snakes, but not from the awkwardness of human interaction. Astrid grabs it off the shelf,
muttering that it will have to do. Ezra offers tosleep outside, “under the stars” as he phrases it.
She sets her steely eyes on him. Do you have a deathwish? He shakes his head, and is quiet for
the rest of their shopping spree.
She enters the coordinates of her mother’s last knownlocation into her GPS. When they
reach the desert, the sun is falling behind the craggymountains. The rocks and weeds jostle
Astrid and Ezra inside the jeep. It’s barren and infiniteand Astrid thinks humans don’t belong
anywhere near it. Feels like we’re on the moon, Ezrasays.
Wherever Donna went, she hadn’t taken her belongings.Her tent sits with its door zipped
half-open. Her orange Jeep is parked with its cannedgoods still stacked neatly in the back. The
only thing out of place is Donna’s tech lying on thefold-out table beside the ruins of a campfire.
She would never leave them exposed to the elements,as expensive as they all are. Donna’s
iPhone lies in the dust, battery drained. There isthe incessant click-click-click of Ezra’s camera.
An unbearable pressure builds in Astrid’s nose, andshe pinches the bridge of it, closing her eyes
as tight as she can.
“Astrid?” Ezra rests his hand on her shoulder. Shebegins crying. Then the desert is filled
with it, a mix between sobs and gasps that comes fromthe depths of her chest. She plops down
to the dirt, head in her hands. She knows what itlooks like. A crime scene. The last remnants she
might ever have of her mother. Ezra sits beside her,rubbing circles onto her back. She can’t
breathe, she shouldn’t be having to do this, she can’tdo this, her mom isn’t here. Her mom isn’t
here. Her mom isn’t here. But her mother is somewhere.And alive, Astrid tries to believe. She
would’ve felt it if Donna died, wouldn't she? Howto get her back, she isn’t sure. But she will
raze the state of New Mexico or hijack a craft fromNASA if that’s what it takes.
persephelia
(persephelia)
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