"Sister, look! Lan got me a green apple!" Jessica cried out excitedly, letting out a heart-shatteringly adorable chuckle.
"Didn't Laniakea owe you two bronze?" the nun asked. "Well, we should go inside; the others have prepared dinner." As two fancily dressed people approached, she added, "Oh, and Laniakea, can you finish reading the fairytale you started last night for the others?"
Jessica looked slightly confused, then remembered. "I forgot you could read because you keep telling the guards you can't," she said as they walked inside. "Why do you do that?"
"Jess, you're too pure for this world," Laniakea said, his expression a mix of annoyance and concern. "Did you already forget how dangerous these streets are? You hear it all over town—children are being kidnapped left and right. Imagine what they'd do if they found out a child could read. Stop telling people I can do it!"
I'm glad I didn't tell her I can write, too, Laniakea thought to himself with a small sigh. I wouldn't dream of mentioning math; her small brain would explode.
They arrived at the orphanage dining hall. Calling it a "hall" was perhaps an exaggeration; it was smaller than a standard dining room, but it was cozy and comfortable. As they sat down to eat, Jessica flashed a massive smile.
"Lan, Lan, look! They made my favorite! It's mashed potatoes with veggies!"
Laniakea glanced out the window, watching the Sister talk to the two men and wondering what the subject was. Well, who cares, he thought. I'll just go back to my book after I finish. I only need about 2,000 calories a day to survive, anyway.
Finishing his meal, Laniakea stood up. "Jess, I'm going now."
"You always go somewhere after eating!" Jessica pouted. "I can never find you. You have to promise to come back before nightfall to read us the fairytale."
"It's fairytale," Laniakea corrected.
"You know I have trouble with that word, don't bully me!" Jessica exclaimed, her cheeks flushing slightly.
"Sure, sure. I'll be back," Laniakea said, sprinting away before she could catch him.
He slipped through the back door, turned left at a tree with a distinct claw marking, and then right at a "snow-bark"—a small tree with a patch of bark as white as fresh snow. Finally, he climbed a dark tree two spots down from the snow-bark. It was a perfect hiding spot; the thick canopy hid him from anyone below, while the very top leaves filtered the sunlight into a wonderful glow.
Reaching into an abandoned squirrel nest, Laniakea pulled out a book titled Do You Know How Amazing the Human Body Is? He opened it and began muttering the text aloud.
"Red blood flows through the veins, which are like the tubes a baker uses to frost his creations. This blood carries oxygen from inhaled air to the muscles in different parts of the body..."
Laniakea became so engrossed that the words seemed to reflect in his blue eyes—eyes as endless as the sky but as deep as the ocean. He absorbed every word like a sponge dunked in thick liquid, refusing to let a single detail slip.
He read until the final page, but when he finally looked up, he realized with a jolt that he had stayed past his promised time. Panicking, he scrambled down and ran back. In the deepening dark, he struggled to find his path and—bang!
He slipped on something slick and tumbled into a cold liquid. "Wha—what is this? This definitely wasn't here before! Is... is this a pond?"