Tailon

The woman’s name was Shelindrea. Her husbands name was Tomas. Their ten-year-old daughter, Tailon, was to pilot the star cruiser on her first solo mission tonight, and Shelindrea was worried. She finished loading the books, distracted by her thoughts, and watched as Tailon skipped back to get the last crate, her long brown skirt skimming the forest floor and dragging leaves. Tailon gave her mother a brilliant smile and Shelindrea was quick to give her one back, not wanting to spoil her happiness because of a mother’s worry.

Tailon took the crate to the cruiser, passing her father who had finished his check. Tomas walked over to his wife, grinning. Tailon’s enthusiasm was contagious as far as he was concerned, and he was happy to see her take this step toward adulthood. As he approached his wife he noticed the despondent look on her face as she watched Tailon. Tomas sat on the ground next to her and put his arm around her, pulling her to his side. She snuggled up to his side and put her head on his shoulder, as that was their custom. They sat for a moment, watching their daughter tie down the last box.

“You know, she’s going to be fine,” Tomas told Shelindrea.

“I know,” Shelindrea replied, her voice betraying the confidence of her words.

“She’s done this a hundred times before. The last three times we went we let her do everything, the loading, the piloting, the systems check, and she did fine,” he continued.

“I know,” Shelindrea said, her voice wavering with repressed emotion.

“And she’s only going to be gone for a few hours. She’s just going to trade with Kail and come back,” he said.

“I know,” Shelindrea said, her voice cracking as her eyes welled up with tears.

He’d said all this before, but it didn’t seem to make any difference to his her. Though she had agreed to it when Tailon asked to go alone, she had been in a constant state of worry since.

“You are just going to worry no matter what I say, aren’t you?” Tomas said, looking down at his wife. Shelindrea looked up at him, tears streaming down her face, and nodded, unable to speak. Tomas gave her a sheepish grin and wrapped his other arm around her, holding her as she cried into his shoulder.

Tailon saw her parents embrace and decided to leave them be for the time being. She started humming to herself and dancing though the trees. She loved to watch her skirt curl as she spun around.

Tailon sat on the edge of the loading bay of the cruiser and opened the box of books, intending to read one while she waited for her parents to come and say goodbye, but she hadn’t even opened the cover of the ancient text before she saw her parents getting up from the ground. They made their way over to her, hand in hand, and she returned the book to it’s place and closed the box neatly.

Tailon stood up as her parents reached her and wrapped her arms around her mother’s waist. Shelindrea knelt down and wrapped her arms around Tailon, squeezing her tightly. Then Shelindrea stood up, taking Tailon with her, and spun around. Tailon’s twin blond braids trailed behind her and she laughed in delight, holding onto her mother tightly. Shelindrea came to a stop and Tailon leaned back. She smiled at her mother and took one of Shelindrea’s red curls in her hand. She pulled gently on the curl, straitening it, then let go, watching it spring up into a curl again. They smiled at each other, both understanding the unspoken words.

“If you two are done saying I love you,” Tomas said, “Tailon had better get going before it gets too dark to see the trees.” Tomas took Tailon from Shelindrea and gave her a goodbye hug of his own. Tomas then carried her to the cockpit and set her down on the seat. Tailon went though the paces with him watching, closing the loading bay door, re-checking the systems, making sure everything was ready for takeoff. Finally, Tomas closed the hatch to the cockpit and stepped back with Shelindrea, giving Tailon plenty of room to take off.

Tailon flipped the hover switch and the craft began to rise into the air. Tailon then turned on the propulsion unit and sped west, up through the trees, through the clouds, and out of sight.

On the ground, her parents waved until they could no longer see the ship. Tomas looked down at Shelindrea and saw her bottom lip tremble. He grinned, then held her chin in between his thumb and finger, and kissed her gently.

“You know,” he said softly, “this is the first time we’ve been alone in ten years,” he watched a spark ignite in her eyes as her mouth curled into a grin. “Perhaps,” he continued, “I could find a way to distract you from your worry…”

They started for the hut, but after only a few steps, both of them stopped in their tracks. They looked to the north, up into the sky. Their foreheads wrinkled in concentration. They both had a feeling something was coming.