MY CONSTELLATION LOVER

CHAPTER 76

The burnt pink and orange sunset melted into blue violet, as the sky grew darker and time later. Both women were ready to go out to the field to try out Gwen's hand communication with any cluster of stars that were showing, hoping, praying but most all - believing, that Kaleus would see or that a message would get to him. Gwen still could not believe she had her hair back, and fussed with it, leaving it down; she swore that from this point on, she would never, ever, put it up in a clip again. It was staying down and wild. Still in her bright orange sweatpants and changing into a pale blue top, she slipped into her sneakers and went to swing her baseball bat a few times, just for practice. Annaliese just grabbed the first pair of jeans she found, a tight pair of light denim ones, panties, no time to find a bra, and donned her favorite red shirt that had a metallic picture of the words, LOVE, on it; the shirt was a little tight around her breasts, but it was late and no one was going to see her. Slipping on a pair of black sneakers, she grabbed her telescope and off they went.

By the time they reached the spot where she normally set up, the sky had changed from blue-violet to dark purple and blue. A star was spotted, then another followed. They were scattered across the sky and were beginning to burn brightly. Neither of the women knew that they were starlings, and tonight they had made their very first appearance. Queen Nebula, was so proud.

Annaliese set up the telescope, and adjusted the lens. She had to wipe it since it had some dust prints on it, and while she fussed, Gwen looked up, hands cupping her eyes at the sky, looking for a cluster of stars, but so far nothing. One tiny star blinked, so Gwen decided to start a signal. She put her hand straight up and made a handfist, and copied the one blink of the star. Then she put her hands down to her side, and waited. Nothing. The little star just shone brightly. "Did you get any kind of sign, yet?" Annaliese looked up to Gwen then to the sky. "No, nothing yet. I tried that one little star over there, (and she pointed up to the left), but nothing. Gwen got frustrated. She was a very impatient person where Annaliese was the polar opposite. "Hey, we just got here. Let's keep it going." With Annaliese peering through her telescope and Gwen watching for clusters, hope was in the air. Some constellation just had to appear tonight. It was just too important.

Luke dropped Doc off at his house, and Doc slammed Luke's old truck door shut. "Hey, Doc. What do ya say to one more cup of coffee? I have a theory I want to run by ya'll, if you are interested." "Sure, git in my house. Will put on the java." Doc smiled to himself; he just converted a non-coffee drinker into one by his magic blend. He brewed a pot, the robust smell of it wafting through the kitchen and living room. Grabbing two mugs, they both sat outside on Doc's porch.

Now, the porch needed some TLC, it was painted a very light blue years back when Wife #4 or was it Wife #3, said it was her favorite color or some shit like that. It remained that color and with the environment, wind, storms, etc., the paint began to peel in spots but it wasn't that bad. Sort of gave the porch that rustic-look to it, that some old porches have, and made it more the inviting. Sitting on two rockers, the men drank their coffee, and looked at the night sky. Doc's security lights went on, so they were not sitting in complete darkness. He had them installed one year when some idiot - probably Ricky, Kyle or Lyle - robbed his medication closet. He couldn't prove which Stimmons did it, but rest assured it was one of them pricks.

The only sounds were the crickets and the men slowly moving their rockers against the porch, a light squeak and scraping noise coming from each chair. "So what did you want to tell me, Luke?" Doc blew on his coffee, cooling it down. It was in his favorite mug, a plain white one that had the words "Have a Nice F****** Day" printed across it. Luke sipped his from a mug that came from a yard sale, having all sorts of tye-dye colors on it. After Luke took a third sip, savoring the sweet and smoky flavor of Doc's concoction, he got his courage and just threw it out there. "Dr. French Fry, I have and have always believed that there are things in the world that we just can't explain. Some people have seen objects in the night sky, others claim to have been taken up by aliens, examined, and then let loose again on Earth, never to be the same. A few folks have died, but came back, describing similar experiences, even though none of these folks knew each other. Pictures of the Loch Ness monster, ghost sightings, have been seen all around the world." He was getting all worked up. Doc just listened, sipping his coffee and rocking back and forth.