G/t Short Stories

Stargazing

"Are we almost there?!" The tiny Neera asked excitedly.
"Yeah, just hang tight for a few more minutes." Aaron chuckled, passing through the unkempt grass. It had been a month since he ditched GB's headquarters for the Neera without a name. She was an interesting character, being created in a lab meant she had extensive knowledge on biology and medical terms but when Aaron asked her if she had ever seen the constellations in the sky, her response was "what's a constellation?"
That settled it, Aaron was going to take her somewhere special to celebrate her new life where she is free to explore the world around her. So he set out to go to the water tower behind the supermarket, rust had chipped away the blue paint long before the apocalypse began; which made Aaron wonder if the city ever used it. They must have because the ladder now looked like it was about to fall off if he just took one step on it, but Aaron wasn't about to walk away. He marched right up to that rickety ladder and started climbing. It groaned and wobbled but otherwise stayed steady.
"What are we doing?!" The Neera poked her head out, which prompted Aaron gently pushed her back in.
"Haven't I told you that you're not supposed to ruin your own surprise."
She let out a sigh. "Yeah, but this is taking forever!"
"Trust me, it's worth it." A smile crept on Aaron's face as he made it to the top. Memories of Aaron and his friends sneaking up the water tower to smoke pot came crashing down on him like a wave. He often wondered if any of his buddies were out there trying to survive like he was or were they torn apart by zombies like everyone else? Aaron's brown eyes wandered to the sky and all the grim thoughts were pushed away.
"We're here." Before Aaron could even open his shirt pocket, the Neera was already scrambling out, he quickly scooped her up to keep her from falling and set her down on the rusty railing.
"So what's the surprise?!"
Aaron just smiled and pointed up at the sky.
The Neera's crimson eyes lit up once she saw the blue and purple colors with speckles of white stars splattered across the night sky. "I've never seen anything like this before."
"These are things you won't find in a lab, that's for sure."
"What's that poofy looking cloud that's stretching across the sky?"
"That is the Milky Way Galaxy." Aaron said. "Before the apocalypse, there was too much light pollution for most people to see, but now it's visible every night."
Her jaw went slack. "So the old world wouldn't let you see a beautiful thing?"
"Not unless you traveled to the middle of nowhere to see it, but most people didn't have time for that."
"Did you?"
Aaron shook his head. "I was too busy working to go out to see the stars."
"Then this must be the one good reason for the world 'going to shit' as you say." She giggled.
"There are a few other good things, but yes."
"Oh yeah, like what?" Asked the Neera while crossing her arms.
Aaron swore his brain turned to mush, because he couldn't think of another good thing about this decayed world… except for one.
"Well… meeting you was pretty cool." He said sheepishly.
"Aww, aren't you sweet." The tiny woman teased.
"Yeah, it's pretty sweet that your first friend is someone as cool as me." Aaron shot back.
She scoffed. "Oh, you think you're my first friend?"
"First one who didn't poke you with needles."
"Fair enough." The Neera laughed again but let the silence of the night take over. Her eyes wandered back up to the sky, drinking in all the stars above. Unknown to her, Aaron was stealing glances of her, for there was not a star that was more beautiful than her.