2.01
In the early morning haze, a girl awakens, her body weary from a restless night. She forces herself out of bed, adhering to her routine despite the lingering fatigue. As she prepares for her day, her father, a man of routine and worry, enters the kitchen. He’s not conventionally attractive, marked by a constant look of bewildered defeat.
“Good morning, kiddo,” he says, kissing her head. He notices her weariness, and she admits to a sleepless night. He suggests she rest, hinting at his disapproval of her daily runs. “You could sleep in,” he offers, but she declines, citing the importance of routine.
Their conversation turns to local gossip. A man named Gerry, known to both of them, has apparently found work with the infamous duo Über and Leet, a pair of incompetent villains. They share a brief, quiet breakfast, interrupted by her father’s sudden observation. “I heard you come in late last night,” he says, causing her heart to race.
She fabricates a story about being unable to sleep, a tale not entirely untrue, but not the full story of her night’s adventure. Her father, ever the worrier, warns her about the dangers of wandering at night. She reassures him, though a knot of guilt forms in her stomach as she thinks of the previous night’s near-death experience.
He presses her about the cause of her sleeplessness. “School,” she says, “Friends, the lack thereof.” He delicately avoids mentioning the bullies, an unspoken issue between them.
He forbids her from going out at night again, and she apologizes, even though she knows she might repeat her actions. As she leaves for her run, her father notices her burnt hair. She dismisses it, attributing it to the stove, and rushes out, leaving her worried father behind.