Character: RED JACKSON - 50s, veteran astronaut, a font of homespun wisdom
(Red, flying alone in space.)
RED: Astronomers officially recognize eighty-eight constellations in the night sky. Most of these are derived from the ancient Greeks, but cultures the world over had their own interpretations. Sometimes different people who never ran into each other saw the same dern thing. Ursa Major, for instance, is a great bear to both the Greeks and the Navajo. To you and me it’s the Big Dipper, but these people who had nothing in common except a shared humanity saw a great big bear. You know the Big Dipper is what’s known as a moving group? It’s true. Constellations seem organized to us now, but they’re just an illusion ‘cause of where we’re positioned in the universe. But most of the Big Dipper’s stars share the same origin and age and are moving in the same direction, kinda like a celestial family. A family I never had. The house I grew up in was just a building with a heap of sad memories, but the stars were where I felt safe. That’s why I’m not scared now. I’m just home is all.
