The camp was long and winding and appeared to follow the curves of a gurgling creek Finn glimpsed through a tangle of juniper trees. Almost immediately, she came upon a picnic area, a tiny mini golf course, and a cactus garden. They were empty aside from a picnicking couple who were tossing chunks of watermelon rind to their large dog.
If Mom was here right now, where would she go?Finn wondered. She walked over to the cactus garden and sat on the wooden bench in its center. The garden was full of memories, mostly happy ones—proposals, first kisses, enjoying a really good sandwich—but none of them stood out to her. None of them were Nora’s.
She left the garden and continued down the rows of campsites. Each of them had a decorative wooden sign posted out front with the name of a constellation. As the woman at the front desk had explained, the one they were staying at was Perseus. Their neighbors’ was Sagittarius. She passed a Taurus, Draco, and Scorpio.
Aries…Her mom was an Aries. If she had checked in here, the lady at the front desk probably would have assigned her that site if it was available.
Finn was jogging now, reading signs as she passed: Cancer, Cygnus, Lyra, Pisces…
Aries.
She stopped in front of a sign with a painted ram on it. It was her lucky day. The campsite was vacant.
Finn made her way over to the fire ring. Several charred logs sat inside, along with a few glass bottles. She picked the bottles out of the ash, walked them over to the recycling bin, then surveyed hersurroundings. The site was identical to the one she and Zadie were in, except that it was by the creek and thus more shaded. There was a picnic table, too. She sat down on its bench, then listened to the creek bubble and tried to imagine her mom doing the same. But the only memories that visited Finn belonged to other moms, other families. Hers was silent.
Then as she absentmindedly ran her fingers across the surface of the table, she felt a deep scar. Finn let out a short gasp as she looked down and saw the initials NZF carved into the wood. A moment later, her mind began to slide, lose its purchase on the present and drift into another time. The heat from the sand dissipated. The sky plunged into darkness and stars descended upon her like rain. A heart that was not hers raced.
Music.
She heard music.
She was lost, but the music made her feel found.
Where am I?she said aloud.
Who am I?
The sky was a dusting of faint stars. Sailors used them to navigate across oceans.
The music would be her compass.
If she told it her name, maybe it could tell her something, anything about her life.
My name is Nora,she said.
No one answered.
A gate. The music was on the other side.
Shewas on the other side.
She would follow the music.
TENTHE STARS ARE BRIGHTER IN THE DESERT
Zadie woke to the color orange and the smell of coffee. The tent walls were aglow with morning light, and Finn’s sleeping bag lay crumpled and empty. She wiggled her toes and discovered that the inside of her sleeping bag was coated in a fine layer of sand.This must be what it’s like to live in the desert,she thought.You wake up feeling like an excavated mummy.
Zadie sat up slowly, groaning. As she had predicted the night before, every part of her body ached: her shoulders, her neck, her back, even her hips.One week,she thought grimly, fluffing her pillow. She did a quick calculation in her head of how much it would cost if they stayed in motels every night: at least four hundred dollars, probably closer to five. She hadn’t budgeted for lodging—a friend in Galveston had generously offered her family’s beach condo for the first iteration of their trip. Five hundred extra dollars would almost clean out her savings. She supposed she could ask Finn for money, but as usual, her pride got in the way.I’d rather sleep on the ground.
A sudden wave of nausea rocked Zadie. Worried she was about to be sick, she scrambled out of the tent and found Finn seated in front of a crackling fire holdingThe Fisherman’s Desirein one hand and a thermos in the other. “Good morning!” Finn chirped.
Zadie swallowed. It appeared she wasn’t going to be sick after all. “Morning.”
“How’d you sleep?”
“Like a rock. Sorry, I mean like I was sleepingonrocks. Which I was.”
Finn smiled, amused by her sister’s surliness. “I made you coffee.” She poured coffee from the thermos into a speckled enamel mug and extended it to Zadie. Zadie threaded her fingers around the cup and inhaled the fragrant steam. She had promised herself she wouldn’t drink any more coffee while she was pregnant, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t smell it. “Thanks.”