“My mom was…tough. She worked a lot and wasn’t a very happy person. I shouldn’t be too hard on her. She was just a single woman trying to be strong and do what she thought would make our lives better, but she ended up missing out on a lot.”
Alice felt her throat tightening and tears beginning to form in her eyes, and she blinked them away. Luka reached for her but then dropped his hands abruptly. At that moment she almost wished she hadn’t made her rules.
“We had a difficult time understanding each other. She tried, but she couldn’t figure out why material things didn’t make me happy. I would’ve preferred to spend a day with her than a day shopping, and that just didn’t make sense to her.” Alice lifted her hand clock, sighing at the foreign symbols. “I remember always sitting in front of this big grandfather clock we had in our foyer, waiting for her to come home from work.”
“I understand what you mean. My father had a hard time raising six of us after our mother died. I knew he loved me and did what he could. I would’ve liked to have spent a whole day alone with him too.”
Alice stopped walking and studied Luka. His muscles were tensed and there was a lingering concern in his eyes. He searched her face with a clenched jaw but didn’t say anything. Something told Alice he wasn’t used to speaking about things like this, being vulnerable in this way.
She reached out and clasped his hands in hers. A low purr stuttered and then stopped as if he’d quelled it. “I’m really sorry about your parents. Thank you for telling me.”
His shoulders relaxed at her words, and a purr rumbled through him. “Would you like me to explain the way we tell time as we walk?”
Alice brightened. “I’d love that. Nobody seems to care about telling time here.”
Luka’s chest expanded, and he grinned. Over the next hour, they continued to walk and he patiently explained the complicated method for telling time. Alice was becoming flustered. Not only did she have to first understand the movements of the moons in relation to each other in order to understand their equivalent of a.m. and p.m., but she also had to wrap her head around the fact that they didn’t count up in hours, but down.
“You don’t have time zones, either?” Alice asked, her head pounding. “So if it’s four before prime, that means it’s getting dark here, but in other places it’s light out and they still say the same thing?”
Luka chuckled. “Yes. It’s a planet-wide system.”
Alice was relieved when they came to a sun-speckled clearing along the stream. She needed a break, and this spot looked perfect. Glancing across the water, she recognized the roots of the tree housing the guarsil. Apparently, they’d made a large arc around the stream and had come to the banks on the other side.
“I guess it makes sense to count down from thirty-two but—”
Suddenly, Luka crouched down, pulling Alice with him. Putting a finger to his lips, he pointed toward a large tree with thousands of reed-like branches arching over the water.
Overall, the tree looked similar to a weeping willow, the spill of leaves creating a curtain around the base. Alice peered at Luka for reassurance, fearful he may have spotted a predator hidden by the tree.
He grinned and grabbed her hand, motioning for her to look back at the tree. Her eyes searched and searched, but she couldn’t find any birds or insects lurking that may have prompted Luka’s sudden interest.
Glancing at the trunk of the tree, she mused about how oddly shaped it was. The base started out small, but as her eyes continued up, the trunk bowed wildly then returned to a normal width. It looked as though the tree had eaten a very large animal who was now trapped in its center. The trunk also appeared to be split in two vertically. The long halves twisted around each other all the way until they vanished into the canopy.
They crouched there in silence for a few minutes. What was he waiting for? She tugged at his hand, eyebrows raised. He rolled his eyes then retrieved a large box from his bag.
The box rested on his lap, and he grinned at her before flipping the lid open to reveal a mound of small black insects. Alice reared back, losing her balance and landing hard on her ass.
Luka lifted one, showing her they were no longer alive, while his shoulders shook in silent laughter. Unable to stop it, a grin spread across her face too. She pushed on his shoulder, hoping he’d lose his balance as well and spill the box all over himself, but he only swayed in place.
Silently, he held up a hand, telling her to stay, and crept toward the tree, box in hand. When he got within a few feet, he gave the box a hard jerk, sending dead bugs flying all over the leaves, then retreated at a sprint. Alice cocked her head. The bugs should’ve drifted to the ground but instead they peppered the leaves, like they were stuck there.
When Luka returned, he dashed to sit behind her and quickly scooted forward until her back was to his front, his legs bent on either side of her hips. She turned to him and started to scoot away, not liking how easily she could sink onto his warm, inviting chest, but he grabbed her head in both hands and turned her face toward the tree again. She was just about to scold him for touching a red zone body part when the tree began to move.
Once she sat frozen in place, unable to look away,
