Basil opened his eyes. The morning sunlight streaming in through the window danced over the outline of a boy who slept soundly beside him, coloring his black hair a captivating shade of dark brown.
He blinked to clear his vision and verified that Sunny was sharing a blanket with him.
Ahhhh! Sunny?
Hot red warmth rose in Basil's cheeks. His eyes weren't lying to him; he felt more well rested than he'd been in a long time, so he couldn't simply be imagining things.
You offered me your blanket even though I didn't ask for it...
Did I seem cold while I was sleeping last night?
The thoughts that followed must've turned his face all pink with embarrassment. Basil refused to voice those feelings, even inside his head. He knew his best friend cared about him, but to believe that his best friend would feel something more—as he did for Sunny—was asking for too much after already being offered generosity.
Basil smiled from the heart.
He really appreciated the gesture. Sunny had enough kindness in him to make sure that his friend didn't sleep cold at night.
Basil carefully removed the blankets over himself and gave them back to Sunny. He didn't want to wake Sunny up, knowing that Sunny preferred to sleep through the mornings and was groggy whenever he woke up early.
As he stood up to walk out the room, he couldn't help the feeling that Sunny looked so peaceful, asleep under the morning sunlight.
"Good morning, Mrs. S," Basil spoke quietly outside their bedroom.
"Morning, Basil," she replied with a bright smile. "How was your sleep last night?"
"It was great!"
Did Mrs. S see Sunny and I sleeping under the same covers? I don't think she would've come into our bedroom without knocking...
"Sunny didn't bother you?" she asked.
Basil wished he could express that Sunny did the exact opposite of bothering him.
"No, not at all," Basil replied, deciding to keep Sunny's good deed secret.
"Sunny used to always stay up late playing video games," she continued. "I used to try so hard to get him to sleep on time so that he wouldn't miss his alarm in the morning. If you ever catch Sunny playing games after eleven, feel free to drag him to bed!"
She laughed, and Basil smiled as well.
Sunny can play all the video games he wants!
They spent the morning cooking breakfast together. Mrs. S remarked with wonder at how knowledgeable Basil was at cooking, even though all he did was fry some eggs and sausages. Basil told her he was just trying his best to make a decent breakfast but she just kept shoving gratitude towards him.
Given Sunny's knowledge of cooking, Basil knew that not every kid received the same kitchen training his grandma had taught him.
When Sunny finally awoke, Basil had already eaten and prepared an extra plate of eggs, sausages, and toast for him. Sunny was incredibly hungry. He devoured the plate, washing the food down with a glass of orange juice.
"Thanks for cooking for me, Basil," Sunny said. "That was delicious."
"No problem!"
"You should learn how to cook from Basil," Mrs. S said. "You're growing up, Sunny, and you need to start learning to take care of yourself."
"I'm bad at cooking," Sunny protested. "Remember when I tried making eggs but I burnt my hand on the stove?"
"I know. But you should try again one of these days."
"I don't wanna learn to cook right now. There's lots of other things I have to catch up on first, right?"
She sighed at his response while she washed their dishes. "If you don't learn how to cook, how are you going to survive when you become an adult?"
"Maybe I'll be lucky and Basil can cook for me."
Lava rose into Basil's cheeks, hearing those words.
Did Sunny just imply that I'll still be around to cook for him by the time we're both adults?
Sunny turned at Basil and smiled at him.
"Sunny, don't joke around," Mrs. S scolded.
"It's o—okay," Basil said. "I don't mind cooking for Sunny. I can also teach him once he's ready!"
"Gosh, Basil is so helpful," she said to Sunny. "You should learn to cook from him soon."
"Actually, Basil was going to teach me gardening today," Sunny replied. He faced Basil. "Gardening lessons are still on, right?"
"Y—Yes!" Basil said.
"Gardening?" Mrs. S spoke. "Okay. Maybe it'd be good for you to learn to take care of Basil's flowers."
I'm glad she approves!
Mrs. S stood up and grabbed her wallet. "I'm going to head out to buy some groceries."
"Okay," Basil said. "See you later, Mrs. S!"
"Oh, you're too nice," she said back. "Sunny never says goodbye to me or anything like that when I have to go out!"
