Another Star in Heaven

April 24, 2018May 20, 2018 ~ Piece, of the Sky

flowers grieve and fall

Kaan and Alli walked through the night, their flashlights cutting wide swathes of light through the darkness. The beams bounced off the trees, shone through translucent leaves and often pointed down at their toes.

The night hung like a shell over them. The stars wavered like ghosts in the ether. They were making their way down the hill, in a long, sweeping arc. Their shoes dug into the layers of dead, brackish plant matter. Dust congealed in the conic sections of their artificial radiance.

In the valley, a bulky black and gray building swam in front of them, materialized out of the inky gloom. A twisted chain-link fence, long rendered useless, cordoned the area, festooned with loud ‘Keep Out!’ signs of black and white painted metal.

The door was rusted and hung ajar. The lock had long been picked and someone had taken the time to kick the entrance in. Leaning down, Kaan and Alli folded themselves into the parcel-sized opening.

The two of them turned their lights to race down a long, abandoned corridor, with sheet metal walls. “Still feels like a prison,” Kaan remarked.

They got to one of the many test rooms, with a white, battered chair – much like one a dentist would use – only fashioned with heavy, leather straps for the abdomen, legs and arms. In the white room, at the top corner, was a two-way mirror, that opened into a control room above.

“I’m surprised they still haven’t torn this place down,” Kaan thought aloud.

Kaan looked around. The room was dusty from lack of use. Twigs had blown in, through unseen holes. Webs stretched across corners. Little rat feet could be heard crawling around in the walls.

“Do you think Nealy would ever come back here?” Alli asked.

“I doubt it,” Kaan said, “This place was abandoned for a reason.”

“Still worth a look, right?” Alli wondered.

Kaan didn’t answer.

They left the dilapidated, unmarked lab. As she got on the back of Kaan’s old Harley, Alli pretended she could see Nealy there – between the branches, coming through the ether, bleeding through from the other side, wearing a beige suit and a red ascot, ensconced in the brilliant rays of an aura – bright and shining, like the sun.

espers

Perturbation Theory

March 12, 2018April 6, 2018 ~ Piece, of the Sky

I miss the sea, water

Alli was paddling back, from kayaking out to the Peak, a rock that stood up in the water, rising at least twenty feet. Every time she came out to Ran’s house on the waterfront, she spent the morning heading out to the pinnacle and rowing around it, before heading back to shore.

The morning was hazy. White clouds hung low in the sky. The crest of the Peak, had been covered in fog.

One oar stroke at a time, Alli made her way forward, through the choppy waves of the low tide. She was cruising. The beach was in sight. Trees here and there, and the scrubland of the dunes.

Ran’s house came into view. Ran was sitting on the beach waiting for her. She had a fire going and was grilling breakfast sausages. Just like when I met her, Alli thought.

She tied up the boat at the dock out front. Strolling down the beachfront in her sandals, she waved to Ran, who waved back. In the house, she changed into a T-shirt and shorts that weren’t damp with sweat and put on a new sweatshirt. Outside, she made her way to Ran, who was plating the sausages.

“How was it out there?” Ran asked, as Alli got closer.

“Peaceful,” Alli said, sitting down on the sand.

“How was your parents’ house?” Ran asked, handing her a plate.

“Uneventful,” Alli answered, “We just watched ‘Jeopardy,’ mostly.”

“That’s good,” Ran said. She gave Alli a fork.

They ate the food, watching the sun climb through the low-hanging mist.

“How was your time with Kaan?” Alli asked. She opened a thermos of coffee Ran had brought.

“Oh, you know, just watched the fight,” Ran shrugged.

Ran unrolled a colorful, striped blanket, and they lay down in the dune grass, after eating their food, staring up at the brightening sky.

Ran put her arm around Alli’s shoulders, “Do you like being with me?”

Alli glanced at her and put her arm around Ran’s stomach, “Of course I do.”

She ran her hand over Alli’s soft hair, the medium fade, “Do you think people can reincarnate while still alive?”