The Northern Lights

Chapter 17. Hide and Seek.

France, 2007

The thumping of tiny feet against the wooden stairs ricochet on each wall of the house. Arlo crawls up the stairs, quickly tiptoes to the bathroom and snatches a towel from the rack. He is barely tall enough to climb into the bathtub. He lays inside, covers himself with the towel. Under it he giggles, hears his father count to twenty downstairs.

Eden stands in a corner of the living room, counting aloud, "fifteen, sixteen, seventeen..." The last time he had a cigarette between his fingers, he was also counting, but now, Eden no longer craves cigarettes, no longer feels unexplainably lost. Now, all he desires is to make his little boy laugh.

His hands cover both his eyes, and the wide smile on his face as he finishes counting. Then they slide away, and he turns around to see empty space in which his son had just occupied twenty seconds ago, the seeking begins, "Arlo!" Eden's voice echoes through the house, up the stairs, "Ready or not, here I come!" Arlo snickers again under the towel.

He runs up the stairs and begins his search, turning left into Arlo's bedroom, where the walls are painted purple and plastic model planes hang from the ceiling. Piles of drawings lay on his floor. On one of them, two stick figures hold hands, with arrows and names pointed on them. The tallest one is marked 'papa,' with short brown lines that act as hair and a wobbly stroke for the smile. The other has the word, 'me' above it, also has brown hair. Behind them both are mountains and kites, with bright orange and yellow in the top left corner gleaming over them. For a second, Eden forgets where he is.

Eden rips the blanket off the bed; nothing but pillows and comic books. He lays on the floor and checks under the bed, peeks behind curtains of Arlo's windows and sighs, those were his three most common spots, "Oh Arlo! Where are you?" he playfully sings, before walking into the bathroom. He spots the towel in the bathtub, hears the giggles of his little boy. He quietly approaches the tub, fingers lingering towards the towel, "Boo!"

Arlo shrieks with a laugh, "Damn it!"

"Hey! Who taught you those words?" Eden asks as he pulls away the towel.

Arlo chuckles, his brown hair rustled and flattened, "You did papa!"

Eden brings Arlo up to his chest, kisses his cheek, "Well make sure that you don't use them in front of mama okay?"

"Okay papa." Arlo's velvety says as his father cautiously carries him down the stairs.

"Want to help me cook dinner?"

"Not really."

Eden gives him a warm smile before placing Arlo on the ground, where he dashes to the living room with his little legs flailing. Eden checks his watch, walks to the kitchen. A scent of boiling pasta and store-bought tomato sauce enlightens the air.

As Eden prepares dinner, Arlo sits in the living room with a toy plane in his hand as he runs around the large space, that is only occupied by a couch and a bookshelf. His mouth mimics the sound of a plane engine, though he has never heard one before, "Vrrr!" The plane goes up and down, swerves left and right, before the sound of the security door opening roars through the household.

Arlo drops his toy onto the carpet floor, rushing towards the front door. Snow falls from the sky behind her like dandruff, as she steps into her household with a grey scarf loose around her neck, she hears the quick strides of her son. Arlo rushes to Azra and quickly wraps his arms around her, though he is barely up to her knee, "Mama!"

"Hey buddy!" the scent of Eden's cooking drifts towards Azra's petite nose.

Arlo is lifted into the air like an airplane by Azra, before being carried to the kitchen. Eden gives her a peck on the cheek, "How was work?"

"It was okay," Azra heads straight for a top shelf, pulls out a cheap bottle of wine, "a new girl arrived today."

Eden sets the glass dishes out onto the dining table, "What's she like?"

"She's smart, very quiet, reminds me of a familiar friend."

Arlo needs help from his father to pull himself up onto one of the chairs, "Mama! You had friends?"

Eden giggles to himself, spins spaghetti onto his fork. Azra playfully rolls her eyes, takes a sip from her glass of wine and joins them at the dining table, "Yes Arlo, I had friends,"

"Who?"

"My best friend's name was Sabana."

Arlo whispers to himself with a face of confusion, "Sabana? Where is she?"

"She's in Syria, Arlo. She was tall and adventurous. A fighter."

Arlo pictures a colossal caramel skinned woman with long hair standing on a hill with her arms crossed and hair drifting in the wind. In his mind he sees her wielding a sword and a shield, wonders if she is taller than his papa, "When will I meet her?"

Azra hasn't touched her food yet, the thought of not knowing what her beloved childhood friend was up to make her stomach ache. She would never be able to tell her son with certainty that the woman he sees in his imagination is an accurate image.

Eden sees a slither of guilt in Azra's eyes, pats her on the back, "Let's just eat, talk about something else."

Arlo notices his mother wipe something from her eye, a flicker of guilt burrows in his gut as he silently chews. They eat in silence. With sauce all around his lips and fingers, Arlo speaks up, "When will we fly somewhere?"

Eden and Azra glance at each other. Since he was a child, Arlo had been longing to be fourty thousand feet in the air, among the clouds. To escape the conversation, Azra picks up the dishes and brings them to the kitchen sink. Eden studies Arlo's wide curious eyes, "Well, where do you want to go?"

Arlo points to the ceiling, as if paintings of clouds are there, "On a plane, in the sky!"

"Yes, but where do you want the plane to land after it's been in the sky?"

"Hmmm," Azra watches Arlo scratch his head in thought, "Oh! What's that place you used to talk about? With the snow, and the mountain with the magic lights? No way!?"

Azra bursts into laughter as she takes the rest of the cutlery, her mind is lifted from the thought of seeing her friend again one day, "Norway?"

"Yes, Norway!" Arlo says, with a sense of certainty that rumbles through his voice.

Eden's teeth beam, "We will go sooner or later buddy."

"One day darling," Azra says, before ruffling Arlo's hair.

Arlo pulls away, "All of us?"

"Of course, I promise." Azra show him her pinky, he stares blankly, "I pinky swear."

Still, Arlo's expression remains blank, confused, "What's a pinky swear?"

"An unbreakable promise," Eden says, staring at his two best friends in awe.

Arlo studies the smallest finger of his hand, "What do I do?" Eden and Azra wrap their pinkies together to show him, he nods and does the same, "Okay!"

Arlo stands on his char and leans across the table. Azra grins at him while Eden stares at his legs to make sure he doesn't lose balance. Azra lays down the terms and conditions, "I swear that we will all go to Norway together one day."

The Lumiere family share the promise, and Arlo hops down from his chair and jumping up and down in celebration. Eden stands and hugs Azra from behind, watching their little rascal run away from them, back to his imaginary airport. They no longer wonder about exploring stars. They're too busy helping their mountain grow.