Sunny rolled his working eye.
While Mrs. S was out, they spent the morning gardening together. Basil let Sunny water the sunflowers.
He taught Sunny the right amount of water to fill the watering can with, how to properly water each pot based on the quantity of soil and flower size—the flow of water from the watering can was important!—and how to assess when the sunflowers were watered enough, when they needed watering again.
As the morning sun rose into the sky and bathed the city landscape in bright light, the sunflowers placed upon the windowsill seemed to ever so gradually turn to face the sky outside.
Grandma, I'm doing good, aren't I?
The lessons you've taught me—I'm passing them on to Sunny today.
Basil had expected Sunny to be a little clumsy, to spill a bit of water over the floor as he watered the flower pots. To his surprise, Sunny took the job a lot more seriously than before.
Sunny listened carefully to Basil's instructions and carried them out with a meticulous hand that had no doubt been colored, perhaps traumatized, by the knowledge of what a pair of hands could do if they weren't too careful.
When a few drops of water dripped over the mouth of Sunny's watering can onto the floor, Basil grabbed a piece of tissue to clean it up. But Sunny had been prepared; before Basil could help, Sunny had already cleaned the floor with a small handkerchief towel he kept inside his pocket.
"No worries," Sunny spoke, smiling.
Basil felt his face flushing at that smile. It was so cute.
He was glad that Sunny had made the effort to change and learn something new. But Basil would never be the type of person to criticize Sunny for who he was on the inside.
You still are the Sunny I remember.
But life has shaped us both in an incredible way, hasn't it?
Basil wanted to watch over Sunny as he adapted to regular life again. He'd protect and guide his friend at every step of the way.
Sunny didn't show it, but Basil knew that Sunny had the most sensitive heart, one that deserved to be shielded from harm.
Having heard, back at the hospital, some of Sunny's stories about the dreams he experienced back when he was a shut-in, Basil knew Sunny cared the most about preserving their happiness out of all his friends. Someone who didn't care about their friends would not spend years dreaming about the days when they were all together and happy. Only Sunny could devote so much of himself to protecting those days where everyone's smiles seemed eternal.
Even if it was selfish to live alone in that dream world, Basil could understand the wish of the boy who spent years trying to believe that world was real.
My best friend has a heart too fragile for the life he was burdened with.
That's why I have to be there for him.
"You did a really great job, Sunny!" Basil said once all the flowers had been watered.
"Thanks," Sunny responded with a tired smile. "You taught me a lot about taking care of flowers today."
Basil blushed at that compliment. "Because you're such a good learner."
Sunny turned his left eye away. "Really? I was awful at gardening before."
"I can tell that you've set your mind to learning gardening with me. That's why you did so well!"
"You're such a good learner, Basil," grandma had once said to him.
"I thought you'd hate taking care of flowers—most boys do—but you've soaked in all my knowledge about gardening so quickly!"
"You're kinda like a flower yourself, eh Basil?"
Basil smiled in spite of the sadness he felt in his chest, remembering all of his grandma's words.
Sunny, as keen an observer as always, took notice of this. "Basil, is something making you sad?"
"Oh, u—hmm, I, uh, I was just thinking about my old gardening lessons with my grandma."
Basil didn't want to burden Sunny with his sad feelings but he really couldn't think of anything else to say to Sunny at the moment.
Sunny walked close towards Basil, patting him softly on his shoulder. "You can talk to me about it if it helps you feel better."
Basil's heart was beating in overdrive. He didn't want to admit these feelings but it felt so good to be patted by Sunny like that.
"Thank you, Sunny," Basil spoke quietly.
He saw a little smile over Sunny's face. Whatever remained of the frost that had coated Basil's heart over the years was melted away by that smile.
I don't actually want to talk about how sad it feels to lose my grandma.
Instead, I want to talk about something...happy. A happy memory I shared with her.
Basil glanced at all the flowers in his house, the pots stacked upon the shelves, the sunflowers placed by the windowsill, the neat rows of carefully organized plants that sat all along the walls of the living room and the entrance corridor.
Those flowers didn't fit this urban apartment as well as they did the garden of his grandma's house.
