Small things (Part 3)

I haven't written any Small things for a while and it seems to me that if I stop now I'd never be able to pick it up again. So here it is, the third part of Small things.


You can read part one here and part two here. 


The following week I took a couple of days off in my summer job and picked up Seth for an excursion. He didn't actually know where we were going or for how long, but since his perception of time and space was different to everyone's else he didn't actually matter. I packed food and camping stuff enough for both of us and drove him into the desert. I used to camp in the desert with my family when I was a kid so I knew exactly what I had to do and where I had to camp. Seth, on the other hand, had never been there and I felt that it was what he needed.

When we got to the place he was astonished. The vastness of it and the sense of solitude. He went and climbed a lonely rock and stood there for ten minutes. I wasn't counting on him to plant the tend so I started on my own. After a while he came back and started helping silently. When the sunset arrived I lighted up a campfire to cook and he sat by it staring at the flames. He hadn't said anything since he got out of the car, it wasn't unusual but it still made me uncomfortable, even if I talked to him he wouldn't take his eyes off the flames as if he was drinking energy from it. We ate in silence and stared at the stars, so shiny and so many.

After a while Seth sat up, looked at me and abandoned his silence.
-Why are you doing this?- he asked.
-Why not?
-I wouldn't do it.
-That's the main reason.- I replied.
He stared at me, then he sighed and closed his eyes.
-So, thank you I guess.
He laid back with his eyes closed, but I could see he was still awake.
-I'm getting in the tent to sleep, goodnight.
He never replied, but I knew he had heard me, so I got into the tent and went to sleep.