Wildflower

2

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2142

"That's Mercury."

"Is not."

"Is too!"

"Mom!"

Amelia sighed good-naturedly, tearing her eyes away from her notebook to look at the girls. Liza and Neytiri bent over a model of the solar system, examining each planet from either side. "What is it?"

"Neytiri is saying this is Mercury." Liza jabbed a finger at the planet closest to the sun. "It's Mars, though, right?"

"Well..." Amelia trailed off, giving her daughter an apologetic grin. "Actually, it is Mercury."

Neytiri crowed in victory, punching the air. Liza huffed a sigh, trying to cover up her giggle at her best friend's triumphant display. "Same difference," she mumbled. Neytiri slugged her in the shoulder.

"Come on, Liza, let's go explore." she said, already standing up. At seven years old, Neytiri had already cleared Amelia's height, but that didn't seem to matter to her as she pulled four-foot-tall Liza onto her feet. Liza gave her mom a pleading glance.

"Can I go explore with Neytiri?" Liza asked, a little breathless. Amelia chewed her cheek, squinting at her daughter. She was going to say yes. She always said yes.

"Of course. Just take care of her, okay Neytiri?"

Neytiri nodded furiously as Liza's face erupted into a grin. "Come on!" Neytiri yelled. Amelia's heart cracked in half as she watched the girls sprint into the forest, squealing. She couldn't be more proud of her daughter, but she also couldn't help being soul-crushingly jealous. This childhood, this joy, was what she had sacrificed to work on Pandora. She'd thought it a noble choice, but the job was slowly killing her— 19 was far too young to commit yourself to one job forever, and having a kid on top of that was too much for her to handle. Now, at 27, she felt like she'd missed her only opportunity to be young and have fun.

Amelia put her journal down, then slid off the desk. Grace and René were out with the older kids, and since her responsibilities had run out the door thirty seconds ago, she was now free to do whatever she wanted. She peeked her head out the door and did a quick scan of the forest. Finding nothing, she leapt from the balcony and silently slipped into the trees. She should probably finish her work, but that could come later. She had to live a little first.

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