The Last Place Grandma and I Saw Each Other

Sam looked at the canopy of stars past the asteroid belt he was supposed to be mapping. None of them would have been visible from any of the planets he'd grown up on, but they felt familiar anyway. He let the silence stretch out like gum as the ship slowly changed angle, bringing the lone blue giant into view. Then he tapped the channel again. Okay, so how's this? Sam twisted around and the cord tying him to the ship tightened for a moment, a necessary but mood-breaking tether. Dear mom and dad, it's not that I didn't want to come to your favorite restaurant. It's just that being there, with her memory all around me, I would