Time Makes Children

Just from looking at the back of her head, Nell knew what her sister was thinking.

'You wanna go explore, don't you?'

Amy pulled her head back from the diner window and turned around. 'Don't you?'

Nell looked out at a drab main street and the glimpse of some woods behind it. 'It's just another small town.'

'I'm not interested in the town, I want to see the woods.'

'It's just another wood,' Nell said. The leather squeaked as she sat on the opposite bench.

Amy rolled her eyes.

'If we want to make it for the morning we can't stay long,' Nell reasoned. 'This is important to me, and when you agreed to come along - '

'I know, I know. It's just we've driven past so much, we've been on the road for days.'

'Not going to sulk, are you?'

Amy smirked and then folded her arms dramatically. 'Maybe I will.'

The sisters made eye contact and Amy giggled but the guilt trip worked. She was hard to disappoint and she was right about being cooped up in the car all the time. 'Okay,' Nell said with a sigh. 'I'm finishing my coffee and my slice of pie and then we can go for a walk. But for half an hour, no more. It'd be good to stretch our legs.'

They walked in near silence for quarter of an hour or more. It was bright and cold and the air smelled earthy and damp and of rotting wood. A strong gust of wind sporadically howled through the trees, drowning out the sounds of bird chatter and rustling in the undergrowth. The sisters walked down a thin path of compacted soil. Someone obviously had the job of keeping it free from overgrowth.

'I've been thinking about Dad a lot recently,' Amy offered.

'Me too.'

Dad. Too concerned about his daughters than about taking care of himself.

After a few quiet moments Amy probed further. 'What have you been thinking about?'

Nell gave her sister a sideways glance, questioning whether to be honest or not. 'Okay,' she said, more to herself than to Amy. 'One day, in the hospital, he said something really weird and I've been trying to work out what he meant. He said, “Time makes children of us all.” Truth is, I never asked him exactly what he meant and now I wish I had.'

'He said a lot of weird things at the end.'

Nell shook her head. 'He seemed really lucid in that moment. Like a moment of clarity.'

'Maybe he just meant that we were looking after him, the way he looked after us when we were little,' Amy said. 'You know, the circle of life. We're born, get cared for, grow up and then care for those who cared for us when they are, in a way, like children again.'

'Perhaps,' Nell said distantly. 'Probably, even. But it's fun to think about what else he could have meant.'

'If you say so.'

There was another pause. The canopy of trees above them grew thicker, the path darker.

'Okay,' Amy said, 'I'll bite. What else could it have meant?'

'If you take a more literal view, it's like how stories which were once intended for adults have become children's tales over time. Or like old x-rated films which seem tame by the standards of today because society becomes desensitised to things like violence and sex as it goes along and what shocked us once doesn't shock us any more.'

'I can't see any parents ever showing their small children Reservoir Dogs or Saw.'

'Here's me, opening up and trying to have a serious discussion and you make jokes. Or, take what I wrote my thesis on, how fairy tales were initially far darker and more violent until they were watered down for children to enjoy.' Nell instantly thought of Rapunzel, always her favourite fairy-tale because of their shared long blonde hair. 'Like Rapunzel - '

'Always with Rapunzel,' Amy groaned, though not unpleasantly. She was used to her sister's obsessions.

'Like Rapunzel,' Nell soldiered on, 'initially the witch knows Rapunzel has found a Prince when she complains her clothes are getting too tight and her stomach is swelling. Then it got changed to Rapunzel making an innocent comment about the Prince being heavier to lift up via her hair than the witch, watering it down to the child friendly version we all know.' She glanced across at Amy. 'You've zoned out.'

'I have not. Do you really think that is what he meant though?'

'Well, no, but - ' Nell stopped mid-sentence.

'This is clearly important to you for some reason,' Amy continued, 'so let's talk - '

Amy also trailed off. She realised Nell wasn't listening. Nell had stopped dead in the middle of the trail. Amy looked about, half expecting to see some dangerous beast in their path but she couldn't see anything.

'Amy,' Nell began slowly. 'We're completely lost, aren't we?'

'Nell, we're going away from town.'

Nell ignored Amy and continued on ahead.

'Nell.'

Still no response.

'Nell you're going to have to talk to me when we find the car again, you may as well talk now.'

