Stars

“Look at the stars,” I whispered to my sister.  “The stars are the gateway to another world that is never the same for anyone.  They are constantly moving and changing so they are different but the same at the same time.” 

“That doesn’t make any sense,” she whispered back as she pulled her blanket to her chin.   During the summer months, my sister and I spent most nights sleeping outside on the trampoline.  Our parents were never quiet about their fighting, smoking or drinking so we knew if we wanted to get any sleep at all, sleeping on the trampoline – or if it was going to rain, the tent – was the only way we were going to get any sleep at all.  The fresh air was much preferred to the lies and tension hanging in the house. 

When we heard the back door creak open, we immediately stopped talking and closed our eyes.  He only came out when he wanted to see if we were on his side over whatever fight the two of them had just had.  We came out to get away from their fighting.  From years of practice, we knew he wouldn’t wake us up if we had already fallen asleep.  This may be his only saving grace when it came to being our father.  Even with this, we counted down the days until we knew our parents would be gone forever.  Because we could read it in the stars.  They had never lied to us before.