The Evolution of the Stars

V

     My legs feel like a bowl of Jell-o by the time I decide it's safe enough to stop running. I can hardly stand without my knees shaking like the tresses of a roller coaster.

      I see a Joshua tree standing, isolated, in the middle of the dry land. It's leaves are at peak, green and fluffy. They almost look like sponges, soaking up whatever water the tree can pull from the stone ground. I admire it for a moment, then lean against it's thin trunk, breathing heavily.

     I'll admit that I almost threw up beside the tree. Maybe the only reason I didn't was my lack of anything in my stomach. Macx had gorged himself in all the water I had, and on top of it I left my bag it Ian's shop.

     I slide down the trunk of the tree, tipping my head back against it. I look up and watch as the sun passes over my head and as the sky grows darker. I feel my heartbeat in my neck, the slow thump of it as I watch white lights dot the sky between the green of the spongy leaves. Then I feel someone flop down beside me.

     "You know," Macx says to me, leaning his head over his shoulder. "this isn't a very good hiding place. I think that you sometimes forget you glow." He pulls his knees into his chest, looking up through the leaves of the Joshua tree.

     I — for the millionth time today — examine my hands, the blue illuminating my face, along with the area around me. "Yeah," I whisper, still staring at my hand. "Yeah, I do forget."

     He is silent for a few minutes, content with looking through the branches at the sky. Then his voice, quiet and soft, fills my ears. "They look like little cactuses, don't they? The leaves, I mean. They're pointy. Only if you look close. My mom used to paint it. This tree. Lots of different places of it."

     "Yeah," I look up at the leaves again, realizing that they are actually prickled.

"Do you think my mom is a star up there? Way up there, I mean?" He asks, his voice low.

I consider his question carefully. "Well do you?"

     See, it's hard thinking of something to say to a seven year old boy when you still don't have your own beliefs straight. It's like teaching a child to ride a horse before you've ever touched one. An after life is a wish blown into the wind. It's something a mother uses to explain why the goldfish isn't moving anymore. A coping mechanism for a grieving wife, keeping her from doing something stupid. The thought of some all-powerfull, all-greater-than-us God is ridiculous. Childish, even. If he were real, how on Earth could he let such small children see what they've seen? How could he let people do what they do? It's so irrational. Its so stupid. But whatever helps them sleep at night, I guess.

     He thinks for a moment, then nods. "Yeah, sometimes I try to think of what one she is. I decided she's the one off of the end of the little spoon." He smiles at me, his tan skin folding just the smallest amount at the corners of his mouth. Then he frowns. "Marco says I'm being silly.

I crease my lips together and turn my head to him. "Marco is silly."

     He let's out a small laugh, then reaches around the trunk of the tree. He pulls out my backpack from behind it, placing it in my lap. "I put more water in the bottles. And Valéry fixed the seam."

     I smile at him. "Thanks, Macx," I set it down beside me then roll onto my back, using the backpack as a pillow. "You should go back, though, buddy."

    He pushes his eyebrows together. "Why?"

"Well, um, you see, you uh—" I struggle to find a reason for him to go. After all, I want him here. "I don't see why our can't," I smile at him.

His smile shows as he lays his head on my lap. "Thanks, Aster. Goodnight." 

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Okay, guys! I can't even begin to tell you how amazing it is to watch the numbers increase, slowly creeping up to one hundred, them wake up the next morning and it past two hundred. I also can't even explain to you how difficult it was writing the paragraph about the Athesim. I had to research a LOT. Anyways, since I'm here, make sure to favorite! Thanks, guys!

     ~Jump21txx

(P.S., I didn't proof read. Sorry)!