The Providence of Rudy Nes: An Edenix Cycle Story

  Four

  Picking through the trees, he was thankful that the autumn sky was well lit by the salmon and amber nebula. The colorful collection of backlit gasses gave the sky enough of a glow to help him avoid tripping on the uneven path. The moons were not yet up, and even when they did rise very close to morning, they would be just slim twin crescents, frowning down at him.

  Rudy navigated past a few homes that were quiet and a few others that still contained the rowdiest of Survivor’s Day parties. If he hadn’t embarrassed himself so badly, been so disturbed by the visions, or been so frustrated and upset with the response of his brother and the mayor, he might have been sitting in a corner back at the Lizardis with Oregon playing dice or listening to Grandpa Geoff tell one of his famous stories.

  Instead, he was grateful to be home. The house he and his brother shared with the Parker family was quiet. The others were probably down with their friends who lived closer to the river’s edge. It was just as well with Rudy; he was glad to be alone. The last thing he wanted to do was talk more with anyone about his day.

  He pulled some split wood from the stack between two trees and went inside to get the fire going. Rudy worked without thinking about the task and soon had the flames licking up around the chopped wood.

  He moved through the curtain and climbed up on the top bunk—his nephew slept on the bottom one. It was chilly outside, but Rudy pushed the shuttered window open a smidge anyway. The cool air washed over his face as he stared up at the dazzling, twinkling stars overhead. He wondered what it would have been like for his father who had traveled among the stars and worked on six different planets during his lifetime. He wondered if his father would ever become interested enough to investigate the crash of their colonization ship seventeen years ago. Rudy’s parents had never been married—they didn’t believe in it—and his mother had taken Randy and joined the compact of colonists who would settle this new world.

  Rudy drew his fingertips across the grain of the wood forming the shutter and felt that same, odd tugging sensation, this time on his wrist.

  What is that? Does that have something to do with the visions? he asked himself as the world faded away to be replaced with a brighter, richer reality.