Sam, ignoring the muffled voice cloying for her attention, let herself be swept away by the awesomeness of the night’s sky. The pandemic’s despair had closed the city down. Now fewer lights meant brighter stars. Why did she so rarely look at them? When she was younger she’d lay in their grassy yard and marvel for hours; a sky filled with unicorns, elves and magical pales pouring diamonds. Heaven imagined by a six-year-old.
Tonight, that child spurred her to ask these stars for guidance. They shimmered their agreement then sent light erupting within her, illuminating lifetimes she’d not yet lived and flooding her with memories of love, loss, growth and death. Sam saw variations of her face, determined to worn, in sparkling reflections amidst foreign lands and hints of a child holding her hand.
She could feel in these novas and constellations a beckoning to awaken. Her nose flooded with long gone smells of coal and wheat that once rolled across the wooden rail tracks where she now sat. Their pine sap on her legs was pungent and glorious. Sam could taste a world on her lips that was constantly changing but still felt ever constant.
In this light she lamented how much of her existence she’d taken for granted, vowing to be a present listener again.
“Sam. Sam!?” His coy tone corrupted the moment. Forced to relent, she answered with assertive concession, “Just say it.”
Her directness caught Gilbert off-balance. Doubt skidded across his face. It didn’t last, though. “I want to break up,” he uttered with a smug teen’s satisfaction.
The words stole her breath. Memories of their time together quickly jettisoned to save her from future pain. She reached out to save them when the touch of the stars returned. It warmed her with strength of forgotten lives and gave her the courage to let them go. She stood. Uncertain but resolute, Sam turned…and slowly walked away.
“Let me drive you home. The cars the other way!”
His voice was just muffled noise again. She took more interest in the tales of the wood beams creaking under her Chuck Taylors and soaking back into the limitless possibilities of her own starlight.