Adventure in the Night Sky

Lisa Arsenault is a public-school teacher in Ajax, Ontario.

This is a delightful tale for young stargazers and lovers of mythology.
While watching the night sky with her father in their back yard, a young
girl falls asleep and dreams that she is approached for help by the
constellation Orion, metamorphosed into his mythological giant-human
form; he is fleeing from the moon goddess Diana. He has lost his way,
stumbled onto Earth, and needs help to reorient himself in the galaxy.
Orion and his new companion ascend into the sky and—together with
Orion’s huge hound, Sirius—tread various starpaths in an effort to
elude Diana. The various constellations that they pass assume their
mythological forms as the travellers go by: Scorpio transforms into a
scorpion, Pegasus into a winged horse, and Cygnus into a swan. Some of
these creatures (such as Pegasus) render aid to the fugitives, while
others (such as Scorpio) try to foil their escape. Readers may feel that
dénouement of their flight is, perhaps, an unlooked-for conclusion.

The heroine of this story is a Grade 5 student; her real-life peers
will be able to identify and empathize with her. This story is also a
nice introduction for young people to the related fields of mythology
and astronomy.