Don Park

'Unattended Bags will be confiscated' came over the airport PA system. Ralph'a blue backpack was like any other, except for one small difference. It was full of records. Records for DJing at the beach bar he liked to go to. Soon his journey would be finished and he would be among friends. On the same island was an observatory and Ralph would resume his day job of tracking satellites for a non-profit dedicated to reducing space junk in orbit. It was tedious work but important. Next to the observatory was a colony of frogs. Ralph always knew when it was going to rain by listening to the frogs. A little bit of frog sweat made the best mushroom shake. The community of scientists on the island knew each other from McMerdo station on Antarctica. They knew how to get along and they knew what kind of food to cook for each other. Each person was there for a different reason. Some to save the Earth, some to build a resume. One day Ralph spotted an object in space that shouldn't be there. He calculated its trajectory to be dangerously close to the earth. “Its time to find a new homeworld.” he said.

Dale checked his watch. He was convinced life moves in a straight line. Cause and effect. Preparation and result. He was successful. His life checked al lthe boxes. The result proved the theory. Mary ate from her coconut after drinking it dry. She wasnt quite sure how she ended up on the island. Her life always felt rather random and her best coping mechanism was to remain flexible. Expectation is at odds with opportunity, she liked to say.They both happened to be eating dinner at a beachside restaurant that was in the middle of a flamboyant fire show. He made reservations, she dropped by on a whim. The restaurant was packed so the waiter put them at the same table. We dont have fireworks like this back home, he said, gesturing to the fire show just outside the restaurant. I once caught my kitchen on fire, she responded. He thought about his plans to catch his favorite TV show in an hour. She wondered how she might finish the bottom left of an oil painting she was working on. Suddenly an ember from the fire show landed on the table and set the tablecloth on fire. They both got up and ran to the bar while the staff put out the fire. He ordered a beer. She found a ukelele. The bartender liked to play the harmonica. He took a drink and sung a song about love.

Pong's fastfood job put him in front of many different personalities. As someone who deals with the public for minimum wage, he was better at deescalation than anyone he knew. A woman with a french accent came in to order a milkshake. “We're out of chocolate” Pong said. Flummoxed, the lady ordered vanilla instead. After work, pong rode his scooter down the dirt road to his him, passing loose chickens, cats, and cows. He fed the cat that hangs out closest to his door and got in a hammock.He thought about his brother in exile and how to reach him when he could only write letters. Ink on paper is a powerful medium but it takes time. Time to write, time to send, and time to read. Maybe thats why its effective. His brother had a bard life, banished to a video game island with 1994 era graphics and sound. He had lots of supernatural friends, who could do supernatural things. Pong wondered how his own life could be supernatural. Asking questions is kind of superpower. So is being kind. He fell asleep in the hammock to the sound of geckos.

Where to go is always the next question for the nomad. The world has become incredibly small with the invention of instant messaging and air travel. What do you look for in a new destination? What are the signs that you're done with the current location? Is it a sense of despair saying your needs arent being met that causes you to dream of rolling the ruby dice in a crafty attempt to improve things?Can you sit your way to a better state of mind with the monks? Can you drink your way there or use the fruits of modern chemistry? The wording of the question has clues to the thinking of the one asking. There is much to appreciate in front of our eyes that worry makes hard to see. Effort is its own kind of magic. Listening. All the atoms of the universe want you to see the connections between them. Suffering grounds us in the earth and joy lifts us up.

[poem] A lie can grow like a flower Its appeal is also its power. Living a lie will lead to a fall and get hit in the face like in paintball

The row of flowers sat in the garden, happy and bright. Rhodie turned to Dalia to say what do you want to do today? Dalia said the same thing we do everyday, stare at the sun and grow. Rhodie said I'm tired of that, what else can we do? I wish I had legs. Rhodie dreamed of being in a pot so her owner could move her from place to place. Dalia had been in the garden for 3 years, including the great chill of 2021. She knew flowers that didn't make it, and was glad to just be.

The sails were filled with wind even though the Starlight Daydream was still docked to the old teakwood marina.The charter company had packed the cargo hold to the gills with food and drink. It takes 36 days to cross half the pacific ocean by sail. Captain Azul was ready to guide the boat and its passengers all the way to hawaii. he never used a map because he had a compass that points to the holder's fondest memory. Azul lived on the big island of Hawaii for 7 years. He learned how to sail there and wrote a book on being an ocean captain. He helped build the Starlight Daydream from trees that grew on the island. Time seemed to pass effortlessly when Azul was at sea. The infinite expanse of blue in the day and the field of stars at night were the only cycle that was obvious from the boat. During one night's ship's dinner a passenger spoke something in Nahuatl, a native language of central america. Suddenly Azul knew he had grown up in Guatemala and played with other children there. Two weeks later of following the compass, the ship docked not in Hawaii but in Guatemala and Azul found his long-lost parents.