Nell came to a stop and spun around. It looked like any other spot in the woods, which, Amy suspected were actually the makings of a forest. The path was less clear here, errant branches reaching across the path to trip feet and snag leggings.

'I cannot freaking believe,' Nell began before petering out, making an effort to control the volume of her voice although the tone was still red hot, 'you just had to come for your little adventure in some crappy woods in a crappy town, didn't you?'

'Hey, it takes two to tango.'

Nell's jaw clenched as she screwed her hands up into little balls. 'Typical, flippant Amy, not a care in the world.' She stopped herself from continuing immediately, took a breath. 'I could have been there already, if I were travelling alone. Not making all these stops to entertain you like a toddler.'

'Sorry for trying to enjoy my trip. You invited me.'

'I didn't expect you to say yes.'

'Oh, thanks. So it was just a courtesy, you didn't want to spend time with me at all?'

Nell exhaled sharply. Half-turned away and looked back. 'I'm sorry that's not what I meant. But I am surprised you came.'

'You asked me to.'

'That's not a reason.'

'Yes, it is,' Amy said. 'We barely see each other any more. There were those intense few months when we never seemed to be apart and then gradually, I dunno, things just -'

'Returned to normal?'

'Exactly.'

Nell sighed. Why did she have to be damn right all of the time?

'What were we going to do? Just send each other Christmas cards?' Amy said.

'No, no.'

'And I don't get why this trip means so much to you.'

'It's for Dad,' Nell said quietly.

Amy's brow furrowed. 'For Dad? I don't understand.' Then, her face light up with a jolt of understanding. 'The telescope.'

'The telescope.'

'He had to get rid of that when we were small.'

Nell put her hands on her hips. 'I know. But it had meant a lot to him. I don't know how much he was aware of the outside world, when – and if he didn't know what was going on, he'd have gotten a kick out of knowing once and for all that we're not alone. So perhaps he meant that time makes us insignificant. Compared to the age of the universe our lives are singular grains of sand on an endless beach; we are like children compared to eternity.'

Amy shook her head. 'Why didn't you just say?'

'I don't know. I guess it just sounds, kind of irrational.'

'It is,' Amy said, and she failed to stifle a laugh. 'But I'd have said yes even sooner.'

A smile slowly spread across Nell's face. The sisters stood looking at each other for a moment, smiling.

'Well as usual I'm the one who got us into trouble,' Amy said authoritatively, 'and as usual I'm the one who is going to get us out of it. Follow me.'

Later they emerged slightly muddy and slightly sweaty from the woods and found themselves at the other end of the long main drag that made up the major road in town. The sky was already darkening as they began to traipse back towards the diner and their car.

'Da-dah,' Amy pronounced triumphantly.

Nell was quiet for a moment 'Before, when you thought this trip was just something I wanted to do,' she ventured. 'I'm just curious, how can someone so eager to explore everything all of the time not be interested in being in the crowd for one of the biggest moments in human history?'

'How can you be so exited about this when there is so much to see and do, here on Earth?'

'It all seems a bit trivial now, doesn't it?'

'No,' Amy said with sincerity. 'Not at all. Pressed into a crowd of what will be tens of thousands, probably miles away from the meeting itself, I just don't see the appeal.'

'Ambassadors from another world are landing, tomorrow. It's our generations' moon-landings.'

'So we could have just watched it on television?'

Nell smirked. 'Don't push your luck.'

Amy nodded up at the sky, turning a bruised red and purple colour. 'What's the plan then?'

'Find a motel and a decent bottle of wine.'

'I get enough whine travelling with you.'

'Very funny,' Nell grinned. 'Enough with the jokes, I've still not entirely forgiven you, yet.'

'At least it got us talking. Seriously, I mean.'

Nell froze. 'You didn't?'

Amy waved the suggestion away. 'Hell no, but -.' At a loss for words she grabbed her sisters hand in her own. 'It wasn't a lost afternoon.'

Their peaceful moment was interrupted by a people drama; a couple arguing on the street, someone broken up with partner, crying and bawling on the street like a baby, begging for the other one to take them back. Nell studiously avoided looking, Amy looked as much as she felt she could get away with.

'I am sorry,' Amy said, once they were free of the ruckus. 'About getting us lost and missing tomorrow. I know now why it meant to much to you.'

'It's okay,' Nell said,' with a faint smile, 'we were never going to make it.'