Man of the Stars

 

My name's Lee. I do have a strange story to tell you if you're willing to

listen.

 

Are you up to it? Good, then I will begin.

 

The bus was late, as usual. I hated sitting there waiting with the roaring

cars passing by. I hated that noise, and I hated the smell of the exhaust

that hung in the air as well. But there I was, stuck in the middle of it.

 

I've been told by a few people I know that I’m a cute girl. I wouldn't know.

I don't know what I look like. Did I mention that I'm blind? I suppose I

forgot, but now you know.

 

Anyway, I felt my special watch for the time. Already the bus was ten

minutes late, and my mom was going to have a fit if I showed up any later

then five-thirty. And it was three o' clock now. I was planning on getting

home early, but thanks to the damn bus, that wouldn't be so.

 

I finally heard the hiss as the bus put it's breaks on and the door hissed

open. I tapped my cane against the steps and found the coin deposit to

deposit my change. Then I found myself a seat and sat down as the bus

lurched into motion again with a loud metallic creak. The bus was empty, or

at least I think it was. I couldn't hear anybody else talking. Just the

engine of the bus and the occasional hiss from the breaks as well as the

horns and rattles of passing cars.

 

"Miss, we're at the last stop." The bus driver told me. He had a high

pitched voice for a man. He probably wasn't much older then twenty, but I

couldn't be sure.

 

Anyway, I thanked him and climbed off the bus, feeling the breeze as the bus

drove past me, it's deafening engine fading into the distance. The first

thing I became aware of was that it was silent. There were no city sounds,

no car horns, no people cursing other people and no gas station bells. Just

the calm swoosh of the wind as it brushed some of my hair into my face.

 

"Oh great! I got on the wrong damn bus!" I said into the silence. "My mom's

gonna kill me."

 

Well, I thought to myself, might as well find my way back into the city. And

don't ask how, but I had the strangest feeling that someone was watching me.

Of course I can't see to tell you that, but I do feel it if someone stares

at me.

 

I turned, realizing that I was disoriented, and started to walk towards the

direction I thought the city was. However, the silence around me told me

that I was going the wrong way. It was really starting to get late now and I

was getting scared. I didn't know what to do. My cane tapped against a large

rock, so I sat down against it and sighed, tired and hungry. The rock felt

hot from being in the sun all day, but not too hot to touch, thankfully, or

I'd have burned my bum. I folded my cane and held it in my lap while I

relaxed, and by accident, fell asleep.

 

Distant howling jarred me awake, and I twisted my head around to listen to

my surroundings. My heart was squeezing in on itself and felt like it was

about to leap out of my chest. I was gasping and felt like I couldn't get

enough air. And I was cold; shorts and a tank top aren't the hottest fashion

in cold weather. It was most definitely night time. But I could smell

something. Something distinct.

 

I could smell water nearby, and since I was thirsty, I got up and started

heading that direction. With only my cane and my nose to guide me, I became

aware of the roaring hiss of a waterfall. There was definitely water here.

It didn't take me long to come to the river where the waterfall was, and I

happily plunged my hands into the cool water and drank.

 

Again, I got that feeling that I was being watched. I strained my ears as

hard as I could to hear anything but the silence and the water, but there

was nothing else to hear. Shrugging, I finished drinking and stood up while

reaching for my cane. The rock under my foot slipped free when I moved, and

that made me twist my ankle and fall. Not onto the ground or into the mud.

Nope. I fell into the roaring river, and only then did I realize that I was

on top of the waterfall, not below it.

 

The current swept me right along. I grabbed onto a branch and tried to pull

myself to safety, but I couldn't move the ankle I twisted at all, and

realized that I'd probably broken it. And then the branch that I had a hold

of broke. Down the river at breakneck speed I went. Water went up my nose,

and I felt like I was on a log ride gone bad. I was getting all cut up from

rocks and stuff that I scraped against, and then I hit my head on a boulder.

Ouch. I felt dizzy, and the last thing I remembered before totally passing

out was something grabbing my arm.

 

My head hurt. My arms and legs hurt. Even my hair hurt. I felt like I'd been

put through a boot camp and then sent back for failing the first time. Then

I became aware of the crackling sound and warmth of a campfire. I also

realized that I was wrapped in something made of cloth. There were leaves

all over my arms, on my cuts. Something on or in them made the wounds sting,

and I wrinkled my nose.

