Fugue #152

Paulie learns about the stars from Gene.

They work together on the chart.

"Here’s how it works, Paulie. You turn this circle thing here to find the month, day, and hour. And that will show you what’s in the sky. From horizon to horizon."

They’re in the back yard, laying on a blanket, staring at the night sky. Talking, teaching learning - how to find constellations, how to be brothers. Gene is an instructive 12 year old. Paul, barely 6, is a good pupil.

"So take tonight, for example. April 26, and it’s 9 p.m. Turn the circle...okay. Look at the chart. Now look up. See, there? That’s Cassie."

And there she is. Cassiopeia, Queen of Ethiopia, she whose words excel. Beautiful, but vain and arrogant, she is depicted, per Ptolemy’s imagination, as a lopsided and often upside-down W. Sitting, waiting, for someone to notice her.