"Aaron, I have met
someone at the college.
Her name
is Naomi."

                                                        ­                                                       "Oh?
                                                            ­                            What is she like?"

"Her hair is white
like ash, the same
grey as her eyes,
though
she is only nineteen.
She is an undergrad in
astronomy."

                                                 ­                               "Astronomy? Really?"

"Yes.
And she is a poet, too."

                                                          ­                "How did you meet her?"

"I ran into her in the library
while I was researching
for an essay.
She was surrounded by books,
stacks and stacks of them,
her hair like
a white curtain
'round her face."

                                                         ­                                         "And next?"

"I walked past,
allowing her to remain focused
but she looked up at me
and pinned me with her gaze
and asked me my name."

                                                         ­                           "And you told her?"

"Yes.
Then she asked me
if I would be interested
in helping her find
the history of a certain
constellation.
You won't believe which one."

                                                          ­                                            "Tell me."

"Perseus.
He's a hero, but
his name is translated as destroyer,
and he carries a sickle-shaped sword.
The legend said he was placed in the sky
as a constellation after he died."

                                                     "What does this have to do with me?"

"The legend reminded me of you.
So much hardship,
so much blood,
but alive in the end."

                                                                  "Unlike most heroes of myth."

"My point exactly."

                                                             "I might be interested in meeting
                                                                              this 'Naomi' character."

"I'll set something up."

h.f.m.