Quiet Night of Quiet Stars

Giovanni boards the Bahia Minas; a train carrying black shadows to destinations in space. A ticket grants him a special journey through the stars to find something buried, lost, and forgotten.

Quiet Night of Quiet Stars

          (“Waltz ga Kikoete”-Quasimode) Underwater, everything is a fuzzy blue-green color. He sees strange creatures that look like they could be microorganisms but are too big, oversized seaweed and water dwelling animals the size of five story buildings; he has only seen them in evolutionary biology textbooks his friend’s father showed him. They pay no mind to Giovanni or the disturbance of the train passing through. Giovanni wants to touch them, but decides against it.

“Is this real? Have I’ve been spirited away?” He says in his head. Swimming to the surface, he rubs his eyes to clear his vision. Looking into the windows of the train, he can see figures moving about the boxcars. Some look out their window and wave to Giovanni.  Seeing where the train is headed, down the way he sees a train station and swims to meet the Bahia Minas there.

            Approaching the station he sees that it is called, Draco Station. The train slows as it enters the massive dragon’s mouth and disappears into its belly. In that same direction he sees two bears, one big and one small, which walk on the water; a mother and her cub maybe? The dragon keeps them separated as his body swings violently in place. Giovanni takes a deep breath as he follows the tracks. He looks up at the dragon’s eyes as he enters. They are pure white but fire from his nose causes them to look a smoky orange. It breathes steadily.

            Inside, he feels like he is in a cave. Torches line the throat while Giovanni walks on the dragon’s squishy tongue. The train left no imprint on the tongue, but there is only one direction the train can go. Little white dragons fly overhead, circling the train and showing Giovanni the way. He picks up his pace as he sees the train slowing to a rest.

             At the station, Giovanni is surrounded by clothed black shadows of all ages and sizes- all foreign to him. Some are around his height while others are much taller and some hold shadows much smaller than he in their arms. Giovanni looks at his arms and legs to see if he was a shadow too, but he is far from transparent or monotonous. His clothes have changed however, no longer wearing his school uniform he is dressed in all black that perfectly contrasts his light skin. In a panic, he checks his pockets to see if his most prized possession is still in his possession. He doesn’t feel it and quickly scans the ground around him to see if it fell out of his pocket. Not locating it, he thinks about retracing his footsteps but the doors of the train open to let the passengers on, but no one gets off.

“Please have your tickets ready!” The womanly yet manly conductor demands. The black shadows pull out their red tickets. One-by-one they are handed to the conductor and shredded. In exchange, the shadows receive a map containing all the stops the train makes, all 88 constellations. “Next stop Ursa Minor!”

            Giovanni pats himself down hoping he has a ticket to give it. He sees no ticket window or any structure to house one. He doesn’t have any money on him to purchase one if he could anyways.

“Do you have a ticket, son?” The conductor holds out its hand.

“I don’t think I do. I wouldn’t know where to get one.”

“Aww I see.” The conductor points at Giovanni’s shoes. He takes off his left shoe and shakes it, nothing. He takes off his right shoe and shakes it, a green ticket falls out.

“You have a special ticket, son. A special course is needed for your journey.” It retreats into the train without shredding it and Giovanni follows.

            On board, the train is like any other public transportation vehicle-crowded but not as pack as a Tokyo subway train. Little figures unable to sit still poke their heads out the window, hop from seat to seat, approach strangers, and run up and down the aisles. Fatherly figures stand up while elderly figures and motherly figures sit down with the child figures that are calm, probably being older ones. Some of the motherly figures hold baby figures; some are even deformed and much smaller than other baby figures.

            Giovanni sees two figures that look to be about his age with a map, both female in appearance. He approaches then and hopes they speak a language he knows or speaks at all.

“May I see your map? I want to know the route we will be taking.” The girl holding the map gives it to him.

“We are supposed to be heading to Ursa Minor next. I’m excited! I love woodland animals, they are all beautiful creatures. Do you like any animal in particular?”

“Not really. I’m a city boy.”

“Oh, I’m a girl of the land.”

“So you’re a tree hugging vegetarian?”

“No, I live with my predators and my prey. We all work together to survive.” The other girl says.

“Sounds like a dangerous way to live to me.”

“That the sacrifice we choose to make.” The first girl holds out her hand wanting her map back.

“Do you girls have names?” They look at each other and shake their heads,

“I can’t remember.”

“Neither can I. You can call me, Safari girl.”

“And I, Prairie girl.”

