Catch a Glimmer of Your Star

Constellations

Sunny didn't see an issue with doing this as long as they didn't get caught. This wasn't like before, where what they did to his sister hurt everybody for many years. This time, he was sure that they were doing the right thing, because their ultimate goal was to protect the environment—

Surely, that end justified the means, right?

I bet Mari would side with me and Basil on this.

Sunny exhaled a held breath as he remembered to let his most angry thoughts go.

Their most pressing issue now was with collecting all the necessary samples from the rivers and getting their car back to the airport parking lot without mom noticing that it had been gone. The outline that Basil had prepared for the whole trip guaranteed that they would be back in the city by the end of the week, before her flight returned. The only uncertainty lay with parking her car in the exact same spot as she had left it. If there was another car in that spot, then...

Well...

We'll just have to see if we can deceive her.

Surely being a couple of parking spots away wouldn't be too noticeable, right?

"How long before we reach the first river?" Sunny asked.

"About two more hours."

Sunny groaned internally. He wanted more than anything to stretch out his legs. They'd been in this car for a whole day already, having spent last night sleeping in the car with it parked at a highway rest stop. At least that wasn't going to be their plan for the whole week. Once they got to one of the rivers, they would be able to sleep at a motel in a nearby town.

They were going to collect water from five rivers in total, each about a day's drive apart.

"Sorry, Sunny," Basil spoke. "I know you want to go out and stretch. Should I head out at the next rest stop?"

"No, it's okay," Sunny replied. "Let's just get to the first river. I'll get plenty of exercise once we get there."

"Oh, okay."

A little smile adorned Basil's lips.

"Heading out to the river sounds like fun, doesn't it?" Sunny said.

"Yeah...I hope so."

"I'm sure it is. Grass, flowers, trees everywhere... it's going to be a gardener's paradise."

Basil's smile waned. "Maybe a lot of pollution, too."

"I guess so..."

Sadly, they were not going to fully enjoy the charm of being out in the wilderness. A certain noxious factory was always bound to be nearby.

I wish I could make the world perfect for Basil.

Sunny dreamt of a future where he and Basil lived in a place surrounded completely with nature. He kept thinking of the garden that Basil had inside Headspace. They would keep a garden like that too, one filled with so many different varieties of flowers that it would be able to rival Mrs. Li's garden in color, beauty, and variety. In spring and summer, the air would be full of vibrant floral scents. Butterflies and bees would be drawn to their garden in great numbers. Instead of an old shoe, they'd live in a huge and beautiful cottage house. The inside of the house would have as many plants, or even more, as Basil's grandma's house once did, the sunlight streaming in through the windows coloring their leaves and petals with a dreamlike glow.

Once this project was over, once Basil could convince his parents that he had collected lots of useful data for their baffling goal, he'd tell Basil about this dream. They might make it a reality one day.