Cygnus and Christopher

Chapter Four

Almost everything I did seemed weighed down by recollections. Experiences no longer felt to exist on their own. Sense images were coated in spider webs from history, partially opaque layers placed on top of one another. And when I stepped out of Christopher’s car I felt an odd ghost like presence of the first time I stepped out of a car at Christopher’s house.

My mother dropped me off. I am not sure what the weather was like, but for some reason in my head it was the faded overcast that only seems to exist in memories. A shout came from the playground to the side of the house. It was Christopher, but I can’t remember what he said.

On the last day of school Christopher also shouted something, this time from the porch doorway. It is almost as if the soundwaves from Christopher on the last day of school and the soundwaves from Christopher on the first day I came here were two ropes that had twisted around each other, all I heard was a slight rustling of air.

Christopher repeated himself. “Cygnus come on, lets just grab some food and get going.” I took a step or two towards the porch, but then stopped. Below me the grass was green, the earths freshly trimmed hair. I removed my shoes and socks. From the porch I heard the click of door. A soft click, the door had some built in mechanism to keep it from slamming. Christopher had let the door close, but stayed on the porch. Even with the bit of distance between us I saw his face switch from what I interpreted as excitement to what I interpreted as confusion. He took off his shoes and walked over to me in the grass. He just looked at me looking at the ground.

“I am glad someone appreciates all the lawn care I do around here.” There was a bit of hesitation in the deliver, perhaps he was unsure if it was a good time for humor. I did not want to make him feel that his attempt to reach out to me was unappreciated, so I laughed. “Yeah, it does feel nice.” And it really did. The blades gave way to the weight of me, the occasional bit stuck up between my toes.

“The grass does feel good today and all, but I want to get to beach pretty soon.” Christopher spoke softer than he typically did. The wind picked up a bit. “Yeah, soon maybe. Playground first though.” Christopher glanced over towards the playground, “Sounds good, been awhile since I been on that motherfucker ya know?”

So there we were looking at the same wooden structure, perhaps recalling the same memories. Maybe that is a big part of companionship, being able to board a ship and sail backwards into what was once familiar territory, and ponder together the changes brought about by the ebb and flow of the ocean.

We swung on the playground for awhile. Back and forth, repeated a fixed arc of fifteen some feet while my mind drifted over many miles. Our legs were longer than the last time we’d gone swinging. To avoid hitting the dirt we spread our feet to the side when passing the vertex of our parabolic path.

At some points we swung in unison. Legs pumped at a coordinated rhythm, we went higher each time. Then Christopher was gone. He backflipped off the swing and landed gracefully on the grass. I thought it was beautiful and attempted to imitate it. I cycled through the arc a few more times, mentally prepared myself to attempt an act of small awe. My swing was high in the air. I leaned back and went for it.

I failed, face planted on the ground. Christopher laughed, but quickly stopped to ask if I was okay. Once I told him I was he started laughing again. “Oh man Cygnus, waited all these years to finally try it and this is how it ended up. Anyways, enough antics for now lets get going.”