All I Need To Know
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Why Are There So Many Songs About Rainbows?
NIGHT OF THE SECOND DAY
36 HOURS REMAIN
"I've got the marshmallows." Garaa said, holding them up.
"I've got the dipping chocolate." Sore added, stirring the warm dark liquid in the red bowl.
"I've got the Vita-Wheats and Graham Crackers." Naruto was eating some of them now.
"And I've got the hot-chocolate." Emma finished, holding up a thermostat. "Let's cook-out!"
Actually, they were 'cooking-out' in the back-yard, and they were in their PJ's. They all wore pyjama tops and bottoms. Garaa's had cows all over it and Naruto's had pigs. Sore's had chickens and Emma's had sheep-dogs.
They were a travelling farm.
"It's so peaceful out here." Sore commented, as they roasted their marshmallows which sure beat pinecones!
"Isn't it?" Emma agreed, looking around her. "It reminds me of these places back on Earth: Dunsborough, Busselton, Yallingup, my Albany, Ballingup, Bridgetown, Nannup – where Mari's Mum grew up – and the beach today?"
"Yeah?" Garaa's eyes were glittering in the 'camp-fire'.
"Well," Emma's own eyes were shining, because she loved the South-West Of Australian. "That was like Prevley, and Gracetown (without the people). And Little Beach, in Albany, too." She added. "And Eaglebay, and Smith's Beach…oh, and the mountains remind me of Denmark, Mount Barker and the Porongurup Mountain Ranges…ohhh…"
"Emma-Sama, do you miss Earth?" Sore suddenly said.
Emma jumped, and then stared at the fire for a moment. At last she said: "Yes…I miss Earth…when I was younger my 'parents' took me to Albany and Dunsborough, and we went to Bali a few times. I miss…places, but not really people." She smiled. "All the people I need in my life are with me, or will be, you know?"
Naruto left his s'more long enough to hug her.
"And," She added, when he'd sat back down again. "I would be happy being with everyone I love, even if we were living on Pluto in the freezing cold and with scarcely any oxygen."
The others laughed.
They went back to toasting and gazing around them.
"LOOK!" Naruto suddenly shrieked, making everyone jump, and Sore almost dropped her s'more.
"OH!" Emma shrieked too, when she saw it.
"Is it an aurora?" Sore breathed.
"Night-sky rainbows!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Cool." Garaa smiled.
"Kirei!" Emma squealed happily, taking a big bite of chocolate, biscuit, chocolate, marshmallows and more chocolate.
The sky was alight with waves of red, blue, pink, green, yellow, violet and white. The colours danced across the sky like magic.
"Do you think Ai can see it?" Sore asked Emma.
"Umm…" Emma was sure that Ai couldn't see it.
"Oh well, we can, so we'll tell everyone about it!" Sore put her arm around Emma.
"Right!" Emma grinned, and put her arm around Garaa.
Sore put her mother arm around Naruto, and they all sat there together, looking up at the night-sky rainbows, and wondering why there were so many songs about rainbows…