The Planet Among the Stars (Completed)

Chapter 11

The day went by quicker than I expected. The sun was setting when Mr. Evans walked over to Shaun and I.

"Have you ever seen stars and planets through a telescope?" he asked me.

"No. But Abby and I always watched Venus come out at sunset together."

"Come," he waved to me.

I followed him to a huge room. A huge telescope stood in the center. Shaun followed me. I put my eye to the telescope as Mr. Evans aimed it.

There in front of me was Venus.

It was beautiful.

"You guys should sleep here tonight. You can fall asleep under the stars. It's truly an amazing experience. Abby loved doing it," he gave a soft smile.

Mr. Evans pulled out two blankets and laid them spaced apart on the floor. For the next half hour, all three of us sat and watched the sun set and the stars and planets pop up in the sky.

Finally Mr. Evans yawned and stood up, "I'm going to get ready for bed. I was up late last night."

I laid down and rested my head on the ground.

Mr. Evans was about to walked out but then turned his head, "Shaun?"

Shaun turned around, "yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

Shaun hesitated for a moment. "I know."

"I love you son."

Shaun blinked, "I-"

"It wasn't your fault Abby died."

Shaun replied with silence as Mr. Evans walked out.

"He's right." I whispered.

Shaun had fallen asleep by the time his dad came back in the room. Mr. Evans tucked the blanket around Shaun's body and sighed.

"If you ever have kids, be a better parent then me," he whispered to me.

I nodded, not knowing what to say.

"I know you will be. You remind me of Abigail." Mr. Evans walked over to the next room. As tired as I was, I lay awake looking at the stars. Something about this night made the lights all the more bright.

I didn't know what time it was when I finally fell asleep, however, it was about 5:30 A.M. when a rustle woke me up.

Shaun was sitting straight up. His hand was moving gently across a piece of paper. I desperately wanted to see what he was drawing, but the paper was turned away from me.

I sat up and craned my next to see what Shaun was drawing. I crawled a little closer. My eyes widened. If it had been colored and many times bigger I would have mistaken it for the planet itself.

Shaun caught my eye and I worried he would hide his masterpiece like last time. Instead, however, he inched closer to me and continued drawing.

I noticed the room was getting lighter by the time Shaun signed his name at the bottom of the page.

"Do you like it?" he whispered, turning his head downward.

"I- it's beautiful," I stammered in awe.

"Abby said you had an obsession with Venus," he smirked.

I smiled back, "Yeah, I do. And now I look at it to bring back memories."

He handed the paper to me.

"Do you need me to hold it for you?" I asked.

Shaun shook his head, "No. I want you to keep it... To remind you of Abby."

"Thank you."

"No problem." Suddenly his eyes jolted, "Do you smell that?"

I sniffed the air, "Is something burning?"

Shaun bounced up, "It's coming from my dad's room!"

Smoke was filling the air and we could hardly see Mr. Evans. However Shaun noticed him still sleeping. Shaun began coughing as he ran into the room. I immediately ran to find a phone to call the fire station. By the time the fire station picked up the phone, Shaun had pulled his dad out of the fire. Mr. Evans was coughing and could hardly get out the words, "Get outside."

Shaun and I pulled his dad outside. The fire department promised to be here soon and advised we get as far away as possible.

"Shaun, let's go down the mountain!" I yelled.

Shaun looked at me, "get dad down the mountain. I need to grab something." Without waiting for a reply he went back inside the burning observatory.

"Shaun!" I screamed.

He didn't turn back.

Mr. Evans sprinted after him.

"Mr. Evans, you're already suffering from the smoke-"

He said, coughing, "He's my son."

The next five minutes were terrifying. Neither Shaun nor his dad came back outside.

Finally, I heard a helicopter fly over. Men in fireproof suits jumped down.

"Two people are inside!" I screamed.

The firemen ran inside. After what seemed like an eternity, they brought out two people covered in burns and put them on sketchers.

I almost missed it but then I realized in Shaun's hand was the picture I found in the cabinet.