The Launch

Chapter 10

Home.
The word entered his mind before he could stop it. Nifty almost laughed at himself.
This was not home. Home was somewhere else.
Home had violet-veined leaves. Home had stones that glittered silver beneath the surface.
Home had the streets and faces covering the walls of his cabin. This was just the place where he lived.
Then Nifty saw Corey's vehicle. He stopped.
The cabin door opened. Corey stepped onto the porch.
"There you are." Corey exclaimed
Nifty stared at him. The fear in his chest loosened.
Maybe the cabin was not home. Not really.
But someone was waiting for him there.
Corey could tell something was wrong before Nifty reached the porch.
"What happened?" He asked
Nifty held out the leaf. Corey took it.
"It's just a leaf." "He said
Not from here." Nifty said as he handed him the stone. Corey's expression changed.
"And this?" "Not from here either?”
Nifty went inside, he explained where he had found them.
Corey listened the same way he had listened the first time Nifty told him about home. No laughter.
No immediate explanation. When Nifty finished, Corey placed the leaf and stone carefully on the table.
"Could somebody have left them there?"Corey asked "Who could have done that” nifty asked
Corey had no answer. Nifty looked toward the window.
"Things have been getting stranger."
"I know." Corey replied, as nodded toward the woods.
"I noticed some things before I left too. I just didn't know what I was noticing."