A gentle but concise knock on par with the flapping of a hummingbird's wings was heard upon the door. The Prime Minister's wife opened her eyes, woken from a light doze on the recliner in her study. At the partially opened door stood Kurt. The woman noticed that his lips were drawn tight across his face and his brow was set determinedly over his eyes as if to shield them from showing truth to the world. Before the woman could think of anything to say to her son, not that she had anything important to say, he declared his purpose for interrupting her sleep.
"Mother, I am going on an adventure with Blaine!"
"You will be going nowhere with that boy!"
"I go everywhere with him and this time he asked me to see the stars."
"No, absolutely not! You do not know what it is like out there, it is dangerous. The universe has changed since my day."
"Things always change; the world becomes more dangerous every day. That does not stop us from leaving our own homes, from meeting new people, from living."
"Until traveling becomes safer…" Kurt's mother started saying.
"The safer it gets, the more the danger heightens," Kurt interrupted.
"And then it becomes even safer!" his mother finished with a bright smile.
"The dichotomy will always remain but the methods will intensify."
Kurt's mother stood up in rage. "Words! Tongue tying complex words that are only wisps of smoke. I recognize their musky scents but I cannot place their origin. Why do you use such words?"
"Mother, if you left the house once in a while, took in some fresh air and enjoyed the institutions for academia then those wisps of smoke would be fires of passion for knowledge!"
"It is not safe to go out too long. There has been a string of pick pocketing on this hill alone. Three times in the last year! Who knows what is waiting beyond that!"
"Mother, I have to take this risk. I want to travel to the stars."
"Not this again! Why cannot you stay here and be my precious Kurty? Remember how we would pick roses together in the garden maze?"
"I never picked roses mother. That was you and your garden society."
His mother ignored him as she continued to reminisce on the false reality she was trapped in. "…and grew beans in that plot of earth under the kitchen window."
"They never did bloom, mother please." Kurt made his way toward the door, looking sadly at the state his mother had worked herself into because of the years worrying about having to care for her son, a challenge she could never face.
"Besides, I need you Kurty. Who will keep me company on the long summer days?"
"I am sure the pool boy would be more than willing."
"But he is not the same as you, my son."
"Of course not, that would be disturbing if Kurt and the pool boy were the same. I am leaving mother."
"So soon? When will you be back?"
"Later. Goodbye mother." Kurt shut the door before he could hear his mother's reply or let her coerce him into more tedious small talk. He had an important meeting with his crew after all.