by Dinah McLeod
Binnix bent down and kissed her cheek before the first tear could fall. “That was beautiful. I know they will be glad to know that you are okay.”
She nodded, unable to speak because her throat had closed up with emotion. But she didn’t have to—he seemed to know what she needed without her saying a word and that was for the sweet but firm pressure of his lips against her own.
***
“Kimberly? Why are you out here all alone? It’s cold.”
She turned her head at the sound of the voice. These aliens couldn’t seem to pronounce her name correctly no matter how many times she told them. “I’m fine,” she replied. The temperatures on this planet, which they called Earth, were much warmer than on the one she was from. “I was just looking at the stars,” she explained, lifting the notebook to show him. Without waiting for an answer, she bent over the open page and she began to write.