series 01 - the ones who stay · story six
the edge of the map
beanie wanted to go where her map ran out. butarro had never gone past the sound of the stream.
every map has an edge
on beanie's, it said “probably north.”
she left the little lamp on in the window, the way she leaves a sun on anything she wants to find again.
- beaniei want to go there.
but
it was past the stream. past every sound butarro knew.
- butarrothat is farther than i know.
- beaniethen i'll tell you what it looks like.
so they went
past the stream where they first met.
butarro heard the water get smaller behind them. then he could not hear it at all. he kept walking.
because of that
beanie told him everything.
she was very good at it.
be beanie's eyes. what should she tell him?
until one day
at the edge of the map, the flowers bloomed outward.
every one of them faced away from the path, as if they had somewhere to go too. butarro smelled them first. beanie drew a sun on the map.
- butarrothe air is sweet here.
then
it got dark.
- beaniei can't see the way back.
- butarroi can hear it.
because of that
he walked them back to the sound of the stream.
the same stream where they met. this time, he went first.
but
at the stream, the path went two ways.
sound had brought them to the water. it could not take them past it. both banks sounded exactly the same.
- butarrothis is as far as i know.
until finally
beanie saw it.
far off, small, and yellow: the lamp she had left on in the window that morning.
- beaniethere. i left a light on.
- butarroi heard the way here.
- beanieand i can see the way home.
ever since
there is a flower inside beanie's map.
butarro tucked it there so the edge would smell like itself. her sun shows where it is. his flower remembers what it was like.
the ones who stay don't always stay in one place. sometimes they stay with you.
who do you stay with? take them somewhere neither of you has been.
there's snow in the window beanie hasn't noticed yet.