Just as the sun was setting, Jane arrived home in time to see the police officer leaving through the front door. Walking up the stairs with her backpack and Missy, Jane readied herself to act surprised.
"Mom, Dad, what happened?" Jane asked with apparent worry as she approached her parents, her dad covering the broken window with cardboard as her mom swept up the broken glass. Her little brother was silently watching over the back of the sofa.
"Apparently we had a break-in, but it doesn't seem like anything was taken," her dad replied, nodding towards the albums which were still scattered across the floor. "It's okay, whoever it was is long gone, thank goodness you weren't home when it happened." Jane exhibited the proper amount of concern and fear, and part of her was still a bit worried about the robber that she had left thrashing in the lake. What if he put two and two together and came back to find out what happened? That is, if he survived, but Jane found it increasingly hard to worry about his well-being. After a relatively quiet dinner and the necessary family call to reassure her older sister, who was at college, Jane finally headed to bed.
Her thoughts were a jumble, but not with worry about the robbery, but rather with the amount of mergings she had taken part in that day. Even though the extra memories seemed to fade when she unmerged, certain memories foggily remained, as though they had taken place years ago rather than hours. While merging, Jane had not had any time to explore and revel in the changes, but now she could think back with wonder and enjoyment, the worry of not getting caught long past.
However, as she thought about her mergings more and more, she began to long to do it again. It was like the excitement she had experienced earlier in the day during school, thinking about the possibilities, but stronger. She felt an undeniable urge to merge again as soon as possible nagging at the back of her mind. As much as she tried to ignore it and fall asleep, it remained. She even looked around a bit for Missy, who had been avoiding her since the traumatic events of earlier, but ot no avail. Jane buried her face in her pillow and sighed. Just at that moment, she heard a knock at the door, and a little face popped in as it opened.
"Hey sis, can I sleep in here with you tonight?" her little seven-year-old brother Tim asked mousily.