Sitting in the Sun

Jason put the quartizer back in the ulmaghyic briefcase and took care to lock it securely.

“What’s for tea, Mother?” he called out.

“Smarchungers. And some veg,” came Daniel’s reply from the other end of the flat.

Mother was Jason’s pet name for Daniel.

He took a sip of his juice and lay back in the chair. He closed his eyes against the sun, which sat high in the sky. The sea outside the flat was still. There wasn’t any breeze at all.

Jason was glad there wasn’t anything else he’d need to do that day. He couldn’t think ahead to tomorrow. He was good at not thinking about things that did not exist.

He opened his eyes and looked out at the sea. The skyhersher that had been floating near the horizon for the last few hours rose into the air slowly until it was fifty metres above sea level. A tear appeared in the air. The skyhersher rose into it and the tear repaired itself as if it had never been there.

He felt something on his arm. It was his lizard, Gelko.

“Hello,” he said to the lizard.

“Hello,” said the lizard, before settling down for a nap.

Jason closed his eyes again. He was happy with where he was.

The smell of the smarchungers drifted down from the kitchen.

Jason breathed out his last breath as a contented sigh. He didn’t think anything any more. He didn’t exist.