See the Constellation
by Ed Blair (2012)
Genres: Slice of life

No puzzles, just star-gazing.

action: %
response: Vega was unusually bright tonight, and you followed it all the way to the trainyard. Hopped the fence, and now you're standing in front of an open boxcar headed... somewhere. The city hasn't been the same since they left. Not a hurried exodus. More like a gradual diaspora, in a traditional sense. Graduate programs, marriages, new jobs, and all of a sudden, you're on your own.

The train yard is lit exclusively by shrill halogen lights.
The freight train in front of you is carrying grain and
departing at 2100. The afore-mentioned boxcar is a dusty blue, with some scrawled graffiti along the bottom. From the limited view afforded by the open door, the boxcar appears to be empty.
Your sense of direction is a little shaky right now, but if you had to guess, the boxcar would be north of you.
action: You look at the boxcar
response: Journey! Adventure! An escape. The boxcar's open door beckons.
action: About you
response: Haggard might be the most charitable way of describing your face right now. Sleep hasn't been easy this past month.
action: You examine the graffiti
response: Someone has scrawled R.I.P. WARREN in white paint on the boxcar.
action: You examine the train
response: The train stretches on forever, but the only thing you're really interested in is the boxcar straight ahead. Sometimes motion is the only thing that keeps us alive, right?
action: You go north
response: The inside of the boxcar is dusty and empty. Spacious. Perfect for a jaunt.

The boxcar shudders into motion, and you watch your city shrink in size through the open doors.

The boxcar hums with motion, swaying gently from side to side. The moon and the stars shine with an almost unnatural
brilliance, filling your conveyance with soft blue light. You haven't seen this many stars in a very long time.
action: Moon
response: There's a theory that aberrant behavior increases during the full moon. With the strange light filling the boxcar, it's almost believable. You've also just hopped a train with no real plan.
Things to consider.
action: Stars
response: Living in Chicago means that the only lights you see in the sky are from planes or the moon, with sometimes a small smattering of stars or satellites. Out here in the in-between, you notice constellations you haven't seen since childhood. Leo, Hercules, and
Lyra are all visible.
action: Leo
response: The Nemean Lion. Hercules strangled this guy to death to redeem himself in the eyes of the gods. It's always more difficult being the one left behind. Trying to clean up the empty space, constantly being reminded of ghosts.
action: Hercules
response: One of the most famous murderers of all time is remembered as a hero. All before the time of publicists. The gods made me do it doesn't fly nearly as well these days. Unless you're campaigning to be president.
action: Lyra
response: Orpheus. Couldn't take the pain of being abandoned, so he fought his way to the side of his love. Traversed the world beyond, and still ended up alone. Maybe his example isn't the best one to follow.
action: Stars
response: Living in Chicago means that the only lights you see in the sky are from planes or the moon, with sometimes a small smattering of stars or satellites. Out here in the in-between, you notice constellations you haven't seen since childhood. Leo, Hercules, and
Lyra are all visible.

The train rushes along, and clouds begin rolling in. They cover the moon, and stars, and a sprinkle of rain begins to fall. Luckily, not much of it makes it through the boxcar's open doors. You settle down for the rest of your journey, and close your eyes. Sleep comes quickly.

You wake from your nap suddenly.
action: You describe your surroundings
response: It's still night, but you seemed to have passed through the storm.
The wind is surprisingly gentle for the fast pace the engineer seems to be setting. You glance at the sky, and... everything seems different. The constellations you were observing are gone, replaced by unfamiliar stars. Shapes you've only read about, but never seen in person. The constellations you recognize are Carina,
Pegasus, and Aquarius.
action: Carina
response: Carina is the keel of the Argo, formally part of the largest constellation in the night sky. They broke it apart in 1752. Now the hull, the sails, and the decking are separate star structures, adrift in space. Can something like that ever really be repaired, or is some distance untraversable? Maybe hopping the next train back to Chicago is your best bet. Concentrate on making a home.
Banish your ghosts.
action: Pegasus
response: You haven't felt this alive in a long time. The train flies along into the night, and you could go anywhere from here. Create an entirely new existence, free from the weight of history.
Escape the same way your friends did.
action: Aquarius
response: Truism: Life is like a river. Actuality: Life isn't like anything else. You should probably make a decision here. Either hop the next train back to Chicago, and work to persevere, to create a place worth moving back to, a place worth living in, or take a gamble. Keep traveling, create a new life, re-invent your history.
action: You look at the boxcar
response: Empty and dusty. Not very homey, but perfect for your purposes right now. The wood is worn smooth from years of heavy use.
action: Escape
response: Here's to not waiting around for things to get better. The idea of a future on the rails, an open and expansive life, filled with adventure and hardship. Romanticization sometimes gets you on a train to Milwaukee, apparently. Milwaukee and beyond. This is something you've always dreamed of doing, and now is the perfect chance. You'll send everyone postcards, and have incredible stories to tell at weddings, or reunions. You will get sun-burned, and hungry, and carry everything you own. It is a good thing you are wearing your sturdiest shoes. Here's to the open road, and all the chances in the world.
action: Home
response: It's decided. You'll hop the next train back, and turn your city into a home. Make new friends, write to your old ones, craft something impressive. Sometimes you need to get away to remember what you really miss. Streets and the scars that come along with them. Things you've built, the home you'll earn. It's important to leave, if only for a little bit, just so you can remember everything you're leaving behind, everything you miss. The record store clerk that knows your name, the bit of pavement on Fullerton that provides a smooth path on your way to work, sugar-cane based soda from the corner store. The little bits of Chicago that draw your smile across your whole face, the bits that are solely and entirely yours.
action: Wait
response: You didn't hop a train in the middle of the night to sit like a lump. Perhaps it's time to see the constellations.

You didn't hop a train in the middle of the night to sit like a lump. Perhaps it's time to see the constellations.

You didn't hop a train in the middle of the night to sit like a lump. Perhaps it's time to see the constellations.

You didn't hop a train in the middle of the night to sit like a lump. Perhaps it's time to see the constellations.

You didn't hop a train in the middle of the night to sit like a lump. Perhaps it's time to see the constellations.

You didn't hop a train in the middle of the night to sit like a lump. Perhaps it's time to see the constellations.

You didn't hop a train in the middle of the night to sit like a lump. Perhaps it's time to see the constellations.
action: You describe your surroundings
response: It's still night, but you seemed to have passed through the storm.
The wind is surprisingly gentle for the fast pace the engineer seems to be setting. You glance at the sky, and... everything seems different. The constellations you were observing are gone, replaced by unfamiliar stars. Shapes you've only read about, but never seen in person. The constellations you recognize are Carina,
Pegasus, and Aquarius.
action: Yes
response: debugcheapnitfol quit with exit status: 0