Astronaut.
cause theyre callin me by my name
It was scandalous to love a married woman. Especially one you met at her grandmother’s funeral. Noah knew this, and yet he let himself fall hopelessly in love. And by hopelessly, I mean he would give every second of his life to Jupiter’s calender. He fell for her like a stone through a mountain river.
Noah had told himself from the start that if he wanted to get into the worst kind of trouble, he would keep seeing Jupiter. He would invade her life and seduce her and lull her from the grasp of her undeserving husband. He would give her everything she had ever wanted and never received. He would present the world coated in gold to her on a silver platter. He would give her everything she deserved.
If he did these things, he was sure that his life would become a living hell. Jupiter’s husband would want him dead. He would have to face the reality of the horrific drama he was creating with every step he took within her home. He knew this, and yet he could do nothing about it.
Feeling helpless to her beauty, her grace, her absolute perfection, was what kept him up until the sun rose for weeks until It happened.
He would lie in his hammock, staring at the water-stained ceiling of his small bedroom, and think of the faint curve to her eyelashes. The searingly gorgeous image of her porcelain lips, moving gracefully as she spoke to him, burned itself into his mind. He could almost taste the sweet, summer scent that floated about her in a gentle aura. He knew that, even if he had his eyes closed, were she to walk by, he would know she had done so without a shadow of a doubt. Her smell was enchanting, like a siren’s song for his senses, drawing him closer and making his mouth water. The stale smell of his car melted away each time she slipped into the passenger’s seat. The air camealive around him, singing out in joy as Jupiter filled it with her breath.
It happened when he came home and found a piece of paper nailed to his door; a note written in a scrawling, messy handwriting that hooked his attention.
The weather had him down. Even though he greatly loved the dirty clouds that filled the sky until they were emptied of their bowels, he felt he couldn’t bear the weather. It was a lonely cloak that draped itself over his shoulders and weighed him down, so that every step he took was leaden. It was dark misery that replaced the marrow of his bones and made him heavy. Noah felt that he could hardly force himself to move at all.
So, he had to find things with which to distract his tired soul.
First he tried to play his guitar. He sat on the crate in the corner of his room and strummed his calloused fingers gently across the strings. A noise emerged, but it sounded off to him, sick.
He attempted to lose himself in writing letters to Jupiter next, but the old obsession was in hibernation, and his hand couldn’t move to write.
Frustrated with himself, Noah burst from the house and paced the shallow shore of his uncle’s small lake. His bare feet brushed against pebbles that skipped off toward the water. He stared down at the tiny swarms of fish that littered the space beneath the surface. They peered up at him with tired curiosity, like they had seen too many of the same alien. Turning away from the water, he went where his legs took him.
A few minutes later, the hazy sight before him took the shape of his uncle’s leather steering wheel. Without question, he took control and started to drive through the long road that led into the autumn forest. Through the darkness, he saw a hidden path that he didn’t quite recognize, but felt was familiar. It was like a light stain on a newly-painted wall that reminded you of the dark mark you couldn’t quite remember had been there before. His hands pulled him in that direction, and before he knew it, he was there.
The trees suddenly leaned in his way, blocking the path he had been taking. He pressed gently on the brakes and looked around as he stopped. It was dark through the caramel leaves that surrounded him. He opened his door and stepped lightly onto the soft carpet beneath him, his eyes lifting to the navy canopy that hung over his forest. A tiny pair of starlit eyes winked alternately at him, a welcoming glimmer that caught his gaze. Before he dropped his chin, searching through the dark curls that hung low over his brow, he knew where he was. He glanced down in front of the bumper of his truck and saw faint tire tracks leading under the low trees that had stopped his trek. A hot blush rose on his jaw when he realized that he was not alone with his secret Lake.
“How could she love you?” is all that the note said.
He happened to realize that it was in an educated man’s messy cursive that it had been written.
