The Illusion of Permanence

Chapter 7

Luna's queen-sized bed is so comfortable that when I wake up the next morning, I almost don't want to leave it. I roll over, and the other side is empty although Luna had been there the night before. I sigh and throw the warm duvet off of me, the cold morning air stinging my skin. I reach down and slip on the pair of socks that I'd kicked down onto the floor last night during my sleep. They help keep the cold wood from freezing the bottom of my feet.

I slowly wander through the house, trying to remember the way around from the night before. I creep my way all the way to the kitchen, trying to be as quiet as possible. This is where I find Luna, humming to herself and dancing gracefully: letting her socks spin her around on the tile without having to put in much effort. She looks like a figure skater or a ballerina.

"Hey," I say softly. This doesn't interrupt her—instead, she grabs both of my hands in hers and spins me around. I realize she has a song playing softly from her phone, which is resting on the counter. 

You're the light out on the sea 

A twirling seed blown off the tree 

Just floating in the wind, rolling on the waves 

Slipping out of reach

You're everything I need 

I smell honey in your hair 

I see longing in your stare 

All I know is that you care 

And all that I have left is only what I've built here...

We dance to it for a few minutes, spinning and giggling over each other until it ends. Another song starts after it, but it doesn't feel as magical as the first. She doesn't pause though, swiftly aiming her last slow spin so that she ends up in front of the stove, where she has a heated skillet set up.

"What are you making?" I ask, coming up to stand behind her.

"Pancakes!" She announces as she pours the batter into perfect circles on the skillet. I watch her silently for a minute before she speaks again. "Even though it's Saturday, my dad left early this morning. He travels for work a lot so he's like, never around. He probably won't even notice I'm gone."

"What about your brother?" I ask.

"Parker?" I nod in response to her question. "He lives in a tiny studio apartment over the shop. He's not an issue. My point is, we can leave whenever we're ready to."

"Shouldn't we check the bus schedule first?"

She laughs openly. "We're not taking the bus! I'm driving, silly."

"Driving?"

She flips a pancake. "Yeah, we're taking Mike's car."

"Who is Mike again?" I'm getting very lost in her plan very quickly.

"My brother, the one we're going to crash with in the city. He left his car here while he's at school, so it's basically up for grabs. We're going to drive it over to the Poughkeepsie train station, leave it there somewhere, and take the train into the city. We can't drive all the way because there'd be nowhere to leave the car. Don't worry, I've thought this through." 

I still feel a little worried about how smoothly this is going to go, but I've decided to trust her, so that's what I have to do. This is her adventure, so I have to let her take the wheel—and she will, literally.