Excerpt: East Bend of the River

Jupiter and the others gazed at the roaring fire. There was something about friends and a fire that just seemed right. They had been joking and telling stories since they started the fire and everyone was having a great time. Jupiter looked at the clock over the fireplace and it showed nine thirty. He walked to the door and glanced out the window. It was inky black. He looked back at the others who were still seated around the fireplace in one way or another hypnotized by either the dancing flames of the fire or the numbing effects of the alcohol.

He stepped outside and looked up at the sky. They were brilliant. He loved looking at the stars. The total absence of light pollution showed why they called it the milky way. There were so many stars that they blended together and looked like spilled milk in the sky. He looked north toward the pole and squinted his eyes. He kept them open and tried not to blink. He walked as the Aurora Borealis began to dance across the sky. This was one of the coolest sights a person could see with the naked eye... the Northern Lights.

He remembered in Astronomy class that the man who named it picked a Roman word Aurora, for dawn, and a Greek word Boreas which meant north wind. It was an appropriate description. The Cree Indians had called it the "Dance of the Spirits". From this far south it was a dancing green light that unpredictably flitted around while he watched. He was happy to see it today since it usually stops being visible in early May and doesn't re- appear until September.