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Suki took the plate from her and ate rather enthusiastically. Even though she wasn’t a mother, she felt motherly satisfaction from watching the rather slender young girl take in sustenance. She hoped they could maintain a sense of lightheartedness to show the girl that life was still worth living even after losing someone who knew the ebbs and flow of your soul.
Because she was starting to feel that way herself, right there in that drafty room.
EIGHT
SARAH
Sarah and Suki went down to the kitchen after she finished eating whatever neon-glowing muck Allan had apparently been making for her for ages. It supposedly contained nutrients that were effective for the “weary mind,” a blending of native fruits and vegetables grown in exclusive areas on the property. Suki told Sarah that the flavor wasn’t too bad, and it managed to keep her full for the majority of the day.
Looking at the girl, Sarah questioned that, of course. She was certainly rather tall compared to the average human her age but seemed to lack the meaty bones that the rest of her kind sported effortlessly. She wasn’t going to instantly start questioning Kael’s fatherly duties … Suki had been a rather stubborn child at first when it came to eating the mush … but she did wonder how attentive he’d been to her eating habits.
They enjoyed themselves having what Sarah called a real breakfast consisting of pancakes, sausages, and eggs. Allan had brought in some human food, which Suki responded to uproariously. She was sure it had far more sugar than her body was used to, but she needed something. Plus, color was beginning to spot on her face.
“What does your dad have to eat?” Sarah tried to ask casually.
Suki shrugged, her legs dangling from the stool and swinging vigorously.
“We don’t really eat together, so I’m not sure. Maybe the same mush, as you like to call it.”
There was still excitement in her voice but a pepper of hesitation whenever Sarah mentioned anything about her dad. Allan and she exchanged a knowing look before Suki glanced up.
“Is he gone often?” Sarah asked.
Suki nodded, then wiggled her nose in contemplation. When she spoke next, she sounded twice her age.
“He’s not a bad dad,” she said, her eyes looking brighter than when Sarah first met her. “He’s just … hurting.”
Sarah sat on the stool next to her and touched her shoulder gently. Suki returned quickly to her plate, scraping up what remained of the sugary syrup and foreign protein.
“I don’t think he’s bad. I just want to understand what’s been going on for you both. I know how much loss can affect someone.”
Suki didn’t say anything more on the subject, so Sarah dropped it. She was thankful the girl had opened up to her at all and rather quickly. She could see the child was missing her mother far more desperately than perhaps Kael wanted to acknowledge.
Suki nodded, then licked up the rest of the syrup. They decided to explore the grounds together, and since it was so vast, Sarah grabbed her emergency kit. It was something she always carried as a nanny, no matter where she went. She ran to her room to retrieve it and threw on a jacket.
They met in the lobby, which looked like a futuristic hotel’s. Suki held out her hand to Sarah, who merrily took it.
“What’s that?” Suki asked, pointing at the kit.
It was hitched along her waist like a purse inside a secured satchel where Sarah could easily reach it.
“It’s an emergency kit. I take it with me everywhere. Do you know what that means?”
Suki gave her a condescending look, appearing like a teenager with that deeply imprinted scowl. “Do the human kids on Earth get hurt a lot?”
“Not a lot, but sometimes. I like to keep it by my side, just in case.”
Suki wrinkled her nose at that but continued leading Sarah through the back door and into the bold autumn light.
Suki had the demeanor of an older child, which Sarah had read about as a traumatic response through her educational experience with children. They played in the gardens, eventually getting to what looked like a reddish, opalescent version of the maze from The Shining. When she laughed and giggled, she sounded like a nine-year-old. But when the topic grew serious, she turned somber, speaking like a player in a Shakespearean tragedy. A pattern, Sarah mused, likely learned through observation of her father.
Nevertheless, Sarah tried to keep things happy. Suki remained mostly childlike as they walked through the maze, playing a version of hide-and-seek that was initially a bit alarming.
Drakonians were far faster than Sarah anticipated, leading to a few moments where she really couldn’t find Suki at all. When she yelled for her to come out, Suki refused, and the silence of the wind whisking against the maze was deafening.
“Okay, Suki, I give up. Come out and get me!”
Suki didn’t come out for a good half an hour, leading Sarah to panic. But soon enough, she spotted long legs hanging from the top of the maze, dangling as they had been at the breakfast table.
