Still to Do

A returned library book becomes a tortoise. An avoided apology grows teeth. A promise to call home turns into a hound that howls at telephones. Mara works for the city’s Completion Service, where competence means clean forms, empty pens, and no creature left hungry overnight.

Her own animal is another matter.

It sleeps beneath her desk, too large to register and still growing. It came from the promise Mara made after their mother’s death: she would care for her younger sister, Inez, forever. The vow made Mara reliable. It also made Inez the object of a duty she never chose.

Now the mayor has ordered every long-term animal inspected. Mara’s director wants zero backlog. Inez wants a life that does not belong on her sister’s caseload. And the creature is becoming impossible to hide.

To keep the person she loves, how much of her promise must Mara be willing to lose?