Phoebe and I were sitting on opposite sides of the table with stacks of paper between us. Chris happened to be taking a nap at that moment. That’s w...at we called it when he had to go to bed at my house, and then go home later. It was late, around ten in the evening.“Oh!” said my sister, standing there wide-eyed.Phoebe just stared at her.“Hi,” I said, jovially. “I wasn’t expecting you.” I looked at my watch for some reason and said, “It’s Wednesday.”“I’m sorry,” she said. “I had some vacation. So he just turned back around and tried to change the subject. ‘Did I wake you up?’ he asked. He knew she wasn’t a light sleeper but he’d really been trying to be quiet. In his book, being conscious before the sun rose was practically a sin. ‘No,’ Anna replied with a small yawn. ‘But the alarm on your Blackberry did. Way to hit snooze four times, Jay.’ He grinned as he finished tying his shoes. Only Anna could make him feel like a jackass first thing in the morning. ‘Sorry,’ he said, standing. Intha murai aval paarpatharku romba kaamamaga irunthaal. Avalin antha tshirtil oru siriya pai irunthathu athi enaku oru innipu mitaai vaithu irunthaal. Athai eduthu ennidam kuduthaal naan athai vaangi sapiten pinbu avalidam unnidam veeru meetaigal irukiratha endru keetan?Aval irukiratrhu endru sonnal naan udane avalin tshirtil irukum paiyil enathu kaiyai viittu avalin mulaiyai thotten aval kangalai muudinaal. Intha mulai avalin kazhuthil mutham itten, aval ennidam sir enna seigireergal endru. His gear was wrapped in a cloth that was tagged with a number, the same ID number next to his name in the ledger. The armband he received was also numbered. It looked like regular cheap fabric, but the moment he put it on, he felt it tighten around his arm and stick to his skin like duct tape. Everyone had the same reaction of trying to pull it off, only to find it wouldn’t budge.More waiting, until, finally, everyone was registered. “Now we move on to the next stage,” said the commandant..