It was somewhere up north. A small cabin at n-
ight. I was beside the window. Electronic equ-
ipment and notebooks sat at the table with me.
My elbow rested on the window sill. I could s-
ee gently rolling plains covered in snow illu-
miated by the moonlight. Softly sparkling. Ca-
lm.

I looked up. A static noise from the radio be-
gan dancing out of the cheap speaker. The sky
was a deep scarlet shade bathed with stars an-
d a shifting borealis. I sat in reverie most
of the evening. I couldn’t remember what I w-
as supposed to be doing. It had something to
do with the radio, though.

So I sat, listening to the static tones, tun-
ing through radio bands and observing the st-
ellar display. Mars was transiting through P-
isces that evening and I sat watching the de-
ep red titan. I noticed something unusual. A
strange constellation I had never seen before.

I noticed the cluster as my mind superimposed
the image of a curling green and red se-
rpent. With this imposition the stellar form
began to contort and bend in seemingly unnat-
ural ways. The colours of the borealis blend-
ed together with the pale grey and white lig-
hts of stars.

Spiralling in serpentine colours and arabsequ-
e symmetry I sat watching what was taking pla-
ce in my window. Entranced. Radio static fill-
ed the room as I lay witness to the display. A
great series of bell-like tones came from the
speaker and I looked to the desk. I looked at
the clock and wrote down the time and the fre-
quency. I listened intently: “02:17, 01000101-
00110001011 – 101001011101110 – 11101”.

I looked back out of the window and nearly di-
ed of shock. The images that awaited me were
so magnificent and rich in color and motion
that I was certain I was dreaming although I
had never seen such things in dreams. The colors
bounced around the sky weightlessly. I was r-
minded of flocks of starlings wrapping and m-
erging. The sky had become a kaleidoscopic f-
abric wrinkling and tightening. I could hear
the sound of radio bells.

Suddenly, the forms began to descend over the
horizon and bathed the faint gray-blue snow l-
aden fields with iridescent striking color. S-
pilling across the landscape with lanquid and
sensuous leisure. Slowly they approached my c-
abin and I felt my heart pounding within my c-
hest. The radio tones began to morph in sympa-
thy with the images into a crescendo of chaos
and manic beauty.

–f—-

Suddenly, I was in darkness. I shuffled around,
turned on a light, and looked around the room.
The radio was off. I flipped the switch. I was
greeted by typical static, and looked out of t-
he window. The soft neon lights danced in the s-
ky. The sun had begun to rise at the horizon. T-
he star cluster was gone. It was 04:03. I could
hear birds.