The Laws of Paxia

27. Lime-green Wonderland

  “I believe you. Are you hungry? It’s time for dinner.”

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  It turns out that the people on Florem are vegetarians. That suits me perfectly and their food is delicious. Marc’s a really great guy and he makes me laugh more than once. I slept in the room I woke up in and now it’s a new day. I barely slept because the forest glows in the dark and it’s so pretty. Marc told me it’s because of the bugs that sleep on the leaves. They help the plants grow because there aren’t many hours daylight.

  “The sun comes up around noon,” he tells me and lean down to pick up another starfish on the ground.

  I am helping him with his work and have collected almost a whole bucket of the pink glowing stars. These are naturally glowing and that’s why we can see them in the dark. They climb up onto the shore in the early morning to sleep and that’s when we take them. I want to earn my living now that he’s taking care of me. I love moving around with these Danglers so it’s a pleasure.

  “That’s late,” I comment and love that my back isn’t sore anymore.

  “It’s normal to me. I lived on the Sunny Side of the planet for a while, but I never fit in.” He stops up and sits down on a rock. “You’re the closest I ever had to a friend. Everyone is friendly on Florem, but that doesn’t make them your friend. I was never included in any groups and got the cold hand whenever I tried. In the end I moved away and ended up here where all the outcasts live. Even they like to keep to themselves. The Sunny Side is all about socializing. Over here we keep to ourselves.”

  I look up at the dark blue sky and a lot of stars are twinkling at us. His story is sad and I wonder if I had people around me that felt the same as him. I didn’t invite anyone into our group because they came freely and I was too focused on myself. I learned to keep to myself on Paxia, but even there I had a few people looking after me.

  “Then they won’t pry into my business?” I ask him and hope for a positive answer.

  “You don’t have to worry about that. No one’s out to get you. Things will be calmer if they don’t know about the Iris thing.”

  I put down the bucket on the sand and decide to take a break with him. The whole atmosphere is magical and I realize that I like this setting. I like the dark, the stars and the glowing starfish in the sand. I like being here with Marc. I wonder how many morning we will spend like this before Saha thinks I’m finished here. First I have a lot to learn and Marc promised to tour me around the neighbourhood.

  “My home isn’t in this dimension,” I add thoughtfully. “No matter how long I search, I won’t find it.” I must find Lila to send me back to Earth unless I figure it out by myself.

  “It must be a special place.”

  I reach out my hand and grab his. “It’s just as special as this world is, as any world, but no world can ever be perfect. There’s no meaning in perfection.”

  He’s quiet for a while, lost in deep thoughts before he speaks up again. “Florem wants to be perfect. It’s a poison that the Sunny Side is frantic about. I’ll take you to the Sunny Side one day.”

  We watch the sunset from there and I tell him the story of my adventure. Now he knows just as much as Vita does. The only thing I want to keep to myself is what really happened all those months I spent in Paxia. It’s a dark period of my life. I don’t want Marc to feel repulsive of me and suddenly it feels very important that he likes the person I am.

  I’ll learn to be like him. I will embrace the life of Florem and make sure to bring the best parts of this world with me on my journey.

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