Chapter 8 - The Queen's Stars
(Word count: ~1500)
That evening, the sky above the city was a clear, deep indigo, dusted with millions of brilliant, twinkling stars.
I stood on the back patio of my home, wearing a cozy wool sweater, holding a steaming mug of hot chocolate.
In the middle of the lawn stood a sleek, high-powered brass telescope mounted on a heavy tripod—the flagship model Lily and I had bought on Christmas Day.
Lily stood on a wooden step stool, her eye pressed tightly to the lens, her small hands making minute adjustments to the focus dial.
"Mom, look!" she called out, her voice filled with pure, unadulterated wonder. "I found it! I found Cassiopeia!"
I walked over, resting my hands gently on her shoulders, leaning down beside her. "Did you really?"
"Look!" she pointed through the sighting scope. "Five bright stars in a shape like a 'W'. Just like the book said!"
I looked through the eyepiece. There, framed against the vast, velvety blackness of deep space, burned the five brilliant stars of the constellation, clear, sharp, and breathtakingly beautiful.
"Do you remember what the book said about Cassiopeia, sweetie?" I asked softly, kissing the top of her head.
"She was a queen who thought she was better than everyone else," Lily replied, stepping down from the stool and wrapping her arms around my waist. "She demanded that everyone bow down to her vanity."
"And what happened to her?"
"The gods put her in the sky upside down," Lily giggled, "so she'd learn that the universe doesn't revolve around her."
I laughed—a bright, free, beautiful sound that echoed into the cool night air. "That’s a very good lesson, Lily."
Lily looked up at me, her brown eyes bright, happy, and completely unburdened by the shadows of the past. "Mom?"
"Yes, sweetie?"
"Can we build a thousand-piece puzzle tomorrow? A picture of the galaxies?"
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I pulled my daughter close against my side, holding her tight against the cool night breeze, looking up at the endless, brilliant sky above us.
"We can build as many puzzles as you want, Lily," I whispered into her hair. "And nobody is ever going to break your boxes again."
