Four:

After a long day at work.

Belinda and Alden came home.

The moment they walked in, they saw me standing by the door without a single drop of sweat on me, not looking at all like someone who'd baked in the heat all day. Their brows knit together, and they rushed straight to the electric meter box.

They seemed to want the meter to prove I'd been wasting power at home, being wasteful, un-eco-friendly, so they could stand on the moral high ground and point their fingers at me.

But then they looked.

Both of them froze, because the reading was exactly the same as the photo they'd taken of it when they left that morning.

"How is this even possible? Why hasn't the meter moved a single kilowatt-hour? Did you break it?"

"You didn't run the AC at home, fine, that's a fact. But there's no way you didn't at least turn on a fan. You don't look like someone who sweated through a whole day."

"So now you're not just being wasteful, you've actually stooped to stealing electricity, which is against the law!"

They weren't wrong. I really hadn't baked in the heat all day.

I'm not an idiot, after all.

This is the hottest stretch of the year. The forecast said a hundred and two, and the "feels like" on my phone was pushing a hundred and fifteen. If I'd sat home without the AC at high noon, I'd have been steamed alive.

So I'd actually spent the whole day in an air-conditioned hotel room and timed my return for right when they got off work.

Not that I'd ever tell them that.

I just said, smug all over my face,

"I didn't break the meter."

"The reason the house didn't use a single kilowatt-hour is that I sold off every appliance we own. I even threw out the phone chargers."

"Because I decided Belinda was right. We have to go green. The AC heats up the environment, but using all this electricity like we do also releases huge amounts of carbon, causes global warming, air pollution, and resource depletion."

"And besides, didn't you say it yourselves? Back before we had electricity, everyone got along just fine. So I just took the idea and ran with it."

Five:

Belinda and Alden shot each other a look, faces full of disbelief, and bolted for the living room.

But it didn't take long for them to believe it.

Where the freestanding AC unit used to sit in the living room, there was now a potted plant.

The TV that used to hang on the wall was gone, replaced by Belinda and Alden's wedding photo.

The wall-mounted AC units in all three bedrooms and the study were gone too, leaving only big holes. Even the fridge, the washing machine, and the smart toilet were gone...

The two of them stood there stunned for a while before it registered, and then they pointed at me and let loose.

"Have you lost your mind?"

"We just told you not to run the AC. What's the meaning of selling off all these appliances? Are you doing this on purpose to make us look like fools?"

"Get every last thing back here right now!"

I spread my hands.

"They've all been sold for scrap. How am I supposed to get them back?"

"How could I possibly be making you look like fools? You two love the environment. No effort is too small when it comes to going green. What if the planet was hanging on just this one person, just this one kilowatt-hour?"

"Don't worry. A calm heart keeps you cool."

"I made a point of buying a few all-natural palm-leaf fans, and three big winter melons too. If we hold the fans and hug the melons, we definitely won't get too hot."

"And with the TV and everything else gone, our family can chat more, grow closer. It's the best of both worlds!"

I was thoroughly enjoying myself.

Belinda and Alden, on the other hand, were livid.

Sweat poured down their faces like water, and Belinda's makeup ran right off.

"Grace Dickerson! You're picking a fight on purpose, aren't you?"

"I wouldn't let you run the AC, so you're bitter, and now you're tormenting us like this on purpose, right?"

But no matter what Belinda said.

I kept my innocent face.

I even pulled out my phone and showed Belinda the eco-friendly tips an AI app had given me, proof that I truly love the environment and wasn't doing this to torment anyone.

In the end she just slammed the door and left, and Alden had no interest in staying in this furnace either, so he moved to follow her out. But before he went, he stopped and spat the words at me through gritted teeth.

"No wonder Dad would rather live with some dancer than stay with you. You're vicious. You're disgusting."

"If I'd known it would come to this, I should've died before I let you take me. I should've gone with Dad, not stayed with a poisonous old hag like you!"

If this was the me from my last life hearing words like that,

I'd probably have screamed about ungrateful little brats, cursed him for being trash who couldn't feel a thing for his own mother, and gotten so worked up I'd have brought on a heart attack.

But this time I only smiled and said,

"There's still time. Your father isn't dead yet. Go find him, why don't you?"

Alden was furious, and he slammed the door on his way out.

For the next several days, they stayed in a hotel and didn't come home at all.

But they kept sending me messages.

【I don't care whether your environmentalism is real or fake. You're going to replace everything in this house, or we are not coming back.】

【Don't think we don't know. You're staying in a hotel yourself.】

【Then let's see who outlasts who. We're not as carefree as you, but a woman your age, without a son and daughter-in-law, is not going to have a good time of it.】

...

A dozen-plus messages a day, from the two of them.

I didn't take any of it seriously.

I just copied the way they used to brush me off, replying every time with a single "1." And the more I replied, the angrier they got, so the things they said got uglier and uglier.

But I wasn't angry at all, and I wasn't in any hurry either, because I still had a few things left to sell!

Soon enough,

I got a call from Alden.

"Where's my car? What did you do with my car and Belinda's?"

7:

I paused.

Then, playing dumb, I said,

"Your cars? You bought cars?"

"If your cars are gone, call the police. What are you calling me for?"

Alden's voice practically caught fire.

"Quit the act."

"I'm talking about the two cars you bought for us!"

"I already checked the security footage. You brought people and drove them off yourself."

I nodded as if it had just dawned on me.

"Oh, you mean the ones I bought a while back, the ones registered under my name. And then after you found out, you two made up some story about your own car breaking down, sold your own cars, and started driving those two around. Those?"

Alden ground out through his teeth,

"Yes!"

I said it lightly.

"But those two are gas cars!"

"Didn't you know? Oil is a resource. It's nonrenewable. Once it's used up, it's gone!"

"So the way I see it, being green can't just be talk. Gas-guzzlers like that will drain the world dry, so I sold those too!"

They'd already guessed I would say exactly that.

And yet, on the other end of the line, Belinda and Alden were still beside themselves.

"Have you actually gone insane?"

"The cars may be in your name, but we're the ones who actually use them. Where do you get off selling them without a single word to us?"

I sounded even more baffled.

"Huh, I was supposed to tell you?"

"The used-car dealer said as long as you've got the purchase invoice and the registration, you can sell it."

"Though I don't really get the two of you. I don't understand the environment, but you do. You knew to tell me not to run the AC. How is it you didn't know gas cars can't be driven?"

They didn't answer me. Instead, there was a pounding on the door.

"Open up, we'll talk about this face to face!"

I knew the two of them were about to lose their minds, but I didn't take it seriously at all. I just sighed.

"Can't open it."

"Because that house has been sold too."

"Oh, and I'd advise you not to go banging on other people's doors. I hear the folks there have a bit of a mental...."

Before I could finish,

two shrieks came from the other side.