Flash Fictions by Benjamin D. Togate

Falling Stars

"You see this?" he asked her, pointing to the sky.
"The bright one?"
"Yeah, that one, right next to the little one"
"Yes..." she said smiling "I see it"
"It's yours" he whispered "Your star"
"Our star" she whispered back as their eyes met each other.

They both lay in the grass, looking into the starry sky. It had been another perfect day. They had driven out of the city for a change, to the forest. They were hiking all day in the shady cool of the forest. She loved the nature, but rarely had time to get out of the city.

Those past few months with him had been a dream. He had taken her whereever she wanted to go. They had climed hills, walked through fields and forests and spend sunny days at the lake. As the day was starting to fade, they made their way back to the car but stopped at an empty field, lay down in the grass and watched the sunset until the stars came up.

It was a beautiful night and neither of them wanted to leave. As temperatures fell, they inched closer together. He hugged her as they looked at the stars. She felt happy. For the first time in a very, very long time, she felt completely happy, laying under her very own star with the man of her dreams.

"I'm sorry" he said, as she had just come back with two cups of coffee, sitting down at their table. "I... I just don't feel what I'm supposed to"
Her heart sank. Not again. She stared motionless as he spoke.
"I like you" he continued "and I thought I would love you, fall in love in you. You're a wonderful person, you know?"

He reached out to touch her cheek and she instantly ducked away. The flinch of anger she felt turned into sadness sooner than she could process. She just stared at him, trying to keep it together.

"I'm sorry" he said again, now looking away. "I can't be together with you. We can remain friends though?"

She didn't say a word. What had those last months been all about. The summerdays, the laughs, the star... and now he decided she wasn't the one.

She stood up. "I..." she said but didn't go on. She just turned around and left.

Home. Home. She had to go home. Now. She ran, she walked and then ran some more - until she reached her apartment complex, caught an empty lift and went up to the 15th floor. Room 203. Her appartment. Her safe place. Her lonely box in the sky.

Shutting the door behind her she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

She let her handbag slip to the floor right then and there and walked into the kitchen. There she took her favorite mug and poured herself some tea. Whenever something had happened, her mother had always made her tea. The sun had already left the day and the fullmoon was starting to rise. She went to sit on her bed from which she had one of the best views over the city. She meant to invite him, but they hadn't gotten around to it. Or rather, he hadn't made the time yet. Now he would never get to see it.

"I'm alone again" she thought to herself, taking a little sip from her mug. And then they came. The tears. Over yet another lost love. Over the feeling of rejection. Tears of lonelyness. She cried, head on her knees, still holding on to that mug. Until there were no more tears to cry.

When she finally looked up, she noticed the stars. It was an extraordinary clear light. Usually you couldn't see the stars in the city that well. Today you could. And there they were. One shooting star after another falling down. One love after another, dieing out forever.

Somehow, that made it easier. She wasn't alone. Someone - probably at this exact moment - was going through the exact same thing. She felt glad those stars were coming down. That stupid love star had probably died out as well. At least she'd like to think that.

"I'm alone again" she thought again "but I'm still alive". And with these thoughts she took another sip of warm tea, feeling sad but okay.