Page 58 of Leveling

Chapter 39

First the skygets dark and then the sea.

The sea is just a reflection after all.

But when Luna lay on her board staring up she wondered if it was the other way around—the sky reflects the sea. Possibly. Both sea and sky were unfathomable, endless depths.

Was this moment, what she could see, just surface reflecting surface, back and forth in a never-ending loop? Luna curled up into a ball.

River was lashed to her left. Odo was lashed near her head and Sky was on the right. When the first drops of rain fell, everyone got low, heads together, hands clasped—storm formation. When the rain picked up and the breeze chilled, Sky whispered, “Heads up,” and then “How are you doing?”

Luna said, in the quietest voice, “I’m scared.”

Sky crawled to Luna’s board and hugged behind her, arms around. She said, “Buzz is taking watch, so I need you to keep me warm.”

Luna relaxed by degrees. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Luna had been right, the storm was wet, the ocean rose and fell and churned them around, and the wind howled, yet the worst of it passed them by. The clouds cleared to a bright crisp night full of stars. Odo and River conversed, their voices hushed and calm. Everyone else was quiet. Luna fell asleep in Sky’s arms.

A while later, Luna woke as Sky shifted, pulling her arm out from under Luna’s head. Sky grinned “Buzz is done with watch and gestured like this,” she jerked her head, “signaling he wants and needs some of my goodies. I’ll see you in the morning.” Sky crawled to Buzz’s board and they paddled away.

Luna stared up at the stars for a while, wondering how Beckett liked his land stars and was he learning to recognize the constellations.

Luna found her favorite, the Monarch—seventeen stars, named after the butterfly, known for migrating thousands of miles in its lifetime. Luna’s mother had told her that the Monarch Constellation carried whispers, delivering them anywhere, no matter how far.

So Luna whispered, “I’m sorry, and I hope you’re okay.”

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