“You take the blue pill—the story ends… You take the red pill—you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.” Morpheus, The Matrix.

The Matrix came out in 1999. I’ve always wondered: what would’ve happened if Neo had taken both pills?

Yesterday I realized that Cape Girardeau, Missouri, is making me swallow both.

On a Saturday, Main Street hums. The Mississippi River rolls brown behind the floodwall murals. SEMO students fill the sidewalks. Couples split a warm Amish donut on a bench. A kid on a skateboard weaves in and out through the patrons walking down Broadway, grinning. Someone always holds a door open.

Then, at 2 a.m. Sunday, gunshots explode along North Main Street. Officers patrolling downtown hear the shots, rush in, and give aid until the ambulance arrives. A child dies at the hospital. Three adults are left bleeding. Red and blue lights bounce off the storefronts, and police close Main Street from Themis to Independence. By sunrise, social media feeds are spreading the news to every kitchen table in town.

It’s the same red bricks. The same brown river. The same Cape Girardeau. Ssaturday and Sunday share the same sidewalks.

But Neo got to choose. We wake up Monday and drive past North Main, where evidence markers lined the sidewalk the morning before. Detectives keep chasing leads. The rest of us, the ones who love this town, keep showing up.

We swallowed both pills.

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If you know anything about the shooting, call Cape Girardeau Police at 573-339-6621, the anonymous tip line at 573-339-6313, or text “CAPEPD” to 847411.