“a skylight over my bed”

It’s something I’ve always wanted, something my brother had growing up: a skylight over my bed. In my brother’s case, we called his room The Moon Room, because he could see the moon through his skylight. I don’t remember it myself, only hearing about it all my life, a sort of memory for me through the stories of others such that it becomes hard to untangle the truth from the fiction.

At any rate, I’ve always wanted a skylight over my bed, a way to see the stars at night, the moon. Only I don’t want a little skylight, the common skylight seen at massive warehouse DIY stores where the employees wear blue or orange and don’t have any better idea how to do things that I do, but are trained to listen for key words and then direct you down an aisle.

What I want is custom. What I want is a room of glass, a room where everywhere you look you see the outside, so much so that the outside comes in, so much so that I’ll regret it in summer and in winter, the punishment of letting Nature into such close proximity.

Someday, maybe.

Until then, I go outside for my fix of stars. The white swath of The Milky Way Galaxy which I can both see and recognize that we’re somehow a part of. A conundrum, like memories and stories. Like a skylight that was never mine, that I don’t remember but have always wanted.

5 Minute Stretch Exercises are a creation of Laura Munson and were learned at Haven Writing Retreats. Write for five minutes, no corrections or stopping.
This prompt was taken from Waltzing the Cat, by Pam Houston.