Chapter 4: Night Sky

Lindsey Barbarout made grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, and tomato soup. David chewed thoughtfully on the crust of his first bite of sandwich. He couldn't decide if he was hungry or not. He knew he would need strength to be climbing the tree over and over, but there was a nervousness in his stomach that made it difficult to eat. Solomon sat across from him, glaring across his steaming bowl of soup.

“David's been climbing trees again,” Solomon said, trying to sound casual, but looking forward to the reprimand he knew David would get.

“Oh, David,” squeaked their mother, “just don't get hurt. You already got a bad cut on the back of your leg. We've only been here one day!”

David and Solomon both knew that the cut on his leg had come from being hit by a rock and that it had nothing to do with the trees. “I'm fine, Mom,” David said passively. He had considered retaliating with a comment like “Solomon's been smoking again,” but he really didn't want his mother interfering with his ability to get back to that tree, and getting Solomon into trouble didn't seem wise just now. Solomon was clearly upset that David had avoided his gang so well that morning. David turned his attention back to his soup.

“Did you make it to the book store today, David?” his mother asked.

“Yeah, I did,” he replied, wishing that his mother wouldn't have asked.

“What did you get?” she continued.

“Nothing,” said David. He couldn't tell her that he had replaced his book without telling her how the first copy had been destroyed. “I was just looking.”

“Long way to walk just to look, isn't it?” chimed in their father. David had almost forgotten that he was present at the table. He had been consumed by the business section of the morning paper, and he hardly spoke at meals anyway.

“Um, yeah, but I felt like taking a walk,” David muttered lamely and then added, “and I wanted to see Mrs. Treatise.” That seemed to be a sufficient enough answer for his father who returned his attention to his newspaper.

The truth was, David had completely forgotten about the book. He knew that he'd had it when he was running away from Solomon, but he didn't have it now, and he was rather afraid that he had dropped it somewhere in all of the excitement. His biggest fear was that Solomon had picked it up and was now holding it hostage. David stole a glance across the table, but if Solomon had it, he gave no sign.

David finished his lunch and as soon as he could escape, returned to the tree. He had no trouble finding it again, as it was so near the path and he knew these woods so well. Again he began the long ladder climb, watching the tree change as he went. He knew almost instantly that it was night time in the other place. When he had climbed before, the light was dimmer at the bottom and grew steadily brighter as he climbed. This time, however, it was dark and cool under the bottom branches, but the darkness only seemed to grow thicker as he went higher. When he reached the higher branches and was completely surrounded by the unusual leaves, he stuck his head out into the cool night air.

He was better prepared for the shock this time, but the site that he beheld was equally as magnificent as the first time. It was pitch black, but all around him there were brilliant stars dotting the night sky. Some of them appeared to be so close to him that David was sure he could reach out and touch them. He had never seen so many stars, and these stars were all unfamiliar to him. He had studied a little Astronomy the previous summer, learning the basic constellations like Orion and The Big Dipper. These stars made similar patterns, but none of the stars he had studied had been nearly this vivid.

As his eyes adjusted, David could see that there were planets among the stars, much larger or closer than anything he had seen before. This was like looking through a telescope but with the naked eye. There was also a small sliver of a moon hanging over the ocean, and it cast and eerie glow onto the crashing waves below. David was not afraid of heights, but all of a sudden the shear drop below him seemed immense in the darkness. At first he felt small and all alone, but then a royal feeling flooded over him, as if he was the king of all creation on his throne high above the world. He gripped the tree branch tightly with both hands and shouted into the night.

“Hello! Hello... Hello... Hello...” his voice echoed, and he once again had the feeling that someone was actually listening. In many ways it seemed to him as if he were being heard for the first time in his life, and he welcomed the silence of this new place, wondering what it held in store.