It rained a gentle shower of tiny golden teardrops that landed on the earth and created a thin, soft blanket of nearly breathing, living beauty. The moonlight dripped from above and tangled in his hair, shining softly on his shoulders as he stumbled with a trance-like haze in his eyes. He could just see the sparkle of the water in the near distance, twinkling like liquid silver through the deep silhouettes of each dark tree.
He was about to break through the tree line, too eager to see, to talk, to explain, when his heel smashed into a twig. The sickening roar that followed made a tremor roll down his spine. His body snapped back from its happy journey and stood as still as stone. His eyes lifted as his body stayed silent, and he saw. He could not talk, he could not think of any words to even begin to explain, he could not think of anything aside from the fact that Jupiter was at the Lake, by herself, after a storm: the only time he brought her.
His heart beat too loudly as he waited for her to look at him. His foot crushing that stick had been enough of a ruckus to wake the dead from an everlasting slumber. Birds had fled in terror, even though it was fall. Hell, God had looked in his direction.
But Jupiter still lay afloat upon the mercury surface of gravity, her Neptune eyes closed under a dark, starry space.
He leaned slowly to the side until his shoulder met a small tree, and then lifted his foot to step off of the trodden path. The silence screamed in his ears as he reached the shadows and knelt to watch.
Her breasts were just above the water, barely a ripple until she breathed. The long curve of her nose melted into her brow and the hair that he knew floated around her. He could see her hands rising and swaying, creating rings in the water and sending the moonlight shuddering away from her body.
Diverting his attention for a single, crucial second, Noah caught sight of the small pile of her clothes. How often had she gone skinny-dipping since he was gone? His curiosity swelled into a faintly red jealousy of her time. Jupiter’s sudden dip under the water caught his solar eyes and pulled his thought toward her with a tight pinch. She was running her hands through her hair, stretching and falling under the water again. He could almost hear her shiver, feel the flesh crawling up her arms and along her spine. How many times had she trembled at nobody’s touch since he had been away? Worry creased his brow while he brushed away the tangles of his hair. The dark stains on his skin caught his eye, but when he looked down he saw a small wildflower at his side. His fingers pulled it up into his sight, where he stared and longed to push it behind Jupiter’s ear, like he had so many times before. He looked out to her and wondered how many flowers she had questioned before he had come home.
The only way to erase those mile-high waves of loneliness that he knew of was to give all of his time to her. He wanted to be there for her always, hold her hand and wipe away her tears and tell her that it was okay, he was here now, he was sorry he had left her. But she wanted him nowhere near her. She had made that apparent with her sheltered presence when she was with him. He could see a flash of skin as she raised a hand to brush his off of her body. He saw the way she had turned her eyes from him and lain tense beside him. She wasn’t comfortable with him anymore.
He leaned too heavily on the trunk beside him and a loud creak followed. His entire body went rigid for a moment as he stared, seeing her rise and turn her head slightly toward him. She was listening, perhaps eager to hear an owl cry, for the sound she knew was there but couldn’t hear. All she had to do was turn completely and she would see his shining eyes staring out at her from the darkness beside the starlight.
But she never did. And his painful longing to tell her grew.
Three times the twenty minutes it took for her smooth skin to wrinkle passed before Noah saw her drift toward solid ground. She moved slowly, turning and standing above the silver surface. Her skin shone in the blue light as she walked listlessly to higher ground. He remembered the feeling of her muscles moving beneath his touch. He wanted to feel it again, sense the heat rising from her skin, hear her breath in his ear, his name on her tongue.
The weightlessness in her step seemed to have recently risen in vigor. He remembered that it had left her when she had learned of his coming quest for adventure elsewhere. He had made himself watch for a week as the happiness steadily ran away with her tears.
Jupiter’s body moved like a floating aura as she began to dress, still damp from head to toe. Noah felt purpose pulling him forward as his mind raced.
