ROSE:
There
Auriga

HERSCHEL:
Capella, Menkalinan, Mahasim
There
Gemini

ROSE:
Castor, Pollux, Alhena
Don’t go easy on me. There
Sagitta

HERSCHEL:
Alpha, beta, gamma

ROSE:
Boring

HERSCHEL:
Not every star has a name

ROSE:
That’s why I make it a game
I hereby dub the brightest stars
In the constellation Sagitta
Rose, Samuel, Margaret, and John
HERSCHEL:
So I’m the dimmest?

ROSE:
Naturally. (HERSCHEL laughs) What?

HERSCHEL:
If my father were here
What would he think of our exercise

ROSE:
He has cataloged thousands of stars

HERSCHEL:
More than anyone еlse alive

ROSE:
Would legеndary astronomer
William Herschel approve

HERSCHEL:
He’d be decidedly unamused
He’d say that we’re just tracing lines
‘Round things he spent his life to find
Of no real benefit to society
ROSE:
I disagree
I think the Rose star
Will someday prove significant

HERSCHEL:
Followed by dreamers everywhere

ROSE:
I would be okay with that

HERSCHEL:
Rose
How did you guess
That we were sailing for British Guiana?

ROSE:
Polaris

HERSCHEL:
Polaris

ROSE:
See her there
The north star’s descending
Now she sits just above the water
Sailing south since Barbados
With only a day till we reach our bay
Well… it’s basic astronomy
HERSCHEL:
Indeed
Polaris, the one thing
A constant suspended
Guiding every voyage
A beacon in the night
There for generations
A legacy of light

ROSE:
Polaris, the one thing
A distance untraveled
Filling every daydream
A moment that is gifted
A singular promise, a vow
That the veil will be lifted

ROSE, HERSCHEL:
And even when it seems
You are out on your own
She protects you
From total unknown
Shining for trillions of miles
Humanity’s chaperone
Always there to help us home
Polaris, the one thing
Is different for us all
So soon to fall

ROSE:
It won’t be long before Polaris vanishes behind
The horizon. That’s what I meant by ‘fall’

HERSCHEL:
(awkwardly) Me too

ROSE:
‘Basic astronomy.’

HERSCHEL:
(bad at this) Yeah

ROSE:
Polaris told me our latitude, but our longitude
Would have been impossible to guess without
Geographic clues

HERSCHEL:
I believe our experiment in British Guiana will
Help

NARRATOR:
A candle burns
There’s salt in the air
Margaret sits by a window
Wrapped in a blanket
Wind in her hair
She opens her hands and they start to glow

MARGARET:
A whisper in a daydream
A melody that lingers
A sensation I recognize…

SAMUEL:
You’re getting good at that

MARGARET:
It’s been easier to bring about, but I’m still not
Able to control its strength. Not like…

SAMUEL:
When you tossed Rose and I across the room like
It was nothing?

MARGARET:
You deserved it

SAMUEL:
I know. (beat) Listen, Margaret…

MARGARET:
Give me time, Samuel

SAMUEL:
Of course. I’m sorry

MARGARET:
I’ll let you know when I’m ready to talk

SAMUEL:
You’ll know where to find me