DAY 353, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER
L: I didn't think you'd still be awake at this hour.
H: And I was surprised you texted me. Nice oversized sweater.
L: You too. You know, we're decently far from a big city, and I didn't see many clouds today. I figured I'd give up some sleep to look up tonight.
H: And you were completely right to text me. This is beautiful. And so is this bench. And the whole house. Your aunt has a nice house, by the way.
L: Yeah. I've spent a lot of summers here. It's great to be back. And with friends at that.
H: Thanks for allowing us to use the house, too. It's not nothing to let six teenagers live in your house while you're not there for a whole weekend.
L: She must have had a lot of faith in us, I agree.
H: Well, either way, thank her for me.
L: I will.
H: You know, I actually started reading in one of the books you recommended.
L: Really?
H: Yes. I did. And thank you for introducing me to it.
L: I'm happy it's made you happy.
H: I have a question.
L: Go ahead.
H: So, we're looking at the stars, right? It's a little past midnight in September. Do you recognize any constellations? Or planets, maybe?
L: I'm sorry to disappoint...
H: Really? None?
L: No. But honestly, I don't pay much attention to those chapters.
H: Why not?
L: Because I care more about other stuff.
H: I can't help but feel slightly disappointed.
L: Again, I'm sorry. But I'm sure you have your preferences as well. I just prefer learning about black holes and super novae over how certain stars are grouped up by humans.
H: I feel that. I got more intrigued by the universe itself.
L: What about it?
H: Just... how large the scale we're talking about is. The numbers don't mean anything anymore.
L: I know, right? To the point where the scientist we're like 'okay, we need to bring back the scale. From now on we have a light year to represent an ass load of kilometers'.
H: Exactly! And then you look at the scale of the universe, and it's like, what, 90 billion light years? That doesn't mean anything. There's even the unit 'parsec', which is like 3 light years.
L: It's crazy to think about how little we are compared to everything else.
H: Like we're not special at all. We're just one of the lives out there. One of the thousands upon thousands upon thousands of solar systems.
L: Do you think there's other life out there?
H: Yes.
L: That was quick.
H: I've thought about it before, and yes, there has to be other life out there. Nothing in the universe, from what we know, points at us being special in any way.
L: True, true.
H: Also, we already established the universe is stupidly big. And old as well. There's just no way we're the only life out there.
YOU ARE READING
The Stockers (Completed)
Teen Fiction'If I live through this, I can do anything I want. No experience will ever be as awful as this one. I'll come out the other way stronger than ever.' Six stock clerks fight against fatigue and boredom in the store they work at. It creates a bond stro...
