A True Friend

Chapter 15

~~One Hour Ago~~

Andriette's P.O.V

  Back home, when I couldn't sleep, I did one of two things.

  One: I read until I passed out.

  Two: I snuck out of my window, climbed my favorite tree in my forest, looked at the stars, and thought.

  When sleep danced out of my reach once again, I rolled out from under Arrow's wing and stood, brushing sand from my clothes. The fire was still burning, surprisingly bright.

  That's good, I thought absently. Jack runs colder than me, I think.

  The light casted odd shadows on the ground, so I ignored the large dark spot right in front of my feet. Until it flicked up and caught my ankle, that is.

  "Ah, frick." I got a faceful of sand.

  After a moment of wallowing in self-pity, I got up and wiped the sand from my face. I continued forward and plopped down about a foot away from the tide. Before I could properly appreciate the gorgeous night or general atmosphere, I got the distinct feeling someone was watching me.

  Instinctively, I looked back towards the forest, but instead, I caught sight of two eyes peeking out from under a Sliquifer's wing. The wing dropped back to the sand abruptly.

  I held back a laugh and rolled my eyes. "I saw you, Kelp Head."

  After a moment, Jack rolled out from under the wing. He almost rolled right into the fire, but he didn't seem to notice. He looked at me, still lying on the ground, sand in his hair and eyes wide.

  He looks like a kid caught with a hand in the cookie jar, I thought. Or a confused puppy.

  I don't think I could have helped my smile if I tried. I patted the sand next to me. "Come on."

  Jack scrambled over, and almost faceplanted into the ground once or twice. He sat about half an arm's length away, and I caught him glance at me as I looked back to the stars.

  It was quiet for a while, a peaceful natural ambiance. The waves lapped at the shore near silently. The fire crackled and popped behind us. Guppy snored, and Arrow huffed out a breath. It was a symphony I never would have gotten to hear back home.

  Home.

  The stars glowed, painting the sky in a rainbow of colors.

  "There are so many stars here."

  "Huh?"

  I fell back, and the sand caught me. I pointed to the sky. "You can't see this many stars back home. What with all the lights."

  Home.

  I wondered, if it were silent enough, if I listened hard enough, would I hear the stars sing? Would their voices be clear, unlike the stars back home, muffled by smog and light pollution?

  Jack lay beside me. "There are so many colors," he whispered. "I kinda feel like Rapunzel. 'And at last, I see the light' and all that."

  Home.

  "Yeah."

  I didn't look away from the stars, but I heard shifting sand and felt eyes on the side of my head. "What's wrong?" The question was soft.

  I swallowed back the rising lump in my throat. "Nothing much. I... it's easy to miss home, I guess. My sisters would kill me if they... when they see I've done this without them." I couldn't help but laugh, albeit wetter than I'd like. My eyes stung as I reached up and grabbed my necklace. The jagged edges dug into my palm, but I couldn't bring myself to care. "And my friend, Sarah... I miss her already."