Catch a Glimmer of Your Star

It's just what friends do

Their new home was smaller than their previous one, being a two bedroom apartment instead of a full house. One observation worth noting the moment Sunny stepped into the place was that there were two bedrooms. For three people.

"You'll be sharing the bedroom with Basil," his mom told him.

"Wait, mom! Is Basil fine with sharing a room with me?"

"While you were asleep on the car ride here, Basil told me that he'd be happy to sleep on the futon in your bedroom."

She gestured towards their room, which already had a second futon unfurled beside the one that Sunny would use.

Sunny had not asked his mom to bring the mattress or the bed frame from his old home over to their new place. After lying on that bed for the better part of four years, Sunny welcomed a new sleeping arrangement. However, he did not expect his mom to prepare something as basic as a futon for him. He thought he'd just be getting a new bed and had been hoping for an even softer mattress.

Now I get a mattress as hard as the floor itself!

On the bright side, sleeping with only a cotton futon between his back and the painfully hard floor might motivate him to get out of bed earlier in the morning.

Wait, that's not a positive at all...

The other thing Sunny noticed about the place was how loaded it was with plants.

His mom really had brought all of Basil's plants over to their new house. Shelves full of potted flowers lined the walls of the entrance corridor, the living room, their bedroom, and the bathroom; there were even a few in the kitchen. The only room that didn't contain any flowers was his mom's bedroom.

All the soil from the plants contributed an earthy scent to the entire place. Sunny kind of liked that smell. It reminded him of happier days from his childhood, days spent hanging out with Basil and reading together with him late at night over at his house. The flowers also added a nice variety of pleasant colors and fragrances to the place's otherwise bland, empty décor.

Basil came into the living room carrying the last of his belongings from the trunk. "That's the last of it. Thanks for letting me bring all my stuff over, Mrs. S!"

"You're welcome! Basil, if there's anything else you need from me, please don't feel afraid to ask."

"Ah­—ha, it's okay. I'm pretty happy with everything so far."

Basil seems to be taking everything well, too.

I owe him a lot for doing so much to protect me while I was holed up inside my room.

Sunny didn't understand why, but when he woke up from sleeping in the car, he found that a warm glow of happiness had returned to Basil's face.

Over the past week or so he'd spent watching over Basil in the hospital, and during those three days before in Faraway Town, he'd noticed just how anxious and sullen Basil had grown compared to the Basil he remembered from the past. He knew that this was his own fault for abandoning his best friend, for being too weak to live up to his promise. Basil had lost his smile because of him.

When Basil awoke in the hospital, those ocean-green eyes had been full of tears, reflecting a heart that was despondent over the death of his grandma. Though Basil had smiled at Sunny at first, his eyes quickly watered. Before long, Basil's mask broke down, and his face was full of sadness and loss. Sunny had never felt such a strong desire to comfort another person before.

That sadness lingered over Basil's expression this morning. Sunny could tell how hard Basil tried to maintain a positive attitude when his mom came to pick him up. It wasn't until just now that Sunny saw a faint veneer of warm recovery on Basil's face.