy's wall, more question piled up inside my head. It was photos of men, which had been claimed to be destroyed during the blackout.

"How is this possible?" I muttered, my fingers were itching to touch one of the posters with a Marvel word written on it. But I refrained myself so I wouldn't look so excited.

Unlike me, Amy didn't bother to hide her fervor. With a grin, she ran her fingers on the piece of history. "It's from a time capsule. Some people gave it to my mom for the internet. Its sways, right?"

"What's this?" Alatha voiced out. She was at the back of Amy's room where the bookshelf was located, holding a book. "Pride And Prejudice, by Jane Austen," she added.

"The books on that section are from the time capsule, my mom said we can look at it but we must be very careful," Amy informed, she walked over to a couch where Esther was seated and sat next to her.

I started joining Alatha, looking through the newly discovered remnants of literature. There were even comics with men in all different features. Their unique fashion fascinated me the most.

Dwelling through the pictures and drawings of men and women hundreds of years ago only made me realize why Alfie looked odd wearing my clothes. The clothing designs we had were very much feminised, and there wasn't any option for both gender or what was called before; unisex.

"So war associates before had such rugged uniforms, look at their army--" Alatha giggled as she raised the comic to show me the page she was looking at,"--imagine we are suddenly in a war now and our army wearing vibrant colors. That won't end well." She laughed out loud.

She probably thought it was funny considering even her mother's official attire was a pastel blue and the FOS was the closest to what we had as military.

Crime hadn't been much different than what was illustrated on the comics, except we didn't have superheroes wearing tight looking costumes. Still, the news never lack stories of women dragged to court. The government delivered a clear message that they took every offence seriously. In terms of war, it wasn't something spoken of. Moreover, the media never mentioned anything outside our country.

"Well let's just hope there won't be any war then," I responded.

Alatha snorted, "Maybe there is one happening beyond the border. How would we know?"

My eyes drifted towards a globe sitting on the desk, thinking of the endless possibility to Alatha's words. At the same time, my mind tried to make sense of why the outside was somewhat concealed.

"Enough with the war thing. Let's watch the video again, Amy!"

Esther's excited voice rushed me out of my thoughts. We huddled together in front of the television as Amy turned on the video player.

While we waited for it to start, I looked at the title of the movie on its cover, 'After'. Looking at the picture of a man on it directly gave me the idea it was also from the time capsule.

There wasn't a single sound from any of us as the video played. Even though I felt a tingling sensation and Alfie's image kept invading my mind every time the two main characters got intimate, I stayed wonton.

"I want you now..."

The protagonist's voice reverberated through the audio.

"So kids, are you ready to find out how babies are made during the old days?" Amy decided to break the mute charade as a very heated scene came up. She got shushed by Esther instantly.

However, my eyes were glued to the screen, watching the two main character moved together in a rhythm. It piqued my curiosity about what they were doing.

"So... I don't really get it. Do they hug and it happen?" Alatha voiced out from the silence.

"How am I suppose to know? I'd learned about IVF only like you," Amy replied.

"It doesn't look like they were just HUGGING." Esther joined in the discussion.

Albeit keeping my mouth sealed, I was no less curious about it. But after days changing Alfie's clothes and the unexpected turn of events this morning, I could piece together a theory.

***

The sky was still bright when I arrived home. My mother was in the kitchen, washing some dishes. Oddly, she was already wearing her blush-colour uniform. As long as I could remember, her shift started very early in the morning or late at night. So it was very unusual.

She greeted me with a smile as I stood at the intersection of the kitchen and my room. "So where have you been?" she asked.

"At Amy's," I answered truthfully. She didn't say anything after so I decided to comment on her unusual earliness. "So, did you get your work schedule changed?"

She hummed, failing to repress the hint of nervous on her face although her smile didn't waver. "No, I have something to do," she said.

I wanted to ask her further about it, but when she suddenly mentioned Alfie, every thought I had in my head got diverted away.

"Cook something light for Alfie ok honey? He hasn't eaten yet since afternoon, but maybe he's still full after drinking so much juice this morning," she informed.

She didn't wait for me to respond. She gave me a peck on the cheeks then grabbed her bag and left in what seemed to be in a rush. It was very strange, but once again my thoughts got intercepted when I saw Alfie standing near my room door.

I was a little shocked to see him standing tall, but it was expected when I remembered his attempt to do it this morning. But what I didn't expect was what happened next.

"Cha..ris."

The sound coming out of his mouth was like a whisper in the wind, I could hardly hear it, but I saw his lips move, so it must be true; he was verbal.

To be continued...

***

Thank you for reading and if you leave me any comment and decided to vote I am truly grateful.

*Sways is a word use resembling cool.