Aurevoir

Gark sat on the stairs of Firefly's bar and looked straight ahead on what she called "Main Street". The buildings on Hale's Moon stood there, silently peering at her. She could almost see past Fook's, if she squinted her eyes well enough.

The silence was quite unusual. Even that early in the morning, Mr. Krenshar would sometimes come running to salute her. Even Jayne who stood usually on her spot near the porch was nowhere to be seen. But then Mr. Krenshar had left too it seemed. He too had moved on.

Garkuyan had never considered herself very nostalgic, since the past is something that she, like so many others, has no control and which she cannot change. Genetic factors, cultural environment, human needs,the natural curses occurring that lead to choices, good or bad. The passing of time and it's consequences on everything, on the body first of all, and on the soul too becomes clearer as the birthdays come and go. There is not much to do about it.

But that morning, the notion of time gone by resonated in her head, hammering, hammering, hammering. Days gone by. Ghosts and memories.

Time had come to go. Garkuyan was leaving Firefly's bar.

For some reasons, probably based on her being unaware of her family roots, she dealt very badly with the loss of people leaving her immediate circle. And as much as she was aware that people leaving is a natural process and new people entering one's life is also the nature of things, and is such a very good thing, she missed a lot of people who had decided to go their way, or came once in a while to the bar and not for long.

A few names popped in her head. Sabrina, Belize, Archer, Maikar, Micah, Ben, Lyric, to name some that came to mind. Cholgosh and Amy. She didn't see much of Seana now. Anya had left suddenly. Hollow. Andrew. And some other people she had forgotten the names, but never the smiles.

Maybe, even if on a rational perspective she understood the situation, after all these months she still missed Downporte a lot, the community she had there, the family she had, close-knitted and so very familiar. Maybe she still couldn't cope very well with it's destruction. The void had gotten bigger and bigger.

There wasn't many choices. Silence was the the only way.

"You'll could come back...maybe. No, I'm leaving. You'll be back. You'll miss your friends. They will miss you. They will forget you. Just take a break: you rarely do. You're restless and edgy these days. " The words, crashing constantly in her mind, were bringing on a slight case of a headache and nausea.

Gark stood up and entered the bar. She stood there a while, silent and lost in her world, shivering. She still wondered why her picture never appeared on Mr. Barnes's TV. She shrugged. She wondered if she somehow had missed something.

Her self-pity was a clear indication that a pause was needed. Now.

She turned around, waved to the Firefly spirits and smiled meekly.

"Aurevoir, mes amis."

Gark left the building.