“And that one? That's Sirius...the dog star. The brightest star in the night sky. He looks down at us, barking and roaring, leading us to a place we need to go. It let me away from home...let me out here to Seattle. And I think it let me pretty well.” She smiled, fingertips caressing constellations.
“And over there...I think...I think that's the Big Dipper. Yeah, I know it looks completely different from this angle. You don't have to believe me, but it's more beautiful from behind...you can see the water flowing down the handle, glistening with nebulae and dripping with cometary rain. It's gorgeous...when you see it, you'll flip.” She slid one arm over the other and started to spin, a private dance with the darkness. In every direction, there was light – a gyroscopic panorama.
“They say that space is dark and empty and cold. That's not true at all, depending on your point of view.” She kissed her mask, watching the muted flash of her comm...he was screaming. Panicking. She couldn't go there, couldn't feel that way.
She didn't have enough air to waste. “I want you to see...see what I've seen. Touch what I've touched. I just kissed a star...if you want your goodbye, come out...come...out here...and press your lips to it...” Her spinning was constant, slow and musical...she offered no resistance, an eternal top.
“Promise...promise me...I won't dance alone. Sir...Sirius...”
On the other end of the line, more than seconds passed. Minutes...she was dead before she started comforting him.
He was crying for her ghost. A dancer frozen in a field of diamonds.
Even at the speed of light, one cannot catch a memory.
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