Page 32 of Atmosphere

“Thank you,” Vanessa said, her eyes warmer than Joan had ever seen them.

“You’re an astronaut who doesn’t recognize most of the stars,” Joan said, “That’s pretty funny.”

“I’m a pilot who applied to NASA because I want to fly out of the atmosphere,” she said. “And I’m willing to learn anything I have to in order to do it.”

“Okay,” Joan said. “I would love to teach you. Tomorrow night. We can head out of the city. I can even bring my telescope.”

“Yeah?” Vanessa said.

“Yeah, it will be fun.”

—

Joan arrived at Vanessa’s frontdoor one minute before six o’clock. She waited two full minutes to ring the doorbell so that Vanessa could see she was perfectly capable of being late.

Vanessa’s bungalow was painted teal with a red door, a curved archway at her front porch. Joan could hear the doorbell ring inside the house.

Vanessa appeared with a cooler in her hand. She was wearing jeans and a dark gray T-shirt with the sleeves rolled up, her hair still a tad wet. In a flash, Joan went from liking the dress and jean jacket she was wearing to feeling mortifyingly overdressed. And why had she never thought to roll her sleeves up like that?

“I made sandwiches and brought us sodas and beers,” Vanessa said, gesturing to the cooler.

“That’s great. Thank you.”

“Well,” she said. “I like to pull my own weight. Thank you for helping me.”

Joan waved her off. “It’s a good excuse to do a little stargazing myself. I don’t make time for it as often as I’d like. So, really, you’re doing me a favor, too. Keeping me company.”

Joan started walking to her Volkswagen, but Vanessa stopped her. “We can take my car,” she said. “You can just tell me where we’re going.”

“You’re sure? It’s a bit of a drive.”

“It will be nice,” Vanessa said. “Wait here, I’ll pull out of the garage.”

Joan grabbed her binoculars, telescope, and blanket out of the back of her car and then stood on the lawn and looked up at the skyas the sun began to set. It would be a good night to take a little sky tour around Hercules.

Vanessa backed out of the driveway in a cream convertible with a red interior.

“Wow,” Joan said, putting her things in the back.

Vanessa laughed. “I like cars.”

Joan opened the car door and got in. “It’s nice.”

Vanessa pulled away from the curb. “Where are we going?”

“Brazos Bend.”

“I don’t know it.”

“It’s far outside of town. But the view is incredible. Turn left here—we’re going to head to 288.”

As Vanessa’s car picked up speed, Joan’s hair began to float behind her, the wind on her shoulders.

“I used to take Frances there when she wouldn’t fall asleep.”

“How old is she, again?”

“She’s six now,” Joan said. “It was a long time ago. My sister would lose her mind after so many nights not sleeping and so I’d take Frances and just drive. Usually out to Brazos. Most of the time, she’d be asleep by the time we got to the park, but sometimes, she’d still be wide awake, so I’d lay her on a blanket and show her the stars.”

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