Axis

august 7th

THERE ARE VERY FEW places in this world that make me feel like I'm at home, some of these including my bedroom at Aunt Colleen's house, Jasper's family's boat when they take it out for a spin on the bay, The Book Nook, and the serene atmosphere of a small coffee shop on Main Street called Europa. It's named after the moon orbiting Jupiter, and manned and operated by a small woman with a fetish for all things astronomy. You know, scientific research has proven that it is very possible that there could be some forms of life on Europa, Cass, the owner of the coffee shop would say. If you don't think that's cool, you need to redefine your idea of exciting.

We walk up to the line, which is presently unoccupied, and a skinny boy from the nearby community college with a pair of those black hipster-looking glasses and a The Smiths T-shirt that I recognize to be named James nods at us.

"What can I get for you two today?" he asks diffidently, straightening out a stack of menus lining the wall beside the cash register as an excuse to avoid eye contact while he waits for our reply.

"Lex?" Jasper prods, diverting his attention from the menu for a split second to see if I'm ready to order.

"Small strawberry banana smoothie, please," I say, sticking to my usual request.

"And you?" James asks, watching Jasper.

"Man, decisions," Jasper muses, shaking his head in mock distress. "I'll just take what she's having."

"Okay," James says, punching numbers into the cash register. "Will that be together or separate?"

"Together," Jasper says at the same time I say, "Separate."

The cashier looks back and forth between us for a moment before Jasper eventually slides a ten dollar bill in his direction. Looking somewhat relieved, the young man says, "That'll be six seventy-four."

"So how's your summer been, James?" Jasper asks conversationally while James counts out his change.

"Huh? Oh. It's been pretty good. Going by too fast, though." He shrugs.

"Agreed." Jasper's eyes dart in my direction. "It'd be great if life had a pause button."

"Yeah . . . Here's your change; your drinks should be out shortly," James says, clinging to impersonal formalities like they're his lifeline. Not that I can blame him; I'm awful at making small talk with people, too.

Jasper grabs a seat at a table in the corner, illuminated by a lightbulb hanging down from the ceiling, which is painted black and speckled with hundreds of holes where the light filters in, looking like a bunch of stars. The walls are painted the same black and are covered with little flecks of light poking through meant to represent stars, and detailed versions of all the planets in our solar system, plus the sun, are painted on walls around the room.

Cass really outdid herself when she created the shop, with the help from her older brother, who is evidently an incredible painter. You walk inside and automatically feel like you've been sucked out of orbit and are floating around in a coffee bean-scented Milky Way galaxy.

"This place makes me wanna be an astronaut and explore space," Jasper says once we've sat down.

"It makes me realize how small we really are, in the grand scheme of things," I muse.

Jasper's nose scrunches. "But if you zoom in on that earth painting over there a thousand times, you'll see us sitting right here in this little café, and even though we make, like, no impact on the universe as a whole, in this tiny, concentrated little ecosystem of people and animals and plants, life would be completely different if we weren't here. And maybe life isn't about the big picture; maybe it's the little details that count."