Stargazing (Short Story)

Photography of Stars and Galaxy
Stargazing is supposed to be romantic. I just found it boring. Micah did too, but he was not about to admit it. 

“Um, I think that one kinda looks a bit like a bear,” he said. Following his wobbly finger, I found that the stars that he was pointing at looked more like a giant scorpion than a giant bear. 

“Uh, maybe?” I replied. “I mean, if you stare long enough at one section of the sky, anything can look like anything.”

Anyone else I knew would have teased me, but Micah was different. Heading out to an abandoned field in the middle of nowhere to watch the sun set and the stars appear had always been an item on my bucket list. In my mind, I pictured it as a peaceful retreat. When Micah heard, nothing would have been able to stop him from taking me. I had excitedly grabbed a picnic basket and blanket--though it was such a cliche metaphor--and had hopped into his tiny car, ready to hit the road to the middle of nowhere. Quickly though, we discovered that my idyllic dream sounded much better as a dream than it did in reality. 

“Well, then that star cluster looks like an anything to me!” he joked.

I grunted, swatting at a mosquito on my arm. Too dark to make out Micah’s laughing face beside me, I simply sat there, bored, spending hours trying to replicate pictures that had taken ancient ancestors mere minutes to come up with. For the millionth time, scratching my itchy arm, I wished I had remembered the bug spray. 

Lying back and staring at an empty sky was good for inner contemplation, I figured. So saying, I took a deep breath and a leap into the unknown. “Micah?” 

“Yes? Need reassurance that your faithful hero is here?”

Now I was distracted. “Hero? Why do you say that?” 

“Because I am pretty sure that the hay making that rustling sound over there is a snake or something,” he said. His voice sounded serious, but I couldn’t be sure until I saw his face. Quietly, I listened, trying to make out the noise he was talking about. The rustling stopped, then began to move faster, sounding closer and closer by the second. 

I jumped to my feet dismayed and swearing. “We should probably leave...and quickly!” I said. He stood leisurely as I began to pack the blanket back into the bag. Together, we ran back to the car, wading through and trampling hay behind us as we left.

Sitting beside the road in silence, unwilling to leave the farm behind, but unwilling to go back, Micah finally broke the silence. 

“A thought just occurred to me. Don’t snakes normally move silently?” We sat there for a second as we mulled the thought over, before laughing our heads off. When we were done, Micah started the car and drove it back onto the highway. Every once in a while though, one of us would start laughing again, and it was like the dam holding back our giggles had broken.

Author's Note: Wow, my writing has changed quite a bit in the past year, and I had completely forgotten I had this! With some recent edits, this story is more than a year old (January 2019). What do you think of it? Be sure to let me know in the comment's section below. It makes my day to hear from you!

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13 comments

  1. Ahhh, this is so sweet! :D My heart is melting - it's so child-like and pure. At the same time so funny I had a hard time not laughing the first time through!
    True, your writing style has changed, but this is still really good and, I think, you could even draw on how you used to write and it would improve your present writing (I have found the same for my own)
    And it is both my pleasure and my honor to make your day! :D XD

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    1. It's a pleasure for anyone :)

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    2. (One of these days I'll comment before you, Al, (sticks out tongue))

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    3. Oh no you won't, because I love Ash's writing more than you do! *evil cackle*

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    4. I don't think that's possible

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    5. Awww, thank you, Thalassa! And yes, that's a great idea on melding my past and present writing (or at least drawing ideas from it). And I laughed rereading it myself too!

      And y'all really shouldn't fight. *glances over glasses at you two*

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    6. Yes Miss Hayes *replies meekly*

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  2. I love it! Realistic without being dull, sounds like quite the date XD.
    I once had a... think it was a giant python start winding around my neck, quite the experience. No, it was an anaconda. Not a python. Silly me.

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    1. HOly CoW! Snakes are Terrifying for me, and I would have probably had a full blown panic attack, screamed, and thrown something.

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    2. Well, just don't volunteer at a snake showing to help out XD

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    3. *shudders* Okay, yeah, I will definitely take you up on that! XD

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  3. Fun Story, So what was actually moving in the grass then !?!?

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    1. Oh boy...maybe something even scarier! XD

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