The bright afternoon sun illuminated a landscape of rolling hills, corn fields, and vast green pastures. Power lines zipped by as their car sped down a rural highway that reminded Sunny of the road out of Faraway Town. Most of the other vehicles on this highway were delivery trucks. He wondered how many of them were carrying goods bound for Coup de Soleil factories.
Basil wore an anxious look. Sunny wanted to provide a comforting arm for Basil's shoulder, but that was not wise while driving.
Sunny gazed at the mounds of melting snow in the fields and got a quietly nostalgic feeling. He remembered the piles of shoveled snow that always covered the lawns along the sidewalks of Faraway in early spring. He remembered the big snow mounds in Faraway Park that Kel dove into, pretending it was a pile of leaves, only to find actual leaves buried underneath all that snow. He'd come out of the mounds with a face full of muddy autumn leaves that were half disintegrated after being unfrozen from their winter cage.
"It's nice out here," Sunny said. "Quiet."
The roar of their car driving on a cement road, and the rush of other cars speeding past at over eighty miles an hour, was actually anything but quiet. Still, he felt a certain silence away from the city, a silence born from the emptiness of everything.
"Yeah," Basil replied. "I kind of like it."
"It's great," Sunny said. "When we get to the rivers, it'll just be the two of us out in nature."
"Y—Yeah. Are you excited, Sunny? Scared?"
"Maybe a little. I don't know what we'll find out there! Wolves? Bears? Wendigos?"
Basil laughed softly. "We won't be that far out from a town or a village. We're going to take water samples from the parts of the rivers near the factories."
"I was thinking," Sunny mentioned, "what if guards from the factories see us and tell us to go away?"
"That could happen," Basil said. "We should keep a lookout for Coup de Soleil employees."
"You can count on me," Sunny promised. "I'll watch out for people while you collect those samples."
"Thanks, Sunny."
"No problem!"
No matter what, I want this project to work out and become successful.
Basil's spent so much time and effort on it, especially with all the hijinks he pulled to get access to my mom's car.
Sunny didn't want to use the word 'steal' to describe Basil driving his mom's car without her permission.
He was still angry at his mom. Basil had done every possible thing he could to prove that he was trustworthy with a car. His driving was practically safer than her own! And Ms. Sato had said that both of them were doing great with therapy. Granted, she didn't exactly say the words 'Sunny and Basil deserve to have the car to go out driving', but she did say that they were making remarkable progress with getting past their anxiety, their guilt, their repression, and their hallucinations, and that if they stayed on this track, those would not become recurring problems again.
Even after hearing all that, mom still refused to let Basil have her car.
I just don't understand what she's so worried about.
It's like she's paranoid that we're going to go commit a crime again.
The irony quickly hit him.
I guess...we kind of are right now...
Well, we wouldn't have had to hijack her car if she'd just let us use it in the first place!
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.
Come to think of it, why did I make Basil live in an old shoe inside Headspace...?
...Uh...
I guess not every aspect of my feverish repression-induced dreams has to make sense.
As he thought about those dreams again, he remembered a scene that filled him with a wistful emotion. The lonely stillness of the land all around them reminded him.
"Basil," Sunny spoke, "wanna hear about one of the dreams I used to have when I was, erhh, Omori?"
"You know I'm always willing to listen," Basil replied.
"Yeah, but since this involves Omori, which is, y'know, that other part of me...it might not always—"
"Sunny, I'm learning to move on from all that," Basil said with a friendly smile. "You can talk to me about anything from that time of our lives. I won't be traumatized."
Sunny smiled back. "Okay."
He looked out the window again, at the endless farm fields, at the clouds that glided gently across the blue sky, at a world so far from the urban centers of human habitation.
"Whenever you...disappeared from my dreams, whenever my friends and I would go looking for you," Sunny began. "There'd always be times when everything would, it'd just, simply stop."
I'd be all alone again.
"My friends would be gone. I'd be alone. And I'd always see a shadow, guiding me."
Sunny noticed the soft, quiet look that settled in Basil's eyes.
"I was in a cornfield. It's all quiet and empty. Snow started falling. I'd walk through the corn field and notice, those umbrellas, that beach ball, those picnic blankets and picnic baskets...they came from places I once knew. Objects from happier times. Times when I spent all day hanging out with my friends. The shadow would guide me around to see all these objects. It'd remind me of what I'd left behind."
"I walked through a library full of these happy scenes. I saw the shadow talk about the meanings of flowers and how each one represented one of my friends. I saw...I saw how hurt the shadow was. He was hurt by how I rejected all these things, just to be by myself."
