His day started at midnight. He stood on the roof amid the days which stretch out in both directions. Time was one continuous string. No beginning, no end, only now. He stretched his arms as far as they would go in each direction as if trying to be a part of it.
He began humming an old Patsy Cline tune, searching the sky for the Pleiades amid the patchy, ghostly clouds. 3,000 stars like 3,000 wishes he, with outstretched arms, was willing to bestow on this apartment building and its people.
"92 simple elements make up most of the known universe, " he said. "But everything seems so complicated here. Where do I begin? With whom? What does saving look like?"
He dropped his arms, looked around and saw that he had a place to stay for a while. "This roof will do," He said. Years had past and this place seemed forsaken. The death of Mr. Evans changed all that.
He arrived on this roof amid the stars of the Pleiades as they rose into the clearing night sky. The rain cleared the air. The brightest of them appeared. Jack lifted one arm to the sky, closed one eye, and pointed into the center of the cluster.
"There you go, Mr. Evans," he whispered.
The waxing gibbous moon appeared to his left, rising up against the building to light the roof. He wedged open the door to the small apartment now flooded with moonlight and disappeared into its depths.
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