Stories, and then Some...

like every kid, i once dreamed of blasting off toward the skies in a rocket ship, away from everything else that festers inside gravity's oppressive grasp. i wanted to pull myself away into those distant twinkling promises of a new grounds to land my feet on. i wanted to explore each patch of sky, constellation by constellation, for civilizations where i might belong.

and now that i have somehow grown up, every time i reach for something in the sky, i feel my feet lift up, sometimes a few inches, sometimes a few miles, from the ground. but like everything, i come crashing back; rudimentary lessons somehow learned of how much should be burned just to get enough lift to fly...

not long after, the few inches became many, the few miles became light years. following the shadow's path, each day sends me streaking farther and farther away from where i came from. until the dominant light of the Sun which overwhelmed my sky receded slowly into the background with his fellow stars.

just one of the many stars.

it's a wonder how, sitting where i can see the city lights, everything looks so small but so connected. how things, as you step away from them, begin to lose their individuality and start to become just a part of a grand whole.

knowing which little spots of light once became centers of your orbit, became constant objects of your cares. seeing the streetlights tracing tell-tale paths you once took to just to reach those spots of light that now become corners of constellations; markers for those times when, in the proximity of a few inches the idea of escape was the last thing in your mind.

the flickering city lights below; squint and see stars.