No Such Thing as Green Stars

“There’s no such thing as green stars,” she heard him saying to the dog as he drank his milk.

“Honey, you’re talking to the dog again,” she said groggily as she turned over in bed.

‘I know. I know, but I can’t explain what I saw any other way. I dreamt I was looking out at the night sky and I saw a green flashing light shooting through the sky, then it just stopped and hung there. I mean I know that’s not how stars behave, but the only other explanation I had was a space ship, but I didn’t want to sound like I’m a soda short of a six pack,” he said as he twirled his finger around his ear in the universal symbol of crazy. The dream was so real.

“Well there are green stars in Lucky Charms aren’t there, referring to the American breakfast cereal created in the late 1960s?” He just looked at her.

“Not helping…and now I‘m craving cereal.”

Dylan decided to go for a walk. He couldn’t get used to the 24 hours of daylight at this time of year, but it was great when he couldn’t sleep because he could just go for a walk. 3 am be damned! He put on his tennis shoes, picked up his shades, and walked towards the door. He whistled for the dog, but the dog wasn’t having it. He whined and scurried further back into his dog house where it was dark, and safe. Puppy wasn’t too keen on going out right at that moment.

Technically it was the middle of the night, so the streets were a ghost town. He shivered, why did he have to say ghost he thought to himself. He walked his usual route, the one he normally took with the dog. Coming upon his favorite part of the park he stopped. There was a door where it shouldn’t be, amidst the birch trees. He blinked once, then twice. The insomnia had finally gotten to him. He was sweating. He wiped his brow with the back of his hand. The door was still there. The hairs rose up on his neck. He had the distinct feeling that someone was watching him. Dylan turned around slowly. He realized at that moment that he had the dog’s leash in his hand. The luxurious leather was embroidered with the dog’s name, Diego.

Lucky dog, Dylan thought, lucky because he got the best of everything, and lucky because he was at home in his cushy bed in his luxurious dog house, and not out at 3 am walking a desolate city feeling like he was being watched by goodness knows who or what.

Maybe it was just another tourist who couldn’t get used to this midnight sun, a fellow insomniac roaming the streets.

Dylan turned back towards the trees. Yup, the door was still there. He heard a click and the door started to open. Dylan dropped the leash and froze. The door stopped, then closed again. He noticed a light right above the door. It was red at the moment. Not knowing what to do, not knowing who to call, Dylan waited. It didn’t occur to him to yell out.

The light above the door turned green and the door started to open again. He heard a low voice. “Dylan is that you?” He heard it say. He felt a drop of sweat bead down his back. Dylan started to back away from the door as if he were backing away from a swaying cobra’s strike, slow as molasses. He heard himself clearing his throat. “It’s me,” he uttered. “Who are you?”

“Come on man,” the voice was more confident this time. “We’ve been looking for you for hours. This is the seventeenth door we’ve tried. Let’s go! Experiment over.”

“What experiment? Who are you?”

“Cut it out,” the voice yelled. “It’s Jack. Let’s go buddy. It’s getting late. Get the dog and let’s go. It’s time to get back to Regent.” The door closed. The light above it was red again.

A vague feeling of familiarity wafted over Dylan. Regent? What’s Regent? He wondered.

Dylan scurried home to tell Diego what happened. Curious thought. Did he think Diego was going to understand? He’s a dog...