 

"Oww…" I moaned as I moved to sit up.

 

"Don't move." Said a gruff and deep but intimidating sounding man's voice.

Whoever had spoken was shockingly close, and within a second I heard someone

sit down next to me. I felt a hand grasp my leg just above my injured ankle

and tensed. "Tell me if this hurts." The voice said to me. The hand moved

down to my ankle, squeezing just slightly.

 

"AARGH! Ouch!" I gave him a clear yes and he released my ankle.

 

"It's probably broken." The person said and gave a slight huff as he

muttered something else under his breath. "Just stay there. I'll go get

something to splint that stupid thing." I heard the person stand up again,

his feet scraping the dirt slightly and followed by a small whooshing sound.

 

"Hey!" I called, but he was already gone. "Oh great." I muttered and laid

back again.

 

About ten minutes later, the man came back. I didn't hear him arrive, but I

heard him putting down what sounded like sticks or pieces of wood. I also

heard him breaking the wood up and tossing pieces aside. Then the man's hand

returned to my injured ankle. He picked my foot up by the heel and tugged my

shoe off, then set my foot down again. I bit my lip at the pain, but he

worked fast so it didn't hurt for too long. I could hear him tugging the

shoelaces out of the shoe he just took off of my foot, and a moment later he

tugged the shoelaces out of my other shoe as well.

 

"OK I'm going to put the splint on. This could hurt." The mysterious

stranger said. He put my injured ankle against his leg, which had a piece of

the wood he was breaking up a minute ago sitting over it, then put two more

pieces up against either side of my ankle. Then he used my own shoelaces to

tie them into place. He tied them down tight, and I grimaced silently. But

he did a good job with the splint. I could wiggle my toes, but not move my

foot or my ankle. Perfectly immobile. "Let me know if your toes go numb and

I'll loosen it."

 

I nodded as the man fell silent again. I guessed he had settled down next to

the fire again. "Where am I?" I asked.

 

"Isn't it obvious? You're in a valley." He snapped, the sharpness of his

voice making me jump.

 

"Sorry…I didn't know that…" I said sheepishly. "Kinda hard to know where you

are when you're blind."

 

Then man fell silent again, but I couldn't tell if he was embarrassed or

sorry or what. For a time, the only sound was the crackling of the fire and

the occasional howling of a distant coyote or wolf. I heard this man

occasionally stick some wood into the fire. Then he finally said, "So how

the hell did you wind up out here anyway?"

 

"I kinda got on the wrong bus. I guess it was leaving the city instead of

going into it." I replied sheepishly, feeling my cheeks flush. "So

uh…person…um…do you have a name? Or do I just call you the Disembodied

Voice? My name's Lee."

 

No answer came for a long time. But finally the voice replied with only one

word. "Piccolo."

 

"Hmm…Piccolo. Like the musical instrument." I commented, laying back and

smiling.

"Whatever." The person called Piccolo grumbled. My guess is that he had

quite an attitude problem.

 

I became aware of another rather urgent need that my body had. OK make that

two. So I turned over and started trying to get up. My feet scraped the

ground as I managed to get into a standing position. Some of the leaves that

were stuck all over my arms fell off. A twinge of pain in my ankle made me

grimace as I shifted my weight to my good leg.

 

"What are you doing? You shouldn’t be putting weight on that ankle." Piccolo

said, his voice muffled because his back was probably to me.

 

"I have to pee." I complained as I tried to take a step. That was a big

mistake, and I knew it the instant I felt pain shoot up my bad leg, pain so

bad that I almost fell over. I also shouted several words that I probably

shouldn’t have as I bent down and put a hand on the splint.

 

All of a sudden Piccolo came over to me while I was still bent over. Without

a word he picked me up like I was a feather and hefted me over his big

shoulder. Man, he was strong!

 

"Yikes!" My hand grazed his muscular chest briefly before I grabbed onto his

arm, which had slightly rough skin and patches of ridged flesh in some

places. I felt a little embarrassed when my stomach rumbled while it was

practically next to his ear.

 

He carried me around to what I guessed was a pile of rocks that I could lean

against without getting myself soaked in my own pee(which would have been

really disgusting.). So anyway, I did my business and used a soggy tissue

from my pocket to wipe myself and then pulled my shorts back up.