Basil drove silently.
Sunny felt that wistfulness sting. He smiled in spite of all these painful memories.
"I just wanted everything to go back to the way it was before," Sunny whispered.
"Sunny, I...I know," Basil spoke softly. "Me too. We were so happy back then."
We both understand that we can't go back anymore.
"But what I really want now is to be with you for the rest of my life," Sunny said. "Just being near you, I feel like I can do anything. I feel like I can take on the world. As long as you're there, I'd be okay, I'd be ready to face all my challenges...sorry for being so cheesy."
Basil looked happy.
His expression also showed that he really wanted to give Sunny a pat on the shoulder, or perhaps a kiss, but too bad he had to make sure he didn't total the car.
Basil just smiled, a gleaming ocean light in his eyes. "I feel the same way when I'm with you. The exact same. You complete me, Sunny."
Sunny felt a flush of warmth rise from his chest up into his cheeks.
Seeing that the road ahead was empty, he snuck Basil a quick kiss on the lips.
"Come on, Sunny!" Basil complained. "You can't do that while I'm driving."
"I know. I'm sorry," Sunny replied.
"Ah...it's alright," Basil said with a blush. "Just give me a warning next time."
"Yah, I'll save it for when the car's stopped."
"Better."
They continued driving through that endless expanse of hills and fields, seeing few other cars on that road as the sun descended from the sunny sky. Clear afternoon blue became twilight orange by the time they reached their first river.
There was still time before nightfall. When they neared the river, Sunny saw the town close to it, but he didn't notice which of its buildings was the Coup de Soleil factory. Basil drove past the town into a mountain trail. He parked his car at a location for tourists inside the trail. As Sunny got out and gave his legs a good stretch, Basil went to work immediately, taking out all his test kits from the trunk.
They began heading out to the river together.
"The factory's about a mile away," Basil said. "I want to get within a quarter of a mile of the factory and take samples there."
"Are we allowed to get that close?" Sunny asked.
"I think so. The factory doesn't have exclusive access to the river."
The late evening air was cool, not too cold. It was the ideal temperature for a camping trip. Sunny decided that later, after their work was done, he'd ask Basil if he wanted to sleep outdoors.
They trekked up a hill, their boots crunching on soft grass that was wet with mud from the spring rains. A gentle breeze stirred the white and yellow flowers that grew on the hill. The sky grew magenta red. The first stars peeped out, along with the faint outline of a crescent moon.
It was a long time since they'd seen that many stars in the night sky.
The sounds of the river rushing down the hills reached their ears. Sunny went ahead as he'd promised, keeping a lookout for other people. From the top of the hill, he walked down the banks to reach the river. The strong scent of algae hung in the air. A rocky shore full of pebbles separated him from the water. If he wanted to step into the river, he'd need to take his boots and his socks off to avoid the nightmare of wet shoes.
The river water appeared very dark.
Gazing around carefully, Sunny judged that no one else was nearby.
"Basil," Sunny said, hurrying back. "The coast is clear."
"Okay. I'll get to work."
While Basil went down to the river, Sunny scouted along the banks of the river, watching for any sign of people.
I can't see the other side of the river as well as this side.
Maybe it would've been a better idea to wait until tomorrow to do this.
Still, Basil said that it's okay because the other side of the river is pure wilderness, with no inhabitants.
He kept at a steady pace and a vigilant watch. He noticed tiny fish swimming along the current. After walking in the direction of the town for several minutes, he saw a chimney in the distance, rising past the tops of trees.
That's the factory, I think.
Not a soul was in sight.
People were more likely to go towards the spot where Basil was taking samples from this direction of the river than the other. So, he maintained a scouting route along the banks from Basil's spot to the place where he saw the chimney. To prevent the risk of unseen intruders ever passing by, he ran at a swift pace along this route, a pace that reminded him of the beep test in gym class where he had to run between two points, catching a beep which slowly got faster.
I wasn't very good at that...
His lack of fitness caught up with him.
Within thirty minutes, Sunny was exhausted. He could no longer run, and could only maintain a fast walk along his route. Even with that walk, his stamina slowly sapped out of him. Sweat covered his back. He forced himself to continue. Basil was still taking samples; he had to keep watching out for people.
The sky turned dark blue. The moon came out, and the stars grew numerous.
Sunny lost track of time. Never before had he pushed his heart and his lungs so far physically. Each breath burned. His leg muscles ached; his working eye was dizzy from looking around so much. He almost forgot what he was doing until he returned to Basil's spot and saw that Basil had finally finished collecting samples. Sunny collapsed onto the river's gravel banks.
