The Grandmother’s Story
Lily sat on the bed beside her grandmother.
The old woman’s name was Eleanor. She had been a passenger on the Morning Star for seventy years. She had been taken when she was young, when her daughter was just a baby, when the world was full of promise.
“I watched you grow up,” Eleanor said. “From the ship. Through the window. In my dreams.”
“You saw me?”
“I saw everything. Your first steps. Your first words. Your first day of school. I was there. Even when you couldn’t see me.”
“Why didn’t you reach out?”
Eleanor’s eyes filled with tears.
“Because I couldn’t. The ship wouldn’t let me. The captain wouldn’t let me.”
“Which captain?”
Eleanor looked at Elara.
“The one before you. The first captain. She was kind, but she was also a prisoner. She couldn’t free me any more than I could free myself.”
Lily took her grandmother’s hands.
“I’ve been looking for you my whole life.”
“I know.”
“My mother said you were dead.”
“I was. For a while. But the ship brought me back.”
“Why?”
Eleanor smiled.
It was a sad smile, small and tired and full of years.
“Because you needed to say goodbye.”
Elara stepped forward.
“The ship can release her,” she said. “If you want.”
Lily’s eyes widened.
“You can do that?”
“I am the captain. I can do anything.”
“Then do it. Please.”
Elara nodded.
She walked to the heart of the ship.