Remember The Moon Read Online Free PDF Page B

the diminishing highway of blue-white moonlight jetting between us and the giant sphere that rose high into the sky. I wondered what goofy smile was on my face, thinking how unbelievable this trip had suddenly become. What were the chances? Maya Willis of all people? Without Marcus Pellegrino? Suddenly I knew without a doubt that Maya was the woman I would marry.
    “You know, this moon reminds me of the moon the night your father died. It was so bright that night. It didn’t seem possible that someone could drown in such bright moonlight.”
    “Yeah,” I managed, trying to catch my breath, not allowing my eyes to meet hers. I wanted my father to be far from my thoughts. I didn’t want him ruining this night and yet, with my reunion with Maya came memories of him. I used the edge of my fork to scoop a chunk of almondine chocolate cake into my mouth, not knowing what to say.
    “Have you ever heard the myth of Selene, Goddess of the moon?”
    I shook my head, this time lifting my gaze to look at her.
    “She had a lover. A mortal lover. An incredibly good-looking lover who was a hunter or possibly a king. The important part is that he was really good-looking.” She winked, and again, heat shot from my face to my crotch.
    “His name was Endymion, which in Greek means ‘to dive in’, so he is thought to be the personification of sleep or the sunset or something like that. Anyway, poor Selene fell madly in love with him. Blinded with love or maybe lust, she asked Zeus to give Endymion eternal life. She wanted Endymion to stay young forever so he would never leave her. Instead, Zeus granted her wish by giving him eternal sleep. The only way Selene could see him was at night when he slept. He obviously didn’t sleep much though, because they had fifty daughters together.”
    “That’s a lot of daughters. How do you know so much about Pompeii and Greek mythology anyway?”
    “Classical Studies. An art college pre-requisite. But it fascinated me. I kind of wished I’d taken classics at a regular university rather than art school. I think I would have loved those academic types. Anyway, when I heard the myth, it made me think of your dad. Maybe it was the moon that night. But I liked the idea of him resting in an eternal sleep. What do you think, Jay?”
    I stood up and took her hand, pulling her in the direction of my room. I turned and took a last look at the moon over the water. It seemed to be smiling at me.
    “I think I will never forget this moon. ”
    The moon that night and the cat’s eyes that Maya showed me in Pompeii that day, their iridescence lighting the way, guided a traveler through darkness. Those glinting markings and grooves in the road were all that remained of an existence now lost, routes once traveled, clues that led people to their journey’s end. Each tiny coincidence, each chance meeting, each shared moon is just another reflective clue guiding our journeymen selves to our ultimate destination.

Chapter Three

FLOATING AWAY
    A s a dead man, I felt more alive than when I was alive. My vision had a peculiar clarity, allowing me the ability to see individual needles on the conifers that balanced on a high, windswept cliff all the way across the Sound, a mile away from where I had crashed. I detected a spectrum of color I had not seen before, minute shades of green, yellow, and brown. I knew I was dead – my drowned body below me bobbed under the water, strapped into the seat, my hands floating up over my head. I hovered over myself, both below the water’s surface and above it at once. I reached out to touch a soft white-crested wave, surprised when the deep indigo wash disintegrated beneath my fingers, a dizzying, disorienting experience. Logic fell away, no longer necessary for comprehending my experiences.
    I sensed my father beside me. My father who died when I was fourteen years old. I knew I should follow him, allow him to lead me somewhere, but I didn’t want to go, didn’t trust that