Its Light Was A Thing Of Wonder
I woke up an hour before dawn, an hour and a half before my alarm was to go off. I thought about trying to go back to sleep, but the predawn light coming in the window drew me out of bed.
I pulled on my longies from where I’d left them on the floor and opened the door to the outside.
It was cool, rather than cold, which I supposed meant the day would be very hot. The sky was just paling, the Sun only a brighter patch of sky at the moment. It looked a lot like the sky as I’d seen it many times when I was working nights, when the approach of Sunrise meant the end of another work shift, and it would soon be time to head home.
I missed my old job. It wasn’t what I’d set out to do for a living, but it was rewarding work, satisfying work. I worked night shifts by preference, because I liked the quiet and the slower pace. For most of a typical shift, it was just me and the residents.
The residents were good people, and I enjoyed being with them, helping them. Sometimes the work was demanding, but I took comfort and drew strength from the thought that I was doing a job that absolutely had to be done, 24 hours a day, weekends and holidays included. There was a great deal of satisfaction in knowing that was true.
There were only a few stars visible, and the Moon had already set. The brightest light was Venus, so brilliant and bright. I loved that spark in the sky, always felt happier when it was visible in the gloaming.
I called my wife “my Brightly Shining”, without really knowing what it meant. It just sounded right, for this woman who was the best part of my life. Only years later did I realize that the phrase, “the Brightly Shining” was associated in my mind, for some reason, with Venus. That was only appropriate, since she was my Venus, my ideal woman. It was also appropriate, since the Morning Star was so often my companion as I rode home.
I’d ride home under the brilliant point source, sometimes stopping to admire it for a moment, and slide gratefully into bed next to my wife. She’d hold me so lovingly, kiss me, tell me she was glad to have me home, and we’d fall asleep together for an hour or so before she had to get up.
I looked up at that brightly shining spot in the sky and felt my wife’s presence with me.
The Magic Eight-Ball says, "She was the Brightly Shining".
