My Flufftober 2022 contribution for the prompt : Shooting Stars.
I'm sorry for the mistakes, English is not my native language. I hope you like it.
Disclaimer : Dr. Stone belongs to Riichiro Inagaki and Boichi.
Shooting Stars
Senku climbed into the observatory. It was late at night, the whole Ishigami Village was sound asleep, but he could not fall asleep. He thought that maybe gazing at the stars would help him to sleep. When he opened the door, he discovered that he was not the only one who had this idea. Kohaku stood with her back to him and she was absorbed in what she saw through the telescope.
"Kohaku," Senku said to draw her attention.
She looked at him. A huge smile lit up her face.
"Senku, come and see. It's so beautiful."
She beckoned to him to come nearer. He stood next to her as she gazed at the stars once again.
"I had never paid attention to the stars," she said. "It has always been there, like the clouds and the moon. But with the telescope, I feel like I can touch them."
She raised her arm, as if she was trying to grab one, it made Senku smiled.
"It's the magic of the telescope."
Kohaku looked up from the telescope and stared at him.
"You told me once that the stars have names. Can you tell me what its name is ?"
She pointed to a star and her eyes shone with impatience as she waited for Senku's explanations.
"It's the North Star, Polaris. The brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor."
He looked through the telescope and adjusted it. He gave up his place to Kohaku.
"Here is the planet Venus. It's named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet."
"We can also see the planets !"
Kohaku was amazed. For Senku, it was something ordinary to gaze at the stars. He had been doing it since he was a child. He knew their name, their position. He remembered that when he was barely nine years old, he had drawn a map of the sky.
He liked to talk about science with Chrome and Kaseki. He liked to deepen the knowledge of Gen. But this time it was different. Seeing Kohaku so enthusiastic with the aim to learn more made him happy.
"What is that ?" Kohaku asked.
Senku looked at the sky.
"It is a shooting star. It is the visible passage of a glowing meteoroid through Earth's atmosphere. In the modern world, they say you have to make a wish when you see a shooting star."
"Does your wish really come true ?"
"It's what we say. There's no harm in trying."
Perplexed at first, Kohaku nodded and said :
"I wish…"
"For your wish to come true, you must not tell anyone."
"You have weird customs in the modern world," Kohaku said amused.
Senku could not help smiling. He did not believe in this custom. But for a few seconds, he could believe in it. Especially if it meant sharing that custom with Kohaku. She closed her eyes and thought. After a few seconds, she said :
"I made my wish. Can you tell me about this star ?"
Senku looked through the telescope and he told her everything he knew. Kohaku thought back to the wish she had made and smiled. She wanted to continue looking at the stars with Senku and for this moment to last as long as possible.
The end
