Beyond the Galaxy

Chapter 6 - Everlasting Radiance of the Stars

Isabelle's Point of View

On the sixth of June, the rain began shortly after eight thirty. At that time, Tom and I were still in the office. The rain trilled against the windows with a sky dim with gloom, occasionally broken by a soft rumble of thunder as our heads bowed over our work in the young night. Tom packed up his work and took off right at ten when our shift ended, but I still had a thin stack of paperwork to glance over before the morning, so I kept myself in a little later. After another half hour of brisk skimming through text, scribbling notes and signing my name where needed, listening to the soothing accumulation of storm sounds, and sitting in a room that grew increasingly darker as the night progressed, I followed the action and left.

Unfortunately, the pale blue morning sky forced my paw to the now unfavorable decision of neglecting my umbrella at home. Staggering along the damp sidewalks under the striking downpour, it was all I could do to guard my face with one arm—Short-sleeved, as per the season, and easily soaked—And shelter my knit purse with the other. It wasn't exactly the intense nighttime storm, but my goodness, was it relentless. My feet squelched through the drenched path and the moisture streaked down the exposed fur on my face, though I persisted.

A stone step up and a shadowed door met me at the end of my journey—Not mine, but that which belonged to my most dearest friend and one I found myself at frequently at this time of the night after my shift. Despite the rain beating down onto my head and pattering around me on the stone, the door alone radiated a sort of cozy warmth like the glow of light through the white curtains behind the window next to it. Just as what remained behind it did.

I shifted my purse under my arm again and rapped my other fist against the door. I hardly even pulled away again before I registered the shuffling of approaching footsteps towards the door in answer. Only moments later did the door unlatch and patiently slide open, revealing Tom standing in the doorway. He had yet to change out of his work clothes and the yellowy light seeping out from within the house shimmered in his deep blue eyes.

"Oh, Isabelle," Tom noted. "Hello. What are you doing here? Is everything all right?"

"Hmm?" I blurted out before it occurred to me what he asked me. The unanticipated question had caught me off guard. "Oh, yeah. Everything's fine. I just wanted to stop by for a bit. I feel like I've been needing some time with friends and you're the first animal that came to mind, to be honest."

"Oh, is that so?" Tom withdrew his paw from the open door, seeming pleasantly surprised by my words. The crisp air was slowly sinking into my bones in a deep chill as the conversation went on. I needed to get out of this rain. "That's very sweet. Thank you. I'm quite flattered to hear that."

"I hope I'm not interrupting something," I answered sheepishly. A clap of thunder rumbled in the distance that Tom noticed, sneaking a brief glance at the sky behind me before returning his focus. "I kind of dropped by unannounced."

"No, no, we're just washing up from dinner," he assured me. He quite suddenly appeared to realize my current situation and hastily leaped to remove himself from my path into the house. "Please, come in. You must be freezing."

"Just a little bit," I admitted, managing a short laugh, and didn't mention the relief pooling into my stomach as I stepped politely through the doorway. With the audible dribble of the rain water slipping from my body onto the polished wooden floor, another thought struck me as Tom gently shut the door behind us. "Oh, I'm going to get everything all wet. I'm sorry."

"Please don't worry about that," Tom said gently as he removed his paw from the doorknob. "I'll grab you a towel."

Tom disappeared to the left past the room where I stood into the hall, invisible from my perspective. I turned my head to study the area—Partly to entertain myself and partly due to the sound of trickling sink water in the distance implying the presence somewhere of his twin sons, twelve years old but coincidentally turning thirteen as soon as tomorrow came around. I couldn't count the number of times I had visited this place for casual hangouts. The sight of it alone was thoroughly burned into my memory. The living room where I stood at the door, awkwardly puddling rainwater at my feet, with white walls wrapping around it, soft carpeted floor, and a brown couch at the left as it faced a flat-screen television fixed into the wall. A wide opening into the dining room, with lights peering down onto a wooden set of tables and chairs. The double doors in the far back that blocked the kitchen from view. The hall at the left between the living and dining room that I couldn't see.