Ar'Tok - Alana Khan Page 0,33
subject. Ready?”
“What was the expression you used earlier? It scared the shit out of you? The idea of zipping down the mountain on this slim wire is doing that to me. Perhaps you should go first.”
“No problem.”
We’re on a decidedly unstable platform in what Star informed me is one of five rainforests on the planet. I watch as the young staffer checks Star’s rigging one more time, then lets her go. Her scream echoes back to me, but I don’t worry about her. She’s obviously having the time of her life.
“Ar’Tooookkk,” she whoops. “This is funnn!”
She curves out of sight, so I can’t see if she landed properly on the next platform, but the guide checks his wrist-comm and smiles at me. “She’s good. You ready?”
I gaze out at the canopy of green and blue leaves dotted with red flowers lofting above me, and peer over the platform’s edge to look down five or ten stories to the ground below. My heart thumps so hard and fast I can feel it thrumming through my chest.
I’m not ready. I turn to stone, my muscles refusing to follow my direction. It doesn’t help that the guide sees my panic and mutters under his breath, “The little female had no fear.”
Why is that, I wonder. Both Star and I were raised in small spaces and never left the building we were born in. Why is it that little Star, who’s two heads shorter and a hundred dextans lighter than me embraced this challenge while I’m standing here like a frightened child?
It strikes me like a lightning bolt that she had one thing I didn’t. She had family cheering her on, telling her she could do anything and could succeed at anything she put her mind to. I had no support. I had to muddle through life after my mother died knowing there was no one in the galaxy who cared if I lived or died. Maybe my aunt, but she visited for half an hoara once a lunar. And I don’t know if it was out of concern or obligation.
“Ar’Tok!” Star’s voice carries through the humid air. “It was wonderful. I can’t wait to see your handsome face.”
Well, I have support now. I’m going to do this. And by the Gods, I’m going to accept any challenge thrown my way today.
“Let’s go,” I tell the young male, “I have someone waiting for me on the next platform.”
He shoves me off and I could swear my heart quits beating for half the ride. Then I pay attention to the warm air on my face and sifting through my cirr. I notice the rapid, shifting patterns of the sunlight on my face as it beams in through the thick canopy above me. And the feeling of freedom, as if I’m a bird flying on currents of air, transports me above any feeling I’ve ever experienced.
As I near the platform, I see Star’s happy, shining face, waiting for me. She’s clapping when I come to rest.
“High five,” she says as she raises a hand, obviously waiting for me to slap it. My questioning glance results in her response, “It means congratulations, you did it.”
“I don’t know what you were so scared of,” I tease.
“I know, right?” She plays along. “Sometimes I make mountains out of molehills.”
We descend three more platforms, taking turns as to who goes first. It fills my heart with joy when I’m on the second platform, waiting for her to touch down. What a thrill to see her ecstatic face as she zooms in to join me.
On our last jump, we’re allowed to go side-by-side. It’s a longer distance than the others, with fewer degrees of descent, so it’s slower. We hold hands and point out the little frestas jumping from branch to branch. I hear birds cawing over the pounding of my heart.
When we’re almost down the mountain, I glance over at Star and find her gazing at me, a wide close-lipped smile painting her face with happiness.
“Having fun?” she asks.
“Yes,” I say as my feet touch the ground. More fun than I can express.
Star
My plan today was to have fun, experience many things for the first time, and to help Ar’Tok have a great day—maybe the first great day of his life.
I had no idea that I’d have the honor of watching him grow over the span of such a few short hours. We’re on a one-hour hover-ride to the ocean, our shoulders touching every time the driver banks too hard.