"Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes." –Carl Jung
The stars shone their full brightness this night. Unhindered by humanity, even the faint outline of the Milky Way was visible. They looked like pinpricks, revealing a white void beyond the darkness. In actuality, they were simply small points of light in a massive expanse of black.
The man smiled, returning to his ministrations on the device in front of him. It felt good to romanticize the stars. It never really was fun being rational. He carefully spun a dial on the side, making precise changes from a small pad of paper he held. The road behind him, with his vehicle on the side, had all but disappeared, leaving him alone.
Alone with her. He looked up from his tinkering to see that she had sat down on the cool grass, enjoying the night while it lasted. And last it would. Her turquoise hair shone in the moonlight, lumifying it in such a way that it looked almost fluorescent. He didn't need her to turn around to remember her bright green eyes, the whites contrasted with the omnipresent bags they carried.
Her head was cast upward, taking in the entire sight of the sky above her. It truly was breathtaking. And as the man fiddled with a smaller dial on the other side of the telescope, he wondered why he wasn't sitting next to her.
And so, dropping the pad of paper next to one of the tripod legs, he walked forward and sat next to the girl, who was taking a much simpler, but at the same time a much more richer view of the stars. This was how humanity viewed them for much of their existence. Try as he might, the man couldn't convince himself that there was any better way to view them.
They didn't need words to fill the silence, the silent melody of the night sky swirled around their ears. The crickets chirped their solemn song, an occasional owl was heard in the background. But for their sake, they could've all gone silent and they would've hardly noticed.
But the show had hardly begun. At that moment, preciscely at 23:45, a celestial show began for them. Tens, if not hundreds of light streaks filled the night sky. Tiny rocks burned brightly before they were swallowed by the intense friction the atmosphere provided. But to them, they were simply chords on the song sheet of the heavens.
He could hear the small gasp of the woman next to him, her awe circling around the two of them, consuming them both.
As all good things do, the show was brought to a short and swift end. The heavens were no less empty for it, as the stars now freely shone in the background, unhindered by the star of the show. Instinctively, the man turned left to look into her eyes. Deep pools of emerald filled his vision as he viewed into her soul, and the thoughts that lay beyond. Her eyes had small flecks of moisture in the corners, as if she was remembering a memory long since stored away. A memory that would've made her cry in the past, but now she was simply glad that it had happened.
Slowly, the man reached up a hand to brush a bang blocking her right eye. She blushed slightly at the touch, savoring the feel of his hands on her face. At that exact moment, he knew just what he wanted to do to her. They slowly moved forward, meeting in the middle. As their lips meet, even the celestial plane disappeared to them, for it was simply the two of them, together.
For that moment, nothing else mattered. Not to him, and not to her.
It really was one of his fondest memories.