Yeah, again. Ten minutes ago I was in a car with Ronnie,
Thomas and Peter.
It was good-byes.
Now I´m on the night-bus, from Charleswood to Stockholm.
It´s about -3°C outside (according to the thermometer in
Ronnie´s car).
Chilly, but not too cold.
There´s a full moon.
And the stars are all there.
Yet another IRC-gathering is over.
I came unprepared for this one though. I brought my pad
(never leave home without it), but I had to ask the driver for
a pen, as I seem to have lost mine.
Actually, the whole thing was unprepared. I hadn´t planned to
go there due to my short holiday, but... as they say, I was
talked into it.

I really like Ronnie´s place.
I´ve been there quite a few times you know, and over the
years, it has come to hold so many good memories for me.
There´s his basement, with the window I used to look out
through while brushing my teeth. And the table where we
played all those games of Trivial Pursuit.
There´s also the bathroom, with the washbasin where Elin
washed her feet after walking around barefoot all day.
And there´s the couch where Jessica used to sleep. She used
to look at me from there when she had just awakened, rubbing
the sleep from her eyes. And she was pretty.
And my couch of course, where I´ve spent many a good night
(although Thomas laid his hands on it this time...but I hold no
grudge mate...as it turned out, you probably had more use of
it than I would´ve had ;) ).
And then there are Ronnie´s parents. They have this way of
always making me feel I´m talking to good friends, rather
than a good friends´ parents.
Then, of course, there is Ronnie himself.
He´s my Charleswood in person. He is my amigo, and my
blood brother.

But, back to the stars (I really like that phrase).
Facing the direction in which the bus is heading, I´m on the
right side. I usually prefer the left one (done that as far
back as I can recall), but there was no room.
There are lots of Norwegians on the bus, going from Oslo to
Stockholm.
Now, most of them are asleep. Apart from the small light over
my head, the bus is dark.
Right across from me is an African man, with what looks like a
caftan pulled over his regular clothes. He is asleep as well,
with the hood pulled down over his eyes.
You know, I really like this, going somewhere.
Being on the road.
Anyway... the right side of the bus isn´t too bad right now.
We are driving through forest. No city, and no streetlights,
so it´s very dark outside.
But I can see the moon, and the stars of course.

That´s Orion, dancing just above the treetops outside my
window. Three stars forming his belt. And there, by his right
shoulder, is Betelgeuse.
Alfa Orionis.
As big as 500 Suns, it´s the second largest star in the known
universe.
And I´m looking straight at it.
A bit east of it, still just above my horizon, as a small, fuzzy
cloud, is Andromeda.
That´s our neighbour galaxy, 2.3 million lightyears away.
The most faraway object visual to the naked eye. And
probably the largest as well.
And I´m looking straight at it.
How´s that for your everyday-miracle?

Oh... and now there is 18 hours and 53 minutes left of 1998...
So make the most of it people. It´s never coming back.
It´ll become the past.
The Langoliers will take it.
And with it, nuclear tests, sex-scandals, missile strikes, 11-
academy-award-winning-movies, and Frank Sinatra. (I did it
again. I did it, and I´m GLAD I did it! You should do it as
well.)
And with it, the first birthday of this page, the feelings I
had for Beatrice, most of my Christianity, my exam from
high-school, and my teens...
I think it´ll be time to put another book in my bookshelf-
of-life before soon.
One I´ll never be able to reach again.

So, like I said, I´m going home.
I´m glad I left for Charleswood.
Really glad.
As they saying goes, it´s sweet sorrow.
And I kind of miss them already.
I miss Peter, your constant complaining, and your fast-talk
mumbling. And the way you are, like me, serious about things
when it comes right down to it.
I miss Thomas, your attempts to quit smoking, the way you
listen before talking, and for knowing exactly what is funny.
I miss Emma, for Pinkerton and Queen, and for your thoughts
about bathing. And even for your sunny hair. It suits you
better than it does Ronnie. ;)
And I miss Ronnie, for being my amigo, in every way possible.

Lots of missing.
But that´s ok.
You know,
I´m going home.
By the night-bus.
I´ve got two seats for myself
with my pad, my alarm-clock and a bottle of Coke.
Outside, it´s chilly, but not too cold.
There´s a full moon.
And the stars are all there.

Previous Rants

Following Rants

The Main Page