"Sorry for pushing you so hard, Sunny," Basil said with a really concerned face.
"It's...okay..." Sunny replied, gasping for breath. "I should've...gotten more...fit. How...are the...results?"
"I collected lots of samples, but I'll wait and let the tests run overnight first."
I thought the tests were usually quick?
I don't know if that's good news or not...
After downing a water bottle, Sunny lay on that river bank for fifteen minutes, feeling the moisture against his back from his sweat and from the humidity on the pebbles slowly cool his body down. Once he finally recovered his breath, he opened his eye and saw Basil handing him one of the turkey sandwiches they'd packed. He wolfed it down as if it was the most delicious thing in the world.
"Take it easy next time," Basil said. "I don't think most people visit these spots."
"I liked the exercise," Sunny replied.
"You know, you've gotten really healthy. It must've been all the gardening."
"Thanks!"
Seeing the stars peeking out from behind Basil's pretty face gave Sunny a really soft feeling.
"Basil, do you wanna stay outside tonight?" Sunny asked. "Like have a camping trip with me?"
Basil's eyes gleamed. "I'd love to."
"We can sleep on the grass, among the flowers. We can watch the stars."
A smile. "Of course."
"Let's bring your tests back to the car first," Sunny said, feeling a bit of energy returning to his weary limbs.
"Good idea."
Basil offered a hand.
Taking it, Sunny pulled himself back onto his feet. His aching legs immediately complained, but he didn't mind. As long as Basil was at his side, as long as Basil held his hand, he really could push himself to do anything.
They collected the test kits and returned to Basil's car.
Wow, Basil took so many samples...
This should definitely be enough to prove that the river is toxic.
After securing everything, the two of them grabbed their blankets from the trunk and laid out on top of the grass by each other's side.
The stars in the night sky were so bright.
We used to stargaze often.
Mari would point out to me the constellations in the night sky.
I never paid attention, though. Basil, on the other hand...
"You recognize any constellations out here?" Sunny asked.
"Yeah," Basil replied.
Basil lifted his hand and pointed at three stars that lay in a line. "That's the big dipper."
"I can't see it," Sunny replied. "It's just...three stars?"
"That's part of the handle of the dipper," Basil said. "Look on the right. See those four stars that kind of form a trapezoid? That's the dipper itself."
"Oh, I see it now!"
Wow, it's so obvious.
How could I have missed that?
"It's pretty," Sunny spoke.
"The stars are all pretty," Basil replied, though he was looking more into Sunny's eyes.
A little smile spread across their lips, together.
"You know, I never used to pay attention when Mari taught us the constellations," Sunny said. "Now I'm starting to see why they're so cool."
"Why?"
"It feels comfy, kinda," Sunny said.
He knew the shape of the big dipper now. As long as he was on this side of the Earth, that shape would always be in the night sky. If he ever got lost, if he ever found himself wandering the night with nobody by his side, he could look up at the stars and remember this night, this moment with Basil.
I'll always remember those three stars in a line, and I'll trace out the rest of the big dipper's shape by remembering Basil's words.
This constellation is a treasure that Basil and I will forever share.
"I know what you mean," Basil said. "It's comfy knowing that these stars will always be there."
Sunny's working eye glanced at Basil. "Not as comfy as being here with you."
Basil giggled.
"There's the little dipper," Basil said, pointing at another shape beside the big dipper.
"I don't see it," Sunny said.
"That trapezoid is the dipper," Basil explained. "And those three stars form the handle."
Oh...
Yeah, I can see it too!
"The star at the end of the little dipper's handle is really important," Basil said. "Grandma told me to always remember it."
"Why?"
"It's called Polaris, or the North Star," Basil explained. "That star always points north. If you're ever lost, you can use it to know which direction you're heading."
"Oh! I think my sister mentioned that to me too," Sunny replied. "I remember that star now."
"...Are you only remembering these things now because I'm the one telling you?" Basil teased.
"Erhh, maybe."
"That's okay."
Basil clasped Sunny's hand.
They spent hours gazing into those stars, Basil teaching Sunny all sorts of constellations he never knew about before. Even when night settled and the cool wind grew cold, they stayed outside and continued gazing at lights that they could never see inside the city.
Underneath two whole blankets, with a picnic blanket separating their backs from the grass, they nuzzled in close to each other.
Basil gazed longingly at Sunny.
Without the need to share words, their lips locked together into a kiss.
