Restless Page #2

- I like his little mustache.

- Yeah.

He's pretty amazing.

What makes him so amazing?

Well, they can smell carrion from miles away,

which is what death smells like.

So basically, a male and female

will show up at the body,

and kind of get to know each other.

Then they work together to bury the carcass.

And then they mate.

And then she lays her eggs on it.

But they aren't like other species,

like bug species,

that just run away afterwards.

They make

a little chamber nearby, underground.

And then, when the babies hatch,

the parents go chew up the corpse

and feed it to them.

Isn't that amazing?

They actually take care of their kids.

Do you want to meet my parents?

Sure. Okay.

Do you always meet your parents

at a graveyard?

These days.

Mom, Pop,

this is Annabel.

Yeah, yeah, I'm eating.

Why is that always the first thing

you ask me?

Hello, Mr. And Mrs. Brae. I'm Annabel Cotton.

You can call me Annie, if you'd like.

It's nice to meet you, too.

We met at a memorial.

It was for a friend.

I'm fine. Thank you, though.

She works at the hospital with cancer kids.

Kids with cancer.

It's the same thing.

Not the same thing.

- Yeah, it is.

- No, it's not.

- How is that not the same thing?

- Yes, I notice. He's very stubborn.

No, I'm not.

He was always that way? Really?

I was not.

I mean, I am not.

Annie here is a bug stalker.

Naturalist. I'm a naturalist.

Like I said, bug stalker.

Well, it's just a little bit more complicated

than that.

Well, it's studying the world that we live in.

The trees and the grass and bacteria

and mice and birds,

and how they all fit together.

Yeah. I think it's pretty cool, too.

We're gonna go

to the soccer game on Sunday.

We are?

Yeah. Sunday. I almost forgot.

It's at 3:
00, behind the elementary school.

Yes, it is. Right behind there.

"That is how to transform

into your true power self.

"By taking responsibility

for your perceptions

"so that you are not

the victim of the events in your life,

"but the events of your life are the creation

of what you perceive them to be.

"This is how you become the god

or goddess

"of your own personal universe. "

Mom, that guy is a total hack.

Well, when you read it,

then you can have an opinion.

- I met a boy.

- Really?

Yeah, I met him at Chris' memorial.

He was kind of different.

- Different can be good.

- Yeah, I think it is.

Yeah, well, be careful.

Because boys can be jerks.

All of them?

All the ones I knew.

Bummer.

I want to meet him.

Okay. I'll bring him over.

All right.

Books away, please.

Mom.

Annie.

Don't you listen

to what your sister says, Annie.

You just have fun.

Mom, can you just take it easy

on that, please?

- So, what were you reading?

- Ornithology book.

- What's that?

- Birds.

- For school?

- Nope.

We'll see what Dr. Lee says tomorrow.

You might be able to start again next week.

Okay.

So, anything good in that bird book?

Yeah.

Apparently, there's this kind of songbird

that thinks it dies

every time the sun goes down.

So in the morning, when it wakes up,

it's totally shocked to still be alive,

so it sings this really beautiful song.

Just happy not to be dead, I guess.

So?

I didn't think it would be back so soon.

I guess that's a no on school.

I mean, when you think about it geologically,

our lives are just a little speck

on the time line anyway, so...

People haven't even been around

for a fraction of the time

that some reptiles have been around.

So, three months is almost the same

as three centuries or three days,

- or three...

- Annabel, stop. Please.

Can we just... Can we not... Can we...

Can we just not? Okay?

This kid is unbelievable.

He's, like, seven, and he's already got

a shot that could kill a golden retriever.

Come on, Riots!

Do you know one of these kids?

No. Hiroshi and I just like to...

Who's Hiroshi?

He's a friend.

From school?

No.

He's a...

He's sort of a ghost.

- He's a ghost?

- Yeah.

- A Japanese ghost?

- Yeah.

Do you speak Japanese?

- No, he speaks English.

- Really?

Wow.

Can I meet him?

You could try. No one else can.

- Can he fly?

- He used to.

"Used to"?

Well, he was a kamikaze.

Like one of those guys

who crashed into ships and things?

Yeah. One of those guys.

So you're haunted, then.

I guess I am.

I never thought about it like that.

Wonder who I'll get to haunt.

I don't think

I would have been his first choice.

- You can choose?

- I don't think so.

I'll find out in a few months.

Wait, what are you talking about?

I was lying, Enoch.

About working at the hospital.

I don't work there.

I'm a patient.

Wait, at the cancer place?

- And...

- And I just got some tests back.

That bad, huh?

I flunked.

So, how long?

Three months.

So I understand if you don't wanna...

A person can get a lot done in three months.

- You think?

- Yeah. You could learn French,

go to Africa, pick up the xylophone.

Tons of stuff.

I always wanted to be

a world-renowned xylophone player.

I don't think it takes that long, right?

I don't know,

there are a lot of those bar thingies.

Would you get one for me?

I know a guy.

I could help you get ready, you know?

To learn the xylophone?

No, for...

You know.

I mean, I know a lot about it or whatever,

so I could help you with stuff.

Okay.

- Okay?

- Okay.

Cool.

Hey, I have a transfusion tomorrow.

Do you want to come see me after?

I love it when girls ask me that.

Shoot.

You're not very good at this.

This game is impossible.

Okay, but that's only

because you play it more.

Does it hurt when they...

Sorry.

It's okay.

They always tell me how brave I am.

After every needle and MRI and test.

Makes me wonder

how the non-brave kids act.

I could take some of them for you.

- My tests?

- Yeah, I'm great at tests.

Used to help all the other kids

at school cheat.

Why aren't you at school?

I'm just not.

- Are you...

- Just not.

Okay.

Sorry I couldn't find that xylophone.

I spent all night looking for the stupid thing.

It's fine.

I know, but it's just...

When I think of things going a certain way,

and then they don't,

it's difficult.

How's this gonna go?

- "This"?

- You and me.

I don't know.

That's the part

where you say it's gonna go really well.

You're all set, Annabel.

Could I get a couple of those for the road?

No.

Larus novaehollandiae.

"Laughing gull. "

Larus atricilla.

"Little gull. "

Larus minutus.

Getting better, huh, Charlie?

Still no on the horse.

Why does she keep asking if I ride a horse?

I wonder where ghost horses go.

- What is it with girls and horses?

- I think it's the mane.

Does she want to know

about my military service?

I don't think so.

Don't think what?

He wants to know if you want to know

about his military service.

Of course.

Good. It was 1941.

- I was at the top of my graduating class.

- It's boring.

You used to like that story.

I've heard it a million times.

Top of your class.

Chosen over hundreds of other pilots.

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