Page 47 of Leveling

Chapter 31

The rain was loud. Deafening, but Luna was dry. She opened her eyes and found herself looking up at the underside of the inside of a very small tent. Under a blanket. Looking to the left and right she realized a woman about her same age, dark hair, dark skin, was sitting near her feet, at the open end of the tent, watching the rain.

Luna asked, “Where am I?”

The young woman seemed startled that Luna had spoken, then flopped down on her stomach, propped on her elbows. “You’re with my family, we’re the Anisopteras. Oh and the Dipteras are here now too.”

Luna said, “Oh.”

The young woman said, “Why are you alone?”

Luna brain was still stunned. She wasn’t sure of anything. She wondered if shewasalone and why. There were things she knew and things she didn’t know and the space between, where she resided, a place that seemed a lot likeLost, caused sobs to come up from her knees. She pulled the covers up over her face as tears flowed down her cheek.

The young woman gently asked, “What’s your family name?”

Between sobs Luna squeaked out, “Saturniidae.”

A hand tentatively touched her shoulder. “Oh, we heard, I mean...we thought you were all gone.”

Luna said, “We are.”

The woman said, “Oh.”

They were quiet for a few moments then she asked, “How long has it been?”

“I stopped counting because I couldn’t see that it mattered anymore.”

The woman said, “My name is Sky. Rest, it’s raining and my family is deciding which direction to go once the sun returns.”

Luna nodded with a sniffle and Sky left the tent.

Luna squeezed her eyes shut and saw Beckett, holding the nose of her paddleboard, saying, “Wait, Anna, no, Anna, don’t go Anna.”

She cried herself to sleep.

* * *

A few hours later Sky crawled into the tent and resumed her position beside Luna propped on her elbows.

“How are you?”

Luna shook her head.

“I guess my question is, at least what I’ve been told to ask is, do you think you can travel in the morning? The rain will pass and we’d like to go north up the coast to...that’s unimportant. You’ll travel with us of course, but we wonder if youcantravel.”

“I think so.”

“Also, I get to share your tent, because it’s way wet out there.”

“Of course,” Luna wiggled to the right, and Sky curled in under the blankets, almost nose to nose.

“What’s your name, since we’re sharing breaths?”

“My name is Luna.”

“Well, Luna, let me be the first to welcome you to the family.”

Another tear slid down Luna’s nose.

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