Remembrance & Departure

A sea of stars twinkled above us as we walked up the hill, getting ready to settle down for the night. I swept my hand across the grass– It was softer and more tender than anything I had felt before. I folded my hands under my head and looked up at the nighttime sky. I could hear Kaiser doing the same by my side. In the darkness of that quiet night, we simply laid there for a while.

“You know, on the first night I set out on this journey, the sky was every bit as starry, every bit as beautiful.”

I turned my head. Kaiser never talked about his past.

“It was on the night my sister Lucy died. I found her on the brink of passing out, hidden deep in a field of sunflowers. She starved to death, and it was all because of those beggars. Those goddamn leeches. She was far too kind for her own good, and I couldn’t do anything to change that. She gave away every last thing she had.

She said she prayed I wouldn’t see her die. God didn’t hear her, she said. My tears fell on her face. What had she died for? For society, that disgusting thing? It was pathetic. I didn’t know what to do. I stood there and watched as her grip on my hand weakened and life left her body. With her last breath, she told me that the sun was in the palm of my hands. And that was all there was.”