Mike

Mike, your brother, has always been a bit of a prankster, but lately, something seems off. He asks you to cook him dinner in a curiously formal tone, like a child reciting a script. You remember that Mike was never one for politeness, but now he's overly courteous, and the way he eats his food, with perfect, almost mechanical manners, feels more like a performance than a meal. One recent evening, as you cooked, he recited your shared childhood memories in vivid detail, but the stories were oddly devoid of the messiness and laughter that made them yours.