The Green Planet

Chapter 4

Clifton's smile was so large, it almost hurt. I won't be alone was his only thought. The loneliness he has felt for the past year slowly ebbed away.

Stella smiled and ran into her room. Before anyone could say anything, she came back with paper and colored pencils. She spread everything out on the floor and happily hummed as she colored. Every few seconds she would look up at Clifton, squint and go back to coloring. Clifton looked up at Cecelia and made a puzzled look. She just shrugged and went to the kitchen. Leslie sat down beside him and whispered. "How are you going to get her to let you stay?"

"What do you mean?" He whispered back.

"I know you want to stay longer for a week, I can practically see the loneliness wafting off of you like a fog. I can't imagine going through this without my family. Now that you found us, you should stay!"

"I want to, you have no idea how much I do. But your sister made it clear, one week. No longer. I'll stay in the area for a while though. Right now I want to focus on walking again." He gestured toward his bandaged legs. Leslie winced and looked anywhere but at the bandages.

Silence fell over the room. All was quiet except for Stella humming. Clifton closed his eyes and listened to the birds chirping, the frogs croaking and the animals scurrying around the forest floor. He retreated into his consciousness, away from the pain that was always there in his legs, away from any thoughts. All he heard were the sounds of the forest.

All too soon, he felt a slight shake of his shoulder. Clinton's eyes flew open and he looked to his left. Cecelia was sitting next to him with a wooden crutch in one of her hands. "Come on, let's see if you can walk," she said as she dropped it and wrapped one of his arms around her shoulder. Carefully and slowly, they stood up together. Clifton put most of his weight on her and the rest on his left foot. He activated his left eye and saw the smaller details. Clifton looked into Cecelia's eyes and saw tiny flecks of a lighter brown hidden in the darker brown. Her eyes shimmered in the light and it looked almost gold.

Cecelia smiled shyly and looked down. Clifton cleared his throat, made his eye go back to normal and said "Where'd you get the crutches?"

"Oh Stella rolled her ankle so I went into that town and found this. We kept it just in case so I guess that works out."

Clifton nodded and bent down with Cecelia to grab the crutch. When they stood back up, he shifted his weight onto the crutch as he moved it under his arm. Clifton winced as Cecelia let go and slowly walked backwards. A dog in the corner was shrouded in shadows but you could hear a low growl coming from him. Suddenly Clifton wobbled and his vision doubled. He put all of his weight on the crutch and slowly took an intake of breath.

"Are you okay?" Cecelia asked, her voice full of concern.

"Yeah it's nothing, just a little dizzy." A few seconds later, everything came into focus and he stopped wobbling. He shot her a smile and practiced walking. One step. Two steps. Soon, he was walking with the crutches without stumbling or falling. He looked up at Cecelia and smiled even wider. "I'll show you around. I don't exactly know where you'll sleep. Probably the floor over there." She gestured to the corner. Clifton nodded stiffly and followed her around.

Cecelia showed Clifton every room. What things they've invented, and how to use it. The dog followed behind them, watching Clifton very carefully. When he asked Cecelia about it, she looked puzzled and said "Cooper, come here boy." She bent down low to the ground and patted her knees. Cooper never moved or looked in her direction. Clifton looked the dog in the eyes and they stood there, staring at each other. Cecelia went over to Cooper and moved her hand toward him. Clifton squinted with his left eye and looked closer. He turned on his xtravision let him see the red that flashed in the dog's eyes as Cooper bared his teeth and snapped at Cecelia. Cecelia pulled her hand back and hopped up immediately. She stood there, a look of surprise and astonishment plain on her face. Cooper kept growling and slowly trotted back into the living room and laid on a stack of pillows.