(Journal — Robby, Age 8)

  Long story today have the word book to practice spelling so you know Im still doing my studies so you are proud of me.

  I saw Jalen today. I didn’t want to. Not at first. My arm still hurts. My head still aches sometimes from hitting it when I fell. I stayed back, watched him watch me, like he was trying to decide if I was worth talking to. I don’t blame him. I’d be standoffish too if someone limped up, one hand in a splint, looking like a mess. I probably smell too thinking about it. I should borrow some soap.

  He talked fast. Said his dad helped him. Said I could have some food, and some supplies, and… shoes. New shoes. My first new shoes since… I don’t know when. My old ones are rabbit fur now. I put them on carefully. Warm. Walked a few steps. Smiled. Weird. Felt guilty too.

  Jalen said I can’t do this again. Only today. One-time. Strings attached. Debt. I nod. I say thank you. I mean it. But I won’t forget. I understand. Help has teeth. I can’t go back. Not now. Not ever unless I have something to trade or pay. That’s how the world works. Jalen's dad was always angry about Debt, I didn’t understand. It was just a number. How can you be angry at a number?

  He asked me questions. Tried to act like nothing had happened, like we were normal kids. I answered, careful, measured. My stomach growled while I talked. I pretended I didn’t hear it. Pretended I was brave. ARKNAD said, “Captain, even pirates are hungry sometimes. Don’t let it ruin your manners.” I smiled at that.

  I carried the food slowly, counting steps. Counting breaths. Counting the number of times I could balance a tin on my head while walking back without dropping it. Hunger will always win if I forget. If I let it. I won’t.

  I watched him leave. I didn’t wave. Didn’t want to. My arm hurt if I moved too much. My pride hurt too. Maybe that hurts worse.

  I am eight. Still here. Still careful. Still alive. Still hungry. Still trying to be brave. Still counting. Still listening to ARKNAD yelling at me for being too slow. Still me. I didnt cry today.

  The fort. I worked on it more today. My arm is better but still weak. I decided the woven walls needed something. Breezy. Cold. I found clay in the dirt and tried smearing it on the walls. Hard to get it to stick. ARKNAD said: “Captain, even pirate ships leak sometimes. You just patch it.” I patched. A little crooked. Still cold. Still better.

  I dug the old tent out of the dirt near the creek. Covered part of the roof with it, then the tarp from the car trunk. Water doesn’t leak in as much now. My fingers are raw from rubbing and folding. One hand makes it slow. ARKNAD says, “Function over fancy, captain!”

  I found a shed today. Old. Rusty. But still had a few tools: wrench, pliers, a saw. I used the wrench to unbolt the back car seat. Dragged it to the fort. Fits nice. Good for sitting. Maybe sleeping. Borrowed a window from the shed too. ARKNAD says, “Every fort needs a porthole to spy the galaxy!” I like that.

  Corn. More corn. Every few days I go back. Its almost ripe now. Leave some in the car to dry. Boil some. Stretch it as long as I can. Hunger doesn’t go away but it doesn’t get worse if I keep moving. I know I’m hungry now, but I have to save some for winter. Im saving the food Jalen gave for winter. I did eat some tho im sorry.

  I cleaned the solar panels today. Dusty. Leaves. Mud. The car only gave me an hour-long radio last night. Can’t have that. ARKNAD said: “Clean panels, captain, or the music dies.” So I cleaned. My arm aches but the panels shine now.

  I figured out how to record things on the OmniPad. Songs first. Then stories. ARKNAD SPACE PIRATE battles stupid guardians, steals seven dinners, launches missiles at imaginary space krakens. I giggle. It’s quiet. No one hears me. Feels good.

  I didn’t tell Jalen where I’m staying. Gave him a different spot. Safe. Guardians came by the other building I told him. I know his dad made him do it. I don’t blame Jalen. I just… can’t go back for help. No more friends. Only ARKNAD.

  I went to the park today in town. Im dumb. I Should have thinked about this earlier. I brought some old food bags with me. I squished a bunch of soap into the bags.

  I borrowed a bunch of butt paper too. I dont need it now, lots of leaves. But cleaning with snow in winter is cold so I save that for winter.

  Was that smart? ARKNAD said it was.

  I did school today. I did math first. My arm still hurts when I write, so I used the splinted one and held the OmniPad with my good hand. Numbers are easier than words right now. I like adding and multiplying. They make sense. 7 plus 5 is 12, always. Nothing changes. I can depend on numbers.

  Reading next. I tried a story about knights and dragons. I imagined ARKNAD flying through space instead of riding horses. He kept yelling at the dragon like it was a guardian. I laughed. My stomach still growled.

  I tried spelling today. Mom would want me to get this right. I looked up words I didn’t know instead of guessing. Took forever. ARKNAD said, “Captain, patience. A pirate writes like a captain, not a fool.” I laughed, even though I messed up one word anyway.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Science too. I read about planets and stars. Big words. I wrote them down. ARKNAD kept asking questions like he actually understood.

  Robby Notices Something that Shouldnt Be There.

  Robby leaned back against a rock outside the dugout, squinting up at the sky. The sun was bright, but there was… something else. A star, smaller than the sun, but shining clearly even in the day.

