Palmof called today.
I took our chat on the roof. Some of the plants open their petals for a few weeks at this time of year, and I snuggled beneath beautiful orange flowers, and waited to connect. A few ships dotted the harbour, harvesting long ropes of seaweed.
Banra is known for rainforest of course, but I was still impressed by his background. Palmof was on a platform halfway up the canopy, having a cup of pine tea on his break. Animals with long hooked hands clung to trees the size of buses, and birds picked at their wooly fur. Perhaps his screen tricked the perspective, but it looked like he could pat the nearest climbers on the head.
Good to see him again. His hair is longer, the sideburns extending to a small beard. He wore a coat I had not seen before, bland and practical. We talked about our adventures. My squids versus his snakes a half mile long.
Does not seem long since we hung out at the mall. Palmof always took the lead when talking to the sales bears about what clothes to buy. What music to listen to. Makes sense he was the first to head a million miles away.
Palmof asked for more information on the Butter Mouse. I told him about the clips, and how they have started to sync together. Turned out he meant the murder. Made my eyes go foggy to know the nickname had spread all the way to Banra.
We discussed my arrival next year. Palmof is already working on where I can stay, and which volunteer team is the best to join. I told him how much I wanted to stroke the creatures behind him, and he laughed.
‘Those claws will take your fingers off Venus,’ he said.
I was buzzing after the call. Sat on the roof imagining what that rainforest smelt like. The damp, and the sun in the morning.
And yet, the Stitch…
Could I one day become a long timer like Deni? What if I come back from Banra, and they do not want me any more?
And is the fact that I am already thinking about returning a suggestion I should stay here?
Moons are big tonight. They turn the surface of the harbour silver. Beautiful, but I have watched the colour change so many times before.
Lots of stars in the sky as well. Palmof might be around one of them, looking at something he has never seen before.
Clip: More of that vehicle. Is that the winged creature huffing at the end? And what is that building, and the music?
So many questions, but we starting to see consistency.