Knowing You.

The Sky Watchers

A.N. I apologize for being sooo late with this update 😭 writing is becoming hard for me and life has been getting in the way. Still, I hope you will like this chapter.

MALA

“Hey,” Mala whispers to Ben just as night has fallen and the sounds of the insects surrounding them fill the air. Some of the sounds go in staccato, some seem to never stop, and some sound like they are murmuring another language – one that could only be understood by their fellow insects. It is during nights like this that makes Mala feel relaxed in some way.

She can’t explain it, but there is this belief of hers that soldiers of both sides would want to rest at night. The fighting can continue when the sun rises, but when the moon illuminates the vast sky and the countless stars twinkle above their heads, it is a clear time to rest.

Even with that thought though, she had heard the news of late-night bombings, especially in cities where civilians – supposedly those that are not part of the war at all – are affected. That news scare her because these were people that did not do anything wrong. Most of those people were children or the elderly. What scares her more is if she hears news that there were bombings that targeted her small and quaint town. What would become of her if she lost her town, especially her father and brother?

It would be hard to continue living without them.

And her family can say the same thing. Before she left, her father told her that it would be difficult to continue his life if she died in the war. Her brother did not say anything, but he couldn’t hide from crying when Mala left their farmhouse.

Enough of those thoughts. Mala shook her head a bit to steel herself. Time to go back to the task at hand. “Hey,” she whispers again.

Ben grunts out of frustration. “What?” He says in a pointed tone. It did not sound groggy at all.

“It’s nighttime.”

“No, it’s day but the sun decided to not show up. Yeah, no shit it’s nighttime.”

Mala did not react to his snarky reply. She’s grown albeit used to it. “Sounds like you were not sleeping at all.”

“It’s hard to sleep for me.” He pauses for a second. “Plus…I’m wary of whatever shit I might say in my sleep for you to hear.”

She scoffs, “Like what? War secrets? I’m just a medic with no way to connect with my comrades. They won’t be hearing anything from me anytime soon.” Or if our current circumstances would change in some way.

She hears him shift in place. “Anyway,” he murmurs. “I’m sure you did not call my attention for nothing. What do you want?”

“...I think it’s clear outside. You wanna look at the sky?”

His voice is a bit raised when he asks, “Are you serious?”

“Yes,” Mala answers in a heartbeat. “There’s nothing wrong with going outside at this time of the night. Plus…I’m sure you’re sick of being cooped up in this dugout.”

It took a few seconds of silence before Ben replies, "...Fair point. But I'm still not going."

"What?” She utters incredulously. “It sounded like you wanted to."

"Then your judgment is far off, Mala."

"It's just looking at the sky. There's nothing wrong with that. It could help with your well-being–"

"What could help with my well-being is if I go to sleep," he grunts.

"Which you should have been doing an hour ago," Mala points out.