  “ARG! look!” Robby pointed. “That one. The bright one. Why is it out in the daytime?”

  ARKNAD spun around, leaning on an imaginary cutlass. “Hmm. Captain… that is most peculiar. Stars don’t normally play peekaboo with the sun like that. Could be a new one? Or… a pirate signal? Maybe the guardians put up a big shiny warning light just to find us.”

  Robby laughed. “ARKNAD, do pirates put stars in the sky?”

  “They try, captain,” ARKNAD said. “Sometimes it’s magic. Sometimes it’s math. Sometimes it’s just a really big telescope.”

  “I don’t get it,” Robby said, squinting. “It’s too bright to be just… a star. My science books don’t say anything about stars like this. Not in the daytime.”

  ARKNAD leaned back, imaginary peg leg tapping the dirt. “Maybe it’s something coming. Something… big. We might need to check the space charts. Or maybe it’s just a challenge from the universe. Like, ‘Hey, captain, keep your eyes open!’”

  Robby frowned. “A challenge, huh?”

  “Always a challenge,” ARKNAD said. “That’s why pirates stay sharp. That’s why you study, captain. Numbers, words, planets, stars… everything can save your hide someday. Maybe even that shiny thing.”

  Robby pressed his forehead to the sky, counting the seconds it took to blink. “Okay… challenge accepted. I’ll figure it out, ARKNAD.”

  ARKNAD laughed. “Good. And if we fail? We fail smart. We fail better next time.”

  Theres a new star in the sky in the day time. Me and ARKNAD tried to figure it out but we dont know yet. Maybe its been there and I just now noticed it. I dont know.

  The dugout fort is changing. Walls thicker. Roof patched. Fireplace almost finished. Rocks heavy. Clay tricky. I tried shaping it with one hand. Hard. ARKNAD says: “Even a space pirate with one arm can build a ship, captain. You can too.”

  I imagined him chopping trees for planks, laughing at space krakens, shouting at guardians. Made me laugh. Dirt in my hair. Sweat in my eyes. Blisters. I kept going. Every rock, stick, and branch is a cannon, a missile, a shield. One hand or not, it’s mine.

  Today I pretended the fort was under attack. ARKNAD SPACE PIRATE shouted: “INCOMING! FIRE THE LASER CANNONS!” I grabbed my shovel like a missile launcher. Threw dirt like grenades. Stomped on a log like it was a charging guardian mech. Dirt and sticks flew everywhere.

  I rolled under branches, leapt over rocks, shouted orders at invisible crew. ARKNAD said: “Captain, take that shot! That kraken won’t defeat itself!” I laughed so hard my arm hurt. I swung a heavy branch like a cutlass.

  Then I bumped my splinted arm on a rock. SNAP. Sharp, hot, blinding pain shot through me. I fell forward, clutching my arm, yelling, laughing, both at once. Dirt in my hair. Tears in my eyes. But I laughed anyway. Pain and joy tangled. ARKNAD laughed too. “That’s the spirit, captain! Even broken pirates laugh in battle!”

  I stayed there a long time, gasping, holding the arm, shaking with pain and laughter, before I crawled back into the dugout.

  Yes i still did my homework. Im getting good with numbers i think. I dont know where to stop so i’m memorizing the multipy numbers up to 100. Will that be enough?

  Still hungry. Still careful. Still growing. Still alive. Still me. ARKNAD says hunger makes you sharp. I think so.

  The fort is mine. Hidden. Safe. My corner of the universe. I feel proud.

  I am eight. Still here. Still brave. Still counting. Still me. Still waiting.

  I spent a long time studying planets today. Even drew some in the dirt with a stick. The new one is still there. Big. Bright. Weird. Not like the others. ARKNAD says it might be a warning, maybe a problem coming. I don’t know. Maybe it’s nothing. Maybe it’s everything. It is not Venus. Me and ARKNAD learned that venus can look like a star in the day time but it’s in the wrong spot.

  We use some sticks and made a compass to find out which way north was. I put rocks down so I know now just by looking at it. Then i checked the science books and I don't think it’s in the right spot, and it’s too big to be Venus.

  I did multiplication while I watched it. 17 times 8 is 136. I like that I can count the stars, even if I can’t count what’s coming.

  Radio Night

  The car smelled like dirt, smoke, and rabbit fur. Robby sat cross-legged in the driver’s seat, the borrowed jacket tight around his shoulders. His arm throbbed. The splint creaked as he moved.

  He didn’t reach into the glove box today, there wasn’t much smell left in it so he wanted to save that for later, when he thought he really needed… it.

  He turned the radio knob. Crackle. Static. Music. Voices. Half-understood news about supply routes. Songs about home. Songs about waiting. Songs about someone he might never see. He pressed his forehead to the glass. Pretending. Pretending it was a message just for him.

  He tried to listen to the news but it was boring news about the war and some girl named Lith thats coming to visit. Nothing about the weird star in the sky, so maybe it’s always been there.

  The solar panel gave enough power for a little while. Two hours of warmth, two hours where the world outside couldn’t reach him.

  When it cut off, dark felt heavier. But Robby stayed. Counting steps. Counting breaths. Thinking of math. Spaceships. ARKNAD. Dugout fort waiting. Morning waiting. Hunger waiting. And still… he was still here.