Come on!’ cried Constant, his finger pointed at a tear in the fabric of the Big Wide Galaxy. ‘This is a chance like no other, my Queen.’ He stood barefoot with his solar-light surfboard under an arm, looking back                        at them from the trail of asteroids.

‘What’s wrong with these waves here, Constant?’ Honeycomb said. She, along with Jester Dave and The Queen of Dreams, sat astride their boards in the strong swell left by the memory of a thousand comets.

The army of comets had passed by Paradise Valley earlier, on their way to try take on a black hole somewhere. Since Constant had taught her how, the Queen had become an avid surfer of light waves. Never far from her side, Knight Timothy the Valiant circled above on his massive war horse Paramount, a mindful eye on his Queen.

‘You nuts, Honeycomb?’ said Constant, ‘lets not waste time on these kiddie-waves, those over there, they’re the Waves of the Gods!’

And they couldn’t help but gaze in wonder at the other waves his finger pointed to. Beautiful, huge, the colors of swirling rainbows rushing along the face of the wave, the spit and crest of the lip spraying millions of stardust specks. Deep in the barrel, one could spy a dolphin or two, and hear the call of an ocean without weight or depth.

And surely, each of them felt a yearning. Felt a thrill at the thought of riding the very Wave of the Gods. It seemed the comets had torn open a gateway, a window.

‘Come on now, people. That window ain’t gonna stay open longer than a week!’

Knight Timothy reigned in Paramount by Constant’s side. ‘It would take you three days just to reach those waves, Seeker.’

‘Bah!’ spat Constant. ‘Three days if you’re a pansy. These asteroids lead straight to the bloody line-up. We’d be there in an hour.’

‘I’ll not have my Queen skipping over stones in the middle of The Big Wide Galaxy, man.’

‘Well,’ said Constant, ‘we’ll take the short-cut and the Dream Queen can ride with you.’

Paramount snapped his teeth at Constants face and the adventurer beat a quick retreat, nearly falling off the asteroid he stood on.

‘None ride my horse!’ thundered Knight Timothy. ‘No Queen. No God. ‘Tis a wonder I am allowed to ride him at all.’

Constant held up a hand. ‘OK, yeh yeh, we all heard the story before, right? Save it for some damsel in distress who can’t understand why she gotta walk all the way home after you just saved her from a dragon or sommin.’

‘Valiant is right, you won’t find my person skipping over rocks in the galaxy,’ The Queen said.

Smellsick paddled up on an old board of Constants. It seemed a bit heavy, not catching the light so well anymore.

‘You gonna ‘tempt ‘em Constant? ‘Tis a stretch even for you. Them waves are massive!’

Honeycomb pointed towards the ocean of jagged rocks flying and bouncing around with the rip tide of the comets. Huge mountains that smashed into each other and created showers of gravel waterfalls. ‘Not to mention the bleeding asteroid path,’ she said.

Jester Dave caught a starfish and grinning hopefully, showed it to the Queen.

‘Very nice,’ she said. ‘Put it in your pouch, we’ll take it home.’

Constant saw the exchange and his brow faltered. ‘My Queen,’ he said, ‘send for a carriage. Then we can all ride the godly waves!’

‘Constant,’ said Honeycomb, ‘even if you somehow manage to cross on those asteroids, how do you know the gods won’t smite or beat the crap out of you for trespassing their domain?’

‘Bah!’

The Queen of Dreams raised her chin and considered Constant. ‘How many lives left, my wayward one?’

Constant shrugged dismissively. ‘More than enough, my Queen, more than enough.’

‘Are you sure Constant?’ Honeycomb said. ‘You haven’t lost count have you?’

‘Bah!’ He glared at her, then eyed the Queen. ‘So… the carriage?’ The Queen shook her head and Constant left it at that.

Honeycomb: ‘Please, Constant. Don’t do this.’

Smellsick: ‘Bro, I’ll come wit ya if we take the long way.’

‘Yes! Constant!’ Honeycomb said, hungry waves sailing on her forehead, ‘yes, at least take the safe route there. You can make a nice movie. Like a galaxy trip? Smellsick, you brought the camera right?’

But Constants mouth was turned down stubbornly.

‘Uh-oh,’ said Jester Dave, ‘he’s gonna blow.’

Honeycomb was nearly crying. ‘You better come back, Constant.’

Knight Timothy the Valiant tried shouting at him but Constant had his head turned and they were reasoning with his small ear. The big, extra large one was facing the gateway.

‘I’ll come too, Constant!’ cried Honeycomb. ‘Lets just take the long way. Please!’

Constant ignored his sister and turned to face the rent in the fabric of space. He leapt, he bounded, he hopped along the floating trail with the precision of a watchmaker and fearless abandon of a child.

‘Amazing,’ said the Queen, as they watched asteroids spinning away into the Big Wide Galaxy. ‘Surely there is no match for his agility and skill.’

‘Mos Def,’ said Smellsick.

‘Here, here,’ the jester said.

‘That’s the bloody problem,’ said Honeycomb. ‘Thinks his skill out-matches any obstacle.’

No sooner had she spoken, when the famous adventurer twisted his ankle on a sneaky asteroid, slipped on a black hole puddle and careened off the trail.

They watched as Constant spun away from them into space, his person growing smaller, ever smaller. The Knight tried charging after the Thrill Seeker but his bond to the queen pulled him up short.

‘He better come back,’ Honeycomb whimpered. ‘He better come back…’

Far, far away, where it’s rumored even Father Sky got lost once, two old entities sat on a shattered tombstone. Between them they shared wine and played a guitar.

Constant watched as Father Sky’s fingers licked that box while his brother, Father Death, sang in the blackest key.

My hasty stride… Lick, lick, lick!

Suchah burning pride… Lickedy, lick, lick.

Just wanna ride…Licka, lick, lick!

Forbidden tides!

Constant swore – cursed the gods up and down.