Moon Dance

We achieved blast-off at 08.15 hours EST. We drove from Jacksonville down to Cape Kennedy, in Florida. We were well provisioned on the remains of what she called ‘a very talkative cake’ I had made for her birthday. I stroked her bare right arm, and held her hand briefly. It is safe to do that in an automatic. She had not been there in a long time, not since a little girl, shortly before the moon landing. I snapped her on Launch Bay 39. Over her shoulder, you could see the launching point for some of the former space shuttles, retired that year, 2011. It was also where the Challenger exploded, shortly after its launch in January 1986. It was a warmer October than I was used to, yet with cool breezes blowing in off the sea. There were alligators in pools nearby, the first time I had ever seen one. The moon hung low in the sky, clearly visible in the afternoon. A source of dreams, not just the American Dream, though clearly they tied theirs into reaching the Moon first, in little nibbles then increasingly larger bites until swallowing it into conquest in July 1969. I thought I could see the Sea of Nectar. My princess and I made our way through the complex. We saw the actual Launch Control from 1969, now literally a museum piece. The Apollo V hung hugely over our heads in an exhibit, shadowing everything else in the hangar. 1960s spacesuits stood eerie as dummies, their gloved hands outstretched. I leaned over and grasped her hand, sitting next to her on the tour bus. She relaxed, her fingers closing around mine. We did lunch in small instalments, chiefly pieces of fruit. I looked at the crisp slices of apple, and wished I could have saved her from some of her choices, in a former life. She had to be her own woman, though, and free. With me in her life, she was waking from the evil spell of the past. She read on how astronauts tend to lose weight in space. 'That's what I need to do,' she said wryly, brushing her hair back. I held her hand.

     'Silly girl,' I said gently. 'Whatever for? I think-' but she didn't let me finish. She kissed me, our lips meeting and making one round full moon.