Catch a Glimmer of Your Star

My memories are always by my side

The early morning sunlight shone a road back home as the skylines of the city came within view. Basil already missed the pretty colors of nature, being out in the wilderness, surrounded by its stillness and its beautiful scents. But he could put up with the city as long as he was here with Sunny.

They had gotten a short delay due to a early morning traffic jam. With only an hour left on the clock, Basil drove to the nearest gas station and filled the car tank back up to where Mrs. S had left the gas stick, plus slightly more. He made a fair estimate of how much gas he needed to add to convince the human eye that the car hadn't moved from its parking space. Once done, they drove back to the airport parking lot with haste.

Twenty minutes left.

Basil played a delicate balancing game between gunning it and driving safely. As they drove up the floors of the parking lot, his eyes frantically searched for the spot where Mrs. S had parked her car. If another car was in that spot, they would just have to park in a different spot close by and hope that Mrs. S wouldn't notice the difference.

His heart lurched into his throat when he saw that another car filled the spot that they wanted.

"AHHH!" Basil exclaimed. "Sunny, our spot's taken."

"Just our luck," Sunny said. "Is there any other spot we can park in?"

Basil searched around in desperation. The airport parking lot was filled with cars at this hour. There were no empty spots near theirs. He searched around this floor but couldn't find a spot anywhere close by that might be able to fool Mrs. S.

Ten minutes left.

By now, Mrs. S had probably stepped off her plane and was waiting for her luggage to drop. She might already be on her way to the parking lot.

Basil's eyes darted around. There had to be an inconspicuous space that they could park in. There had to be. They couldn't come all this way just to mess up here and get punished by Mrs. S for stealing her car!

I wouldn't be surprised that it's time our lying and shenanigans finally caught up to us.

After how much I've lied to Sunny's mom...

I hope she doesn't throw me back to my parents.

As the minutes ticked past, as Basil drove around searching for a convincing spot that they could park in, he started to panic. He saw the world growing dark with anxiety. Something curled at the edges of his vision.

Four minutes left.

Sunny suddenly pointed back to that spot.

"Basil, look! The space that my mom parked in. The car's moving out of it."

Basil's senses jumped to high alert, dispelling the shadow's teeth and eyes. With his attention pinned to that spot like a needle, Basil immediately swerved his car into position, ready to take that spot as soon as the occupying car backed out of it. There were other cars in the parking lot searching for empty spaces as well and he would not let any of them get it.

Another car pulled up nearby, threatening to take the spot that they wanted.

No, you don't!

In a maneuver that might have totaled the car completely, Basil slammed the pedal and veered the car into that parking spot before the other car could steal it. He switched his foot to the brake just in time before he crashed into the car in front of him.

The other car drove by, the driver giving them a middle finger.

"We made it," Basil said, exhaling in relief.