Gravity

Part 2/3

5 years later, I was a feet or two taller, but still thinking my father flew space fighter planes to kill aliens and protect the planet. Nowadays, my father had to leave home much more frequently for missions or trainings, so my mother stopped crying when we saw him off. Normally, he would be gone for less than two weeks but this time I had not seen him for more than a month.

One time, I was out in the yard playing with Shiny, swooping her through the air while making gun noises as she chased enemy planes, dodging and curving. The sun was bright through a cloudless sky and made even brighter by the reflective Shiny. Sweat started slipping down my face and as Shiny dove down nose first to escape the relentless fire of the enemy, she slipped from my hands and tumbled straight into the muddy grass, her tail sticking out of the "wreckage".

Pulling her out of the mud, she was hardly shiny, her windows caked with slime and the clean white body a disgusting brown. I think my mother heard my sobs because the next thing I remember she was squatting beside me holding Shiny.

"Mommy, Dada fell down." My mother did not answer, but her eyes turned a slight red. Recently, she always had red swollen eyes but I didn't know why. After a long pause, she finally answered.

"Look, you got your hands all muddy and dirty. Go wash them, I'll help you clean Shiny. Go on, my precious Connor." I ran back to the house but when I turn back, she was holding Shiny in her hand, waving at the sky.

End of part 2/3