The sky, as if it had heard the girl’s words, obligingly cleared its curtain of clouds and revealed itself in full glory. The world instantly bloomed and came alive, and the boy could now see everything perfectly — every bush, every blade of grass. But he wouldn’t have paid much attention to it all if not for Nibi’s reaction: she sat cross-legged, head tilted high, pointing upward:

  

  
• That’s what I wanted to show Look how beautiful it is.


  

  And it really was. The boy stared at the shimmering constellations glowing with silver light, winking at their earthbound spectators. Here and there comets zipped by and artificial satellites crawled across the heavens in silent formation. It felt like the sky had a life of its own — alien, incomprehensible, and forever separate from people. Especially people like Erich.

  He felt a little dizzy — maybe from that truth, or maybe from the cold — or both. He laid down on the blanket. His friend stayed sitting, waving her hands like a conductor, directing the stars, and Erich thought they were obeying her, humming the most beautiful tune he had ever heard.

  

  
• There are billions of them! – The boy breathed out in awe, stretching out his arms as if to hug the sky, even though he knew it didn’t need his affection.


  
• I heard somewhere that in reality, we only ever see a few thousand stars — and only when the sky’s really clear. But it doesn’t matter, because I’ll visit every single one. When I build my spaceship, of course.


  

  

  
• I’ll be your captain! – The boy Nibi turned to him and stuck out her tongue:


  

  

  
• Nope! I came up with it, so I’m the boss! You’ll be my


  

  The new navigator didn’t even feel like arguing, because a meteor shower had just started, and he was counting the falling lights, deciding that from now on he’d ditch the whole -counting sheep- routine at bedtime and switch to these heavenly lanterns. He probably would’ve kept lying there for another couple of days — maybe till school started again — but suddenly his friend cried out:

  

  
• Erich, gets up! Now! Your house is on fire!


  

  The boy’s eyes snapped open. She was reaching out her hand, offering to pull him up.

  Episode 6. The Promised Billion.

  Push! Gotta get to the surface! I can’t take it anymore. My body’s going numb, like my limbs are just gonna fall off. Did I let go of her or not?

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  There it is—the edge of the water. Just a little more, come on! Push, push!

  I was literally squeezing the last drops of energy outta myself, but I was dragging that little girl up with me—this girl who, after trying to rip my clothes off, latched onto my arm like a damn vice and wouldn’t let go. I tried to shake her off, but I’d never felt a grip that strong before. So I gave in and swam upward.

  And there—finally—the surface! I gasped in the freezing autumn air and coughed like hell. Right after me, up came... a woman, with long loose hair and her eyes shut. She was unconscious. I smacked her cheeks a few times, hard enough, and eventually she started coughing too, blinking like she couldn’t make sense of anything.

  

  
• Swim back! – I barked at her, kinda surprised at how commanding I sounded. But time was ticking, and if we stayed in that water, we’d be popsicles in no She followed me without a word, showing she wasn’t new to freestyle, and we made it back to the shore pretty quick.


  

  Without even thinking, I ran over to the pile of clothes she’d left behind and came back carrying that whole mess. She took it from me reluctantly, stood there like she was thinking something over, and finally started getting dressed.

  I didn’t have time to wonder what the hell was going on in her head, ‘cause I was freezing my ass off in soaked clothes, with the wind slicing through me. So I told her to follow me and started trudging toward my Versailles, legs barely cooperating—not surprising after a swim like that and the living nightmare that came with it. I tried not to look at that failed suicide case, ‘cause every time I did, I kept expecting her to morph back into that freaky little girl.

  Although... to be fair, when she attacked me, it wasn’t all bad. Somewhere deep down, way back in my subconscious, I got this weird image of a summer night sky and bright streaks of a meteor shower, and it gave me this long-forgotten feeling… I couldn’t pin it down, so I shoved it aside and focused on just staying alive.

  When I ran inside the house, I saw my sister with a towel wrapped around her head, smoking and frying meat. As soon as she saw me, she gasped and bolted to the bathroom, came back with this giant fluffy towel and wiped down my whole torso (I’d already ripped off my wet T-shirt). My arms weren’t really doing what I told them, so I just had to deal with the weirdness of being touched by another human, not like I had a choice.

  Blood started pumping again, and my face lit up from finally being warm. I could feel myself getting some mobility back, and my fingers crackled like icicles breaking. Gotta hand it to my chatty sister—this time she got the memo. No questions, no pressure. She could tell I was totally wiped out.

  As soon as I felt like I could stand and maybe even move, I headed for the door.

  

  
• Where’re you going?


  

  

  
• There’s a I pulled her outta the water.


  

  Louise offered her shoulder, and I slung my arm over it to help limp my way to the entrance. Our two-person shuffle made it to the door. She nudged it open with her foot. The bells I’d hung on the frame jingled nervously—and honestly, I felt the same way inside, ‘cause I didn’t see the diver woman anywhere near the house.

  We squinted into the fog that just wouldn’t lift, and finally my sister’s eagle eyes spotted something in the haze.

  

  
• Look! Someone’s walking over


  

  I strained my vision, and yeah—I saw a figure trudging off toward town. Hard to say for sure if it was her, but who else would be wandering out here in weather like this? So yeah, had to be her. Which meant she dried off, got dressed, and left—without saying a damn thing.

  

  
• Who was that? – Louise looked