dice exercise #6

moon and stars/airplane/banana/table setting/rain and cloud/flower

It wasn't a dark and stormy night.  It was night, that much was true, but there wasn't even a hint of a cloud and the moon shone like disco ball.  Somewhere, a plane was soaring overhead, with that strangled roar that we hear on the ground.  George looked for the lights in the sky, but didn't see any flashing or mobile ones that would give away something not celestial in nature.  He sighed and took another bite of banana.  It was his favorite late-night snack.  Dinner was over, hours ago, and bedtime was fast approaching, so this was the last opportunity he had to be in the fresh air for the day.  He would have to turn in as soon as he walked in the door, probably.  He wished it was a little bit cooler, though.  The clear sky was great for star-gazing, but the air was hot and still, and only just bearable now, even hours after sunset.  Inside, the A/C was running, but it was awful for his nasal passages, leaving them dry and stinging.  He would try to get away with turning the machine off tonight.  It wasn't that hot inside now.  He finished the banana and went to toss the peel onto the compost heap.  As he turned to go back in the house for the night, something in the grass caught his eye and he couldn't help but remember a strange rainstorm they'd had several months ago.  Those clouds had blown in in the middle of the day, out of nowhere it seemed, and dumped a sudden torrential hailstorm on the neighborhood.  The hail was normal-sized, but nearly clear ice and much of it in an unusual diamond shape.  Meteorologists had talked about it for days on the news and conspiracy theorists had posted hundreds of possible explanations that nobody got halfway through before scoffing in disgust and finding more interesting forums to participate in.  Anyway, George had piled up all the hail cleaned off the sidewalk next to the compost heap, and it had melted like normal hail and he had forgotten about it.  Now, there was a flower growing there.  George was no gardener.  He didn't discourage weeds either, but with no other gardens on the block, few flowers appeared spontaneously.  This one had.  It was sort of daisy-like in appearance, with silvery violet petals, at least that was their color in the moonlight.  The center looked ruddy orange.  It was sparkling a little, or shimmering, maybe vibrating.  George took a step closer and was surprised to hear another plane passing low overhead, making him jerk his head upwards.

The neighbors were concerned about not seeing George for several weeks, but other than lights and A/C still on in the house, there were no signs of foul play.  The bleached color of a circle of grass in the backyard was odd, but similar bleaching happened sometimes, when containers were left for too long.  The conspiracy theorists cracked their knuckles and flexed their typing fingers.  And rolling their eyes at the proposed solutions, most people forget there was ever a mystery.