Sky

1977. I'm fourteen years old. Dad and I are traveling around Greece for the summer, just the two of us. We spend part of our trip with our Eugenides family, Niko, Evelyn, and Theia Anastasia. Niko takes us to a beautiful hotel, Eagle's Palace, in Ouranoupolis. Ouranoupolis means City of the Sky.

Tonight, we sit outside, the adults over there, immersed in conversation, me over here, immersed in the sky. A sea of stars inside a mass of blackness covers the earth like a blanket. I love it. I could stay here forever.

Look, there, a swirling cluster, a spiral, a galaxy! My god. Time stops, my breath stops. Can I really see this with my naked eye? Am I allowed? It's a dream. A gift. Breathe. I tap my fingers on the arm of my chair, make sure I'm still here. The sky unfolds, my insides open. So vast a sky, so small a girl, the universe and me, swirling together on this mountain, so far from home, so close to the stars.

The moment, the experience, the feeling burns itself into my memory, wraps around my heart, sinks to my toes. This is what it's like to be in love. I don't think I will ever find the words to describe it.

On the road to Ouranoupolis. Theia Anastasia is on the right, and Evelyn's arm is on the left. Dad is at the table, off camera. Niko snapped the photo. I'm smiling with food in my mouth.