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“It’s a terrible thing, not to feel like you belong,” Egara said.
I looked him over.
Was that how he felt?
With who? I wondered.
“I never felt that way,” I said. “The truth is, I never really belonged in my hometown. It was so small, so parochial. A great place to retire, but not the kind of place I wanted to spend my life. I became fascinated with history, with the pursuits and efforts of greater men and women.”
Egara reached out a hand and gently rubbed my cheek.
“You are a great woman.”
Then his eyes flicked over from my cheek to my eyes.
No one had ever said that to me.
No one had ever thought I was special or unique.
Just one of many.
“We should get some sleep,” I said.
“Yes,” Egara said. “With any luck, tomorrow we will be on our way off this planet and we will never return to it again.”
That sounded good to me.
I curled up and rubbed my arms around myself.
I still felt a little awkward sleeping without a blanket.
I mashed the sand up, forming a rudimentary pillow.
It was chilly and I shivered.
Egara curled up behind me, spooning me, and wrapped his arm around me.
He would be my blanket, I realized.
My security blanket.
His warmth pressed against my back and I hugged his arm.
He couldn’t have been comfortable with the position but did not complain.
Concealed within his warm embrace, I found sleep easily.
I knew something was wrong the moment I woke up.
The sand slipped down my collar and rubbed at the delicate skin of my lower back.
I slept well for most of the night but for about the past thirty minutes or so, I drifted in and out of sleep due to a lump digging into my back.
I took it to be Egara, growing amorous during the night.
He didn’t wake me, didn’t probe me further.
I suspected we were both exhausted from the previous day’s activities.