Sunny fell into passion, fell into the heat that Basil's arms provided. The butterflies in his stomach quivered. Intoxicatingly sweet feelings grasped his heart and locked him into a kiss that felt like it would last forever.
He kissed Basil as the flower in Basil's hair brushed against his own. He kissed, the two trembling under their blankets as the flowers growing in the grass glided against their skin. He kissed to satisfy that unquenchable thirst for Basil deep inside his whole being. Their kiss sealed them into a trench filled only with each other's warmth, amidst an ocean of blissful sweetness that provided everything they could have ever longed for.
The taste of Basil's lips. The close, tender embrace of each other's arms. The strings of love that were caught between their mouths.
Their kiss locked together their hearts, forming a promise to be by the other's side for all eternity.
It was an unspoken promise that both of them knew would never be broken.
When their lips finally parted, Sunny saw that Basil's cheeks were flushed red. His eyes glowed with the clearest ocean blue. The starlight of the night sky was caught in those eyes.
They longed for each other's warmth, and they kissed again, kissing until all breath and strength left their bodies. Until they could do nothing more but to let their eyes close, falling into a deep and restful sleep with their heads snuggled close together, cheeks touching.
***
"The results aren't good."
Sunny blinked with dread.
"What did you find?" Sunny asked.
"There's no evidence that concentrations of toxic chemicals are higher than normal in any of these samples," Basil said.
"You tested for mercury, right?" Sunny said. "What about methylmercury?"
Basil shook his head. "The mercury concentrations are normal in this river."
Sunny's hopes fell. A dream shattered before him. A pair of arms fell limply to his sides.
"So...the company didn't pollute this river after all?" Sunny said.
"I'm not sure."
Sunny didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to feel.
Should he comfort Basil?
Could he comfort Basil when the test results already spoke with crystal clarity that they would not find what they had hoped to search for?
If I say something comforting, it would just...
Words wouldn't be reassuring.
Words couldn't bring into existence the numbers that they needed.
What good was words when they had no data? What good was any of this?
It'd just be a lie.
Basil began tossing out the water samples.
"Basil, tell me again...this river...it doesn't have the toxic chemicals that people said it should have?" Sunny asked.
"Not from these samples," Basil responded. "Maybe we weren't close enough to the source. Maybe, toxic chemicals only show up on a specific day when the factory dumps out their toxic waste. Maybe it just isn't that day."
"Can we take more samples?" Sunny asked. He immediately volunteered. "I can go out there and collect more samples for you."
With a sigh, Basil tossed out the rest of his samples and placed his test kits back into the trunk of the car.
"Thanks, Sunny...but maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all."
Sunny's expression fell into gloom.
"We didn't consider how big these rivers are, or that we need to be here on specific days in order to collect useful samples," Basil said. "It's going to be the same issue with the other rivers, too."
Sunny's gloom turned into bleakness.
"It's okay," Basil said, though Sunny could tell he was trying his hardest to not cry. "The experience was still worth it."
"So...are we just giving up, then?" Sunny asked.
Basil didn't reply to that.
"It's over? Your project's done?"
No reply.
They got back into the car. Basil turned the key and started the engine. He shifted the gear into motion and began getting out of the parking spot, driving back onto the trail.
The worst part about this is...
...What will Basil tell his parents?
Sunny didn't know whether he should bring that up or not.
But it seemed Basil was already ahead of him.
"Sunny," Basil said. His voice faltered. "If I have to leave, we'll find a way to see each other again in the future, okay? We can go to the same college together. We can be roommates!"
Please don't talk like that...
Basil turned to Sunny.
He smiled, with tears.
"Sunny."
Sunny tried to speak.
He found only a sob in his throat.
This isn't fair!
Basil's parents...Basil's parents shouldn't take him away just because he couldn't find the data he needed for his project!
This just isn't fair!
Basil placed a hand on Sunny's shoulder.
"Sunny, we can...we can always think of each other when we look at the North Star," Basil whispered.
"We will," Sunny replied, holding back tears.
Maybe, if we both walk in the direction of that star, we can meet each other at the North Pole.
Maybe the North Pole isn't so bad. We'll be together again.
"But...please tell me there's still hope," Sunny spoke. "Basil, don't we still have the other rivers?"
Basil looked ahead, deep in thought.
Their car drove along a gravel road, down a mountain trail. Basil's eyes turned to look at the river, perhaps to see if it still held something for them. Maybe there was something wrong with their test kits. Maybe he could fake his data. Sunny wanted Basil to come up with any answer.
Isn't there anything?
Their car turned away from the river and began the journey back home.