The Rising Sun Outshines The Stars

The Rising Sun Outshines The Stars


"Hurry up, we're going to miss it."
"What the fuck are you talking about Gregory? How can you miss the sunrise?"
"The point is to watch the sun rise over the ocean, yes? Well, if we aren't at the ocean at the time the sun rises, we will have missed it. The sun will rise, yes, but we won't see the sun rise over the ocean. So get your ass ready; I don't want to miss the sunrise."

I let out a hasty sigh. There were a number of objections I could have raised. Though, any one on its own would have been incidental to what I was feeling at the moment. I chose not to get sidetracked and let a dozen petty arguments slowly fizzle out into oblivion: tapped into the ashtray of words left unspoken, ideas left unformed.

He was already in the car when I breached the heavy threshold separating suburban home from everything else. The cold was a shock as we had been having something of an Indian summer. I saw my exhaled smoke hang slow and thick in the air. A dozen unrelated thoughts popped up but were gone as soon as I saw my brother's concerned eyes waiting from behind the wheel.

I sat down in the rusty red Honda and felt the familiar motions of a car in reverse as soon as I'd shut the door. My muscles habitually turned my left hand up and over to the seat belt dangling near the window. I paused for five seconds. I looked down at the lit cigarette in my right hand. I looked out at the predawn sky hunched over the familiar street flying past the window with unnatural speed. I looked at the young stubble on Gregory's grimacing face. Time slowed. The trees floated past and I could see each one clearly, a free-frame image of each before they whizzed past.

My left arm settled uneasily at my side. The seat buckle was left dangling. I took a long drag on the cigarette and held it deep in my lungs as I rolled down the window. A lifetime's obsession with auto safety ruined in one moment of resigned desperation. I wasn't sure if Gregory noticed or if he would say something if he did.