 Giovanni gives the map back to the Safari girl and walks down the car to find where the conductor went. He doesn’t go too far before the conductor returns.

“You ten come here. Draco has given me twelve golden apples, one for each of you newcomers. Before you take a bite, make a wish of the place you would like to go and you shall be transported there by this train.” The ten shadows each take an apple and follow the conductor’s instructions. Two of these shadows were the girls Giovanni was talking to.

“Hey, little Italian boy I have something for you, too.”

“The name’s Giovanni.”

“Giovanni then; I know who you are. You will need this if you want to save your parents.” The conductor hands Giovanni a hand-sized hourglass and a map with a highlighted path.

“My hourglass; I thought I lost it…why do you have it?”

 “You gave it to me for safe keeping or don’t you remember? You mustn’t let it run out before you reach Final Destination. There you will surely find what you are looking for; you will surely find a way to help your parents. Something is buried inside you, something you have lost, and something you have forgotten. You must travel as far as a human can go in this place to find it. Are you willing to accept this journey?” (End)

“Something I’m looking for, huh? If I have no choice, I guess.” Giovanni rolls up the map and puts it between his belt of his pants and his back.

(“Quiet Night of Quiet Stars”- Stan Getz)  “You always have a choice, Giovanni. You make them every second of every day.”

“I accept then, I want to know what this ‘something’ is.” He clutches to the hourglass with a spark in his eye.

“I will need that back. With each stop, you have a limited time to complete the task at hand. If successful, the hourglass will stop running, reset itself, and won’t start running again until the next stop.” The conductor takes back the hourglass. “Next stop: Pegasus!” The conductor yells.

“Aww, no Ursa Minor?” the shadow girl wines.

“Don’t worry little girl, we shall return. There are so many constellations to see!”  

            The train heads out in reverse. The bears and dragon rapidly shrink in size, the ocean turns into space, and the North Star dominates the sky. They make their way to the Perseus region of constellations, passing through Cepheus and Cygnus; a constellation of a king with a massive black hole at its center and a swan known as the Northern Cross shining brightly. The Northern Cross reminds him of Corcovado, a mountain with a statue of Jesus at its peak overlooking Rio de Janeiro.

“Christ the Redeemer, so you are here too. Your reach is as far as the stars.” Giovanni is star-struck by the larger than life constellations and the uniqueness of each one. He rides the train speechless as he comes face to face with the inspiration of his favorite childhood myths and fables in his journey through the stars. Like he, Giovanni knows his parents are trapped in this place and he will travel to the ends of forever to rescue them. He takes a deep breath and rests before the Bahia Minas makes it to his first stop.

            The train begins to slow down as it approaches Pegasus. The train station is at the base of the mountain; from the train Giovanni can see that the mountain has many cave entrances. Unlike Draco, Pegasus keeps its distance and positions itself on top of a mountain. Giovanni can’t tell if Pegasus is using the mountain as a pedestal or resting in the sky with the mountain in the foreground. He is fascinated by the illusion of it all.

“Now arriving at Pegasus Station!”

            Dense clouds surround the peak of the mountain. At the summit is a palace built for the gods and goddesses of mythical past. Golden gates enclose the marble palace that sparkles in the moonlight, but the palace appears to be vacant. Some of the passengers gather their “belongings” and head to the exits with their red tickets. As they stop at the station, the conductor waves Giovanni over; it holds the hourglass in its other hand.

“This is your first stop, Giovanni. As soon as you step onto the platform, the hourglass will begin to run.”

“And if time runs out?”

“Then your time is up, so don’t waste it kid.” The conductor turns Giovanni’s green ticket over to the back to reveal a special map just for Giovanni. “When you return, I will stamp you ticket-so be extra careful not to lose it!”

            Giovanni exits the train and follows the platform to the gated entrance of the palace and the mountain. A moat surrounds the palace accompanied by sandy grasslands leading to the river. He is memorized by the marvelous tiny crystal-like grains in the sand. Giovanni believes them to be quartz or topaz. He takes a handful of the sand and examines it to see other birthstones and crystals hidden in the depths.

“Sis would love these…mom and dad too.” Giovanni wishes he could put this sand in his hourglass; the sand he currently has is from the Amalfi Coast.

“Hmm, maybe I should start collecting sand; I can make an hourglass for dad! That would make him happy, I just know it.”  Giovanni scoops more sand and puts it in his pocket for now.

“I’ll have to ask Pegasus for his permission when I see him. That is if I can reach him in time- this place looks intense.” (End)