Galaxies

I remember a night were I waltzed outside my house, barely six years old, and got lost in the shadows of the night. I somehow found myself in the terrace of my house, laying on the very edge, among the many scrapes of metal and the accumulating piles of paper and documents my Dad kindly called the ‘Mount of Evertrash’, eyes fixed on the never-ending sky.

In my mind, there is only one clear memory from that night. The single picture of a starry night, full of huge tiny dots that were the stars, battered with splashes of color so vivid and different every artist on this earth would die of envy of the beautiful painting that was the sky.  I remember purple and  indigo, a sudden spot of red here, the bluish hue that the moon dispersed over the stars around her.

I have yet to see such a beautiful image again.

I stayed outside for such a long time, my bare feet felt numb and my skin was unfeeling to the cold night air. I was mesmerized, I can remember as much, fascinated by the pretty colors I was seeing for the first time. Everything faded away, the lights of the city, the noise of a never sleeping crowd, the beating of my heart stopping for a second. Everything was irrelevant compared to the artistry in front of me.

            Seconds, minutes, hours could have passed as I stared at the canvas of the universe. My dad found me later during the early hours of dawn, now fascinated by the crimson tones of the sunrise. He screamed a bit, and then cried another bit, before sitting down next to me. I did not bother to look at him, my eyes never leaving the spectacle of light in front of me. He stayed quiet for a while, enjoying the view with me before calling my name. I hummed non-committedly, still not looking at him, my vision centered on the sky.

“Melissa” He said again.

                                     “Yes?”

He hesitated.

 “What are you doing here my child?”

                                    “It’s beautiful”

“I know but…”

                                    “I don’t need a reason, do I?”

He stayed silent, still looking at the sky. He finally took a deep breath and hugged me

“Don’t ever scares us like that again”

                                         “I won’t”

We stayed silent, both solemnly observing the view. He did not say anything; neither did he force me to go back inside. My mom joined us after a while, and shared a silent conversation with my dad before sitting down next to me and covering my body with hers. They didn’t comment on anything, only accompanied me in my gazing until the sun was high upon the sky.   My parents stood up to go back inside, and, as I walked inside, something stuck inside my mind.

                                           “Mom”

“Yes”

                                          “The world is such a beautiful place.”

My mom smiled.

 “I’m learning that.”