“I missed seeing someone with your bounce in their step,” he said softly, knowing before it happened that she would jump like a doe caught in a clearing with her fawn. “Not many people I’ve seen are as beautiful as you when you’re happy.”
Noah had told himself from the start that if he wanted to get into the worst kind of trouble, he would keep seeing Jupiter. He would invade her life and seduce her and lull her from the grasp of her undeserving husband. He would give her everything she had ever wanted and never received. He would present the world coated in gold to her on a silver platter. He would give her everything she deserved.
If he did these things, he was sure that his life would become a living hell. Jupiter’s husband would want him dead. He would have to face the reality of the horrific drama he was creating with every step he took within her home. He knew this, and yet he could do nothing about it.
Feeling helpless to her beauty, her grace, her absolute perfection, was what kept him up until the sun rose for weeks until It happened.
He would lie in his hammock, staring at the water-stained ceiling of his small bedroom, and think of the faint curve to her eyelashes. The searingly gorgeous image of her porcelain lips, moving gracefully as she spoke to him, burned itself into his mind. He could almost taste the sweet, summer scent that floated about her in a gentle aura. He knew that, even if he had his eyes closed, were she to walk by, he would know she had done so without a shadow of a doubt. Her smell was enchanting, like a siren’s song for his senses, drawing him closer and making his mouth water. The stale smell of his car melted away each time she slipped into the passenger’s seat. The air camealive around him, singing out in joy as Jupiter filled it with her breath.
It happened when he came home and found a piece of paper nailed to his door; a note written in a scrawling, messy handwriting that hooked his attention.
The weather had him down. Even though he greatly loved the dirty clouds that filled the sky until they were emptied of their bowels, he felt he couldn’t bear the weather. It was a lonely cloak that draped itself over his shoulders and weighed him down, so that every step he took was leaden. It was dark misery that replaced the marrow of his bones and made him heavy. Noah felt that he could hardly force himself to move at all.
So, he had to find things with which to distract his tired soul.
First he tried to play his guitar. He sat on the crate in the corner of his room and strummed his calloused fingers gently across the strings. A noise emerged, but it sounded off to him, sick.
He attempted to lose himself in writing letters to Jupiter next, but the old obsession was in hibernation, and his hand couldn’t move to write.
Frustrated with himself, Noah burst from the house and paced the shallow shore of his uncle’s small lake. His bare feet brushed against pebbles that skipped off toward the water. He stared down at the tiny swarms of fish that littered the space beneath the surface. They peered up at him with tired curiosity, like they had seen too many of the same alien. Turning away from the water, he went where his legs took him.
A few minutes later, the hazy sight before him took the shape of his uncle’s leather steering wheel. Without question, he took control and started to drive through the long road that led into the autumn forest. Through the darkness, he saw a hidden path that he didn’t quite recognize, but felt was familiar. It was like a light stain on a newly-painted wall that reminded you of the dark mark you couldn’t quite remember had been there before. His hands pulled him in that direction, and before he knew it, he was there.
The trees suddenly leaned in his way, blocking the path he had been taking. He pressed gently on the brakes and looked around as he stopped. It was dark through the caramel leaves that surrounded him. He opened his door and stepped lightly onto the soft carpet beneath him, his eyes lifting to the navy canopy that hung over his forest. A tiny pair of starlit eyes winked alternately at him, a welcoming glimmer that caught his gaze. Before he dropped his chin, searching through the dark curls that hung low over his brow, he knew where he was. He glanced down in front of the bumper of his truck and saw faint tire tracks leading under the low trees that had stopped his trek. A hot blush rose on his jaw when he realized that he was not alone with his secret Lake.
“How could she love you?” is all that the note said.
He happened to realize that it was in an educated man’s messy cursive that it had been written.
It rained a gentle shower of tiny golden teardrops that landed on the earth and created a thin, soft blanket of nearly breathing, living beauty. The moonlight dripped from above and tangled in his hair, shining softly on his shoulders as he stumbled with a trance-like haze in his eyes. He could just see the sparkle of the water in the near distance, twinkling like liquid silver through the deep silhouettes of each dark tree.
