Our Hill of Stars

01 Road Trip

A S H L Y N

Starlight, star bright, first star I see tonight, wish I may, wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight, I thought to myself as I look up at the emerging stars. I played with the star charm on my necklace, running it along the chain. It grounded me, even as I dreamed of the stars.

One star twinkled brighter than the others, leaving me with a sense of calm. It was Polaris, the North Star, and it sparkled there on the handle of Ursa Minor, waiting for the other six stars to make themselves known. I was overwhelmed by how many more stars are visible way out here. This was nothing like standing on the beach in Wilmington, North Carolina, where the lights of hotels and businesses hide the night sky.

I take a deep breath, gripping my necklace to keep from being distracted again. I wish I was more accepted in this world, I completed my wish.

I could stand here all night looking up at the stars. Gemini, with her stars Castor and Pollux, shines so bright this time of the year. Unlike in Wilmington, I can actually make the constellation out clearly. Maybe I could run back to the car and get my charts and try to spot as many as possible.

The car horn honked. Right, Sadie. I'm not on this trip alone. She allowed me to cut the lights to stargaze, despite her very loud objections. She won't let me stand here all night charting stars. I crunch up the gravel shoulder of the highway and get back in the Toyota.

"Are you sure you don't want to look?" I buckled myself into the passenger's seat.

"And get murdered out here? No thanks, Ashlyn." She started the car and turned the lights on. "Horror movies start like this, you know? Two pretty young women stop on some country road and then bam!" She slapped her palm against the steering wheel. "Next thing you know they're running for their lives from a chainsaw-wielding nutcase!"

"But we're not even in Texas yet," I said with a laugh.

Sadie rolled her eyes at me as she pulled back onto the highway. "We're in Alabama, which is worse."

"There's no 'Alabama Chainsaw Massacre,' though." I pointed out. "But whatever. I'm tired anyway."

I'm not, but Sadie's been driving for the last few hours. It's time we got some sleep in a real bed. I looked over at Sadie's phone. It's hooked into a holder on one of the car's vent so she can easily see the directions. We're an hour away from Birmingham where we have a hotel booked.

We'd already been on the road for ten hours, though there was at least an hour of stops in there. I pulled up my own GPS. From Birmingham to Austin, it was about a twelve to thirteen-hour trek. I curled my lips in disgust.

"Can we make it tomorrow?" Sadie asked.

"Yeah, but the question is, will we want to. It's about twelve and a half hours according to GPS, but factor in stops for food and bathroom and we're looking at closer to fourteen, fifteen hours."

Sadie huffed and grumbled. "We can do what we did today. When we start to get tired book a room somewhere along our route. But I think if we get an early start." I couldn't see her face in the dark, but I knew she cut her eyes to me. "We can probably do it in one day. And I mean early. Like five AM early."

"You're a cruel mistress, Sadie." But I still laughed.

Sadie thrived as a morning person. She had wanted us to leave early today, but I woke late and we didn't get on the road until after noon. We could have covered more distance today if I'd listened and was ready by seven AM when Sadie wanted to set out. But I'd been up late chatting with other members of the Wilmington Astronomy Club.