New ficlet
Just a little ficlet I thought of last night...
Let me know what you think!
"He's the serpent-bearer"...
There's a cricket chirping somewhere close-by.
Bella scrunches her eyes up to see if she can see any other constellations hanging above them, in the midnight sky. The grass is scratchy against the nape of her neck and it's still sort of chilly outside -even though it's the middle of the summer.
"Ophiuchus," she stated, pointing to a complicated-looking cluster of stars to their right.
"Ophy-what-acus?" Jake laughed, his brow raised.
She rolled her eyes as he gracefully propped himself back onto his elbows.
"Ophiuchus," she repeated, lying back next to him and leaning her head to see from his viewpoint. She nudged him pointing once more to the pattern overtop the treeline.
"How do you remember all of them? I mean, there are millions of stars in the sky. How do you know where to find them?" he asked in awe, looking at her from the corner of his eye.
A smile played on her lips; this did make her feel a little more knowledgeable than normal. It wasn't every day that she was the one showing Jacob something new and different which didn't pertain to food, that is.
"I don't know. I just...remember the names and what they look like. I didn't learn where they are, only when they are visible in the year...and I don't know all of their stories- but the ones I do know are pretty cool, actually."
"And I don't suppose you happen to know the story behind ol' Octopus here?" he chuckled, still looking at her with his eyes full of their own kinds of stars.
Bella nodded, grabbing Jake's hand and helping him trace out the constellation in front of them. She couldn't help but smile to herself when he sucked in a deep breath, unconsciously.
"He's the serpeant bearer-"
"Like snakes?" he interrupted, causing her to glare at him. "Sorry," he mumbled, pretending to zip his mouth shut.
"Yeah, like snakes. Anyway, in Greek myth Ophiuchus was the 'God of Medicine.' Well, his name was Asclepius, I think. But it's all the same...Now. Yeah he was the God of Medicine, but the intriguing part was that he could bring people back from the dead..." Bella said, her sentence trailing off, as she listened to the true meaning that was blossoming behind her own words. She felt it as the familiar blush crept up her neck and cheeks, burning madly like a wildfire.
"I see. And what makes him so great, exactly?" Jake teased, poking her lightly in the rib.
Bella shook her head slowly, trying to make sense of the words and images that were now swirling around in her mind. Nearly biting her bottom lip off, she tried to grab hold of these new revelations and make sense out of them.
She turned to lean in slightly closer to Jake, almost able to hear the practical chorus of 'Hallelujahs' that were surely going off somewhere.
She heard as his breath hitched in, again from the close proximity of their skin. She smiled grandly, letting it take over her whole being. She couldn't remember the last time she smiled like this; it was all so much. And how could she have not seen this?
"Uh, Bells? You okay...?" Jake questioned, sounding confused by her behavior.
"Well...yeah, I guess I'm great. But...Ophiuchus? He was damn-near amazing because he could bring people back to life," she answered, delighting in the way his skin was so warm next to hers- such opposites in some ways. But the same, in so many other ways...
"You said that already, honey. I got that, but why is that so...amazing?" his eyes probed her for more information- for more words. She laughed at this.
"He took people who were dead, or practically dead anyway..and he made them alive. He brought them back to life- breathing life into dead, broken things. Like their hearts...the same hearts they didn't think even existed any more. He fixed them...and they worked in the end. And this worried some of those who were brought back to life by Ophiuchus...they thought it was too good to be true. Maybe it was...but they knew they had to make it work. And they were so..."
Silence. Quick breaths in and out. In and out.
"Grateful... for what he did for them. They could never figure out how to repay him. So they put his figure in the stars, a statue to honor him, so no one would ever forget him. As if that were even possible," she spoke softly, murmuring the last line more so for herself.
~~~~
The look they shared that moment, on that summer night...
Bella hoped that it would stretch out into the fall. And the winter...and the following spring. Hopefully for as long as he would stay with her. He would never leave her- this she knew.
