Head In The Stars

"Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"

I immediately dropped the bags I'm holding and see to the little girl. I got out my phone to act as a torch but other than a little grazing on one knee, the girl looks unscratched.

She rubbed at her knee then clambered to her feet. Did she run off? Was there an accident on the road? What was she doing here?

"Hey…" I began.

The girl looked up at me with burning eyes that seem to glimmer in the night light.

"Are you hungry? I can make you some dinner, if you want."

I saw her mouth twitch. Then it opened.

"Trust is a commodity that's hard to come by," she said.

Not what I was expecting to her say. I thought she'd say something more along the lines of 'I'm hungry' or 'have any more biscuits?'.

"I agree," I replied. "Come inside the station with me and I'll cook you something."

"What if you sell me into slavery?"

I blinked. I've heard her say only two things yet my mind's already spinning.

"...Why would I do that?"

"Well, why did you grab me earlier?"

"Earlier?"

"Yeah. In the forest."

Ah. She meant when I found her this afternoon and brought her to the station.

"If I wanted to sell you, then it wouldn't have made much sense to call the police, now would it?"

"Maybe they're in on the scheme," she said, eyes narrowing.

I don't mean to, but the corners of my mouth twitch.

"Do they seem like they're in on it?"

The little girl didn't reply and seemed to seriously consider the matter. I was better starting to understand Kai's attitude toward children. They're just incomprehensible!

"So why did you grab me then?"

Because I'm a responsible adult?

"Because I was worried you might get bitten by a snake," I said aloud.

"There aren't snakes out there…" the little girl said with knitted brows.

"There are in summer," I replied. It was true.

"Maybe… You want to sell my organs!"

Her little voice rang out in the quiet night. For a moment, there was a silent pause before the cicadas and frogs started up their chorus again. Where had the quiet little girl gone?

"Did you get a personality transplant or something?" I asked jokingly.

She gave me a piercing look, as if I'd touched upon some terrible truth.

"Fine!" she finally exclaimed. "Have it your way. Where's this food?"

Bemused, I picked up my bags of vegetables. "I need to cook it first. Why don't you lead the way up to the station."

The little girl eyed me then shook her head. "You go first."

Her behaviour was erratic but there was a real current of anxiety under it all. I nodded to her order and carefully stepped past her. She wanted to keep me where she could see what I was doing. It was a fear I knew well.

I knew as we got closer to the station that I'd end up blocking the light from it so I switched on the torch function of my phone and handed it to the little girl. "Try not to trip."

She nodded and we headed up the steps, me in the lead and the little girl behind.

When we reached the doors of the station, I got the doors open and went in first to flick on the lights. Cautiously, the little girl also entered. In the light I could see that she was no longer wearing the red dress and instead has on a white t-shirt and yellow shorts. Her hair was still as wild as ever.

To be sure she wouldn't run off again, I found some wafer snacks and put them into a bowl on the dining table then went to the kitchen.

I got out the metal basin, dunked the vegetables in it, and started to fill it with water from the sink. As I waited for it to fill, I pulled out my phone.

"What are you doing?"

I turned to find the little girl standing in the doorway, one hand on the frame, one hand holding a wafer.

I still wasn't sure how she'd gotten here. If there'd been some mishap, then calling the police right now would be logical, but if she had slipped away herself, then calling them would probably just make her run off again.

I slip my phone into my pocket.

"I'm not sure how to cook this," I lied, pointing to the vegetables in the metal bowl. "I was just trying to look it up."

The little girl came to the sink and looked at the long, bulbous green things soaking in the water.

"You bought something you don't know how to cook?" Her voice sounded incredulous. "Why would you do that?"

"Life's a journey of exploration. If I don't explore, what else am I going to do?"

She eyed me. "…Right." Then she turned and left. I the wooden chair squeak a little as she sat down at the table again.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I could probably text Aron to see what he thinks I should do, huh?

I lock then unlock my phone again. The signal indicator remains empty.

No signal again, just like last night when the machines malfunctioned. Guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow.

I put my phone away, turn off the tap then stare at the strange vegetables in the basin.

The strange vegetables pay me no heed.

Just how was I going to cook them…?

--

"How's it taste?"

The little girl swallowed then smacked her lips. "You know, for someone who looks as unreliable as you, you're a pretty good cook."

"Right? I think so too," I replied.

The girl squinted at me. "That wasn't a compliment, you know?"

"I know," I said. I used my chopsticks to pick up a few slices of bitter melon and dropped them into her bowl. "Try the bitter melon. It's better than normal."

She took a bite and spends a moment munching it.

"...I'd hate to imagine how it normally tastes," she muttered as she reached for her cup of water.

"Dubious melons aside, do you think I've earned your name yet?" I said this casually, but the girl immediately tensed. Crud.

"What, so you can search for me in your underground criminal database?" she asked venomously.

"So, I don't need to keep calling you 'The Little Girl' in my head," I replied.

"You talk to yourself?"

"Of course. All the best people do. You should give it a go."

Not for the first time she gave me an odd link somewhere between disbelief and pity. "…You're really weird."

"Thank you," was my simple response.

"...You're welcome."

I took a few slices of bitter melon for myself and dipped them in the chili sauce. I can't eat without something spicy.

The little girl stopped eating. "…My name's Lam Siu Mun, or just Millie."

Oh.

I held out my hand. "Nice to meet you, Millie. I'm Lachlan."

She shook my hand, rolling her eyes. "I know. I heard your name earlier.

The vibe of the room changed, less tense somehow. I finished my rice and so had Millie so I asked if she wanted seconds. She did.

"Do you live here?" she asked as she took back her bowl.

"Huh?"

"Here," she repeated then pointed at the ground. "In this building."

Not a question I wanted to answer.

"No," I replied, not looking her in the eye.

"You know I have trust issues," she warned.

Don't we all.

"I'm not lying," I said. "I really don't live here. I just… spend a good amount of time here, that's all."

And cook in the kitchen and wash in the bathroom and store some extra things I can't fit in my van here.

"Uh-huh." Little Millie clearly didn't buy it.

"...Fine. I'll answer properly if you answer one question first," I said.

"Shoot."

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

As I expected, the question is met with silence.

"Did you come here on purpose, or did you get lost again?"

"I didn't get lost," quipped Millie.

"So there's a reason you're here."

Millie looked at me searchingly then looked down at her lap. She talked big, like she'd eaten a dictionary, but she couldn't have been older than ten years old. Maybe more like eight.

"Can you keep a secret?" she finally asked.

I have trust issues.

"That depends on the secret," I replied.

She frowned. "You should have said 'yes' to that so that I'd tell you," she pointed out.

"But that would be lying," I replied. "Maybe it'll turn out I can't keep the secret."

"But if you told someone behind my back there's no way I could find out," she retorted.

"I'd know though." And that was enough.

"You're not very street smart," was the little girl's assessment.

"Maybe." But I know what it's like to live with guilt.

Millie sat back in her chair and put both her hands flat on the table. "I'm actually an alien."

"Eh?"

"I came here," she continued, as though she hadn't heard my surprise, "because I need to contact my people and get back to my home world."

I stare at her. I don't know what I'd been expecting, but whatever it had been, it wasn't that.

Millie pouted as though she could hear my thoughts.

"I can prove it," she said.