The Litterbox

Stars

"Hey Alex?" A little voice asked, brought to his ears by the nights breeze. He and his sister were sitting outside with their dog watching the clouds pass over the moon and stars. "What is it, Niona?" He watched her tilt her head, feet waving as she thought of her next words. "Do you ever think we're just dreaming?" With these words, she laid back in the cool grass with her head resting on her hands. Alex mimicked her pose, laying out beside her head resting on his hands and one leg resting over the other. "Well, what I think Niona, I think it doesn't matter whether we're dreaming or not. I'm just happy to be laying in this grass. Here. You, me, Rufus. I'm happy. Here in this moment. I think that's all that matters." Alex thought for a second about the words he said, looking up at those stars. He thought about her question; about how he answered. And he was right, even if this was a dream, he knew that it didn't make a difference for him. "What if we wake up?" He looked over to see an anxious expression lining Niona's face. "Then we wake up. And if we're lucky, we wake up and do this again." Alex responded, waving his hand toward the stars dotting the sky above them. He saw her smile and turn her head to look back up at the lights shining above them. "I'd like that." She sat up and grabbed one of Alex's hands and one of Rufus's paws, her usual energy returning. "I'd like to sit here with you and Rufus under the stars once every week." And there the small family lay, looking at the stars and smiling. "Yeah, I think we can do this once a week," Alex said, before they let the silence wash over them again.