She had found the building years ago.
Arubi let her feet sift through the grey-brown silt, enjoying its cool softness as she walked through the shadowed debris of the fields. The bright luminescence and noise of the city faded behind her as she trailed her way through the outskirts.
She burrowed her feet further into the silt as she paused. Arubi looked around shyly to be sure no one was around, then scooped up a double handful of the fine soil, flinging it into the air and letting it tingle across her skin as it fell. It misted across her snowy shoulders dusting them in cool brown. Her laughter huffed out, swirling the particles still caught in the air. She hadn’t done that for years.
Arubi ran her fingers through her hair, shaking its thick cords free of dust, a smile still suspended on her lips.
She adjusted the contraption strapped to her back before starting off again toward a building in the shadows. She’d stood on the roof every night since she was a child. She’d sit in the dim light, looking up at the stars and watching them talk until she learned to understand them.
But tonight she wouldn’t just watch.
Tonight she would speak to the stars.