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Chapter 5
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Traded for Gratitude, I Chose Exile Chapter 10
Mom got the news from Savannah.When she called me, her voice was so hoarse it didn't sound like the one I remembered."Riley, I'll come pick you up. Where are you? Just tell me where you are.""Mom, you don't need to pick me up," I said, leaning against the window of the motel room.Outside, the city lights stretched as far as I could see."I'll come see you all tomorrow," I said in the end.After I hung up, I sat by the window the whole night. I wasn't sad, nor was I nervous. I was just thinking about what expression I should put on before stepping through that door.The next day, I put on a blue trench coat. I had bought it at the only little shop near the base, and blue had always been my favorite color, after all.When I reached the apartment, the front door was already open.Mom was standing in the entryway. She had lost at least 20 pounds, and more than half her hair had gone gray.An apron was tied around her waist, and her hands were dusted with flour. From the kitch
Traded for Gratitude, I Chose Exile Chapter 9
In the fifth year, the project at the Northwest Base passed its final evaluation and was accepted a year and a half ahead of schedule.I stood outside the base gate, carrying the same backpack I'd arrived with.Five years ago, I'd come with a change of clothes and my ID card. Now, tucked alongside them, were a laptop and three award certificates.Eric pulled up beside me and rolled down the window."Have you thought it through? You're not renewing your contract?""Yeah. It's time to go back and see them.""I'll drive you to the airport then."The car drove for two hours along the desert highway, flanked by endless stretches of barren land and mountains in the distance.Eric talked nonstop the whole way. He said the cafeteria lady would miss me, and that whatever I did, I couldn't let my colleague, Patrick Granger, water my cactus in the lab. He also asked who would maintain the core algorithm once I was gone.Toward the end, he suddenly fell silent.After a long pause, he ask
Traded for Gratitude, I Chose Exile Chapter 8
For my family, the days without me were like a dull blade, cutting a little deeper with each passing one.The first month, Mom was still calling everywhere, trying to find me.By the third month, she stopped doing that, but only because there was no channel through which anyone could reach the base.By the sixth month, she started suffering from insomnia.The doctor said it was psychological insomnia triggered by anxiety and prescribed her sleeping pills.Every night, Mom would take one and lie in bed, staring at the ceiling. Sometimes she would suddenly sit up, walk over to the storage room, and stand in the doorway for a while.The door stayed open because she wouldn't allow anyone to close it. It was as if so long as the door remained open, I might come back at any moment.Dad had aged a great deal. More than half his hair had gone gray, and his back had begun to stoop.He was never a man of many words, but one day during dinner, he suddenly set down his spoon and said, "I w
Traded for Gratitude, I Chose Exile Chapter 7
The day I arrived at the Northwest Base, the wind and sand blowing were so fierce that I could barely keep my eyes open.A senior colleague from the research team, Eric Stark, came to pick me up. He wore a pair of black-framed glasses that had been knocked askew by the wind."You must be Riley Sullivan. Mr. Atwood talks about you all the time. He says your data modeling skills are the strongest he's ever seen in a student.""He's exaggerating." I hopped out of the vehicle with my backpack, the grit stinging my face."The conditions here aren't great. You should prepare yourself," Eric said."I'll be fine."I glanced at the cluster of short, gray buildings in the distance and the skyline where the wind never seemed to stop blowing.It was a lot bigger than the storage room. Not to mention, there were windows and the sky.That made it more than enough.I had to turn my phone in at the registration desk. Before I powered it off, I took one last look at the screen. There were no m
Traded for Gratitude, I Chose Exile Chapter 6
Mom started looking for me like a madwoman.She called my school, but the administrator told her I had already graduated and left the campus.She called Mr. Atwood, but all he said was, "Riley has started at a new workplace. I'm afraid I can't disclose the details."She called directory assistance, the municipal service hotline, and even wanted to file a missing person report at the local police station.Dad stopped her. "Riley signed a confidentiality agreement before leaving. She hasn't been kidnapped, so there's nothing the police can do about this."Mom refused to believe it. She dragged Dad down to the station anyway.The officer was very patient. "Your daughter is an adult with full capacity to act as she wants. She took up employment of her own free will, so this doesn't constitute a missing person case.""But she never told us—""There is no law that requires adult children to inform their parents of their work location."On the way out of the police station, Mom kept
Traded for Gratitude, I Chose Exile Chapter 5
When Colton Bennett arrived, he was clutching a yellowed kraft paper envelope.He sat down on the couch and glanced around at everyone in the room—Mom with her red-rimmed eyes, Dad looking utterly distraught, Benjamin standing barefoot in the hallway, and Savannah huddled in the corner, too afraid to make a sound."I've been holding this in for ten years." Colton placed the envelope on the coffee table, his rough fingers pressing down on its edge. "The day Liam died, I was down by the river too."Mom's head jerked up.Colton spoke very slowly, as if each word had to roll around in his throat several times before he could let it out."The first one to go in after Benjamin fell into the water that day wasn't Liam. It was a young man fishing by the river. I can't remember his name. By the time that young man had hauled Benjamin up onto the bank, Liam had only just reached the river's edge."The living room fell so silent one could hear the airflow from the air conditioning vent."L
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