To Lucy Beneath the Starry Sky

[Blurb] I saw you more than a hundred thousand years ago. You threw a stone at an innocent rabbit, hunted and killed it, then put it over a burning fire, tore it apart and ate it. The animal fat on your hands glistened in the sun. I saw you more than nine thousand years ago. You held that plump seed between your fingers and carefully buried it in the soil. I saw you more than six thousand years ago. You sat on the flat sand, counting the stars in the sky. The pyramid under construction was part of your backdrop. I saw you more than three thousand years ago. You squatted on a wooden box by the street, staring at the ants on the ground. The scholars nearby were discussing the elements that made up the world, and their voices crawled into your ears like ants. I saw you more than two thousand years ago. Barefoot, with calluses covering your feet, you ran for your life across land nourished by blood. A soldier from a nomadic people, astride a fine steed, drew his bow at you. I saw you more than fifteen hundred years ago. You walked up steps strewn with oil-soaked pine needles, naked, toward the pyre where witches were to be executed. In the dusk, you burned alongside the sky. I saw you more than nine hundred years ago. You passed through the cordon of bombers, tanks, and machine guns and escaped from a city whose supplies had all run out. You ran faster and faster, until you finally tripped in the mud. Then, looking up at the pale leaden sky, you bared your teeth in a grin. I have never reached out to you, and I won't this time either. I only want you to run faster, without fear or regret, beneath the brilliant starry sky. [Revised the blurb years later and realized the viewpoint can't be selected as unknown, so it's set to dual top and bottom by default. In truth, this is very much a Platonic relationship, but it's not obvious at all T.T] Girls' Love, anthropological researcher X girl test subject, or perhaps mad scientist X little wild girl Only the main couple is GL. The viewpoint and pronouns change. Ultra-soft science fiction, with a wildly inconsistent tech tree. Includes mystery and deduction elements. Bad ending. Theme: Learn to gaze up at the stars.