Laying on our backs in the sand feet pointing to the ocean while waves were washing clean only paces away, staring up at the sky he pointed out constellations to me.
That star forms the hilt of his sword. The w is her throne.
Knowing our present orientation, feet facing eastward, I wondered if I could some day look up in the sky and use these to navigate. And I found myself wondering the same thing walking at night far from home, but the sky was cloudy, again, and again each evening. The next time I looked up with the same thoughts I was disoriented, tried spinning around slowly to change my perspective, but it did not help and nothing familiar presented itself.
It reminds me of sleeping in a little alcove off the side of the road with a couple other kids on our way back home to the north. Driving through the forest maybe redwoods, along the coastal highway. Before drifting asleep we set down blankets and laid looking at the shadows of the towering trees above us and occasional stars peering through. Telling each other what we found in the shadows, shapes that reminded us of things and little stories for the moment. I felt guilty that he was so warm and comfortable next to me, I think in the night half awake I put my arm around him and he moved in closer. Thinking of someone else far away. |
