Heart Locket

01 | stargazing

CORDELIA SOLACE
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6 years ago
June 20, 1999

It was finally night my favourite time of the day.

The full moon was out as well as the stars, so vivid and bright. One of the things I love about living in a small populated town is you have the ability to see the night sky in clear view and all its celestial glory. Light pollution makes it impossible to gaze the stars and admire its beauty whilst living in big cities.

I like to think the stars shine light in the night sky to remind us that there is hope and moral good that exist in our world today, despite the amount of evil and suffering earth endures casting a perfect symbol of the dark.

My dad used to stargaze with me when I was younger, telling me all about the stars and their entirety, the compelling way they surround us, and their very significance. He mentioned that when we look at the stars, we are basically looking back in the past, due to the star's distance and light-years away from earth.

It gives me the sense that though I can't go back in time and change events and even fix them, simply looking up at the stars gives me that exquisite control and overwhelming comfort.

Since then, I've been allured with the simple existence of stars, always sneaking out to the hill park near my house to study and observe them every night when I get the chance.

Tonight, I'm stargazing with my best friend Ezekiel.

It has become our routine to escape our home and lay on the top of a tall hill next to a playground, quietly admiring the stars together. He too has taken an interest of the stars since the day he saw them, in fact he was named after his great grandfather who studied astronomy during the early twentieth century. His name even means 'shooting star' in Arabic, suiting him perfectly.

"Do you think we come back as stars when we die?" Ezekiel says, breaking the peaceful silence.

"I'm not sure, Zeke." I respond softly, "I would like to believe so considering that it will be cool to be looked upon the same way we're doing right now, at least we are remembered in that particular way." I say looking over at him.

"Yeah, I can't imagine being forgotten once I'm gone or anyone in that matter, it seems highly frightening not being able to leave a mark on the world." he implored.

"Oh don't you worry Zeke, you will have me to remember you even though you can be a real jerk to me sometimes." I said, half smiling.

"Hey, it's not my fault that I find amusement in annoying you, plus your face turns all red like you're a time bomb about to explode, it's quite hilarious." he exclaimed, turning his head to look at me. "See, you're making the face right now." he laughs.

I frown. "Shut up, you won't be laughing when I steal your collection of star wars legos."

"Don't you dare Delia, I swear they're very precious valuables to me and if you manage to steal any of them I won't hesitate to get you back ten times worse." he argued, his eyes narrowing.

I stay silent, knowing I'm in huge trouble if I utter a word. I roll my bottom lip in my mouth to prevent myself from laughing as he gives me a knowing dangerous look.

"Oh no you didn't." he says cautiously, slowly standing up from his laying position.

I quickly stand up, aware of what's about to happen next. I only get one step in before an arm gets ahold of my waist and the other tickles me on my stomach, causing me to yelp and burst out a series of laughter.