XLII. Babbling Brooks

The Little Martian and I sit on a mythical babbling brook,

‘By Babylon?” He giggles

The cool water sprays against our tired ankles and dew drops fracture a rainbow in the mist.

“It's still not very peaceful though is it? “ mumbles the Little Martian

“Peaceful is a state of mind, “ I tell him But he’s already distracted by his phone.

He watches Instagram stories on his cracked Samsung, with an odd faraway expression.

I glance over his shoulder, “What are you looking at? “

“Just college stuff” he says

“You go to college? “

He looks back at me blankly.

“Yes. obviously. “

“What are you studying? When do you get the time to study? Where do you go?”

He scratches his neck , almost uncertain.

“Well. I'm not exactly there anymore. I'm here now. “

“Here? Like on earth ?”

“Ya..I've been on one of those semester exchange things… but space-time and earth-time are confusing. “

“I see.”

“It's weird.”

“Which part? “

He ignores me.

"Earth to The Little Martian" i call out, dorkily ecstatic at the layered metaphor.

"Earth to The Little Martian" he whispers back, soft and slow, like he's talking to himself.

He looks back at the brook, there is a steady beat of silence, punctuated only by the babbling of the water.

"whats wrong? "

"I guess I still look at my old life happening on my phone and I feel a little funny, “

“Funny? “

“Ya, funny.”

“funny?”

"Everything is funny in retrospect."