Day Two hundred and ninety four - Speak dead speaker

After that revelation, there wouldn't be no interactions between them for a while. She'd sent him messages, trying to get him to explain what he meant by what he'd said, but as far as she knows they all went unread. She can see on the forum when his last online presence was, and he hasn't returned yet. But the transmissions - erratic though they are - continue on. The last one she listened to, it was later than usual, closer to five a.m., and the voice on the other end started to describe just how different things were as opposed to what they ought to have been like. Something startles her : he says there's a whole constellation missing from the sky, a constellation he'd known since he was a child but it's gone missing. Worse, it was never there, no one knew what he was talking about. He talked to the astronomy department in a couple of different universities, but they all drew a blank when he mentioned the Pleiades. Like they'd never heard of it before. He asked them if they had a map of the stars, he was so sure he could find it, but nothings' there. They all look at them with pity in their eyes, this eccentric bumpkin. 'I'm not crazy', he echoes through the airwaves, 'I'm not crazy.'

Leilani wishes she could tell him in person just how she knows he's not crazy. Well, no crazier than she was, right? Maybe they were crazy. But she knows they're not. No one will ever believe them otherwise, but maybe they won't need it. Maybe they need each other. Maybe that'll be enough. And she can't even understand why she's having these thoughts herself, she was entirely convinced she was fated to spend her days alone. It didn't bother her, she found it probably the wisest thing she could do. But now there is a calling out there, an idea that somewhere out there there is a soul that is in need of her, and, she hopes, needs her soul as well. The days go by in a long succession, punctuated by visits from her parents, who always tell her just how healthy she's looking. Her mom sometimes asks her if she feels ready to return to the city, and to resume her normal life, but her dad always settles it for her with a tender 'In your own time, kiddo.' When she first got here it was winter, and she cherished those moments where she learned how to get the fireplace going, and splitting the logs out back. That always made her feel alive, and she loved to snuggle by the fireplace and read a book while she sipped on her tea. But summer was now upon her, and that brought new challenges with it. The house gets very hot during the day, even with the windows thrown open. In the evenings, and as it gets closer to dusk, she's opted to stay by the front porch, lounging on a rocking chair. Especially when it gets dark, and she can see a sky full of stars above her, she likes to turn the radio and listen to whatever's on. Sometimes, when music plays and fills the air with song, she dances. Sometimes she just listens to his voice. 

On one of those nights she's sitting out front, she finds herself wondering about the lives of the people who live nearby. Oh, she doesn't who any of them are, to be sure, and nor does she think she's ever seen them, but a part of her wonders what they think of her. If they're even aware of her being here. There's about three houses - though not that close to her own - within sight. She's sure maybe a couple of them might be abandoned - she rode past one some time ago, and nobody seemed to be living there. She never really felt the urge to go and check up on the others, they were too out of the way. But there's one that piques her curiosity. That one, she knows, is not abandoned. She sees the lights on every night, and a couple of times she found herself looking at it through some binoculars she'd found in a shed. There's a guy there, probably not much older than her, and once she saw him giving a long warm hug to some girl. After they said goodbye, she kept on looking and she could swear he'd turned and looked straight at her. She let the binoculars fall to the ground, and went inside. Later that night, when the radio was on, the sad voice just asks 'Are you there? Were you the one who was looking at me?'.