Still, I'm grateful that Mrs. S brought all my flowers over with me.
Knowing my parents, they wouldn't have bat an eye at letting all the flowers in grandma's house die, uncared for, after she passed away...
Maybe I can find a new home for these flowers in this city?
Basil remembered a dream his grandma used to have.
"Sunny, I want to share something with you," he spoke.
"Sure," Sunny replied.
"My grandma had a dream once," he began. "She dreamt she was walking through a big field full of flowers. Everywhere she went, flowers just kept showing up! She thought the field would come to an end eventually, but no matter how far or how long she walked, the field kept going on and on. More flowers kept appearing. It was the most beautiful place she'd ever seen."
Sunny nodded in his characteristic way, showing that he was listening intently to Basil's every word.
"Grandma had that dream when she was just a young girl," Basil continued. "She told me she wanted to take all her children to that flower field one day. Except, ummm, my dad never liked flowers, so that was kind of a letdown. But after having that dream, she kept searching for a place like that all her life."
"Did she find it?" Sunny asked.
"She...never told me," Basil replied. "I'd like to believe that she found it, though."
Basil turned his eyes down as he spoke those words.
Sunny gazed at the sunflowers he'd just watered on the windowsill. "Maybe. Who knows? The world's a lot bigger than what we've seen."
"Haha...I appreciate the thought, but an endless field of flowers? That can't exist!"
"What if we plant one?"
Basil perked up. "Huh?"
"I watered a lot of flowers in my dreams," Sunny said, smiling. "It was kind of fun, actually. Maybe it'd be really fun to take care of a vast field full of flowers."
Sunny, you always know how to speak to my heart...
"Ah—ah, that would be nice, wouldn't it?" Basil replied.
Just then, the front door opened. Mrs. S came back with her hands full of groceries.
"You boys should take some time to explore the city," she said. "It's a really big and interesting place! Much more interesting than the Faraway suburbs, that's for sure."
"Hey, Mrs. S," Basil spoke. "Yeah, this city feels totally different from our home before, huh?"
"We finished watering all the flowers for the day," Sunny mentioned.
"Sunny was a great help!" Basil added. "He picked up gardening really quickly and he made watering my plants so much easier for me."
"Oh, he did?" Mrs. S said. "Well, Sunny, I'm glad you're making an effort to learn new things. I bet you boys are really hungry right now. How about I whip up lunch?"
"Let me help!" Basil offered.
Sunny seemed embarrassed to sit around and do nothing while his mom and his friend cooked lunch. Basil made a mental note that maybe he shouldn't act so productive in case Mrs. S scolded Sunny for being lazy in comparison.
I don't even think Sunny's lazy at all—he just needs time to readjust to life outside the bedroom again.
At the lunch table, Mrs. S brought up a topic for which she asked permission from Sunny to discuss in front of Basil. Sunny agreed to talk about it without much fuss.
"Sunny's going to be seeing a therapist tomorrow," she said.
"Oh, that sounds nice," Basil replied, feeling awkward because he didn't know what to really say.
Sunny's eye flitted back and forth between the two.
"I just want Sunny to talk to someone about his feelings, find out what's been going on with him since, well...that incident," Mrs. S continued. "He hasn't exactly been himself, has he?"
Umm, sorry to not be with you on this, Mrs. S, but neither was I!
After what I did...what I made Sunny do to his sister...I think I'm the one that needs therapy...
"I really feel better now that I've confessed the truth to my friends," Sunny spoke. "I guess therapy might help, too."
Sunny's mom knows about the truth?
Shouldn't she be a lot angrier at me?
"Sunny, when you see the therapist tomorrow, make sure you discuss all your feelings with her," she said. "Don't worry about getting in trouble—I made very sure that this therapist wouldn't report you about, well, you know."
I think she knows what I did, but...
Why hasn't she shown any sign of being mad with me?
Basil kept his mouth shut.
"Okay, mom," Sunny said. "Can we talk about something else?"
"So school starts in a couple of weeks, huh?" Mrs. S responded with a nod.
Sunny groaned. "Can't believe I have to go back to grade nine."
"By the way, Basil, your parents registered you for the high school nearby," she said, facing him. "You'll be going to the same school as Sunny, but—" and she turned back to Sunny "—in grade eleven."
