Mahingga

Chapter 16: Pawids

Ako sat on top of the cabin at the front of the boat, legs dangling over the water. He was wearing an old school robe to ward off the chilly, night air. It had started getting noticeably colder. The ocean was extremely placid, and the sky was perfectly clear. The moon was dipping down over the horizon and the stars and cosmos blared with brilliant clarity. There was hardly any wind, so the boat moved on laboriously slow.

They'd been at sea for over a month and a half, and they'd worked their way through almost half of their supplies. Kita's water filter was actually more useful than Ako thought it would be. She'd managed to fill up a whole water container with it. She'd also been able to catch a couple fish in the last three days, which were better odds than they'd seen for a while.

Ako had to admit that he was rather impressed with Kita's ingenuity. She wasn't an engineer or anything, but she was still brilliant and resourceful. She also was doing pretty well with teaching him Pawidan. They tried to talk exclusively in Pawidan, but Ako would stumble over a lot of words. It was frustrating that there wasn't a direct translation for some things, but Kita was helpful in showing him how to get around that.

He gazed up at the stars and leaned back on his arms. His old passion for finding a way to fly was rekindling as he thought of being closer to those beautiful, twinkling lights. He let out a sigh and thought he saw a couple of the stars drop from the sky and fall without a splash into the ocean. Smiling at the idea, he imagined that it continued, more and more stars flicking down with a sudden movement—but then they started to swirl, moving together in an organized pattern. He rubbed at his eyes and opened them again; some of the stars were still spinning, while others remained as motionless as before.

"What...?" Ako whispered to himself. He rolled on his back across the cabin and dropped to the floor of the boat on his feet. "Kita," he said, nudging her softly in the shoulder.

Kita grunted. "Come on, Ako. It can't have been more than a couple hours." She blinked at him grumpily.

"No, come look at this!" Ako whispered excitedly. There was no reason to whisper, since Kita was already awake and they were by themselves, but for some reason, he still did. He ran back over to the front of the boat and waved his arm out, pointing to the stars.

Kita sat up and brushed her hair out of her face, squinting blearily at the night sky. "What, haven't you seen stars before?"

"No." Ako frowned at her. "They're moving; can't you see?" Ako returned his gaze to the sky, but...the stars were motionless. "Wait, what? I swear they were moving." Perhaps he was delirious. He was grateful it was dark, because he felt a sudden flush of embarrassment rush to his cheeks. "Sorry, I'm—."

He stopped short as Kita suddenly sprang to her feet and stepped up beside him, leaning up against the cabin. Her elbow pressed gently against his arm, and his flush remained, but her eyes were on the stars.

"You saw them moving?" Kita asked, her eyes frantically scanning the stars. "How so?"

"Uh," Ako stammered. "At first, a couple of them fell, and then more, and then they started swirling."

"Where, exactly?" Kita glanced between him and the sky.

Ako waved his pointy finger in a general direction to the east. "Around there, I guess."

Kita ran over to the sail and started adjusting the direction.

"Am I missing something?" Ako asked. He ran a hand through the back of his hair. It was thick with grease and salt. He needed a bath pronto.

Kita smiled, her teeth shining in the darkness. "Those weren't stars, Ako."

Ako's mouth hung open as he wondered how to protest.