"Starry Night"
The night was warm with a slight breeze that was so weak it couldn't even rustle the leaves securely attached to the trees. The sky was crystal clear, not even a wisp of cloud dared to blur nature's wondrous backdrop. There was no light pollution to keep eyes from seeing the full wonder of the heaves above. The Moon was a week away from being new, and it was shining brightly as it continued to reflect the sun's pure light. Leena's Bed and Breakfast was just outside of Univille, South Dakota and owned a backyard that allowed the stars and constellations to be seen even at the edge of the horizon.
Pete Lattimer stood in the middle of the backyard with his head tilted as far back as his neck would allow staring at the stars. His bare toes kneaded the cool grass as his ears listened to the chorus of crickets chirping in the shadows. Before he could get lost in the galaxy, Pete flung out a blanket, stolen from the couch, onto the ground. Lying on his back, Pete intertwined his fingers behind his head and brought his knees up until his feet were comfortably flat on the blanket with plans to be there for hours.
He was relieved that the night was so clear, for if it wasn't he knew that his mood would have not gotten better. Being outside the walls of Leena's made Pete feel at ease after being trapped inside the original bed and breakfast at the warehouse earlier that day. Plagued by a nightmare that amplified his fear of being trapped, the life sucking typewriter, and the terrified screams of his name by Claudia and Myka had awoken him in the dead of night. No amount of rational thinking was able to allow him to fall back asleep. So at two in the morning, Pete was lying outside staring up at the quarter Moon with Mars just below it. The longer he studied the impact craters of the moon that fear was thrown farther than Earth's natural satellite.
A smile formed on Pete's lips, all his favorite constellations were out. The legs of Gemini was in between the Moon and Mars, Orion was out hunting Taurus, Aquila and Cygnus were soaring through the Milky Way and Ursa Minor and Major were shining bright. The longer Pete gazed into the Solar System, the more his eyes became adjusted to the night allowing him to see more starts, clusters and nebulas. An hour slowly passed as the Moon moved closer to the horizon pulling the starry blanket down with it.
"I never would have pegged you for one of those space camp nerds." A sudden feminine voice spoke.
Startled, Pete lurched up into a seated position as he faced the Gothic Manor. There he spotted Claudia slowly walking towards him with a thin blanket wrapped around her small frame.
"What can I say," Pete answered, pleased that it was just Claudia. "I am a man of mystery."
She cracked a smile at his response but then fell quiet.
"Can't sleep?" Pete asked.
Claudia just shook her head and for the first time, Pete saw the computer genies for her actual age. It was really easy to forget that this girl was still in her late teens and not a trained agent in her mid-twenties. And if he, a marine and seasoned secret service agent couldn't sleep because of the events that happened in the warehouse, it must be a lot scarier for Claudia. Pete scooted over to the edge of the blanket, and was glad that Claudia understood his invitation. She unwrapped herself from the small throw blanket as she moved down next to Pete. She tossed the blanket over both of them and laid her head on his bicep like she would do with her real brother.
"That bright star under the Moon is Mars," Pete said softly. There was no reason to speak at a higher volume than the crickets. "And Mars is in between the Gemini Twin's legs," he pointed out.
"You know it's their legs, how?" she asked with some skepticism.
"Those two bright stars over to the left are their heads. The star that has a hint of blue is Castor and the one that looks yellow is Pollux," Pete answered undeterred in the least.
"Oh I've heard about those guys, Greek mythology. One was killed and the other asked Zeus to let him share his own immortality with his twin. So Zeus transformed them into the stars."
Pete had to smirk. Figures she'd know some of that. "Right, Castor was killed-"
"And Pollex pleaded to the gods to be together with his brother. I know a thing or two about that."
Pete cleared his throat and pointed back up at the stars, trying to keep the mood light. "To the left of the twins is Ursa Major and faintly above that is Ursa Minor."
"Who and what now?"
Pete glanced down at her with some disbelief. "You know the Great Bear and the Lesser Bear."
Claudia shook her head. "Nope."
His arm fell to the grassy ground and spoke with a deflated tone, "the Big and Little Dipper."
"Oh, Dude, yeah I can see that," Claudia exclaimed. "Why didn't you just say, Big Dipper and Little Dipper." She pointed towards them for added effect.
"Because, their names mean Big Bear, Little Bear," he also pointed towards them as he spoke.
"Um Pete… they don't even look like bears."
"Claudia, the bowl," he made air quotations, "is the butt of the bear and the handle" he air quoted again, "is the tail."
"A bear's tail is short and stubby, not long like that."
"Native American legends said that the bowl is the bear and those three stars are the warriors chasing it."
"That is kinda cool, but I still don't see how that is a bear."
He sighed. "I didn't name the constellations Claude, I just learned them."
Claudia picked up on his tone in an instant and let it go. For some reason she didn't want him to stop sharing. "Okay, Mr. Star Man, what's the deal with that star above the Great Bear?" Now it was Claudia's turn to make the air quotations.
"That is at the end of the Little Dipper's handle, it's Polaris, or The North Star."
"Cool."
"Pick another one."
"Um," Claudia's finger moved throughout the sky until it landed on three stars in a straight line slightly slanted from the horizon. "Okay Hot Shot, tell me something I don't know about Orion's belt."
"Tsh, I thought you'd pick something hard. Orion is called The Great Hunter. If you follow the top star of his belt upwards, past that bright orange star, you can almost make out a cluster of stars. That cluster is called Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters. They say that Orion was in love with one of the sisters but, she did not love him back."
"Wow, even the stars have sappy love tales."
Pete let out a chuckle before he continued. "That orange star in between Pleiades and Orion is Taurus, the Bull, one of the many animals Orion hunted. Now, that orange star above Orion's belt makes up his left shoulder and is called, um, Betelgeuse."
"Meaning…"
"The armpit of the central one."
"Really, the armpit?"
"Yep."
"So my head is on your Betelgeuse?"
"You make it sound so dirty." Claudia just laughed out, silencing the crickets. Pete joined in and it seemed to make the night even brighter. They soon quieted down and the crickets continued their song.
Pete spoke, but this time his voice was almost a whisper, "those three stars below the belt, that is Orion's sword. But that middle one isn't even a star; it is the Great Orion Nebula." Pete heard Claudia let out a soft sound of amazement and he had to smile. To be able to look up and know that a light in the sky was more than just a star, like a planet or a nebula was worthy to be awed. Words to a song filled his heart, and Pete couldn't help to release the song with soft spoken words like he was reciting a poem.
"You should see the stars tonight," he paused between each line, "how they simmer shine so bright, how they shimmer, shine so bright," Pete's eyes followed a satellite that moved with stealth through the stars as he sang, "against the black they look so white, coming down from such a height, to reach me now…."
Suddenly a small black oval shaped object passed not too far overhead. The unexpected rift in the starry blanket startled Pete, but just for a second. By the direction it was heading, and if his memory of timing was close, it had to be the football.
Pete moved his head towards Claudia, "Hey did you…" the remaining words died on his lips when he saw her fast asleep.
He pulled the throw blanket more onto Claudia. His moments caused her to stir, moving her head off his arm and more onto his chest. Pete studied her face like the stars above and couldn't help but feel a wave of bittersweet memories. The night felt like all those camping trips with his dad, learning the constellations from him. And looking at the sleeping teenager next to him, Pete got a glimpse of what his father saw those nights. His father shared the stars with him, now Pete was finally able to share the stars with someone else. Pete finally got to be the big brother.
"He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns midnight into dawn and darkens day into night…the LORD is his name." Amos 5:8
"He is the maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the South. He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed and miracles that cannot be counted." Job 9:9-10