From Young Idea 2017 Volume LXXI.
Space has always reduced me to silence. There’s something peaceful in thinking about the great, wide unknown. I like space. There are no problems there, no disarray. Space has no feelings; it is just an endless void of softly glowing balls of gas, and a planet here or there. Space is constant. Space is infinite.
The night is quiet and warm, the two of us sitting side by side, not talking, but sharing thoughts and emotions on a deeper level. You’re just as engrossed in the stars as I am, calm as the ocean on a chilly night. I wonder what you’re thinking. We’ve not known each other long, yet we connect in ways deeper than the sea.
They say we are star stuff, that the same atoms and elements that make up the universe are deep within us. Perhaps that is why we connect so well. We were both on a collision course, like the asteroids and the moon, fated to collide.
You remind me of the stars so far above us, mysterious yet comforting. I’ve never met anyone like you, but I feel as though I’ve known you since the beginning of time. Our relationship is deeper than a feeling. It is buried deep in the endless void of our souls. Your presence is constant. Our friendship is infinite.
The starry night sky sparkles above us, the occasional shooting star streaking across the sky. You turn to me, as if sensing my gaze, the reflection of the night sky deep in your eyes.
“What are you thinking about,” you ask. It’s a simple enough question, one you often ask me, but I never know how to answer.
“Nothing,” I reply, thoughts swirling in my mind. Nothing, just how lucky we are to be alive, together, under the night sky.
Nothing, just how alive that night sky looks, a thousand faraway beings dancing round and round in an endless circle.
Nothing, just how much you’ve changed me, turned my world upside down, and how everything is different, but finally, good.
“Nothing. Just looking at the stars,” I reply.
Nothing, just that in this crazy and terrifying world, I’m so glad that I have you to keep me grounded. You ground me like the Sun grounds the Earth, and the Earth grounds the Moon. And the stars will always be there, night after night, above every sky, seen or not seen.
