LIVE NOVEL
She Took a Step Forward, and Suddenly She Gave Him a Hug
The Last Human in the Milky Way, Chapter 17
It was like a dark dream. Everyone was gone. He was the last to live in the Milky Way. His house was at the top of the road, so he had barely noticed the changes. It had happened gradually, with fewer and fewer people who in the afternoon came home to the neighbourhood from work, from shopping or school. (From chapter 2)
17
He woke up and did not know where he was. He sat up, turned back and forth. Could not find a good position. He had been sitting in the back seat of the car trying to sleep, he was far from rested.
He suddenly thought of her. He saw nothing of her and thought: Now she has left. He felt a tingle of panic in his spine.
Shortly afterwards he saw the shadow of her, or rather her profile in the woods, behind some trees. She came walking with a load of branches in her arms. Branches for the fire, she has collected fuel for the fire.
She came over to the car. He got up and smiled at her. He felt that he was warm inside when he saw her. He took a step towards her.
“It’s great! Great”. She said nothing. She went and laid the branches in a pile next to the place where they had had the fire the night before.
“I do not know,” he said, “but I think we must move on soon.”
She looked up at him, seemed a little surprised. She sat and ate an apple that was left.
He looked at her, tried to see her properly. He was unsure, thinking, “Not easy to understand, this woman there.”
How old could she be? In her mid-40s, maybe? At least not anymore. The body was slender, almost a little vulnerable. He thought: Could it be possible — that she could be a little interested — in him?
She got up and looked at him. He thought, “So wonderful. How pretty you are.”
She stopped, as if she heard his thoughts.
He looked at her.
“Hello,” he said in his mind. “Hello, woman. Even if you look so tired and weary — you are beautiful!”
She came walking towards him. Then she stopped, stood right in front of him. She took a step forward. Out of nowhere, he thought, she gave him a hug.
It was as if he had suddenly entered a new world, another dimension. He felt her body against his. She was so soft on him, so docile.
It only lasted a few seconds. He wanted time to stop and stand still. He wanted to take care of this moment, keep this feeling he had forever. She and he, the light pressure from her body against his chest.
She took her arms away from around him, stepped back, glared at him quickly. He thought he could see sunshine in her eye, in this look from this woman who had suddenly come very close to him.
Later, when he thought back on this moment, he could not remember what happened in the minute after she had stepped back. He could remember them walking around collecting things, packing their sleeping bags and blankets, and rolling up the plastic sheet.
She stood bent over the mattress. He saw that she turned.
“And this one,” she said, “shall we just leave it here, or -?”
“Yes,” he said, “I agree with you. It’s not needed, the one there. It’s not a good way to spend the night, out here in the wilderness. A mattress belongs to the city, in a bedroom, not out in nature, not out in the open.”
For the rest of the day, he saw in a flash the picture of her in front of him on the inner screen. He saw her raise her arms and put her arms over his shoulders.
He thought, “What does this mean?“
What does that mean? That she did it, that she suddenly came so close to him, was it just that she should show him gratitude — or was it something else?
This is chapter 17 of the novel The Last Human in the Milky Way. The novel is written and published “live” chapter by chapter in ILLUMINATION Book Chapters.
To see all published chapters, go here.
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Chapter 16 Have to Find a Place
16 The sun was low in the west. Night came soon.
Chapter 18 “Can You Tell Me a Little About Yourself?”
Published on Apr 3 · 5 min read · In ILLUMINATION-Curated