Story Starters I May Never Use

Our Astronomical Existence

In which existence and space are contemplated

~

I remember the night the moon was it's most beautiful.

It's clearer than a pool of spring water, forever stamped in the vast cosmos of my imaginative memory as a night that I never want to forget.

Early July, just days after the Fourth of July. The summer air was cool and comfortable, a welcome change from the heavy and humid days before. A few straggling fireflies lit up the breezy night with their careless dances, drifting along a gentle breeze that tossed my hair against my face.

Normally I would have spent the night cooped up inside, reading whatever new book I had encountered that week and losing myself in blissful distractions from the world. However, tonight was different. My mother had decided that it would be a perfect evening to attend the drive-in and watch "Antman and the Wasp", along with the long-awaited "Incredibles II". I had decided that there was nothing I would enjoy more.

Buzzing with excitement, my brothers and sister pushed and prodded for the best seat in the back of the van. I was content with sitting on the folding chair my parents conveniently remembered to bring.

It was the best decision I made.

The seat was not prime - it was uncomfortable and hard, and sitting lower to the ground meant that I had to crane my neck to even glimpse the screen. This did not deter my positive mood. But enough with that. I'm rambling and should be getting to the cool stuff.

The movies were fantastic (no spoilers here) but the most amazing things occurred off-screen. Throughout the whole two movies, I watched Mars move from close to the left corner of the screen to far beyond the right corner. Discernable by its red color, the bright spot in the sky was enough to distract me multiple times. It was amazing.

During the "Incredibles II" I saw the next most amazing cosmic event. A shooting star. It turned out that my head having to tilt up wasn't all for naught. That was what lead to my unique opportunity. It was nothing more than a blaze of light, brighter than that of the movie screen and short lived. In the history of the universe, the life of that comet was nothing. It was nothing more than a scratch on the mark of the universe.

I have only ever seen a brighter comet once, in the northern lands of Canada. The one I witnessed then is something for the record books. Several seconds, light brighter than that of a million stars, leaving a legacy I will remember until the day I die. Beautiful. Fierce and brave.

A quick and fiery end. A blaze of glory. Beautiful and powerful. Large, but small from Earth. An opportunity I would not have gotten if I had stayed inside.

To think that the planet closest to being another Earth is visible from thousands of miles away. To think that it's just another chunk of rock floating in space, just like Earth. To think that we're so small and insignificant that I worry about things like my neck hurting or how much sleep I'm getting. I am nothing. To think that rocks hurtle through space, unperturbed by my own meaningless life. To think. To feel, to believe.

Sometimes I think about the vastness of the known cosmos and I get scared. It's not so much that I'm afraid of what is out there. I'm more afraid of the helplessness I feel, and the feeling that everything is meaningless in the greater picture. Because it's not just my story. It's my mother's story, my father's, my brothers' and my sister's and everyone's. It's the story of a race, of an ethnicity, of a people, of a species and of a life form on a rock held in nothing by gravity.

It took until the ride home till I saw the moon.

It was so lovely. The bottom left part of the moon was illuminated in a thick crescent, pale and yellow like a blooming daffodil. Hanging just above the horizon, I felt like I could reach out and touch it. Screw whatever scientists were calling the super moon. THIS was a supermoon. Perhaps it was just perspective. But I didn't care. It is the largest moon I have ever seen and by far the most lovely. Prettier than a flower petal, brighter than a comet, burned into my brain like a red-hot brand.

Things like this make me feel alive. They make me feel like one with everything. My body touching the flowing water of a stream. The wind teasing my hair into knots. The cool smell of summer air burning my nostrils. The feeling of utter peace, at one with the world and my family.