Basil smiled as best as he could. "I'll help Sunny as much as I can with his courses!"
"Thank you, Basil, but Sunny needs to study hard by himself, okay?" She looked at her son. "You have a lot to catch up on."
"I know, mom," Sunny said. "Can we not talk about school? I can worry about school once it starts." He glanced at Basil. "How about we go explore the city a bit?"
Basil turned at Sunny. "Where do you want to go?"
"I don't know, just walk around?"
"...Sure, sounds good to me."
I don't know this city at all, but as long as I have Sunny by my side, I'll be okay.
"Okay, you boys can go explore the city this afternoon," Mrs. S said. "But be back by 6 PM for dinner."
"Yeah, we'll be back before then," Sunny promised.
After helping Mrs. S wash the dishes, Basil put on a light white shirt suitable for the weather outside. To his dismay, he didn't have any flower pins left.
I wonder where I can get any around here?
He was also not used to having to ride an elevator down to the ground floor just to be able to go outside. It felt like his home had become that much more disconnected from the outside world.
On the bright side, it was a nice and sunny day out.
The bustling city streets and tall buildings felt like a totally alien world compared to the quiet suburbs of Faraway. Aside from a few patches of grass on the sidewalk, there were no lawns, no gardens, no summer flowers to decorate the grey cement. Cars rushed by at deathly speeds. There were so many cars on the road that Basil felt like the city was a place for cars to live, not humans.
At least there were lots of small pretty trees on the sidewalk. The late summer heat had dried brown their leaves.
Basil didn't feel entirely unfamiliar in this environment. He remembered living in a city with his parents when he was very young, before he moved in with his grandma. The details of that time were hazy in his memories but he remembered the large crowds, the endless stream of cars on the roads, the towering skyscrapers that loomed above his head.
This city was very much alike.
Sunny was shy as he walked by Basil's side. His left eye glanced nervously at all the new sights. He did not make eye contact with any of the strangers that passed by, actively avoiding their gaze. When they crossed roads, Sunny seemed wary of the cars that waited perpendicular to their path, as if paranoid that any of them might speed forward and run them over.
After living in Faraway for the better part of my life, I feel a bit anxious around all these cars, too...
Who thought it was a good idea to let everyone drive a two ton death machine?
Basil missed Faraway already.
He tried to look on the bright side of things. City living would probably be more convenient for Sunny, since there were convenience stores and restaurants on every block; Sunny wouldn't starve here as long as he had money in his pockets.
Basil remembered how back then, Sunny was so averse to walking far distances that he wouldn't even bother going to Faraway Plaza to grab food when he felt hungry, preferring to starve until his parents cooked his next meal. Now they could just leave their building and find three restaurants plus two grocery stores on the other side of the street.
There were many more things to do in the city compared to Faraway. Glancing at a public map, Basil saw parks, museums, public squares, libraries, music halls, movie theatres, and even a garden conservancy. They could be fun to visit. He might even be able to do some volunteering at the garden.
I should also look for a part time job if I have time.
If I have spare money on my hands, I could take Sunny out to lots of places to have fun!
"Any place you want to visit?" Basil asked.
"Not really," Sunny responded with a shrug.
"How about the library?"
A glint of light flickered in Sunny's eye. "Okay."
The hot, muggy air hastened their pace so they could get indoors.
On their way to the library, they passed by the city square which hosted a large, bustling district of businesses that Basil assumed constituted the high-end professions such as banking and law.
My parents told me that if you see a building with lots of glass windows and no balconies, it's probably a bank or an IT firm.
Basil had never cared much about getting a high paying profession. He remembered grandma complaining that that was all her son and her daughter-in-law cared about—making money. Ridiculous amounts of money.
My parents always moved around a lot, job hopping every two years to claim ever higher salaries.
I forgot what their jobs were...
When they walked past a building with a digital monitor looming above its front door, numbers and names flashing across the screen, Basil suddenly received a pang of déjà vu.
He couldn't recall exactly what was on the monitor but he felt it had something to do with the stock market his parents always talked about. There were so many terms in that sector that he could never keep track of them all or what they meant.
