The Boy With Stars in his Eyes

They lay together again in the field, their heads so close that the blond and the brown of their hair shades bled together.

Pointing up at the night sky, he shared his world with her. "That's the big dipper. Over there is Andromeda..."

He told of the stars and their stories as if they were acquantainces. Try as she might, she couldn't see what he saw. The patterns weren't there for her. All she saw was stars, bright, pretty, but ultimately meaningless. Still, she listened. It didn't matter what he was saying, she just loved to listen to his voice. She let the soothing cadences wash over her and relaxed against him.

He was the boy with the stars in his eyes, with hope in his heart. He was calm and quiet, and something in him seemed to soothe the wildness from her. They were so different: he seemed like he knew the world and his place in it. She never knew where to go, what to do next. She was rootless, and no place ever felt quite right to her.

He grabbed her hand, as if reading her thoughts. "And that one there, that's Polaris."

For his sake, she looked. It was the brightest star in the sky, she knew that, even if she could never manage to locate it on her own.

"The North Star," he said, looking at her. "If it were mine, I would give it to you. Polaris guides you home."