The universe ... a giant unending night-time sky, an infinity of stars stretching out as far as the eye can see. Some stars are brighter and larger than others; this can be true of the sky above or of the land we live upon.

The biggest star, the moon, it is full and bright, it moves yet is unmoving ... a disk of light leading the way, guiding the night, and watching over a world in darkness, bathing it with gentle light. Floating forever we drift with cloud underneath, endless tufts of cotton to catch us if we ever were to fall ...

Under and below, over endless clear blue and green ocean we glide ... if our luminary reflection were to become distorted, either seen or unseen, it may be up to the kindness of others to see us through. Easier said than done when our reverie can be as infinite and as boundless as all of space and time.

Sometimes in reverie we see without seeing at all, we feel without feeling at all, we drift as slow as the blanket of white which moves at times below us and at others ... above. We never move any closer to that great big ball of light in the sky even when we believe we are already there. That torch one day will shine upon us all one last time, giving us each our own spotlight, giving us each our own Moonlight Sonata.

1.

A moment of indecision was interrupted by the arrival of Missus Brady into Crew's Chemist on the further most corner of the old Castletown village.

'Good afternoon, Mister Crew, how are you today?'

'So good to see you Missus Brady, I hope you are well. Actually, it is a minute after six, so I guess it is a good evening. You know, my father and his father before him were Mister Crew. I am plain auld Gus as I have mentioned to you before or if you must, Henry will suffice.'

'None of that nonsense young man, your father and his father before him, lord rest their souls, and now you, as long as this store stands you all will be Mister Crew.'

'Well, my dear, we all appreciate your loyalty, and you know I am not such a young man no more. Now if you give me a moment, I will just go get your prescription for you'. Gus moves into a back area and returns to his side of the counter in a matter of seconds. 'Now there, here you are.'

'Thank you so much, how much do I owe you?'

'Now put that purse away Missus Brady. I will see you end of the month, and we can square things up then.'

'If I have said it once I have said it a thousand times, your father and your grandfather would be so proud of you.'

'You were always so kind Missus Brady, do be safe making your way home, it will be getting dark soon.'

'I will.'

Gus smiles to himself as Missus Brady exits the store though it is more of a reflective smile than anything else for, Gus has no heir to take the store when and if such a time should come when he fails to return to it, though how much longer can or could such a store like this one keep on operating?

The other end of the village is where the business end of town begins especially now with it leading right into the new town center, a new town center which comes equipped with two new and much larger pharmacies. Time moves on and waits for no one.

The earlier indecision has come to pass as Gus decides to shut up shop for the day. Instead of heading straight home to the old family house where he lives alone, as unfortunately there is no family still living other than Gus, he heads to that new town center and passes right by one of those two new chemist stores almost as soon as he enters into this all-in-one town center building. He can't help but have himself a quick look inside that first large bright white pharmacy store.

'Progress' he says to himself, 'if this keeps up, with these added accessible shopping hours, I most definitely will not be looking forward to the eighties, as if this decade was all that great.'

A grand piano rests in the center mall area of this new town center and the piano is surrounded on three sides with a thick red rope hooked on steel stands. Having never really done anything spontaneous or out of the ordinary before this particular day, Gus stands looking at the piano for a moment then moves to sit on the stool by that piano.

Why not? He may as well do this, what's the worst that can come from it? It has been many years since he last played but once he lifts the lid, he begins to play the one song he used to play over and over in his early teens. Moonlight Sonata.

His eyes close as he plays and unbeknown to him, a crowd begins to gather to listen to him play. He completely loses himself in the moment moving in an almost reactionary way to what he is playing, swaying from side to side and crouching a little here and there to emphasize certain notes. Never before in the past did playing the piano ever feel this good. Only at the moment he stops playing does he realize that a crowd are enjoying his performance, he hears applause before opening his eyes, having brought the music piece to a gentle end.

He stands and nervously smiles before giving a slight bow and a slight awkward wave, then he begins to move away. Yeah, doing something like this is certainly out of character for Gus though indeed why not rebel a little, even if no harm can come from it?

'Hey ... how about playing some more, mister' a male voice calls out once the applause calms.

'Err ...' Gus says turning in the general direction from where the voice had called out, 'thank you ... but I really better be getting going.'

He has had enough excitement for one day. As Gus walks away, a young lady follows.

'That was really good' she says. Gus stops and turns. 'Are you classically trained?' she asks.

'Who me? Nah, not at all, I have learned how to play of course but that was a long time ago. I haven't played in almost forty years.'

'Really? That is hard to believe and impressive too, you played flawlessly and so effortlessly.'

'Thank you, Miss.'

'My name is Evelyn.'

'Nice to meet you Evelyn, my name is Henry, but people call me Gus ... well at least they used to.'

'Do you mind if I walk with you for a bit Gus?' she asks reaching out for a hand-shake.

'No, I don't mind at all' responds Gus after a slight pause as he considers accepting the offer of the hand-shake, he does accept.

A couple hours have passed as Gus closes in on arriving back home alone. He sees his nearest neighbour out in his garden.

'Hello' speaks Gus as he offers a slight wave.

'Hi, beautiful evening, isn't it?'

'It is indeed' Gus manages to say before his neighbour heads inside.

Gus makes himself a sandwich and a mug of tea before turning his television on. A news report tells of a disturbing occurrence. Police have discovered the body of a young lady in Castletown, the very town Gus has lived his whole life within, the discovery having been made not so far from that new town center, and they are looking for help with identifying her.

A description of this lady and what she was wearing is given, no photo however, and this description causes Gus to drop his tea, for everything described just so happens to match that of Evelyn, the lady he had met not so long ago.