 

"OK, I'm done." I said.

 

Piccolo took his time coming to get me again, but at least he didn't swing

me over his shoulder like he did last time. Instead he just let me lean on

him and hauled me back to the campfire. Aside from the odd rough and ridged

skin on his arms and the muscular chest, I also added the fact that he was

pretty tall to my mental list of his features. No way to tell how tall, of

course(I'm short so anyone taller then me is considered tall in my opinion).

 

He sat me down and kept his fingers wrapped firmly around my wrist. "Here."

A moment later an apple was shoved into my hand. His hand moved away again.

 

"Oh…thanks." I said and bit into the food. I didn't hear him eating at all,

so I asked. "Aren't you hungry?"

 

"No." Was all Piccolo said.

 

"You don't talk much do you?"

 

"No."

 

"Is 'no' all you can say?" I added jokingly.

 

His reply? An annoyed sounding, "No."

 

Anyway, I finished the apple and tossed the core aside so that whatever

hungry bugs or whatever were running around could have something to eat. By

now, I was getting a bit sleepy. I was also cold, and the cloth or whatever

that was wrapped around me when I woke up was still a little wet. So I

managed to crawl a little closer to the fire, stopping when I could hear the

crackling and feel the warmth.

 

"You'll burn your face off if you get any closer." I heard Piccolo remark

from my left.

 

"I'm blind, not stupid." I scoffed and managed to get my butt on the ground

without hurting my bad ankle. I also tried to drag the cloth with me, but

once it pulled taut, it wouldn’t budge. "Is this thing stuck under a rock or

something?"

 

I felt Piccolo reach over behind me and drag the rest of the blanket over

like it was nothing. Something else scraped along the ground. Something

heavy. And the next thing I knew I had a handful of the cloth again. I

wrapped it around myself and then settled down. Don't ask me why I did this,

but I scooted over a few more inches and put my head down on Piccolo's knee.

He only huffed, but didn't move away.

 

"Hmm…warm…" I mumbled to myself as I started to fall asleep while trying to

picture what this mysterious man called Piccolo looked like. Of course, I

can't imagine in color - I've been blind since birth - but I can imagine

outlines and shapes.

 

So I had a pretty good mental image of a man with a strong, powerful build,

a great chest, odd pointed fingernails and some odd patches of skin on his

arms and shoulders. But where his face was…I only saw a shadow. And then I

finally fell asleep.

 

I could hear birds squawking in the distance. Some rodent or another

scrambled along the rocks near me. The air was dry and cold, and there was a

slight breeze blowing. Apparently, Piccolo didn't move all night. I became

aware of his knee still being under my head, and I also had the feeling he

was probably looking down at me.

 

Just as I was beginning to wonder if he had fallen asleep while sitting up,

I heard his voice say, "Oh, you're finally awake."

 

"Yeah, I guess." I yawned. I thought my ankle hurt bad the night before. But

this morning, I was in total agony. I could hardly move.

 

Piccolo just kind of grasped my shoulders and laid me down. I heard that odd

whoosh and then silence. He was gone again. While he was gone, I felt my bad

ankle with one hand and my good ankle with the other. Ouch, the bad ankle

was swollen alright.

 

There was another soft whoosh as Piccolo returned in his mysterious way. I

heard him clinking something around briefly, and then I had a metal cup with

something that smelled like aloe-vera and Vicks placed into my hand.

 

"Drink that. It'll get rid of the swelling and stop the pain."

 

What did I have to lose? I sipped the stuff. It didn't taste very good. In

fact it tasted like Robitussin with vinegar in it. So I gulped it as fast as

I could and grimaced, feeling it burn like liquor on the way down. "Ugh!

Tastes awful."

 

Piccolo snickered. "Well be glad you're mouth tastes bad instead of your

ankle hurting. It's bad enough hearing you bitch about the pain."

 

"You can be such a jerk." I muttered.

 

"Thanks." He remarked, acting like a smart-ass. "Well, if you ever want to

get home again I guess I'll have to carry you to the city." He sighed as if

annoyed, and I felt the cloth I was wrapped in the night before suddenly get

yanked off of me. Then he leaned down, grabbed me under my armpits and

heaved me to my feet. I grabbed onto his shoulders to steady myself and

encountered the same cloth I was wrapped in. Apparently Piccolo had on some

sort of cloak with huge, heavy shoulder pads.

