A Memory

It had just finished raining.

The planks under my feet were cold and wet, slightly slippery, although bare feet didn't slip as readily as the rediculous duck-boots that the girls insisted on wearing to protect their gaudy Whinney-the-Pooh socks from the moisture. Given that we were at least an hour from any dry land, moisture was kind of a given. If it wasn't the rain that came like clockwork, it was the ocean that leapt up to greet us whenever the wind started to blow. It was something you didn't dare go to greet back, because the ocean was greedy, and if you got too close, it would take you for tea, permanently. Especially at this hour.

I was supposed to be keeping watch, making sure no boats inadvertantly hit us, and also to make sure the ship didn't come free from her anchor. Neither seemed likely in this humanity-forsaken cove near the northern tip of Vancouver Island. The only thing that seemed to hit the boat was rain, and when it wasn't raining, it was clear enough to see the entire milky way.

Amidst the sounds of lapping waves and the low rumble of thunder, it was something to watch the stars move overhead, wondering if someone around one of those stars was looking up, wondering if I was out here, and if I actually existed.

It was a weird feeling, to be sure. Maybe it was the fact that the boat never stopped moving, and, like the stars, I was in perpetual motion. Maybe it was the constant sound, like some kind of dream that I never wanted to wake up from. Standing overtop the primordial crib of all life of the planet, and then looking up at the destiny of it's apex species, I felt for a moment...

Yes, I do exist. I hope we meet someday, and I can tell you all about this planet. The people on it. The creatures that exist on it. The history. The goods, the evils, and everything inbetween.

And then, just like that. My watch was over. I went back into the holds, crawled into my bunk, and then slept the rest of the night away without so much as a thought about who, or what, might be out there amongst the stars.

I'm sure they probably did the same.