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[b]”Pay it forward?”[/b] I said and began sipping on my drink. As the woman had promised, it was delicious. And it was free. I took another long sip, practically humming to myself. I turned to go the long way back to the library, passing a small city park. It was past mid-day and the park was empty. It was to be expected since in this part of town you either worked or went to school to work. Lolling about on park benches was for the evening or the weekends. A glass tile and concrete fountain sparkled in the center of the area. Green, teal, and blues, cracked and dirty with age formed the image of a sprawling tree. Try as I might, I couldn’t call it attractive even if it had been beautiful once. Like so many things of the past it was now broken and no one had bothered to fix it. It was an impractical waste of precious water. 

Still, the drink was good. I took another sip. Almost too good. 

[b]”Damn it,”[/b] 

I reached in my pocket for the crumbled receipt and flipped it over. Just like the hotdog vendor, the barista had produced a receipt. It was weird, especially since I hadn’t purchased the drink. My brows nit together as I read the words. I mouthed them silently as I scanned them the second time. [i]”Charles-9 hundred Eagles Point the way”[/i] 

---

I spent the afternoon finishing up my repairs. My brain bouncing constantly between the tiny faded letters of the book in front of me and the words printed on the back of the receipt. I had no clue in the world what it meant or what I was supposed to do with it. The vendor yesterday had mentioned something about bookmarks, but there was no way I’d be able hand them out trapped in this room. 

I wracked my brain again. Nine Hundred Eagles. Eagles? Eagles were about as mythical as Minotaurs and Wildebeests. A few history books mentioned them but I was taught they disappeared a while back. Even if that wasn’t true, I’d never seen them in Restraint. And how could they point to anything? They didn’t even have hands? I’d already tried focusing on the number. But the Tale of Two Cities book I’d been delivered only went to 720 pages and as of yet, I didn’t read any mention of eagles. By the end of the work day the only thing I’d been successful at was the restoration. Still, even that was only halfway done, meaning I could look forward to another day of being locked in a closet.