Monday around Noon...
I felt like a kid on Christmas as I turned onto Evelyn’s street. ”Five houses to go...” I told myself as I pulled up to the first mailbox on the street. Prior to starting my route I had checked to see if there was any mail for Evelyn and to my delight there was. ”I could always just hand deliver her mail if the lights are off...” I thought closing the mailbox and driving forward to the next house. ”If there’s no signs of life I need to check if she’s still alive. And since the effects were set to fade out there’s a good chance that she’s still asleep...” I thought as I tossed a few pieces of mail into the mailbox and pulled forward to the next mailbox.
Now with Evelyn’s little house insight and 2 more houses to go I began to hustle. ”What’s this?” I asked myself pulling up to Evelyn’s mailbox. The lights inside were on and there was something different about her house, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. ”What’s changed?..” I pulled open the mailbox and grabbed Evelyn's mail that was sitting on my lap. ”The lights being on inside is promising... but something about the house is different.” Before sliding the mail into her mailbox I looked down at the envelopes in my hand. ”Evelyn Jaccobs?” I re-read the name on the envelope. ”Wait... What the hell?” I flipped to the next envelope and the same name was on that bill. ”What is going on...” I flipped to the next bill. ”Rudy Jaccobs? Who the hell is that?” I asked myself.
As I sat there frozen in thought a light went off in my head. ”That’s her husband...” A hazy memory of an old man standing next to a younger refreshed looking Evelyn appeared in my head. The memory in my head seemed so real, yet in a way it felt deceptive and artificial. I sat the mail on my lap and rubbed my eyes as I tried to get my brain to focus, but I just couldn’t quite get the image in my head perfectly sharp. “This has to be the magic...” I mumbled looking back up at the flowers on Evelyn’s porch. “THE FLOWERS!” I gasped. “They’re real!” My eyes focused on the old planter on the porch. “They were fake yesterday... And now they’re real!” Then I started noticing more and more subtle alterations to the house. The porch looked less decrepit, and the singles on the roof weren’t covered in moss. ”It’s like someone is actually taking care of the house...” I thought as I continued to notice small yet significant changes to the house. “That must mean the potions worked... and Evelyn is still alive! Holy shit!” I let out at gasp at the realization that I had been talking out loud to myself.
Looking down at the mail in my lap, I quickly gathered it up, and tossed it into the Jacobs’ mailbox. ”I can’t wait to see the changes tomorrow.” I thought as I slowly pulled away from the curb on my way to the next mailbox.
