Danielle Lea Bunchanan | 27
and equinoxes, latitude and longitude, all wrong. He asked a most gigantic question. “What, really, is your destination?”
Nine billion years passed. Ursa Major mused destination over. In infinite decisions, inquisition, and indecisions, she strobed in and out consciousness. This is the effect of excessive rumination. Suddenly, Ursa Major levitated in enlightenment. “I want to go where I came,” she said.
“Don’t overthink,” the conductor told Ursa Major. “You have plenty of time.” He tapped an electronic device called Siri the sundial. “This,” he said, “shows us the way.” He typed t.h.e.r.e into Siri. Ten trillion years later, Ursa Major climbed the 4th rung and took finally a seat in front. “Tuttle making due time,” the conductor called. “All aboard. Don’t be late.”
Traffic was wrecks of sonic combustions. The Tuttle rammed into strange floating grocery sacks. Flying Styrofoam chipped the Tuttle into the size of a mineral. There were the Quadrantids, recalculating, red streaks of oxidized radiation, electrical waves, recalculating, the Perseids, Sputnik, make a U turn, the Lyrids, arriving at destination in 34,136, 822, 234, 234, 842, 831 miles. In this cosmic chaos, another strike of enlightened levitation struck Ursa Major: everything was frantically clamoring in travel (rapidly, wildly, haphazardly, recklessly) to the same place. As if destination were a singular, distinct, hollowed space to place a body. As if destination an empty socket waiting to be plugged into by mass of only you. It isn’t, wasn’t, won’t be.
There were the Quadrantids, recalculating, red streaks Iron debris flashed past like astral paparazzi. It was getting rather warm. The Tuttle dripped droplets of steaming mercury into Ursa’s lap. Light clashed diabolically loud, each ray a cymbal clank against another. This hyper stimulation made Ursa Major nauseously present and alive. She heaved, flickered, and hurled. Contrary to popular belief, the dazzling phenomenon of a shooting star is just incandescent upchuck. Ursa Major began to cry.