J’avais fait ces deux exercices d’écriture en anglais il y a un moment.

The multiple suns set upon the Kasis household.

« To bed! I’m not repeating it again! »

He finally managed to get the two hyperactive boys under the sheets, or at least, contained by their sleeping contraptions. A tired caretaker came back in the living room to entertain the guest he previously left here.

« I’m telling you, they’re impossible.

– I wouldn’t know. » Karl said. « But you’re doing a great job.

– I mean, they’re good boys you know, but I can’t seem to make them do their chores. Like, not chores, really, juste their basic hygiene. We’re barely getting at brushing teeth once a day.

– It’s supposed to be three. » Karl took a sip of tea. John’s hand waved almost against his will.

« One will do for now. Now, about brushing their DNA, they wouldn’t listen! They don’t care! They tell me they have plenty of DNA and that the probability of mutations is infinitesimal! They tell me they’ll care about rewriting cells gone wrong when they’re older.

– Weren’t we all like that? Not thinking we were immortal but… Thinking it would be pretentious to take such precautions against death early on? As if we’re that important? Brushing DNA is tedious and, well, when you don’t know what you’ll do with your life, you don’t really think about the time left, do you?

– I don’t know. I guess. » John half-said.

In the short silence they could look at the two suns outside, one eclipsing the other with its unreal light. John talked first, trying to summarize his feelings :

« Well, children… Are hard.

– I wouldn’t know. » Karl said again. « Thanks for the tea. I think I’ll get going. »

He barely talked about it, but because he didn’t brush his DNA regularly enough, Karl couldn’t have children. With no descendance and multiple shadows, he strode along the beach.

The streetlight flickered.

« Hey.

– Hey. Looking for something?

– Actually yes.

– Coke? Weed?

– Do you have any painkillers?

– Any what?

– Painkillers.

– Is it like a poetic metaphor? Like drugs that kill your pain or something?

– What? No! It’s a medical term that… Wait, how old are you? How young are you?

– None of your business. So, like, pills, medications?

– Yes, pills.

– I have some homeopathic mad stuff this season.

– I don’t- » for the first time he had raised his voice. He pinched his nose. « I’m addicted to some kind of pills, I can’t just take homeopathy and hope to be fine.

– How do you know if you haven’t tried? I mean, if it works for other drugs, it should work for your pills.

– I’m not- What do you mean other drugs?

– Well coke and weed, mainly.

– You sell homeopathic coke?

– Well yeah. It saves a lot of the good stuff, with those quantities. »

He walked away from the kid. By god, this bad neighborhood was even bad at being a bad neighborhood.