Starry Skies

Number 50

When we got to the backyard, I sat in front of the fire pit, lit brightly by flames, varying in shade from bright, almost blinding white all the way to deep, dark red. I felt warm, and let me tell you, that contrast from the cold I'd grown used to, it was one I welcomed with eager attitude. 

I was sandwiched in between Dad, he was on my right, while Anwen was on my left. There was a small circle, relatives went on and on, telling stories, laughing, making s'mores. I got to eat two of them, so that was a fun experience, and quite the delicious one, too.

After a while, though, my head started to spin, I couldn't recognize anything, felt like I couldn't speak, and breathing got impossible. It took Anwen a few minutes, but she picked up on it eventually.

Without a moments hesitation, she grabbed me, pulled me up, and started taking me to the far left corner of the backyard, away from all the people.

"I can't.. I can't see, I can't see the--" My own sentences were cut off by myself, and this, this the part where it truly ends for me, or begins to, at least.

I completely broke down, started crying, screaming those words, over and over again at the top of my lungs. "I can't see the sky! I want to see the sky!" Anwen pulled me down, slumped both of us against the white picket fence surrounding the backyard, and nodded, running her hands through my hair and along my face as I endured my last moments.

"Look up," she whispers, I follow her instructions, and there it is. The dark sky, black in color, only lit up by stars that seem to fill it past capacity, bright and beautiful. "The sky is up there, Lee. Its right there, and you didn't miss out on anything. Don't worry, I promise you haven't." tears fall free from my eyes as I jolt away from her grasp, only to relax into it a minute later. 

"I can't-I can't see the- I wanna see the sky," I whispered. "I wanna see the sky!" All Anwen felt she could do was whisper sweet nothings into my ear, trying to ease the pain she knew I was going through.

So, I guess that this means the end, doesn't it? 

I completed the last thing on my bucket list, in the saddest way. I was dying, sure, I was dying and then I was gone, but, but at least I got to spend a night, with the love of my life, underneath starry skies.