The Beach, Monday Evening
It had been a long time since Ender had come here on his own, but Memorial Day seemed like the perfect time to do so. He'd given Ben a vague explanation about needing to go out and be alone-- and so that was what he was doing.
Here, on this patch of sand, where he'd first built his raft; where he and Karal had shared long conversations in the early morning hours; where he had come when times were rough or times were distant.
It was a perfect place just to sit, in perfect quiet, thinking about Bonzo, the many IF pilots who had given their lives in the last Formic War, the millions of Formic drones who had died, the Formic Queens who had perished in one large swoop by his unthinking order. He curled his legs up further beneath him and watched the sun set - forcing his mind to stay on topic, never drifting, until the grief lit up bright in his heart.
[[ open, though. ]]
Here, on this patch of sand, where he'd first built his raft; where he and Karal had shared long conversations in the early morning hours; where he had come when times were rough or times were distant.
It was a perfect place just to sit, in perfect quiet, thinking about Bonzo, the many IF pilots who had given their lives in the last Formic War, the millions of Formic drones who had died, the Formic Queens who had perished in one large swoop by his unthinking order. He curled his legs up further beneath him and watched the sun set - forcing his mind to stay on topic, never drifting, until the grief lit up bright in his heart.
[[ open, though. ]]