She hoped for the first time in a long time.
Let me know what you think!
"He's the serpent-bearer"...
There's a cricket chirping somewhere close-by.
Bella scrunches her eyes up to see if she can see any other constellations hanging above them, in the midnight sky. The grass is scratchy against the nape of her neck and it's still sort of chilly outside -even though it's the middle of the summer.
"Ophiuchus," she stated, pointing to a complicated-looking cluster of stars to their right.
"Ophy-what-acus?" Jake laughed, his brow raised.
She rolled her eyes as he gracefully propped himself back onto his elbows.
"Ophiuchus," she repeated, lying back next to him and leaning her head to see from his viewpoint. She nudged him pointing once more to the pattern overtop the treeline.
"How do you remember all of them? I mean, there are millions of stars in the sky. How do you know where to find them?" he asked in awe, looking at her from the corner of his eye.
A smile played on her lips; this did make her feel a little more knowledgeable than normal. It wasn't every day that she was the one showing Jacob something new and different which didn't pertain to food, that is.
"I don't know. I just...remember the names and what they look like. I didn't learn where they are, only when they are visible in the year...and I don't know all of their stories- but the ones I do know are pretty cool, actually."
"And I don't suppose you happen to know the story behind ol' Octopus here?" he chuckled, still looking at her with his eyes full of their own kinds of stars.
Bella nodded, grabbing Jake's hand and helping him trace out the constellation in front of them. She couldn't help but smile to herself when he sucked in a deep breath, unconsciously.
"He's the serpeant bearer-"
"Like snakes?" he interrupted, causing her to glare at him. "Sorry," he mumbled, pretending to zip his mouth shut.
"Yeah, like snakes. Anyway, in Greek myth Ophiuchus was the 'God of Medicine.' Well, his name was Asclepius, I think. But it's all the same...Now. Yeah he was the God of Medicine, but the intriguing part was that he could bring people back from the dead..." Bella said, her sentence trailing off, as she listened to the true meaning that was blossoming behind her own words. She felt it as the familiar blush crept up her neck and cheeks, burning madly like a wildfire.
"I see. And what makes him so great, exactly?" Jake teased, poking her lightly in the rib.
Bella shook her head slowly, trying to make sense of the words and images that were now swirling around in her mind. Nearly biting her bottom lip off, she tried to grab hold of these new revelations and make sense out of them.
She turned to lean in slightly closer to Jake, almost able to hear the practical chorus of 'Hallelujahs' that were surely going off somewhere.
She heard as his breath hitched in, again from the close proximity of their skin. She smiled grandly, letting it take over her whole being. She couldn't remember the last time she smiled like this; it was all so much. And how could she have not seen this?
"Uh, Bells? You okay...?" Jake questioned, sounding confused by her behavior.
"Well...yeah, I guess I'm great. But...Ophiuchus? He was damn-near amazing because he could bring people back to life," she answered, delighting in the way his skin was so warm next to hers- such opposites in some ways. But the same, in so many other ways...
"You said that already, honey. I got that, but why is that so...amazing?" his eyes probed her for more information- for more words. She laughed at this.
"He took people who were dead, or practically dead anyway..and he made them alive. He brought them back to life- breathing life into dead, broken things. Like their hearts...the same hearts they didn't think even existed any more. He fixed them...and they worked in the end. And this worried some of those who were brought back to life by Ophiuchus...they thought it was too good to be true. Maybe it was...but they knew they had to make it work. And they were so..."
Silence. Quick breaths in and out. In and out.
"Grateful... for what he did for them. They could never figure out how to repay him. So they put his figure in the stars, a statue to honor him, so no one would ever forget him. As if that were even possible," she spoke softly, murmuring the last line more so for herself.
~~~~
The look they shared that moment, on that summer night...
Bella hoped that it would stretch out into the fall. And the winter...and the following spring. Hopefully for as long as he would stay with her. He would never leave her- this she knew.
She hoped for the first time in a long time.