after Remedios Varo’s “Astral Entity”

NOTES FOR THE BABYSITTER

1. You can reach me at 555-GET-AWAY or call the Get a Break bar on Vacation Blvd. and have them page me. I hope you don’t do that though.
2. She only answers to Astra, but if you have an emergency her name is Nora Boudeman and she’s six years old. She has no physical preexisting conditions.
3. She will only eat sugar water and rocket pops and dandelion salad. The salad is in a Tupperware in the fridge. She’s in a phase.
4. She has an “imaginary” friend. Just play along.
5. Don’t be alarmed. She’s just fooling around.
6. Humor her, no matter what, unless of course it’s dangerous. Then distract. I hope you know the fine art of distraction.

CHILD TO THE BABYSITTER

“Have you met my friend? She lives in the land of the stars. She and I are tied together by what she calls our entrails. Her name is Astra, too. Not Astra 2. We are both Astra all by itself. See her way up there near the moon? There’s no such thing as the Man in the Moon. Just so you know. She’s a star. See her face? She wears my heart. No really. Look. See my scar? She needed a heart and said I didn’t need mine, that it would make me more luminous. We’re best friends so she can have whatever she needs from me. I don’t mind. I keep a knife under my pillow in case she wants to use it again. Someday I will live with her and shine my starlight down on you.”

NOTE LEFT BY THE BABYSITTER Astra is a sweet little girl, but please don’t call me again.

– Luanne Castle