The Comet

We drove through the hills and found a spot in the lowlands to see Neowise.

In the dark, we stared up toward the Big Dipper and searched.

But there was too much light and we could only stand with our heads craned as people around us pointed and said things like, “I think that’s it, there.”

After awhile we gave up and went home.

The next night, as I was putting Liam to bed, he suddenly sat up. “Wait, Dad, we have to go out and see Neowise.”

“Oh, Liam,” I said. “We missed it. Last night was the last good night.”

There was a deep pause in the dark. Then he began to cry. Big sobs of loss.

“It’s okay,” I said. But nothing could hold back his tears.

“It’ll be 7,000 years before it comes back,” he said.

It was unnerving and true. All I could do was hold him.