I DON'T KNOW YOU

39.) parking lot reunions

❝𝕐𝕦𝕘𝕖𝕟 - 𝕒𝕟 𝕒𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕘𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕖𝕞𝕠𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕡𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕠𝕠 𝕕𝕖𝕖𝕡 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕞𝕪𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕠𝕦𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕤,❞ -𝘜𝘯𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯

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• F U N N E H •

𝕋ℍ𝔼𝕀ℝ 𝕃𝔸𝕌𝔾ℍ𝕀ℕ𝔾 𝕊𝕋𝕆ℙ𝕊 𝔸ℕ𝔻 𝔸𝕃𝕃 𝕋ℍℝ𝔼𝔼 𝕆𝔽 𝕋ℍ𝔼𝕄 go silent instantly, like their voices have been stolen. I see their brightly colored eyes widen, the yellow, the green, the light purple-ish grey, their pupils enlarging. Their jaws slowly dropping, mouths open in shock. And despite the little remnants of sunset in the sky, I can still see even Lunar's pale complexion whiten even more.

      Lunar, who's been carrying her crown since she decided to take it off even though it still matches her skirt, gasps for a moment and I listen to the noise of her silver crown colliding with the ground. I stare as it rolls around, bouncing on occasion, before falling completely at the figures' feet. They reach down to grab it and it seems like she's frozen in time as two of them approach her.

    Gold and Draco, who have been standing on each side of Lunar and I standing off to the side, part away from them. They stare in shock before turning to the others.

    Gold's mouth is hanging open, and her eyes so wide they look like crown jewels. It's a moment where it's like she's lost all her spunk, and all I can see is the little girl I first met all those years ago.

    Draco's breaths are noticeably heavy and shaky, realizing he's shivering as tears start to brim on his eyes. A pained expression flashes across his face, but only for a moment, and once again, he looks like the same little boy I first met all those years ago.

    Lunar is the first to interact, staring up at their faces. But she doesn't hesitate enough to ask, barely a whisper coming from her, "You're not supposed to be here."

    "Well, after a few years of looking at the cosmos, it gets boring. You look at them, and it's like looking at photographs of something else much more beautiful," the woman whispers.

    "Every time a star passed by, I'd look to her and whisper, 'See that? That was as radiant as our little girl'. And now, our little girl is all grown up," the man coos with a rueful smile.

    Lunar lets out this gasp, but it's like she's desperately gathering air before breaking into a sob. She throws her arms around the two of them and buries her head into their embrace, with a muffled voice of hers crying, "Mom, Dad."

     For a moment it's like everything else stops. The extra people or Gold and Draco have frozen. The leaves of the neatly trimmed trees have stopped rustling. The muffled conversations of people from inside the restaurant have tuned out. Everything is silent and still. The only centerpiece is the three of them— a mother, a father, and their daughter.

    I've seen Lunar cry a few times before. It'd be strange if I hadn't. Sometimes I'd visit her house and she'd be sitting alone in her living room, coiled up on the side of the couch, crying silently to herself. And I'd ask what was wrong, but almost every time I knew what the answer would be, "Every time I see a star, I wish for them to come home. But then I remember that sometimes the stars we see aren't really there; they're just empty wishes. Dead stars."