7S_1.1

October 17, 2015 in Seven Stories

“Is it OK if I erase all these planets here?”

“Well, hang on,” says Al, “and let me copy
the symbols, over here.” And he picks up
a red marker out of the chalk-gutter and
moves over to the the upper-left-hand corner
of the board.

☽♂☿♃♀♄☉
MTWRF sS

“Now, wait a minute,” says Betty. “How come
you put Monday first?”

“Well, that’s how it is on my calendar.
With Saturday-and-Sunday at the end.
Anyhow, that’s how I think of it:
Sunday’s the day-of-rest from the Bible;
‘on the seventh day He rested’ and all that.
What I wanna know is: what the heck do you
mean planets? The Sun’s no planet…
and neither is the Moon, for that matter.”

“Well, in ancient times, there were only
these seven objects that moved around
in the sky against the background of the
so-called ‘fixed stars’,” says Gemma.
“What’s that got to do with days of the week?”

Just then Del shows up with his rainbow-painted
guitar and big blue backpack. He raises his head
to glance one at each of the others and finds a seat
way in the back. Then puts his guitar into one
and moves it around until the desk holds it into
the chair. Next he slides his pack off and puts
it into a chair two-over from the one with the guitar,
then sits between the pack and the guitar.
He digs around in the pack for his colored pens
and drawing pad. Saying not a word, Del begins
to draw in the pad without looking again at any
of the others.

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