Jeyke & Jeyne

Chapter 4: Sorry, come again?

All the buses in Steins Rundalwarts don't ever stop anywhere closer to where my house was. It's been that way ever since they were issued for service. The buses had never covered our area, cause our area was just too far out and that was a waste money and a waste of fuel, cause it's rare to find people so far out here.

The only buses that did go any further were the ones in the mornings, ones which even Nives could hop on. But those ones didn't cover the bus station near my house either, I guess the station near my house was probably abandoned.

So once the bus stops, I'd have to walk home.

As I thought so, the bus came to a halt at its very last stop and I got off. Then it was on its way again, back the way it came.

I looked around me and saw a lot of darkness.

The streets were dark, the skies were dark, the whole countryside was dark.

There weren't any lights in this countryside, so I was going to walk alone in the dark. But I'd always enjoyed this moment the most. Cause to me, I wasn't walking alone, or at least that's how I felt, cause Poppy would be walking with me. 

I saw Poppy, he did what he always did, he sat on the bench at the bus station, waiting.

And from here we would walk to my house together. It normally takes around half an hour to walk home from here, and Poppy would accompany me, up until I reach the doorstep.

And so we started walking.

"Say Poppy,"

"Yes, Jeyne?"

When's the next meteor shower coming?

All spirits have a connection to something, Poppy has a special one. He is connected to meteors. So whenever there's a meteor shower, Poppy would know when we could see it and when it would be over.

There are all kinds of meteors, and in Poppy's words, all meteors are unique in their own ways. They never happen on the same day at the same time. And they always happen when you least expect them to. And when they do, they're like surprise fireworks. Unexpected yet beautiful.

Poppy didn't reply immediately, and I waited.

Then he began, "Well let's see here Jeyne, there was a meteor a moment ago, it was quite nearby."

"Oh, you mean it landed on Earth!?" As a space enthusiast like me, meteor showers are a must-know. So one landing on Earth, is a must-explore!

After a while, I got Poppy to cough up its location, but Poppy is a light spirit, and at 8 PM, all light spirits don't wander, not until it was 4 AM again.

It's 7.30 PM now. By the time we reached home and I got dressed up for this adventure, Poppy would be gone.

So I asked Poppy to point where it was. Poppy pointed where it was, and I remembered where he pointed. And we continued back home. I guess this is the one time I'd be walking alone at night, was what I thought.

I got back and it was 7.47 PM.

"Daddy, I'm home!" I shouted as I slid the front door open. It was an old sliding door. And our house was an old Candy store. Not a single light was turned on. The whole place looked run down, and it was run down. People just don't buy candies in old candy stores these days.

I slip pass the counter at the back, and opened another sliding door. Behind it was our real house. It was like a shop and a house all in one. I ran down the small corridor to the back and opened yet another set of sliding doors, this time it was for the living room, and I did so slowly. Cause I always end up finding my dad here. And he would always be sleeping.