Out Of This World (19 page)
The next day I woke up to a cloudless, brilliantly blue sky. Good fortune was shining down on us for the third day in a row and I celebrated Celeste’s ability to soak up the sun’s life-giving rays.
I stretched and crawled out of my cozy cocoon. Celeste was still lightly snoring, but Sydney’s sleeping bag was empty. I poked my head out of the tent and watched as Sydney was brushing her teeth while stoking the fire that I assumed she’d just built. She was a multi-tasker. Good to know.
Greg and his buddies were mumbling to themselves using nonsensical words. If we hadn’t recently experienced their wrath, it might have been comical. I noticed that their eyes still had a vacant, unfocused look. I wondered if Sydney led them all to the camping chairs in front of the fire this morning because they were sitting in a semi-circle and babbling like babies who haven’t learned to talk yet. Was this some kind of side effect of the memory removal Celeste inflicted on them—taking away their most basic memories like rudimentary language skills? They reminded me of their Neanderthal ancestors who grunted in conversation as a mode of communication, but I wasn’t sure whether they understood each other.
I wish I’d taken a picture of the trio when I braved the night chill and wild animals for my nightly pee, because they had been spooning each other like sardines in a can. I burst out laughing and Sydney looked at me to see what was so humorous. Like my bladder, I could hold my laughter in only so long before it exploded out of me. I pointed to the men and she chuckled. Too bad we couldn’t show their bosses the touching picture.
Sydney pointed to the French press and I shook my head. I was serious about my vow not to get my system started this morning. She shrugged and I thought I saw her shaking with laughter as she turned around to rinse off her toothbrush.
It didn’t take us long to get ready, and this time we insisted that Celeste accompany us on our hike. I wanted to spend as much time as I could with her before she had to return. Celeste readily agreed to our plans for the day.
“I will be happy to follow your
bootelicious
self,” Celeste proclaimed.
I snorted and laughed out loud as Sydney smirked and mouthed
bootelicious
to me. “I bet you’re pretty proud of yourself right now, using slang and all, but where in the world did you get that adjective. I’ve certainly never heard that one before.”
Celeste grinned. “Your reading device is very informative, but I may have combined a few words to create my own slang.”
†
Sydney did a good job of leading us on a path that would allow Celeste to remain in the sunshine.
Celeste had an uncanny ability to find the beauty in not only the wildflowers, but also the weeds. In a way, I felt like that weed she noticed and pointed to, bringing out the beauty for others to see. She knew the names of most of the plants that Sydney drew our attention to. I could tell by her grin that she already knew what they were when Sydney would proudly point them out, but she never revealed her knowledge. She was content to let Sydney be her guide. When we came across a Purple Dead Nettle she asked about it.
“Oh that’s just a weed.” Sydney waved her hand away as if the weed was not worthy of a name.
“The weed is beautiful. Why do you wave it off with disdain?” Celeste asked.
Sydney squatted next to the purple flower. “You know, you’re right, this Purple Dead Nettle is beautiful. I guess we are extremely arbitrary and capricious when determining which plants are beautiful flowers and which are noxious weeds.”
“I like your saying,
beauty is in the eye of the beholder
. If a person on your planet is not considered beautiful, are they also considered unworthy?” Celeste asked.
“Wow, Celeste you’ve really hit the nail on the head. Our society does place far too much emphasis on appearances, so because I never felt beautiful before, I also never felt worthy.”
Sydney tilted her head in my direction. “Did you really believe that? God, Mabs, you have the whole package because not only are you beautiful on the outside, but your soul is just as exquisite.” Sydney got this look like she’d just figured out the meaning of life. “You know, I just realized that what I really fell in love with is who you are inside. Remember how I told you I fell in love with you the minute I reached puberty? Well, you’ve definitely blossomed since then. No offense, Mabs, but your coke bottle glasses and that extensive metal mouth weren’t exactly the most attractive accessories, yet I still fell for you. I guess I’m not as shallow as I thought I was.”
“Well too bad I can’t say the same thing about myself. I am completely shallow because you, Sydney, are a complete hottie, and Celeste is out of this world gorgeous,” I teased. “Seriously, Celeste, you just reinforced a very important lesson. Every living thing is worthy and should be treated as such. I’ll never look at another weed in the same way. I always thought I was more accepting of people because of my own experience in high school, but you’ve taught me that even I have biases.”
I wasn’t in any hurry to get back to the campsite because I knew it would mark the end of Celeste’s visit to our planet, so we meandered along the path in no particular hurry to end our hike. I avoided the topic like the plague, lest I turn into a sobbing ball of hysteria.
On our journey, we came across a black SUV and I assumed this was the vehicle Greg and his companions used to travel to our location. It wasn’t too far from where we pitched our tent, definitely in walking distance. I thought it might not be a bad idea to walk the guys closer to their car so that when the authorities went looking for the
strange men
hanging out in the mountains, they would find the vehicle.
With each hour, Celeste improved and by the time we made it back to the campsite, her healthy glow had returned. I was pleased to see Gizmo curled up on the blanket I’d placed in front of the tent.
I didn’t know how to suggest one last dinner before the impending goodbyes, so I didn’t say anything. I felt like I would be suggesting something like the last supper. How depressing is that? It turns out that Celeste was on a similar wavelength.
“Do you think we could cook up another meal and have the s’mores for dessert again? I will miss the Earth food almost as much as I will miss you.”
“I think those chicken apple sausages would be the perfect thing to roast over the fire. No prep needed,” I replied.
There were so many things I would miss about Celeste. Her humming while enjoying a tasty meal was something I would never forget. It was a whole lot better than a loud belch when expressing your satisfaction over a meal. I’d read somewhere that in some cultures a burp or passing gas was a high compliment to the chef. I preferred not to receive that type of accolade. She didn’t disappoint me this last evening as she starting humming almost immediately after a bite of the sausage.
