0 watched the Twins from the bed. They danced outside without a care in the world. Whatever she released made her uneasy. 0 rocked herself from side to side hugging her knees to her chest.
If you could see me now, 1. She wanted to whisper. Somehow she could still feel his presence next to her. His and 8's and 2 and 5 and 6. She liked to imagine they were all protecting her.
The wire that kept her torn leg together was replaced with a beautiful maroon colored string sewn neatly through the burlap skin. It made running with the Twins a lot easier.
"2 would've done a better job," 9 said to her when he patched her up, "Or at least that's what 5 told me."
3 and 4 tapped her head and she looked up. They both brought her presents from outside, clicking their eyes and flashing their lights. She couldn't look directly into their eyes when they did that so instead she listened intently to the number of clicks.
Slowly she clicked her eyes at them in thanks and took the objects. One was a pen from the Scientist's home and the other was a picture of a cat that was torn from a book.
Since they got back the Twins taught her their secret language of eye clicks. She hadn't quite gotten the hang of it yet. Sometimes, out of habit, she attempted to speak only for nothing to come out. Communication was hard. She wondered how the Twins never got so frustrated with people not understanding.
3 set a drawing she made in front of her and pointed at the stitchpunk.
I don't know his name, she mouthed the words before trying to tell him with the clicks. She did it too slowly for 3 to follow. Thankfully 4 made for a great translator. She told the two the story so many times that she was sure they had it memorized, yet they still asked her questions every now and again. They were the only ones that believed her story.
Without thinking about her actions she hugged 3 and 4. There was no reason for the hug, just that she felt lonely. The presence of the others had gone away. She felt too much alone.
The moon outside was half full. It lit everything outside.
7 peeked her head inside the room. "Hey guys, come see this outside."
Curious, 0 got up and followed 7 with 3 and 4 just behind her. 9 waited for them outside, staring at the sky. The sky was it's normal black with the half moon lighting as much as it could. The stars around it twinkled in their usual spots and along with the normal starry night there were also flashing streaks in the sky.
3 and 4 clicked their eyes and turned to her.
She wrote in the dirt SHOOTING STAR.
"Shooting star, huh?" 7 folded her arms and watched the sky.
0 took a moment to look at everyone around her. The moment was so peaceful. On the very last shooting star she closed her eyes and wished that this peaceful moment could last forever.