Stocks? Indexes? Funds?
Why does that monitor feel so familiar...?
Is this a city a place where my parents have worked before?
He received a chill down his back when he considered the possibility that his parents might be in this city.
Six years had passed since he'd last seen his parents. He wouldn't know what to say to them if he saw them again.
Why didn't you visit grandma when she was about to die?
That was the question he'd start with if he felt like being confrontational.
Grandma always told me that her relationship with her son was a bit strained, yet she never explained why.
Basil shook those questions out of his head. His parents could wait. He was with Sunny right now and he wanted to take care of Sunny, help him adjust back to life outside.
When they reached the library, they were surprised by how big it was compared to the library back in Faraway.
The air conditioned inside provided immeasurable relief to Basil. And to Sunny too, judging by the sweat on his hair.
This library was a haven for book lovers. It had five floors, each floor exhibiting an open design, allowing people to look out from the railing and see the whole library. The towering bookshelves reminded Basil of stories from his childhood where the characters visited giant libraries that always had a book to help them on their quest.
Basil loved reading, and not just books on flower care and botany. He'd always loved reading novels together with Sunny. Mari used to recommend lots of great books and Basil would read them while Sunny listened to his voice with wide, curious eyes.
They'd read detective novels, fantasy stories, fairy tales, urban fiction, science fiction, bildungsroman, and many other genres. Sunny didn't seem to prefer any genre, only that Basil was the one reading the book to him.
Basil nearly blushed thinking about that.
Sunny, would you like me to read novels to you again, just like we did back then?
Maybe we can find a book that you'd really enjoy.
After browsing the library for the better part of an hour, Basil was surprised to find that Sunny had picked up a bunch of comics and manga.
"I didn't know you enjoyed comics, Sunny!"
"I like the art in them," Sunny replied.
Oh right, Sunny is a really good artist!
Haven't seen any of his drawings lately, though.
"Did you find any books, Basil?" Sunny asked.
"Uh, a few..."
Basil had been searching for the same novels he used to read with Sunny, wondering if Sunny would enjoy hearing him read them out loud to him again. It was kind of a childish wish. They were both sixteen years old now and reading books to each other was not really something friends or even best friends did for fun...
I shouldn't be so wishy-washy.
Sunny's growing up, he's not going to appreciate me reading books to him as if we're still children.
Still, he could always hope.
Basil brought along a book about characters growing up in a quaint seaside village that he'd read before—on Mari's recommendation—and sat beside Sunny at a table.
He started reading the novel, but he found himself distracted by what Sunny was reading. Every few seconds, Basil's eyes glanced over to see what was going on in the panels that Sunny flipped through.
At first the comics were stereotypical action hero stuff, but when Sunny flipped open the manga he'd picked up, Basil felt his face flushing red.
The manga was a popular shoujo that featured a cast full of pretty boys with long hair. It was about a budding romance between a teenage girl and her cute crush, the captain of the tennis team. In one of the chapters, there was a subtle hint that two of the boys were into each other.
I read that manga because I was curious if the two boys ended up together.
I'm still waiting for the latest volume to be translated into English...
He couldn't believe that out of all the manga Sunny could've chosen to read, he went for that one.
One of the boys in the story even wore a flower pin in his hair!
Basil felt his face growing redder and redder as Sunny flipped through the pages of the story. He wanted to ask Sunny why he picked that manga but couldn't grow the courage to do so.
Eventually, Sunny turned towards him.
"Did you read this manga before, Basil?"
How did he know?
"Umm, yeah, I did," Basil replied quietly, averting his gaze.
"I thought you'd like this book," Sunny spoke before turning back to resume reading.
Basil felt close to fainting.
A thousand different interpretations of what Sunny had just said flashed through his head.
"I thought you'd like this book"?
He couldn't figure out if Sunny meant what Basil thought he meant.
Basil's head felt light. Maybe it was from all the heat outside. Maybe he just needed to drink some water.
He tried to focus back on reading the novel in front of himself but he just couldn't concentrate.
Just being beside Sunny was making him all flustered.
Sunny finished the book. He turned back at Basil and smiled.
"That was fun," Sunny said lightheartedly. "I'm going to see if they have the next volume."