In a Bubble

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to anyone, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The author owns exclusive rights to this story.

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 “It's the strangest thing, being alone.”

Stephanie turned her head to the side slightly, giving Derek a look of complete disbelief. “How in the world do you figure that you're alone?”

He jumped a bit, nearly losing his balance from his perch on the metal handicapped support railing running along the sidewalk. Glaring at his cousin as she leaned against the rail, he stepped down to the concrete walk, straightening his ripped black tee shirt and pressing invisible wrinkles out of the thighs of his faded denim jeans. Finally satisfied that he had spent enough time with his appearance, he raised his head, closing his eyes to slits as he looked in her direction. “You wouldn't understand.”

Stephanie just rolled her eyes. “Derek, you are so melodramatic.” Leaning forward, she slid her backpack up onto her shoulder before stepping away from the rail. “Is there a contest for 'Middle School Diva' that I missed the announcement for?” She gave him a broad grin, ignoring the look of angered disgust he was giving her. “C'mon. The bus is late. Again.”

Holding his hands out in front of him, Derek stepped backward rapidly, ascending the ramp. “No way am I riding with your friends. I'll wait for the bus, thankyouverymuch.” She shrugged and turned to walk away. Just as she took a step away from him, the noise of the creaky brakes as the old automobile made its way down the street reached her ears. Swiveling on her heel, she was met with Derek's cheshire grin. “Which is apparently here.”

Balling up her fist, Stephanie resisted the urge to knock out the two teeth catching the sunlight and beaming it back at her. They waited for the bus to approach, both hoping that it would make it to them, and then to their homes, before finally going to visit the great bus-heaven in the sky. As they boarded the rickety contraption and made their way to two open seats, Derek took several moments to brood on what Stephanie had said.

He could never really explain why he felt so alone, he just knew that he did. Despite knowing that a lot of people felt alone even in crowds, Stephanie refused to consider that one did not have to be by themselves to feel lonely. Derek understood the concept all too well. Staring out the window as the bus made its way down the street, chugging along slowly while the driver seemed to make it his mission to hit every pothole, he let his mind wander as he stared at the clouds.

Several of them looked like wisps of half formed spheres, like the part of a bubble that catches the light and gives it some semblance of substance. Allowing himself a half-grin, Derek watched them until they vanished from the window frame. It almost felt to him as though they were being blown along by a strong wind, headed to nowhere. Just as he considered giving in to his more morose thoughts, another of the strange formations caught his eye.

As Derek stared at it, the cloud seemed to reshape itself slightly, some of it being separated from the frame. When it stilled for a moment, it almost looked as though someone had been laying down inside the sphere, and stood when they noticed they were being watched. Or even, Derek mused, they stood up when they noticed there was something outside their own world. He could certainly relate to that idea, having often been so consumed himself. He continued to watch the formation as long as he could, surprised when it appeared that the 'being' inside lay back down as the clouds moved out of his field of vision.

Not for the first time, he let himself wonder if there were something other than the world he knew about. None of the explorations of the world – sky or ocean – had ever given anyone cause to believe that there were other developed beings living on the Earth. “But what if there were?” he wondered aloud.

Stephanie scoffed, nudging him with her elbow. “You're doing it again, Derek.”

He ignored his cousin, simply smiling to himself as he imagined the possibilities. Perhaps not on Earth, and there was no reason he should limit his imagination to a world that was already explored. But, all those missions to Mars kept turning up more evidence that something had once lived there. Of course, all of the exploration was limited to the surface. “What if all they needed to do was look up?”

“Shut up!” Stephanie hissed at him. “You're embarrassing me!”

One of the boys in the seat behind him stood up, leaning forward and bracing his arms on either side of Derek's head. “So what's the Duke of Crazy on about today, Steph?”

A glance at his cousin let him see the deep color of her blush. Frowning, he twisted in his seat, dislodging the other boy's arms. “I was only wondering if, since they've seen all that proof that there used to be life on Mars, water and such... If maybe they were looking in the wrong place. If maybe they shouldn't just look up? Who knows – they might see a city in the sky!”

Snickers surrounded them, making Derek duck his head, once again feeling alone. Stephanie nudged him, grasping his hand in hers and squeezing tightly until he looked up. “I think maybe you ought to write all these things down. One day, I just might be the cousin of the most famous science fiction author in the world.”

Derek smiled, for once not feeling quite so alone.

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