Reaching for Apollo
Dedicated to Neil Armstrong and Virgil Ivan "Guss" Grissom
Inspired by the instrumental piece "A Small Step for Mankind" by Two Steps from Hell
"What are you looking at, Reep?" Lucy asked the mouse one night when he was visiting Cair Paravel for a gala.
It was a grandiose occasion, the women were dressed in fine linen and silk dresses and the men were cavorting around like drunk fauns on a weekend. All of this was for the welcoming of Kashmir, the King of the West, back to his second home.
At the moment, Reepicheep was sitting on the railing of a balcony. The moonlight sported its best radiance for the occasion, shining sapphire hues down on the mouse's fur. Reepicheep simply looked up at the stars with a smile on his face.
"The moon," he said, turning back to see a beautiful young woman with sable hair in a regal yellow dress, appropriate for the evening. "has anyone ever noticed your eyes?"
"My eyes?" Lucy asked, finding the question a bit awkward, almost flirtatious.
"A compliment, Your Majesty, nothing to fuss over." Reepicheep said, turning back around, "You have hazel, reminds me of my mother."
"Oh," Lucy stepped onto the balcony out into the moonlight, "what was she like?"
"To be honest, I don't know, I never knew her very well. I do remember her eyes though." he laughed inwardly, "Just goes to show I'm a sap when it comes to eyes."
"I think it's rather charming."
"Well, it is the most expressive part of the face." Reepicheep said, "Next to the mouth and laugh of course."
Lucy turned towards the moon, admiring it, and then, realizing that she becomes bored quickly, turned back inside, to the festivities, Peter and Edmund were currently playing a drinking game with Kashmir. The owl was winning.
"Why are you out here?" She asked, hoping to hear the answer of 'I just needed some fresh air' so that she could quickly exit and re-partake in the fun.
"Do you want the truth or do you want the clichéd answer?"
"Preferably whatever makes you feel better." Lucy said, a smile returning to her face.
The mouse turned back around, back to the moon. His tail causally laid over the rail, gasping at the sea wondering the expanse of it.
"I have always been fascinated with the stars and the moon. For who knew that a rock and bits of gas in the air could cause such inspiration. That's their purpose I think, to carry a weight of inspiration but not aspiration."
"Why is that?" Lucy said, combing her hair a bit and looking down at him, seeing an appreciative smile on his face.
"Dreaming of stars and desiring the stars are different. They can give you inspiration to continue forward, remind you of who you are and what you need to be. They cannot be the aim though, for they are simply stars and even they, who are in the vast expanse of space, have their limits." The mouse replied as he looked towards the vermillion light of the ballroom, seeing his friends socialize in their prime.
"Yes, but space is limitless." Lucy said.
"Seemingly limitless." replied the mouse, "I do not know where it ends, begins, or when it takes a break. The eye is only as powerful as the eye. We'll never be able to see all of it, but we will perhaps go beyond it one day."
"Do you think so?"
"My brother did," the mouse said looking back at the stellar hosts again, smiling as Saturn flickered a bit, "he seemed to believe that we all should inspire with the stars to reach somewhere greater, go someplace higher."
"Where is he," Lucy asked, looking out onto the sea, seeing the off-white reflection of the moon across the water, "your brother?"
"Dead, Your Majesty. Just like all the others."
"What do you mean, all the others?"
Reepicheep sighed, "I wonder if he knows I miss him."
"Reepicheep," Lucy said, "what do you mean when you said, all the others?"
"De fumo in flammam- out of the smoke, into the flame." He said, jumping from his place and landing on the balcony.
"Who started the fire?" Lucy asked.
"I wish not to talk about it," Reepicheep replied, "best keep to my own advice and move on."
Everyone took a breather, finding themselves a seat and refreshments.
"If you don't mind," Lucy said, "I'd like to go back in now."
Reepicheep smiled and bowed slightly, "I'm not stopping you."
She left the mouse to his affairs but as she reached the door, she turned back towards him. "Do you want to come inside?"
Reepicheep walked towards the door and into the room, his heart wanted him to look back at the moon again but he didn't. For he knew that if he did, he would never return from there and be subject to his own warning. As he walked over to his friends, socializing once again in the world of celebration, wine, and stupidity, Reepicheep slowly looked back anyway and smiled.