 

"OK…now what?" I asked myself aloud.

 

Piccolo just slipped one arm behind my legs and lifted me up, once again,

like I was a feather. "Just hang on and don't freak out OK?"

 

"Um…OK…" I found his neck and wrapped my arms around it as much as I could

without choking him. Piccolo didn't seem to complain.

 

I felt a slight breeze and a weird sensation like I was in an elevator with

the ceiling torn off. My forehead wrinkled as I tried to make sense of what

was happening. Before I could think anymore, I started to feel a stronger

breeze hitting me from the side, as well as a sensation of moving; too

smooth for him to be running.

 

"What's going on?" I asked.

 

"We're flying." Piccolo answered, his voice right in my ear because I had my

face over his shoulder. I found that I really liked the sound of his voice.

Just something about it was kind of calming, even though he often spoke

coldly.

 

I gulped. "F-F-FLYING!?!"

 

He snorted. "Better then walking. Well, there's a city not too far ahead.

Lots of cop cars." Piccolo started to fly lower, then set down. The way the

sound of the sirens was muffled made me guess he'd put me down near a pile

of rocks.

 

I heard a rustle of cloth and realized he was about to leave, probably

forever. And there was something I needed from him yet, and something I

needed to give him.

 

"Piccolo, wait." I said, and he paused.

 

"Yeah?"

 

I reached my hand towards him, up towards his face. His hand reached out and

caught my hand, holding it firmly but not painfully.

 

"Please…can I?" I asked, shyly.

 

Piccolo's silence stretched for a few moments, but finally his hand moved to

my wrist. I instinctively brought my other hand up as well, and felt him

grasp that wrist too. Piccolo guided my hands upwards, and then my palms

touched the warm, soft skin of his face. I felt his long pointed chin and

hollow, high cheekbones. My fingers felt Piccolo's lips, which were softer

then his face and curved so perfectly. I could also feel his thin, pointed

nose and the moist, warm breath that came from it. My hands continued

onwards and I encountered his large pointed ears. And then I felt cloth,

probably a sort of hat, but he removed it and I felt the smoothness of his

bald head. He had a faint depression in his forehead, something only the

hand could detect, I'm sure. Then I felt something sticking out of his

forehead, two long thin appendages. I brought my hands back around and felt

the protruding areas where his eyebrows should have been, and my thumbs

moved over his large eyelids. Piccolo wasn't human. And yet, to me, he had

such a beautiful face. A face I would have to sculpt someday.

 

"You're not a human?" I asked.

 

"I'm a Namek." Was all he said. "I'm an alien."

 

I kept my hands on his face, not wanting to let go. There were so many

emotions running through me. My heart was pounding in my chest, and I still

can't believe what I did next. I kissed Piccolo. I kissed him on the lips

and said in his ear. "Thank you, Man of the Stars."

 

Piccolo didn’t react, or at least not in a way that I would know anyway. I

felt his hands release my wrists, and already felt empty.

 

Then, without a word, he was gone. But the memory of his face would always

be with me.

 

The deafening sound of the sirens finally caught up to me, and people rushed

over towards me. People were shouting things I couldn't make out. I was

still seeing and feeling that face…

 

"Lee! Lee! You're OK!" My mother hugged me suddenly, having come from

somewhere in that mob. I was jarred from my daze.

 

"Mom!" I cried, feeling so relieved and clinging to her.

 

"Where's your cane?"

 

Two days after my adventure, I was effectively on crutches with a cast on my

ankle. Of course, nobody believed the story about Piccolo that I told.

 

Anyhow, one afternoon, I was just reading out in my back yard. "Blind

Eighteen-Year-Old Girl Survives In Wilderness" blared the Braille headline.

 

I heard that strange, yet familiar whoosh and turned my head from side to

side. A hand came from nowhere and grasped my wrist, and seconds later, I

felt my cane being placed against my palm. That same hand passed over the

top of my head, the fingers combing gently through my hair once.

 

Warm breath touched my ear and I heard Piccolo's voice say softly, "You're

welcome."

 

Then he was gone, just as silently as he had appeared.

 

From then on, I always had the feeling that my Man of the Stars was watching

me.