Midnight Wonders

2.1.1. The Station in the Greenwood

Spring was a flamboyant entity. It paraded through the streets, leaving blooming blossoms in its wake. The petals blew up and down the quiet streets and crowded houses and always seemed to collect on the outer sill of Luc's bedroom window.

The first thing he did in the mornings, after waking in an empty bed and tidying the sheets for someone who did not care about tidy sheets, was open his window and sweep away the stray blossoms. He didn't particularly mind that they were there, and he let his fingers linger as he gently brushed them away. There was just something satisfying about the cleanliness of the white sill. It was best not to let things collect, after all.

After that morning ritual, he washed and got dressed, then went down to the kitchen, where he poured fresh milk into a glass and cereal into a bowl, sliced fresh apples from the orchard, and seared golden tans onto store-bought bread. Luc placed the apple smiles into a plastic container with a lemon friend and peeled the plastic off a limp square of American cheese, snuggling it between the pieces of bread. Into a Ziploc bag that went. Then it was a spoon into the dry cereal, and the bowl and glass were sent from the kitchen to be served.

Cora's bedroom was at the very end of the hall, next to the bathroom for easy access. Luc knocked on the doorframe with his elbow, more for the sake of knocking than any real purpose, because lack of reply notwithstanding, he pushed the already-ajar door open all the way and slipped inside.

He liked the springtime, when the sun was happy to wake early as everyone else, and he didn't even have to open the curtains to let it in. He did so anyway, after placing the milk and cereal on the bedside table. The petals didn't collect on Cora's windowsill as they did his. The window was facing the wrong way.

Luc turned back to Cora, a shapeless mound beneath the covers. He went over and nudged the edge of the blankets off her face so she could breathe. "Morning," he said softly, patting her on the cheek. Sometimes that was all it took. Other times he had to be a little more firm. Few times he had to give up.

It was a good morning when she woke with a simple touch. She rolled over and made little annoyed sounds in her throat, and her eyes struggled to open. Luc wiped at the rheum crusted on her eyelashes to help her.

"Ready to wake?" he said. Cora stretched before deflating with a sigh, then yawned as she brushed her red hair out of her face. She was nodding off already, and Luc helped her sit up against the headboard. "Today's bath day," he said. "Now or after school?"

"After school," she mumbled, head falling to one shoulder.

"All right." Luc stroked her head. "Can you stay up for breakfast? One bite."

"D'you put the milk in?"

"Of course not."

Cora yawned again, then rubbed her eyes and found the bowl of cereal. She collected four grains onto the spoon and put them in her mouth, then took a sip of the milk to wash it down.

"You said yesterday you wanted to get dressed."

She nodded. "It's equinox."

She was always better at remembering such things than he was. "Okay. Did you pick out what you wanted to wear?"

Cora nodded again. "It's in the closet." She smothered another yawn behind her hand.

"Want to go wash your face? I'll get your clothes. Or do you need help?"

"I've got it." She pulled the blankets over her legs and got unsteadily out of bed. It seemed each day she was thinner than before, but Luc knew that he was comparing her now to how she'd been years ago, not the day before. He could hardly remember anything he'd done yesterday, or the day before, the days before then. They were all the same now.

He couldn't look at her as she shuffled her way to the bathroom, and he opened her closet to find the clothes she'd picked out the night before. He heard the tap running in the bathroom and the splash of water. Luc sighed. It was a better day than most, he reminded himself.

Cora managed to stay awake to get dressed, and she even finished half her breakfast. She wanted to go outside, so he helped her into her chair, and she stayed awake under the light of the sun for ten minutes before the fatigue took her again, so Luc brought her back inside and back to her bed. He wrote her a reminder to finish her breakfast, then left her to sleep. He filled up his water bottle, then collected his apples and sandwich from the kitchen, his bag from the living room, and his shoes from the hallway. Then it was off to work.

Luc sat at the bus station for ten minutes, hugging his bag in his lap and watching white petals dance over his shoes, which had once been black but were now graying from the seams. No one else waited beside him.

The bus came. He nodded to the bus driver as he climbed on board, taking his usual seat towards the front, where the two aisles on either side of the bus faced each other. He could see outside the window without having to turn around.

The hills rolled by outside. They were green almost year round, save for the particularly hot summers when the sun fried the grass golden. Into the hills the bus rode, and the trees cast funny shadows onto the floor of the bus. Luc wondered, staring into the deep of the woods that seemed to grow around them, where it went. If the bus tumbled off the road and into the trees, would it fall into an endless abyss? Perhaps the trees would catch it in their sturdy arms. Maybe there was something more at their feet.

The trees outside began to thin, revealing more of the green. The slopes of the green hills slid by in soft waves. There was something in them. A...station. It was small, just a wooden bench for two beside a sign. There weren't even any postings of bus times.

The bus slowed. The wheels hissed as they stopped. The doors opened.

Luc waited. No one got on. A station, here? He didn't remember one. Where were they, anyway? This was his regular commute; had been for almost two years now. He would remember a station like this.

He stood to get a better view out the window. There was a movement. Ah, someone there after all? He craned his neck to look, took a step forward...