We made the guys eat those awful reconstituted meals. No matter what Sydney said about them, she would never convince me that they were almost as good as a fresh meal.
Sydney licked her fingers after devouring her second s’more and stood as she stretched her long frame. “I better start tearing down the tent and packing up before it gets too late. I hate unpacking in the dark.”
Celeste looked over at me and her mournful expression was my undoing as I burst into tears. “I am sorry, Bella, but it is time.”
“I know,” I sniffed.
Sydney busied herself with packing up our campsite and gave Celeste and me some privacy to say our goodbyes.
Gizmo could sense something monumental was about to happen and strolled over weaving her body in and out of our legs.
“How will you get back to your ship?” I asked.
“Do you know this show,
Star Trek
, that is on the black box?”
“Yeah, why?”
“We are able to use energy to transport ourselves from one place to the next. As long as I have Gizmo in my arms, I will be able to transport us both to my ship,” she answered.
“What about food for Gizmo during the long journey home?” I asked.
“Some of our food comes in the form of pellets that are surprisingly similar to your cat food. I believe this food source will be sufficient for her needs.”
“Yuck. No wonder you like our food. Maybe you should try to harvest the vegetation on your planet and have fresh food every once in a while. You never know what might be tasty.”
Celeste decided to bypass the exploration of new food choices and went straight to a potentially controversial topic. “Will Sydney be upset if I kiss you goodbye? I will make it a chaste kiss. I must teach this energy exchange to my planet. It was quite enjoyable.”
Sydney and I hadn’t really talked much about monogamy or our relationship, but I got the distinct impression that was where we were heading. However, Sydney was the kind of person to understand things and I knew she recognized that Celeste was special to me, but not a threat.
“I think she would understand. You know, Celeste, under different circumstances, I might have seriously considered your offer, but you were right, Sydney is my energy mate. That in no way diminishes the depth of my feelings for you. You will always be the one who first made me feel worthy of love. I’ll always love you.” I let the tears fall freely.
Celeste brushed her fingers over my cheek, leaned in, and gently placed her lips on mine. She pulled me into her arms and hugged me before stepping back and picking up Gizmo. “I will do everything in my power to find an energy mate and bring her back to this wonderful planet where I learned about love. In the meantime…” She touched her hand to my heart. “I will remain right here. You will feel my energy and I will feel yours. That is what it is like to be energy compatible. If you had become my energy mate that feeling would have intensified by at least one hundred times.”
I bent over and kissed my cat and I petted her head one last time. It was so hard to let her go, but I knew Celeste would take good care of her. “Bye little pun’kin.” I stepped back to give Celeste enough room to do whatever she needed to do.
The soft purple light I now associated with Celeste surrounded her entire body, and as the light diminished, Celeste and Gizmo disappeared. I heard in my head:
Goodbye sweet Bella, take good care of Sydney. She is a good choice for any energy mate
.
I stood there for a few seconds as I let the grief flow over me inhabiting every corner of my soul. It wasn’t long before I felt Sydney’s protective arms wrap around me.
“Is there anything I can do to make this less painful?” she asked.
“You’re already doing it. I just need you to hold me for a few moments.”
In this whole ordeal, I’d lost something very precious, but I gained something even more treasured—Sydney’s love. Maybe it would have happened eventually, but I didn’t think so, because I was never in the right mindset before to believe in my self-worth before Celeste came along to show me.
After a few minutes of just soaking in Sydney’s love, I was ready to get going. I wasn’t naïve enough to believe that we didn’t have more challenges ahead of us. Hurricane Hollie would be our first hurdle.
I wiped my eyes one last time. “I’ll help you pack up the rest of the gear and then we better find a place to purchase a disposable phone to make that anonymous call. I don’t think it’s wise to use our cell phones. Besides, I don’t have a signal.”
“Wow, I feel like some kind of spy or something. I was rethinking the suggestion I made earlier about an anonymous call. I think I’d rather just use my phone when we get a signal. I have a buddy in the Forest Service. I’ll call her and if someone asks any questions later on, we can admit to meeting Greg, but then tell them we didn’t realize he was some nutcase. I think the closer we stick to the truth, the better it will be to keep our story straight. It’s not a lie to say we don’t exactly know where Celeste lives, but she went back home. Since she never gave us a last name, we don’t have to make one up. We can just tell them we never asked.”
After we packed everything up, we led the three goons down the path and sat them down close to their vehicle. They were remarkably compliant. They’d stopped their nonsensical chatter and just sat there in the weeds staring out at nothing in particular. They weren’t quite catatonic, but they were minimally responsive.
I grabbed Sydney’s baseball cap from the tree branch and smashed it on my head while pulling my hair through the back loop. I didn’t want my hair whipping in my face on the ride back home. Sydney had a hair tie to keep her gorgeous locks from blowing around. We were finally ready to leave.
I had to admit, camping wasn’t as bad as I thought, and I might be willing to come back again for a couple of days. This was the place where Sydney and I first made love, so coming back would be something special. Sentimentality would override comfort. I was, after all, a romantic at heart.
†
That damn road jiggled my innards again and I was glad when we finally made it to a smoother surface. I had to pee again because the road shook up my bladder, sending desperate signals to my brain. I was a pro now, so when Sydney stopped to make the phone call, I figured I could slip out and squat behind the closest tree.
Sydney kept checking her phone every few minutes, presumably waiting for enough bars on her phone to contact her friend in the forest service. It took us at least twenty minutes to travel into cell phone range. I was sure that my eyes were yellow because I had to pee so bad. I was squirming in my seat hoping I wouldn’t embarrass myself too much with my desperate need to urinate.