Poignant Skies

Forests

Dr. Lee Kurt and Ms. Selena Marie would have their usual Novan classes during weekdays between breakfast and lunch. During Saturdays, they would go to NICC for Selena's routinary check-up and Lee's weekly report. Then for Sundays they would go to the market for some fish and meat and then clean up the house. But everyday Selena would have her long sleep in the afternoon that would last until morning of next day. Lee is usually left to eat dinner on his own. After which he spends the remaining of his time in the evening to do his research.

So far, Lee has taught Selena about the history of Novus, the cultures that were adapted and developed in the planet, the wars fought in space, what happened to the Confederation, and many others.

Selena also taught him many things that she could still remember. He learned about the many political and environmental problems Earth faced. He also learned about the different nationalities and that his name Lee originated from the Chinese. He also discovered that Selena was a scientist. Many times she would mention remembering flashbacks of being in a laboratory. But she couldn't provide any more specifics on her research work.

After one month of hosting and learning, it was now the first day of the eleventh month. During this day of the year, Novans would visit their ancestors' graves and pay respects. Lee brought Selena with him as he visited his lineage in the Forest of the Dead.

"Burying the dead directly to the soil, huh." Selena said as Lee led her to a short hike up the hill. The trees around them had names carved beautifully into the barks, names of those who were buried underneath those trees. Some had photo frames of the dead placed by the root to remember their faces. Some frames were too old that the roots have almost devoured them.

"I think back on Earth you have many ways to bury your dead." Lee responded. "Unlike ours where we are only allowed to bury them directly to the soil."

"Yes, there were traditional burials with caskets and cremations. But this tree-planting-underneath-cadavers method was already being practiced then. Although it was not very prevalent."

Selena suddenly stopped as they passed through a clearing. From where she stood was a beautiful view of the sunset.

"Rose." she muttered.

"I'm sorry?" Lee was trying to catch his breath.

"The sunsets here are rose colored, almost the same as what we have on earth."

"I thought sunsets on earth are more of a hint of orange."

"Where I used to live the sunsets were mostly rose colored. And as evening approached, it would slowly change into indigo. I would take those few minutes to look into the sky and wait for the stars to appear." She took a deep sigh. "These poignant skies reminds me of home."

There was a brief silence between. Lee didn't know what to say to her.

Selena finally looked at Lee and smiled. "Shall we go now?"

Lee led her further uphill and they went on in silence. Then Lee finally stopped as they arrived at his family's patch of land. In front were two young trees with photos of a middle aged man and woman.

"I guess Lara already visited mom and dad here early." Lee said as he placed his small bouquet of mauve flowers next to another one. "My mom loved these flowers. The are actually endemic to Novus. She had a floral shop before..."

Lee's sentence trailed off as he noticed that Selena was no longer behind him. She had gone ahead to the older trees where Lee's ancestors were buried underneath. There he found her standing in front the largest and oldest tree. It was the tree of Lee's first ancestor who originally migrated to Novus shortly after it was established.

Half of the photo frame was already buried in the roots and soil. Only the hair, eyes and the nose were visible. Lee clearly inherited most of his looks from his great ancestor.

"Our great ancestor's name is James Kurt." Lee said as walked towards her. She didn't look at him and just she stared at the old photo frame in silence. "The carving of his name in this tree isn't quite visible anymore. We tried to dig up his frame but it was already fragile and the photo could be damaged further. We do have photos of him and his..."

Selena turned around and looked at him. Her nose was bleeding.

"Are you alright Selena?"

She tried to wipe the blood off her nose but she suddenly collapsed. Lee immediately caught her in his arms.

A few seconds after, the NICC security team jumped into the scene from nowhere to assist them. They took her to a nearby open area where an airborne vehicle was able to extract them.

"Ms. Marie. Can you hear me?" The medic asked her.

Lee held her hand. She was as cold as ice. "Can we get her a blanket please?"

"Kurt." Selena called in a low voice.

"Yes, I'm right here."

"Don't leave me." she muttered unconsciously.

"I won't leave you Selena. I will be here okay?"

"But why are you leaving..." her voice trailed off as the medic placed an oxygen mask around her face.

"We can handle it from here Mr. Kurt."