Where the stars meet

☆Bond☆

Bond (noun)

the formation of a close friend

"They shared a special bond."

School was over for the day, Zephyr made his way back home trying to avoid fights. The sidewalks were still somewhat wet. He stepped on the puddles, splashing water on his shoes.

It was a small walk to his house, as he sped down the path his house came into sight. He knocked on the door to find his mother smiling at him, "Come inside." she said.

As soon as Zephyr stepped in, his dog tackled him from behind. Muffled laughter escaped Zephyr's mouth as the dog licked him out of affection.

"Dad is gonna be home late tonight." Zephyr's mom announced.

Zephyr nodded. He sat down at the dining table and ate some food. He had always cherished his mom's cooking.

It's like he was eating something he's craved his entire life.

After lunch he opened the door to his room. He changed into a shirt and track pants and threw himself onto the bed.

The weight of the world seemed to get off his shoulder as he fell asleep. In the sunshine, the steady breeze touching him gently, he fell into a deeper sleep, to let his wakeful thoughts morph into the metaphor of dreamland.

When his eyes shot open, it was already 7pm. His head felt heavy.

He got out of bread to see his mother walking back and forth in the hallway. "Wassupp?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

His mother turned to him "Honey remember uncle Omar? He's sick. Can you please go give him these meds?"

Zephyr sighed "Sure."

Swinging the polythene bag in his hand Zephyr walked off to his maternal uncle's house. Upon that slightly cold day, amid the brown wands of the wide avenue, There is something about a rain-washed pathway that invites playful spirit.

"Alright, take care." Zephyr said as he stepped out of the cramped apartment. If he stayed there any longer he would've caught a fever as well, but then again, that meant a few days off school. Zephyr sighs, "Should've stayed there a little longer." he whispered to himself.

Upon taking a turn at the four-way, Zephyr noticed something that brought back frozen memories, a park. It was the place where he lived the best memories of his childhood, a place that brought him happiness.

He swung open the metal gate and took a minute to look around. It was pretty much the same.The park grows ever more dark. The shadows of the trees  blend into the blackness and their silhouettes against the sky.

The park held memories in it.

Each day, from a caterpillar to the song of a bird, even the people who chose to live a part of their lives in that green space.

Zephyr's eyes wandered around the place. There was still the set of swings, a little rusty though. The grass had grown quite tall, and there still stood the abandoned building around 35 feet tall. It wasn't paved with concrete, just bricks and mud.

Back when Zephyr was younger, it was under construction to build a club room for the people around, but the work was discontinued and workers abandoned the site for some reason.

He walked through the junk, needless and broken bricks. There were stairs, most of the interior was done, except there weren't many walls, none to be exact. He made his way out of the scattered sand and walked up the uneven stairs which led him to the rooftop.

To his utmost surprise, he wasn't alone there, in the distance could see a silhouette seated on the floor that seemed quite familiar. Zephyr went towards it, his eyes widened

"Celeste?"

He turned around "Zephyr?" Zephyr sat down beside him

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

Celeste pointed toward the sky, "I was having a headache so I came here, it feels better when I'm with the sky." Zephyr followed his gesture and looked up. In the night sky were stars, as if God had sprinkled them so sugar-sweet upon the most perfect of black birthday cakes. It was quite hard not to notice the beauty of those brilliant pearls of the nighttime that sit as if cushioned upon pure black velvet.

"It's beautiful." Zephyr muttured.

Celeste smiled as he nodded, "Do you come here often?"

Zephyr asked "No." answered Celeste. "I found this place when I was returning from the grocery store. The sky was pretty tonight so I decided to check it out here."

There was a brief moment of silence, not dreadful, not awkward, but quite comfortable to say the least. Both boys seemed to have lost themselves in the beauty of the nighttime. "I did some research about your disorder." Zephyr broke the silence "Do you really see stuff out of the blue?" He added.

"It's hard to tell. Sometimes it's obvious, like seeing people who've already died, sometimes it's not."  Celeste chimed in.

"I'm sorry.." Zephyr added sympathy floating in his eyes.

"Do you like star gazing too?" Celeste asked.

Zephyr chuckled, not taking his eyes off the sky "A lot." They had nothing to say. So, as their eyes dwelled upon the dim lit sky, they shared each other's company in silence.

"It's Wednesday tomorrow." Zephyr said.

"Mhm." Celeste murmured.

"We have club activities on Wednesdays, you need to join a club."

Celeste nodded "The principal told me about it, I think I will join the photography club."

A smile spread across Zephyr's face "Hey- that's the club I'm in." he declared a small smile formed on his face.

Celeste's eyes widened, he felt happy for some reason. "Well could you show me around then?"

Zephyr nodded.

Around a few minutes later the silence was broken again "To be honest..I thought you'd think that I am a freak.." Celeste faltered.

Zephyr turned around "What, why?"

Celeste let out a deep sigh "You bully everybody, and also because of my disorder... I never really did anything about it and I bet it's pretty disturbing to others, especially the ones I've just met."

Zephyr smiled, his eyes softened as he spoke "I don't bully everybody...and well, the stars can't shine without a bit of darkness, can they?"

Neither of them made much of a fuss later that night, but what they did make was a bond. A bond that couldn't be broken.

Neither of the boys realized it then, but what they had only appeared in others dreams.