Rough Draft

If you shoot for the stars, you'll likely miss

The air outside that night was frigid. The streets were silent. The only noise I could hear was the quiet sound of my own shivering breaths. If you would have asked me then, I would have told you that I was the only person in the entire world. Like a lone asteroid soaring through the heavens. In the middle of the four way, I was accompanied only by a single red flashing streetlight. I wandered the empty streets hoping to see someone else, to no avail. No cars, no passersby. I'd never heard the city that quiet.

Usually when I took that route to walk, I always passed by many nameless faces, pushing past and rushing to wherever their path lead them. There were always traffic jams at every intersection. Honking, buzzing, beeping, shouting. I loved passing by the numerous warm coffee shops that let slip through a little light between the cracks of closed blinds. Each of them emitting their own specific aromas of the different ingredients they used. No matter what, it always warmed my heart. For some reason, that night was different.

It was different even before I left my house. As I was putting on my coat and getting ready to go on my walk, I could feel something strange in the air. It wasn't a bad feeling, nor was it inherently good. It was just odd. Not in any rush, I left out of my door slowly. I trudged through the snow onto the sidewalk. As I walked, I couldn't help but notice that odd feeling was even stronger outside. Most of the lights in the area that usually helped keep the streets lit up at night were all out. I remember looking up at the cloudless, late evening sky. There must have been a million stars. I distinctly remember being able to make out each individual twinkle.

I remember falling over into the snow and just laying there. I didn't have a thought in my mind. It felt like I had been lying there for hours. I was so mesmerized by that image, that I had forgotten how cold it was. I caught myself from slipping away into what I thought at the time was sleep. I was on the ground staring at the sky for so long, I was halfway concealed beneath a thin layer of powdery snow. Brushing off the snow, I chuckled at myself. It took me a moment to remember the beautiful sky above. The giant moon hanging above me as if suspended by a tiny thread. I had never seen that many stars, ever. After weighing the options, I fell back into the blanket of snow and continued to stare at the beautiful array of shimmering lights.

I knew the stars were millions of miles away from me, but I couldn't help but reach my hand toward them with an open palm. Hoping that somehow I could reach out and grab one from the sky and keep it for myself. If it wasn't for my face being so cold, I would have never noticed that my mouth had curled into a smile. I must have lost track of time because the moon had completely shifted from one side of the clear sky, to the other.

Then something out of the corner of my eye distracted me. A thin streak of light darted across the sky. Before I knew it the sky was full of the thin streaks. There were hundreds of shooting stars in the meteor shower. I lost track of time again watching the lights. I remember thinking that this was the most opportune time to make a wish. I shut my eyes and folded my hands together. It's all sort of hazy now, but somewhere in the middle of that wish, I slowly drifted away into a deep sleep.