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HOPELESSLY DEVOTED
an outer banks story
by -spacecadet
CHAPTER SEVEN: STARRY NIGHT
Growing up in Nashville, the night sky had always been polluted by city light.
Her first night after moving in with her grandparents, her first night away from the only home she'd ever known, her aunt Ruth snuck her out of her bedroom and down the dock. Ruth had taken some time off of work when Campbell's parents died, to help with funeral arrangements and with Campbell, and she'd stayed two additional weeks in the Outer Banks after Campbell moved to North Carolina. Knowing her niece would have a hard time sleeping, she took the girl out on the dock, armed with pillows, blankets, and hot chocolate, and they laid out amongst the marsh, looking up at the unobstructed night sky.
Campbell's little eyes widened in wonder as she stared up at the stars, far more numerous and so much brighter than any sky she'd looked up at before in her life. Ruth carefully pointed out constellation after constellation, showing her Orion, Canis Major, Perseus, and more. Constellations Campbell still sought out in the winter sky, when she found the time.
She'd drank several beers and a hard lemonade and a shot of whiskey, and her head was spinning as she laid in the grass outside Finn's garage, looking up at the stars, just as she had as a child. The seasons were different, and so were the constellations, but she was mesmerized just the same.
She rested a can of beer on her stomach, her hands holding it steady. She let her eyes focus in and out on the North Star, Polaris. A giggle escaped her lips as she re-focused her eyes on it, the brightest star in the sky. A satellite floated by, its blinking lights momentarily distracting Campbell. She briefly wondered who it was owned by, and what it was doing, but the thought was fleeting and her gaze quickly shifted back to Polaris.
