The day began as the others did. Michael left his room, but today everyone else was awake before him. Even Azav was in the living room quietly engaging in a discussion with Ellop and Tiki. Michael approached Sheerya who was sitting in the corner drinking a warm drink. “Hey Sheerya. I was wondering if you had any plans for today. I’ve spent the last two days with Tiki and Ellop and I was wondering if you wanted to do something together,” said Michael.
“Oh absolutely,” said Sheerya who was now smiling.
“I was thinking of going to check out the amenities the resort has and I heard that tonight 13 of the moons are going to be visible,” said Sheerya.
“Hey, I’m fine just staying here for the day and checking out the hotel. Yesterday at Tribabi National Park drained my energy, so I’m cool not going too far today,” said Michael.
“Okay, well I’ll let you know when I’m thinking of going,” said Sheerya.
“Sounds good to me,” responded Michael.
Michael walked over to take a seat on the couch where Azav, Ellop, and Tiki where in the middle of a conversation about space politics or something. Michael wished he understood their conversation, but it really sounded like nonsense to him, so he decided to tinker around with his Galactoband. Gorad and Fenn had both sent him messages, so he decided to send back responses and update them on where he was. He messed around with his Galactoband and started playing a video game on it until Sheerya walked around and grabbed Michael’s attention. “Okay, I’m ready. Are you ready to go?” asked Sheerya.
“Yeah,” said Michael switching off the game on his Galactoband and standing up.
Michael and Sheerya exited the hotel room and walked along the sidewalk to the main resort complex. “Looks like they have massages, pedicures, acupuncture, and lots of other things as well,” said Sheerya.
“Well, I’ve never really been big into that stuff, but I guess it’s worth trying while we’re here,” said Michael.
Michael and Sheerya entered the spa and each booked appointments for massages. When their massages had concluded both of them left the main resort building to continue exploring. “Wow, that felt great,” said Michael.
“Yeah, that’s just what I needed,” said Sheerya.
“What else is here you were thinking of looking at?” asked Michael.
“Well, I don’t know I just want to walk along the beach,” said Sheerya.
“To the beach it is,” said Michael.
Sheerya and Michael walked along the white sand beaches. Michael removed his shoes and felt the sand in his toes and Sheerya got down on her knees and started playing in the sand like a child. “What are you doing?” asked Michael.
“I don’t know, making a sand castle,” said Sheerya.
Sheerya’s ‘sand castle’ was looking more like a sand mound, so Michael got on his knees as well and decided to help her out. Michael used his hands to help construct a more solid wall for Sheerya’s castle. “Wow, you’re really good at this,” said Sheerya.
“Really?” asked Michael.
“Yeah, it really looks like you know what you’re doing,” said Sheerya.
Michael continued building onto the castle and Sheerya helped having learned from Michael’s method. Some time had passed and Michael and Sheerya’s castle was now growing in size around the two of them. The tide was slowly creeping up and Michael got the attention of Sheerya. “Hey Sheerya, I think we’re gonna have to make a moat,” said Michael.
“A what?” asked Sheerya.
“A moat, like a trench all around the castle so that the water doesn’t get in,” said Michael.
Sheerya and Michael dug out their moat around the castle to prevent the high tide from ruining their hard work. The tide continued rising and the moat proved to be of no help as the purple water moved over as if nothing was there. The sand castle began collapsing as the water took it, and at a certain point Sheerya and Michael stopped trying to save it and let the ocean take the castle. “Well, that was fun,” said Sheerya.
“It was. I can’t believe we were both just playing in the sand like we were little kids,” said Michael.
Sheerya giggled. “People were giving us strange looks as they passed,” said Sheerya.
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“They’re probably all boring anyway and couldn’t handle seeing us having fun,” said Michael.
“Yeah, so tell me a little about yourself Michael. Ellop told me you’re from the container world. What’s it like there?” asked Sheerya.
“Well, it’s a lot less interesting that’s for sure,” said Michael.
“Really? We always speculated it would be a lot more technologically advanced and would be a utopia,” said Sheerya.
“Yeah, well hate to break it to you, but it’s neither of those. It’s not more technologically advanced we haven’t had a human travel further than our moon, and it’s most certainly not a utopia,” said Michael.
“Yeah, it’s unfortunate to hear. Many places in the galaxy aren’t utopias,” said Sheerya.
“I know. I was on Sevani. I thought that place was wonderful when I arrived, but then I learned they just hide their poor outside of the city where the average temperature is below freezing and it’s always snowing,” said Michael.
“Yeah, that’s how it is. So, I heard you’re on your way to Ikti Prime do you have any idea what you’re going to do once you arrive?” asked Sheerya.
“Well, a while back I heard that there are some professors there who speculate that this world isn’t real and is within a game. I want to speak with them to see if they can help me find a way out of here. Since, well… you know the Tardigrades,” said Michael.
“Yeah…” said Sheerya turning her head away.
“I love it here, but I also just want to get home so I can see my friends and my family again,” said Michael.
“I get it. It’s strange because I know you didn’t arrive that long ago, but it already seems like you’re a local to the galaxy,” said Sheerya.
“Really?” Michael said blushing.
“Yeah, you’ve adapted really well. I’m not sure if it’s just similar to your local planet but you really seem like you do well here,” said Michael.
“Well, I’ve noticed a lot of similarities between my home planet and here. For starters most of the other alien species I meet here resemble animals from my planet. I also remember this weird experience I had when arriving. I saw a building that looked straight out of Earth and it was at the space gate. When I looked at it again however it looked nothing like it did before,” said Michael.
“Maybe our worlds are a little more connected than they seem. I mean afterall things from our world went to yours and now you’re here in ours,” said Sheerya.
“Yeah, I’m not sure exactly. I try not to worry myself about it and tell myself it’s going to be okay, but it’s tough not knowing how exactly to contact the outside world and just let everyone know that I’m okay and I’ll figure this all out,” said Michael.
Sheerya reached her feathered arms out to hug Michael. “In the end it’s going to be okay. You’ll figure it out,” said Sheerya.
Michael felt his eyes begin to water. “Thank you Sheerya,” said Michael.
Michael stayed still in Sheerya’s arms for a few minutes before she let go. There was something so moving about Sheerya’s words of encouragement that meant so much to Michael. That short moment of compassion was so impactful for Michael it was possible Sheerya wasn’t even fully aware of how much it meant. It was around noon and there wasn’t much keeping Michael and Sheerya there on the beach, so they decided to return back to the hotel room. As the day turned to night and the 13 moons revealed themselves everyone apart from Azav gathered outside on the beach to look at up in the sky at all the moons. Sheerya and Tiki looked up at the moons admiring them while Ellop gave himself a headache trying to make sense of the gravitational fields of all the moons and the two suns the planet orbited. The moons where each different shapes and sizes, some bright and others dim. Michael looked at Sheerya and smiled and she smiled back. He turned his head to look at Ellop who had just accepted not to question the gravitational fields too much and to let his mind rest. Afterall, they were on vacation. Michael turned to the sound of footsteps behind him. “Hey Azan, glad to see you joined us,” said Michael.
Azan was silent for a moment and then spoke, “good to see you you all too,” he said.
Michael laid on the sand next to Michael and looked up at the moons with the rest of the group. Michael heard Azav taking breaths through the mask. He ignored the sound of Azav’s breathing and focused on the sound of the waves. As everyone stared up at the night sky they were put at ease. Even Michael was no longer worrying about his friends or his family. He was just at peace looking up at the moons observing him back.