He tries to keep moving despite the pain in his damn messed up leg.

But then, pain is just a thing that can be ignored, right? And the night is warm, so no problem there. And there are millions of stars up in the sky, so what's the big deal?

That reminds him; he hasn't once looked up to see Cassiopeia since he got here. In Saigon, it was always hazy, and then, since he's been out in the field, he couldn't go out at night because of the damn snipers and the damn mines.

He stops and looks up toward the northern part of the sky.

Something's not right. Cassiopeia is not there. Can the stars be different here?

He whispers to her in the darkness: "Do you remember when I talked to you? I was only a kid, and I was lying out in that field, looking up at you. Don't you remember?"

She doesn't answer. She hasn't answered since the explosion.

Wait, what explosion? Why was he the only one hit? Was he the target, or was he just in their way? They always get what they want, so who is he to tell them not to do explosions?

He tries to stay focused. Best to just keep on walking. Or at least trying to walk. Try to aim for a straight path through the jungle.

No, better to avoid any established paths. That's what the Sarge always said. Better to just plow through the damn bushes and damn bamboo. So what if the fire ants eat you? Just ignore them. They need to eat too. Better to be their lunch than to go out on the path and step on a mine. Better to just let the mosquitoes feed too. They have to live, don't they?

Wish I had some of that mosquito spray. No, wait, the Sarge said the mosquitoes are attracted to that stuff. Better to just let the mosquitoes eat.

The Sarge was always nice to him, even if nobody else was. They said they wanted to leave him behind after his leg got half blown off, but the Sarge said no, they'd have to rig up something to drag him.

They said it was too damn hard to drag him through the jungle, so they took the path.

They must have stepped on something and got blown up. It was loud.

When he woke up, they had all gone to heaven. The Sarge must have gone there too. At least he wasn't here anymore.

Actually, nobody is here anymore. He'll have to get up and go on by himself.

But where should he go?

Who knows? Nobody knows. Doesn't matter. It's night and the stars are out, and that means Cassiopeia is up there somewhere. If only he could see better, he might be able to see her. If only he could have kept on walking. If only the night hadn't got so dark all off a sudden. Cassiopeia has to be up there somewhere, isn't she? Cassiopeia will make everything better, won't she?