He was a catastrophe.
It had only been a week since he'd left.
But that was just enough time.
Half the day, he'd just pace across the floor, no one knowing what he was thinking. Sometimes he'd look out the window and see his old buddies staring at the dome, wondering what he was doing and why he hasn't come out yet. He didn't go to 'school'.
He was much too occupied with his moods.
His blue funk was infectious and had already been distributed to the rest of the family.
You could sometimes find his sister tinkering with an ancient ham radio, trying to pick up signals from a past time. His father, who was so excited to be back at first, was no longer jovial of the return and had become hostile, though is now a wiz at historical facts, looking them up at free moments. His mother, who often knits when she's depressed, had created scarf after scarf, sweater after sweater, a hobby that she had picked up while on 'vacation'.
But all he did was think.
There was only one special reason that anyone could have been as lonely as he.
It was love.
Yearning for the years, he was. He ached to go to a ballpark, or step in the crabgrass barefoot, or even the aroma of a prehistoric hotdog from the pits of the cafeteria. Because, let's face it, 2121 is not the most arboraceous era in the bunch.
But most of all, he longed for her.
He longed to hold her hand, as he did on a regular basis.
He longed to hear her charming voice sing a melody again.
And he longed to tell her one more secret. His secrets were always safe with her, and it was nice to get things off of his chest. But this one was different. He wanted to tell so badly. To tell her, and to see her reaction. He wouldn't know what the response would be, partly because he didn't get too much of a chance to know her as well as he could have.
And partly because he never got the chance at all to tell.
She never seemed like she would be interested in getting together, but he wouldn't know. He was too busy staring into her eyes every now and then.
But it was much too late for any of that.
He had already said goodbye, and there was no speaking to her, or anyone else, ever again.
Unless he could slip away.
It would only take a second.
Leave her a note, a letter, or something to let her know.
She might even want it, too. He knew she would give everything to speak with him again.
And he would give everything
Just to see her again.