One small explorer. Absolutely no crawling required.
Three Little Taps
Nova was ready for the third tap when Sol disappeared.
One moment, he was looking at her through the round window of the little ship. The next, Nova was looking at the curved blue edge of Earth.
She held the handle outside the ship with one gloved hand. Her other hand had just tapped it twice.
“Where did you go?” she asked.
“I’m still at the window,” Sol replied through her helmet.
Nova looked over her shoulder. The window was behind her now, and Sol was waving from inside.
“Oh. I went instead.”
She carefully moved around the handle until she could see him again. Far below them, white clouds crossed the blue and gold of Earth. The little ship and its two fairy explorers were travelling in orbit, with the sun beginning to appear beyond the planet’s edge.
Sol raised one hand. “Shall we try the game again?”
Nova nodded. They had made up the game before she came outside: three little taps together, with a wave at the end.
“One, two, three,” Sol said.
Nova tapped the handle. By the second tap, she had begun to turn around it again.
The Unexpected Turn
She kept her hand on the handle as the window moved out of sight. Her wings shimmered behind her suit, catching a line of sunlight.
“Two,” Sol counted.
“I heard that one,” Nova said.
“And three.”
“I heard that too. But I couldn’t see you wave.”
She moved around the handle until the window came into view. Sol was still holding his hand up.
“I saved it for you,” he said.
“Can we do the taps while I’m looking at you?”
“We can try counting aloud.”
They did. Nova heard every number, but when she moved around the handle, the ship’s window slipped behind her once more. She finished the third tap facing the stars.
“Counting helped my ears,” she said. “My eyes are still behind.”
Sol laughed. “Would smaller taps help?”
Two Taps and a Wait
Nova returned to face the window. Sol lifted both hands where she could see them.
“I’ll show you when I’m ready,” he said.
She gave the handle two small taps. Her body began to turn, more slowly this time. She kept hold and let herself move around the handle, watching the stars pass and the ship come into view again.
Sol waited, his hands still raised.
When Nova faced him, she tapped once more. Sol tapped the inside of the window at the same moment, then waved.
“We did it!” Nova said.
“Two taps, one turn, and one more tap.”
“That’s more than three things.”
“Would you like to count the wave too?”
Nova considered this. “Only if you do it again.”
Sol waved again, a little more slowly.
Once More Around
They tried their new game once more. Sol lifted both hands. Nova tapped twice, held the handle, and travelled in a small circle around it.
Earth slipped across her view. The sun touched the edge of a cloud, and a glow spread across her helmet. Then the round window appeared again, with Sol waiting behind it.
Tap.
Sol tapped the window and waved. Nova waved back before taking hold of the handle with both hands.
“Was the turn part of the game?” Sol asked.
Nova tapped twice and began another slow circle.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” he said.
When she came back around, Sol was ready with the last tap. This time, Nova could see his wave all the way to the end.
Livora Gracely ♥
Leave a Reply