The Fourteenth Night

"I was never a huge fan of this series," Nick said, moving his cards in a crapaud play after dinner. "I was more into Battlestar Galactica, and more than anything, Babylon 5!"

"I’ve never watched any of them."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. Nothing against them, but they aired on free TV at times when I wasn’t available."

"I don’t know how you can live today without watching TV!"

"I just don’t have time for it. I work outside, have house chores, take care of my plants, read my books, swim in the ocean, and once a week, I get some weird... When would I find time to just sit and watch TV?"

"Yeah, my life is way simpler. And besides Star Trek, what other shows do you like?"

"Sci-fi series? All the Irwin Allen ones."

"Nothing newer?"

"Afraid not. Back in the ‘70s, most shows came to Brazil late because TV stations had to buy film packages that were more expensive the newer they were. There were relatively few series, and the episodes were never aired in the right order, not to mention that few series were aired in full because the stations didn’t buy all the seasons. I loved watching Bonanza, but in Brazil, they only aired the first two seasons. I don’t know if, with paid TV and streaming now, Brazil has finally watched the whole show."

"That’s interesting. For me, Saturday mornings were magical! Lots of cartoons!"

"Nope. Over there, cartoons aired in the afternoons during the week. Poor kids with afternoon classes. That was never my case, luckily!"

"Isn't it amazing how time has flown by? It all happened so fast!"

"Don’t even talk about it."

"Oh, looks like I won this round."

"Well played!"

"Wanna know something?"

"I’m afraid I do."

"Let’s go swim?"

"In the dark, among the corals?"

"We can swim somewhere without them."

"Then let’s go! Besides, time is fast, life is short!"

"Was there any character from Star Trek you liked?"

"When I was a kid, I liked Mr. Spock; then I grew up and now I’m more of a Captain Kirk guy. ‘...boldly going where no man has gone before.’ Just like now."

"I’m sure a lot of people must’ve done what we’re about to do before."

"Could be, but let’s keep that possibility a secret. One thing that hasn’t changed from my childhood until now is seeing the Enterprise as a being, the symbol of a person, and the characters as parts of this entity that goes through many encounters in its life. Kirk was the conscience of this being, Spock the rational brain, McCoy the emotional heart, etc. Maybe that’s why I don’t like the movies so much, 'cause I don’t see that synergy, that emotional appeal in them."

The moon shone gloriously in the sky, and fish jumped in the water.

I’m sure somewhere in my brain, Mr. Spock rose an eyebrow and said: “Fascinating.”