The Day That Lasted Forever

Part One

I let out a long sigh, looking down at the water crashing into the rocks below. The sun had long since set, and it was dark now. Moonlight pervaded the headland that I stood upon, as well as the rocks below, and the seashore. It was a full moon, the last of the year, forecasted to be the largest and most brightest. A super moon, they called it. I had been waiting to see it all month. I pulled out my phone to check the time. Eight fifty-seven P.M., it read. My mother had told me to be back before dinner, but it isn't a rare occurrence for me to be a bit late. I decided to stay a while longer.

The stars were the second brightest in the clear night sky above. There must've been thousands up there. It was beautiful. I often came to this spot to think about everything yet nothing at all. To simply exist and be reminded of my existence, how miniscule and fragile. On the very top of the cliff, where I stood, you can see the ocean for miles, extending all the way to the horizon. A cluster of azure and indigo, furiously cascading into the rocks beneath me and into each other, seemingly with a vengeance, as far as the eye could see. The vast sky above seemed to grow darker and darker in color by the second. A storm was brewing and the wind was beginning to pick up now. For a fleeting moment I thought I ought to head home, because my mother would be worried, but I had heard something in the wind. At first a vicious howling, a low hum, and then an undeniably beautiful melody that sounded like those wind up music boxes you only seem to find in an antique store. The rain finally began to fall, the wind grew stronger, and the music louder, but I was entranced. A swirl of leaves blew at my feet, and when the wind had blown them away, only one remained, browned and withering, and stuck to the very top of my boot. I thought nothing of it at first, until I noticed that although dead, its jagged edges formed a perfect heart. I cautiously bent down to pick it up, when all of a sudden a deafening roar erupted from the sky above. Startled, I fell to my knees and scrambled back away from the edge of the cliff. At that moment, I felt that I needed to leave, that I was interrupting some divine interaction amongst gods. I composed myself and stood up once more, overlooking the ocean. Dozens of incandescent, violet rays emitted from the sky, striking down into the water before me with the force of a million burning suns. There was no point in going back home, by the time I'd make it past the clearing behind me, and through the forest, the storm surely would have been over. Just then, I began to experience a sort of belonging, despite the previous notion that I was intruding on something truly celestial. I wasn't scared, but instead comforted. Standing on top of this cliff, overlooking the sea, I was blanketed with a feeling of warmth, despite the incessant stinging of cold rain drops hitting my skin. I inched closer towards the edge of the cliff, looking at the rocks below. The music, like that of a music box, had quieted for a moment, but grew louder once more. I peered down and looked imminent death in the eyes, gazing at my own mortality.

"So you heard it too, huh?" A voice said from behind. I whipped around and to my bewilderment, a boy stood in front of me. He was tall, a lot taller than I was, and looked to be about my age. His wet hair shrouded his eyes for a moment, until he moved the two or three strands that, no doubt obstructed his eyesight, and we looked at each other, holding each other's gaze. The beautiful melodies that the wind seemingly composed just for me had ceased entirely, and so did the rain. We both looked around for a moment, and then back again at each other. It was as if he appeared out of thin air. I couldn't speak. I tried, but words never came.

"The music. You heard the music too, right?" He asked. For a moment, I was petrified. I began to think that if a sixty foot drop off of this cliff wasn't going to kill me, surely this guy will. But when I looked at him closely, I could see that he was equally as startled as I was.

The silence that filled the damp air after the storm was deeply unsettling and a thick fog began to set in, inching closer towards us. The forest had now vanished into obscurity. I moved the wet, slick hair out of my own eyes and looked at the guy once more. I swallowed, took a deep breath, and regained my composure.