“Samar.”
“Move.”
“What do you want to show me at…” She glanced at the clock. "3 in the morning?”
He began to walk out of the room — “You won’t know until you come.”
“Why can’t it wait until morning?”
“That’s a slightly complicated question. I will add it to your biology lessons.” He crossed the threshold of their bedroom, pushing his mobile into the pocket of his tracks. His bare feet slapped on the cool floor and in ten seconds, he heard hers stomp behind him. Samar smirked.
“If it’s a bummer, I swear I will find that knife tonight only.”
“Second drawer of the main platform.”
Her arms came around him and she stuck to his back as they began to descend the stairs.
“Are you sleeping there?” He glanced over his shoulder.
“Hmm.” She was dragging behind him, eyes closed, a dead weight. He pulled her in front and set her head on his chest, walking them through the hall with her eyes still closed. Samar unlocked the door and kept going, her head lolling on him.
“Amaal.”
“Hmm…” she yawned on his T-shirt. “Don’t disturb me.”
He found the spot and fell back with her. She screamed, grasping his shoulders with both hands, eyes popping wide.
“Phew! Fuck…” She looked around and found them on the hammock. “Warn a girl. I could have bounced off.”
He pulled her fully atop him and used the momentum to throw the hammock into motion. “You fell on me, nothing was going to happen to you.”
All her grumpiness melted the moment the hammock swung. The wind swung with it, cutting through the trees over them and billowing. Amaal turned, lying beside him, mouth spread wide. “Wow… I remember it being fun but this is so much more fun.”
“Hmm?”
“Hmm.” She hid in his chest, fisting her hands there and staring up at the sky. “I forgive you.”
“How magnanimous of you.”
Amaal snorted.
“But this is not what I wanted to show you.”
“No?”
“You have already seen this.”
“Then?” She glanced at him.
“Look up.”
She lay back and searched the sky. “What am I looking for?”
“Stars.”
“I agree that the sky is clear of pollution here but I have seen brighter stars…”
“Can you see Saptarishi?”
