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“And New York is the most beautiful city in the world? It is not far from it. No urban nights are like the night there. I have looked down across the city from high windows. It is then that the great buildings lose reality and take on their magic powers. They are immaterial; that is to say, one sees but the lighted windows. Squares after squares of flame, set and cut into the Aether. Here is our poetry, for we have pulled down the stars to our will.” - Ezra Pound, Patria Mia
Age of the Stars
I heard the sound of something hitting my window just as I had finished getting ready for bed. Some months ago I would’ve brushed it off as the wind, or a tree branch, and tucked myself into my covers, embracing their warmth before falling into a peaceful slumber. However, some months ago, a girl around my age moved in next door, and I knew without a doubt it was her: Raya Thompson, throwing pebbles at my window.
Since her arrival to this neighbourhood and our introduction to each other, we’d become quite close. It had also become one of her habits to sneak out of her house every once in a while, only to come over to mine and drag me to God knows where.
Maybe I could just turn off my lights and pretend I’m asleep. No, no. That would be mean… right? I gazed longingly at the light switch across my room until another thing hit my window; except much louder this time. There Raya sat behind the glass, a mischievous grin on her face as she slid the glass up, and, without invitation, climbed through the opening and onto my bed, her shoes leaving grass stains and bits of dirt on my sheets that I so desperately wished I was in. Lovely.
Since her arrival to this neighbourhood and our introduction to each other, we’d become quite close. It had also become one of her habits to sneak out of her house every once in a while, only to come over to mine and drag me to God knows where.
Maybe I could just turn off my lights and pretend I’m asleep. No, no. That would be mean… right? I gazed longingly at the light switch across my room until another thing hit my window; except much louder this time. There Raya sat behind the glass, a mischievous grin on her face as she slid the glass up, and, without invitation, climbed through the opening and onto my bed, her shoes leaving grass stains and bits of dirt on my sheets that I so desperately wished I was in. Lovely.
“Nice Power Ranger pyjamas.”
“Ha ha, you’re hilarious.” I watched her slip off my bed and begin walking around my room. “Now get back on the roof and down the trellis again, I want to go to bed.”
Raya frowned, picking at my notebook on my desk. “You’re not even going to ask what I’ve got planned for tonight?”
Reluctantly, I did. “What?”
Her expression lit up again. “There’s supposed to be this meteor shower tonight, and Jess told me the last time there was one he took his telescope to the roof of the movie theater and got an insane view of the whole thing. I tried to see if I could borrow it from him—he said no, but I looked it up and we should still be able to see something. Plus, I know a way to the roof without getting caught. It sounds great, right?!”
Just tell her you don’t feel up to it. “Yeah.” Idiot.
Somehow she managed to look even more excited, and practically threw herself back across my room, and onto my bed, before beginning to climb back out my window. I let out a small sigh, before I grabbed a sweatshirt from my closet, and followed after her, Power Ranger pyjama bottoms and all.
It didn’t take us long to get to the movie theatre. Raya and I snuck around back and scaled up a ladder leading to the roof.
“Ha ha, you’re hilarious.” I watched her slip off my bed and begin walking around my room. “Now get back on the roof and down the trellis again, I want to go to bed.”
Raya frowned, picking at my notebook on my desk. “You’re not even going to ask what I’ve got planned for tonight?”
Reluctantly, I did. “What?”
Her expression lit up again. “There’s supposed to be this meteor shower tonight, and Jess told me the last time there was one he took his telescope to the roof of the movie theater and got an insane view of the whole thing. I tried to see if I could borrow it from him—he said no, but I looked it up and we should still be able to see something. Plus, I know a way to the roof without getting caught. It sounds great, right?!”
Just tell her you don’t feel up to it. “Yeah.” Idiot.
Somehow she managed to look even more excited, and practically threw herself back across my room, and onto my bed, before beginning to climb back out my window. I let out a small sigh, before I grabbed a sweatshirt from my closet, and followed after her, Power Ranger pyjama bottoms and all.
It didn’t take us long to get to the movie theatre. Raya and I snuck around back and scaled up a ladder leading to the roof.
She laid down the blanket she brought on the cement, and the two of us sat down, looking up at the stars in hopes of seeing something, anything.
“Did you know that all the stars in space are at least one billion years old?” was the first thing she said to me. Everyone’s heard some star fact along the lines of that before, I thought.
“Really? I had no clue.”
“Yeah, and did you know that black holes actually…” I stopped listening when a blast of blue in the sky caught my eye. I turned to Raya to see her expression, but her eyes were still searching the starry sky for something. Does she not see it? Should I say something? No, nobody could miss that.
I looked back to the sky, where the blue was now expanding, green and purple mixing into it until the stars had been replaced by vibrant waves of colours. I thought it might’ve been an aurora, until the colours started moving in a life-like way, shaping into animals that danced through the night’s sky alongside all different shapes and designs. It looked like it was out of a fantasy novel I would read—a world where all my dreams could come true.
I shut my eyes, and leaned my head on Raya’s shoulder, who stopped talking to lean hers on mine. We sat there in silence for a while, until I opened my eyes back up and realized the colours above me were gone. I frowned, feeling a wave of sadness wash over me, before Raya gasped.
“Did you know that all the stars in space are at least one billion years old?” was the first thing she said to me. Everyone’s heard some star fact along the lines of that before, I thought.
“Really? I had no clue.”
“Yeah, and did you know that black holes actually…” I stopped listening when a blast of blue in the sky caught my eye. I turned to Raya to see her expression, but her eyes were still searching the starry sky for something. Does she not see it? Should I say something? No, nobody could miss that.
I looked back to the sky, where the blue was now expanding, green and purple mixing into it until the stars had been replaced by vibrant waves of colours. I thought it might’ve been an aurora, until the colours started moving in a life-like way, shaping into animals that danced through the night’s sky alongside all different shapes and designs. It looked like it was out of a fantasy novel I would read—a world where all my dreams could come true.
I shut my eyes, and leaned my head on Raya’s shoulder, who stopped talking to lean hers on mine. We sat there in silence for a while, until I opened my eyes back up and realized the colours above me were gone. I frowned, feeling a wave of sadness wash over me, before Raya gasped.