For the next two weeks, Tyler visited Josh every night. Even when he had had a long, hard day of farm chores, he always went to the trees at midnight.

After the night where he gave Josh the drawing, Tyler had started to bring Josh pieces of paper, and pencils. He taught Josh how to hold and use a pencil, and before long Josh had begun to draw on his own. He wouldn't show Tyler anything he drew, however. "It's not ready yet," the alien boy had explained, and Tyler knew what he meant, so he let it be.

Tyler was careful to bring Josh plenty of food. For those first few days, Tyler still brought granola bars and bottled water, but after that he started making food in advance: different kinds of sandwiches. Peanut butter and jelly, ham and cheese, chicken and bacon, turkey and lettuce, peanut butter and honey. Josh ate everything Tyler brought him, though he seemed to like the peanut butter and jelly best. One night, Tyler brought dark grape juice for both of them as a treat, and they sipped it and watched the stars.

Their conversations never grew boring. There was plenty to talk about; the differences between Earth and Anathema was a particularly common topic. Tyler would say something about Earth, then ask if they had it, or something similar, on Josh's planet. Josh would nod, or explain, or simply shake his head, and they'd move on to the next thing.

One night was particularly special: the Fourth of July. Tyler had faked a headache and pretended to go to bed early, so he could sneak out and be with Josh when the fireworks started. 

Tyler had grown very fond of the alien, more so than an Earth boy should be. He had feelings for him, certainly, but he had no intentions of revealing that even to himself, much less Josh.

That would change.