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The buzz in my head has grown too deafening.
A rush of recognition that hits my brain like a falling comet.
An epiphany so extreme, I have no choice but to follow its silent, steady hail.
A crown of stars.
The words flash across my mind’s eye as if the comet’s now backing a marquee. They literally reload themselves as I watch, formatting themselves to fit the huge glowing sign.
A CROWN
OF STARS
I stare at my hands as they tighten on the chair’s back.
Why do those words look so familiar? Feel so personal?
The battle for the recollection yields nothing. My knuckles get whiter. My breaths come faster. My senses are exhausted. It’s only midafternoon, but the day feels like it started a year ago.
I get relief, but only for a second, when the connection clicks in.
“Yes.”
That’s it.
That’s it.
I don’t realize all of it has tumbled out until I notice Jesse’s puzzled scrutiny as I surge back to my feet.
“What’sit?”
I circle around as if viewing my surroundings for the first time. That’s how punched I feel about this revelation.
“I’ll be right back.” I feel safe about making the promise because I know exactly what I’m looking for. It’s straight ahead, in the area where thousands of film and television scripts are stored for posterity.
Jesse gets a parting shot off before I get completely out of earshot. “You know,eurekamoments are more fun when they’re shared, buddy.”
I pretend I’m too far away to hear, even down the aisle in which every one of my steps is prominent as a soldier’s stomp, while closing in on the script archives.
Sure enough, less than ten minutes later, the object of my fixation is unhooked from its sleeve and spread open in my hand. My cheeks sting as an equally wide smirk takes over my lips.
Because here they are.
The words, on the title page, exactly as they sprang to my mind’s eye.
A CROWN
OF STARS
Now, they’re joined by another identifier. One that doubles my pulse rate and grips my stare.
I pull out a chair while parking the script in an upright holder on the room’s small study table. As soon as I turn on the little lamp, more of the library seems to fade away, turned into an inscrutable land beyond the glass enclosure walls. It enforces the instinct to keep the thing in here, at least for now. It simply seems weird to drag it out for a breezy table read with Jesse and Arden.
Definitely weird—and potentially wrong.
Who am I kidding?Probablywrong. This was a nutty move the first time, when it was more a hunch than a tactic. I got lucky and left the table with one of Kara’s biggest secrets. I have to accept that I won’t find all four leaves on the clover this time.
No matter how much more personal it feels. Almost…intimate. Like a friend has offered me their diary to read.
