winter

arrived. Cal's first since leaving earth. Without the snow. It didn't feel like winter here in space. The only reason he even felt somewhat connected to winter was the calls from Marianna. She had moved to someplace where there was a lot of snow. She loved it. An ice storm had come and she was stuck in her timber house for a week. All she did was drink tea, eat light food, and read books.

Keith was now retired. His term had ended a month ago. He told Cal that he had always renewed his term upon expiration each year. But this time he'd not done that. They couldn't send him back to earth anyways. So he just lived up in 

Spacecity

. The first retiree in space. Cal made jokes about this. Sometimes a grin would escape from Keith's face.

He and Marianna talked everyday now. Cal would sometimes join in. Cal thought they were a couple. he'd joked about it. Keith smiled but denied it. But Cal could tell Keith loved it. And sometimes Cal would crack the joke just to see Keith light up.

Cal thought about winters down on earth. He'd had a lot of girlfriends there. He wished he had only one now. None of them felt special anymore. Felt more like flings. Listening to Marianna tell Keith about the snow warmed Cal's heart. But it also hurt Cal too. It was too lovely for him. All Cal had known were cool things. He had been the cool guy. Musician. Banging a lot of random girls. And now here was this guy waiting to die, unemployed in space. And he was jealous of the fucker. How low could he get?

He heard his brother Shawn's voice. "You're an idiot" he would say.

Yes. I am an idiot. Cal said as he stared as his faint reflection in the glass. Earth was coming back into view. It didn't look like there was snow down there. He closed his eyes and imagined walking in December. Town square. Storefronts selling Christmas gifts. He was meeting up with someone for a coffee. Someone he knew from the past. It was Marianna.

He opened his eyes. thought of Keith. Then suddenly felt really bad.