He was about to break through the tree line, too eager to see, to talk, to explain, when his heel smashed into a twig. The sickening roar that followed made a tremor roll down his spine. His body snapped back from its happy journey and stood as still as stone. His eyes lifted as his body stayed silent, and he saw. He could not talk, he could not think of any words to even begin to explain, he could not think of anything aside from the fact that Jupiter was at the Lake, by herself, after a storm: the only time he brought her.
His heart beat too loudly as he waited for her to look at him. His foot crushing that stick had been enough of a ruckus to wake the dead from an everlasting slumber. Birds had fled in terror, even though it was fall. Hell, God had looked in his direction.
But Jupiter still lay afloat upon the mercury surface of gravity, her Neptune eyes closed under a dark, starry space.
He leaned slowly to the side until his shoulder met a small tree, and then lifted his foot to step off of the trodden path. The silence screamed in his ears as he reached the shadows and knelt to watch.
Her breasts were just above the water, barely a ripple until she breathed. The long curve of her nose melted into her brow and the hair that he knew floated around her. He could see her hands rising and swaying, creating rings in the water and sending the moonlight shuddering away from her body.
Diverting his attention for a single, crucial second, Noah caught sight of the small pile of her clothes. How often had she gone skinny-dipping since he was gone? His curiosity swelled into a faintly red jealousy of her time. Jupiter’s sudden dip under the water caught his solar eyes and pulled his thought toward her with a tight pinch. She was running her hands through her hair, stretching and falling under the water again. He could almost hear her shiver, feel the flesh crawling up her arms and along her spine. How many times had she trembled at nobody’s touch since he had been away? Worry creased his brow while he brushed away the tangles of his hair. The dark stains on his skin caught his eye, but when he looked down he saw a small wildflower at his side. His fingers pulled it up into his sight, where he stared and longed to push it behind Jupiter’s ear, like he had so many times before. He looked out to her and wondered how many flowers she had questioned before he had come home.
The only way to erase those mile-high waves of loneliness that he knew of was to give all of his time to her. He wanted to be there for her always, hold her hand and wipe away her tears and tell her that it was okay, he was here now, he was sorry he had left her. But she wanted him nowhere near her. She had made that apparent with her sheltered presence when she was with him. He could see a flash of skin as she raised a hand to brush his off of her body. He saw the way she had turned her eyes from him and lain tense beside him. She wasn’t comfortable with him anymore.
He leaned too heavily on the trunk beside him and a loud creak followed. His entire body went rigid for a moment as he stared, seeing her rise and turn her head slightly toward him. She was listening, perhaps eager to hear an owl cry, for the sound she knew was there but couldn’t hear. All she had to do was turn completely and she would see his shining eyes staring out at her from the darkness beside the starlight.
But she never did. And his painful longing to tell her grew.
Three times the twenty minutes it took for her smooth skin to wrinkle passed before Noah saw her drift toward solid ground. She moved slowly, turning and standing above the silver surface. Her skin shone in the blue light as she walked listlessly to higher ground. He remembered the feeling of her muscles moving beneath his touch. He wanted to feel it again, sense the heat rising from her skin, hear her breath in his ear, his name on her tongue.
The weightlessness in her step seemed to have recently risen in vigor. He remembered that it had left her when she had learned of his coming quest for adventure elsewhere. He had made himself watch for a week as the happiness steadily ran away with her tears.
Jupiter’s body moved like a floating aura as she began to dress, still damp from head to toe. Noah felt purpose pulling him forward as his mind raced.
“I missed seeing someone with your bounce in their step,” he said softly, knowing before it happened that she would jump like a doe caught in a clearing with her fawn. “Not many people I’ve seen are as beautiful as you when you’re happy.”