Such a Small Constellation.

Dexter Iverson

There he was again, lost, staring at the stars.

He imagined he was in a dark room, where someone drilled small holes into the ceiling so the light from above could shine and bathe him with the soft rays. The same rays that seemed to illuminate his soul, or better yet, trigger his mind.

"I wonder what it's like to be a star?"

He asked himself quietly. The stars bore no answer, they simply stared back with their mysterious glory. Only when the sound of his mother's soft voice interrupted his thoughts did he come back to the boring reality of the world. She was calling for him, calling him for what he assumed was dinner. Reluctantly he wrapped his sweater around him and tore his curious eyes away from the only things in the universe that seemed to understand him. The smell of bland cooking didn't excite him, nothing seemed to except his exploration for knowledge and a good story. His mother's eyes drifted innately into his lap where she already knew, a book would be resting casually as he put forth little effort for eating the meal she prepared.

"Dexter, eat your food."

Dexter's dark blonde hair obstructed his vision so he blew up at his bangs in hopes that the waves would fall elsewhere, which they did.

"I am."

Another spoonful of vegetables. Spoons are like little shovels for food. He thought to himself awarding his mind with a soft smile. When finished, Dexter walked the chestnut wood floors to his confined but personal bedroom. The walls of his room represented him, plain and clean. Dexter had no real care for external beauty or cosmetic appeal. He did however, listen to his mother when she said he needed a haircut. Whether he thought so or not he was a generally attractive boy. His hair was a dark ashy blonde with lightening from the sun and remarkable deep blue eyes that represented the cosmos of which, he adored so much. His pale skin on the contrary, was sensitive and blotchy at times.

The hour grew late and Dexter still had his head buried in a book but, they weren't just books to him, they were much more. They were his way of expressing himself, his way of escaping the harsh reality of life. Even if, it was only for a short while. Only again did he stop when he heard another muffled nag from his mother.

"Lights off, Dexter." Puttt.

That was a sound Dexter had a very personal abhorrence for. Puttt. The distasteful noise of a book shutting. The end of an adventure, the cancellation of a love story, the precipitous halt of a battle; all of those things are results of puttt. He did however, get to look forward to one thing. Dreaming. He loved dreaming because they were always changing. They were the only thing in his monotonous lifestyle that was different every night and, he always dreamed. Sometimes he would even dream during the day. Especially when the teacher was rambling about something he had already read. Tomorrow is Monday. He thought to himself as he removed his thin framed glasses. A flick of the lights made the glow in the dark plastic stars on his ceiling illuminate. They were neatly arranged according to their actual place in the sky. Placed between the Leo and Libra was his most admired constellation; the Virgo. Not only did the story behind the constellation fascinate him it was also one of the biggest ones in the sky. That particular constellation lead to his favorite greek mythology love story of Hades and Persephone. And nothing got Dexter's mind going like those greek tales.The morality and intriguing relationships between the immortals always brought forth some form of his interest. As he stared up at the artificial night sky on his ceiling, he slowly drifted to sleep, lost in his thoughts.