Spaced Out

Chapter One

Ever since I was born, every day has been a series preparations for everybody's biggest fear. Every day I sneak out of those responsibilities into a little spot in the back of my mind. I get trapped in it, surrounded by my thoughts not able to escape. I enjoy it here, in this quiet little spot, looking at the star painted sky every night, isolated from the rest of humanity. The sky. It's a beautiful thing. But it's not real, it's not really there. It's just a picture painted millions of years ago. A buzzing in my right jean pocket yanks me out of my thoughts, into the real world. I sit up from the bed of grass I was laying in and glanced back at my home, as the wind brushes playfully against my skin. The dimly lit windows stare at me like eyes, being the only thing that illuminates the night. Most of the other houses are back in the village down the hill, but my family chose to be a little different, and to place our cozy home at the top of the hill, where it felt as if you could just reach up and touch the stars that coated the sky. I don't even look at my phone, knowing who it already is. I stand up, and brush the dirt off of my denim jeans.
I shuffle my feet back to my home, which turns into a run. I arrive at the backside of my house, and kneel down, grabbing a handful of soil, revealing a sharp piece of metal. I place it in the palm of my hand squeezing it tightly while standing up. Not tightly enough to cut myself. I face the wall and bring the metal to the polished wood of my home's wall, I dig it in and slide it to a diagonal making one tally mark. Ever since I was five, I have been keeping track of the days until it was supposed to happen. The day where all was forgotten and left behind, as if it were an old tattered childhood blanket that a child has grown out of, and left laying in a pile of dust in the corner of an old attic. An attic where things don't matter anymore, a place where the things you don't need, but don't dare to throw out lay.
I drop the metal back in its indent in the dirt, coating it with a layer of soil once again. I stand face to face with the wall one last time, running my fingers over the jagged lines that I have made over the years. I could count all of them if I wanted. Find the average number of lines on each of the four walls in seconds, or find out how many prime numbers are located on them in minutes. But that would just make me remember once again, that all of these memories will be forgotten, and we'll be light years away.
I drop my hand, and turn toward the swaying grass. I start to run, which transforms into a sprint. The outstretched hands of the wind pushed against me, trying to slow me down, but I continued to run faster overpowering the force. I kept running. Running deeper into my thoughts. I skidded to a sharp stop in front of the great Oak tree. One of the few trees left in the world, reserved for my happiness. I rested my back against the thick trunk, gasping for breath, waiting for the hammering in my chest to return to normal.
"BOO!!" A voice rang in my ears, as arms wrapped around my torso pulling me into warmth. I let out an ear piercing scream, as I turned around to see who it is, despite the fact that I already knew. "Must you do that?" I exclaim, with annoyance. "Yes I must," Matthew says in a mocking tone. A smile dances across my lips, as I lean in and press my lips to his. Who knows? It might be last time we ever kiss. He slipped his fingers into mine, and led me away from the tree towards a rushing river. I spotted a trail of rocks placed across it. My hand parted from his, and I outstretched my foot carefully placing it upon the rock keeping a careful balance. I look behind me to make sure Matthew is there before I continue, hopping onto the next rock. The water started to speed up, probably contributing to a nearby waterfall. I looked up at the gleaming stars. I gasped, immediately recognizing the pattern of stars.
"Orion!" Matthew jerked his head up to look at the sky, following my finger.
"Look! Ursa Major! Gemini!" I continued.
A smile crept upon Matthew's face. He was also very interested in stars. Every time he looked at them I saw his eyes light up. He could name all of the constellations and major stars if you asked. I laughed with glee. Constellations are extremely rare now. Sure the stars can be seen everywhere, but most of the constellation's stars have died out, so you can only see pieces of them. I know it might seem complicated but after a class of astronomy it's an elementary subject. Luckily some major constellations show up now and then to fulfill our interests.
I continued to jump from rock to rock close the the opposing bank of the river, when my foot slipped on one of the more narrow rocks. I thought I would fall into the fierce river getting soaked in the water that the river carried, but arms quickly wrapped around my body, pulling me into safety.
"Isn't that Scorpio?" Matt asked pointing to an alignment of stars.
"Your zodiac." He continued as I smiled. All I wanted was to be trapped in his warm embrace, looking at the thousands if stars. Without realizing, tears were brimming my eyes as I looked into his. "I love you," my voice was barely in a whisper. "I love you more than you know," he replied, letting me rest the side of my head on his shoulder. The only sound that was heard was the steady rushing of the river.

☪

A white tent, covered by small glowing light bulbs, towers over me, as Matthew makes his way in. After a few moments at gazing at it, we venture in, where music is playing and somebody shoves a mysterious red cup in my hands. I look inside, and it's completely empty, waiting for liquid to be poured inside of it. I twirl it around in my hands inspecting the plain colored cup. I don't think I've ever seen one like this. I spot Ava among the hundreds of faces around me. The reason there are so many people here is because this is the Last Lunar Night. The last full moon and the last full night we will ever live through. Tomorrow nobody will be left and we'll all be miles away from this planet. Just like me, everybody wants to embrace it and live their last night here as the best. Ava comes towards me with two red cans that had bold white letters on the sides which most likely identified what the beverage was. Matthew came up behind me, anticipating the taste of the new fizzy brown colored substance that was being poured into the red cups by Ava.
"What is this?" I ask, peering into the cup trying to figure out what it was. "I don't know what it's called, but I found it at the black market." "The black market?" Matthew gaped at Ava with big brown eyes. "Adam and I went this morning during math class." I could see excitement creeping into her eyes. The black market that is forbidden, is hidden very far from here in the tall grasses, where everything saved from the 'Old Age' was stored, and bought illegally. "Yeah and we found this," Adam showed up behind Ava wearing black sunglasses, and holding up a green tinted bottle also containing a strange drink, with white letters that read "Sprite." I watched as Adam dragged Matthew away into the crowd.
"Try it," Ava interrupted my thoughts. I reluctantly brought the plastic cup in contact with my mouth and took a very small sip. My taste buds soaked up the liquid and begged for more. It had some type of a... savory flavor. I glanced at the can Ava was holding, and tried to read the name of the drink. "Coca Cola."
"Delicious!" I exclaimed happily. The music turned up to a louder volume. Music is one of the very few things saved from the old age. Ava and I embraced the music, carried our bodies to the dance floor, and started to dance to the beat which pulsed through our bodies. I don't mind that tomorrow everything will be left behind, every memory, or sliver of happiness would be lost. All I want to do is live life like there is no tomorrow. You only live once after all. Or in my case twice.