He's showing her the stars.

It's not logical, as she's already seen them. They've been there all the time. They've been burning for a billion years, they'll burn for a billion more. Always there to see.

And still, he's showing her the stars.

The hard wooden bench that they sit on is built with love, shared with love… so much loving this bench has known, she feels it, senses it… it makes her head spin… fuzzy… dizzy.

The stars… Filled with light, emitting heat, glowing… radiant.

Radiant… and Matthew… love… love shared on this bench… in this house… filled with love… filled… reproducing… leads to children.

First the eagle, who broke free and roams the sky… But this is still his nest and he'll always return to protect it.

Then Jo… strong, on the outside and on the inside… likes to kiss girlfolk on the mouth, got no man parts… Complicated woman… the protector who wants to be the protected, but doesn't want it.

Jude… Judith… a kind heart… cut off her lover's head to save her people… No, different Judith! This one wouldn't harm a fly… unless that fly harmed her children. Then she'd probably cut off its head.

And on the bench next to her, the last one: Matthew Cobb junior… Mattie… who's showing her the stars.

They've been burning for a billion years, they'll burn for a billion more. Always been there to see. But when he points at them, she sees them for the first time.

"There," he says, pointing to the brightest one, "that's Zhu Que, the Red Sun. Look carefully, you can just make out Jiangyin next to it. And sometimes also New Melbourne." He stops, sends her a sideways smile, "But I bet you already know this."

She does. But she likes to hear him say it. So she just smiles.

He's dying.

She knows. She's known from the moment she saw him. She saw the monster eating him up from the inside, eating away his breath.

He's known for some time too, he's felt it, and he tries to b