January 16, 2008

Earth-24

With a heavy sigh, Marie Logan closed the lid of her suitcase and zipped it shut. She carried it to the corner, where another identical suitcase sat. It was all the packing she could do for the moment, as she wasn't leaving for a few days, but she didn't want to wait until last minute.

The sound of crickets chirping leaked in from the open window, as did the cool night air. It was summer in the southern hemisphere, so it wasn't nearly as cold as she felt it should be. Even after living at the animal sanctuary for over a decade, the reverse seasons still didn't feel right. Yet at the same time, she wouldn't change a thing. Life on the reserve was far from peaceful, but it was an improvement on the life she had once lived.

She just didn't want to leave.

Marie shook her head and glanced at the clock. It was already 10:30- two hours after her son's bedtime. While she had told him that he could stay up a bit later than normal, somehow she doubted that he had enough common sense to go ahead and get some sleep. She didn't bother checking his room, or anywhere else inside the house for that matter. At this late at night, he was guaranteed to be outside. Especially due to the circumstances.

Just as she suspected, Marie found Garfield in the front yard. He was sitting on the grass, with the telescope he got for Christmas sitting a few yards in front of him as he gazed forlornly at the night sky. From a distance, he looked like a normal eight year old boy. However, after the accident he would never be "normal" again. Two years ago to the day, he was bitten by a monkey who was infected with the Sakutia virus. While the virus was perfectly harmless in animals, the same could not be said for humans. He would've died if not for a blood transfusion from the niece of her husband's old friend, who had been visiting at the time. However, as she was an alien, her blood caused Gar's DNA to become unstable.

The first changes had been outward. Gar's once blonde hair began to turn green at the roots. Then after loosing a baby tooth, the permanent tooth underneath grew in to reveal a pointed fang. His ears grew into points as well, much to his delight as they reminded him of Link. Finally, his skin turned a bright emerald green. The changes stopped for a while, but just when Marie thought they were in the clear something miraculous happened- Gar began to shapeshift. Poor little M'gann had been so apologetic, even to the point of crying, but as Marie and Mark assured her everything was fine. There was no way the young Martian could've known that her blood would've changed him so much, and even then it was the only way to save Gar. Sure, it took some getting used to, but all that mattered was that their son was alive.

Marie sat down next to Gar, who had obviously been crying. She wrapped an arm around him, and he buried his head in her shoulder.

"Are you done saying goodnight to M'gann?" she asked softly. Gar shook his head.

"I miss her," he whimpered.

Marie bit her lip. "I do too, but it was time for her to go home. Just like we have to."

"But this is home. First Megan leaves, and now you do! Why does everything have to change?"

Marie kissed the top of his head. "I don't know sweetie. But M'gann will come visit sometime, and me and Daddy will only be gone for a couple weeks. And if we don't go, you won't get to stay with Aunt Rita."

The mention of her best friend from her days as an actress made Gar perk up a little, but not much. He wiped the tears from his eyes and looked up at her weakly. His lip trembled, as though he was holding back more tears. She brushed a lock of hair out of his eyes, making a note to herself to give him a haircut later.

"Have you ever heard the saying, "the more things change, the more they stay the same"?" Marie asked.

Gar shook his head.

"Well, when something changes, it has a funny way of turning itself around. Sometimes, in the end it's like things never changed to begin with. Like things are right now. Before you know it, we'll be home again and M'gann will be back on earth."

It wasn't the best use of the phrase, nor did it truly capture the depth of its meaning, but it was what popped into her head at the moment. Her words didn't seem to comfort Gar though, as he was still pretty upset.

"But what about when things really do change? What happens then?" Gar asked.

"I think you're right. Sometimes change really does stick. But the thing is, when that happens it's usually because however things have changed, the new way of doing things is better than the old. Even if something happens and M'gann stays on Mars for the rest of her life, you'll make new friends. And even if we have to move away, maybe something amazing will happen to you in America that never could've happened here. Change can be scary sometimes, but I've learned that something good always comes out of it. You just have to look for it."

Gar smiled. "Do you really think that?"

"Yeah, I do. Now come on. You have worksheets to do tomorrow, so you'll need to get some sleep."

Gar jumped up and ran to the telescope, peeking through it. Marie smiled, following him more slowly.

"Good night, Megan. I know we'll see each other again someday."

He turned around, hugged his mother, and ran back inside the house. Out of curiosity, Marie looked into the telescope as well, being careful not to bump it (it had taken Gar forever to find Mars). Despite the telescope being a fairly basic one that didn't show the planet very well, she could still tell that something was… off. A bad feeling hit her suddenly, and she forced herself away from the telescope. As she turned away and walked towards the house, the feeling grew stronger until she forced herself to snap out of it.

Marie had no idea how much her words would mean to her son six years later.