I wrote tonight for the first time in 6 months.

Star Gazing

I don’t really know how the decision was made, but my feet left the ground regardless and I embraced the night air as if I had never felt it before. I danced with the trees while Autumn’s approach sent leaves to the ground, doing pirouettes until they landed with the soft sound of silence. Their dance would resume when the wind arrived. But the air held its breath tonight, and so I danced with the trees.

Time paused when I abandoned the ground, so I left it behind, wondering if we would ever reunite. Without Time I couldn’t tell how long I would keep flying, but it didn’t matter. Time paused, so I kept flying, determined to keep the world in motion.

What would happen if the world stopped spinning?

Without knowing the answer, I flew. I danced with the trees, then, when the moment seemed to call for it, I soared higher. I watched as the branches swayed in farewell. They grew smaller and smaller while the moon expanded before my eyes. It was all I could see until the stars drew my gaze. They waved to me and I waved back, accepting the glimmer of nostalgia they sent my way.

I wondered if the trees still danced after we parted ways. I wondered if Time still stood on the ground, trying to recall memories of movement. I wondered if I would ever reach the moon, or if the ground would draw me back, needing my presence in order to exist. I wondered if the ground had left, accepting defeat. Something told me it waited. It knew I would need it in the end.

The moon called my name and the stars bridged the distance as they echoed the subtle sounds of the sky. That’s when I realized the stars formed my path to the moon. I sped toward them. This was the only path I could follow. This was the only path I knew. I felt that it knew me too, and with this mutual understanding I sped toward the stars, hoping for their guidance. I hoped for the moon. I felt that it hoped for me too.

I broke through the atmosphere, and for a split second it clung to my hand. But I had to follow the stars and Time was nowhere to be seen, so I loosened my grip. It was the Earth’s final attempt to keep me close, but I had to follow the stars. A single tear drop floated in infinite suspension behind me as I lost myself in the universe, my eyes reflecting a shooting star. I wished for the moon and drew comfort from the Earth, for when I looked back I saw it spin. Time waited for me, but the clock’s hands hung at its sides. They waited for Time, but Time waited for me. I couldn’t wait for the stars.

I couldn’t wait for the moon.

I shook the star dust from my hair and felt it cling to my eyelashes like warm snowflakes. I reached the first star. I saw it before me waving and greeted it as I would a new season. It was new but also familiar, like walking my first steps all over again. My feet grazed the surface of light and I leapt to the next star. I knew the path by heart.

The knowledge came from a thought in the back of my mind, and the moon called my name again. I responded with countless leaps of faith from one star to another, never taking my eyes off the shooting star from long ago. In its reflection I saw the moon gazing toward the ocean. It watched over the tides with a hint of a smile, losing itself to the steady rhythm of waves grasping at a far away shore. I was hypnotized by the sounds of waves crashing in my thoughts.

With the song of the ocean swimming in my ears, I bounded from one last star onto the moon’s surface. Looking back I saw a trail of stars, a trickle of lamp posts illuminating how far I’d traveled. I looked down at my feet, almost surprised to feel their support holding me grounded.

I sat and basked in the rays of the sun, knowing it gave to the moon its modest shine. In this way the Earth could hold onto the light until the sun and moon traded places once more. Their partnership kept the darkness at bay without fully closing the window to the unknown. This allowed for fleeting glimpses of Time, which still waited for me, hands by its sides.

Exhausted, I lay down in a crater, watching the Earth turn without me. Days went by, then weeks. The weeks turned in months. The months melted into years and the years into decades. Two hundred years raced by while I lay still on the moon and held onto my youth, not ready to grow old. Too much remained to be seen. Too much remained to be heard. The silence danced throughout my head and I remembered the trees. I hoped they were still dancing, but the thought was interrupted and my question was answered. The Earth’s spinning came to a halt. For a moment, or a lifetime, I thought I could almost hear it stop, but it may have just been the silence twirling through my ears.

The Earth stopped spinning. And because the Earth stopped spinning, the Moon stopped spinning. I lost my footing and fell into the nothingness and everything it contained. I fell into the arms of the universe and drifted back to Earth, waving goodbye to the stars. They waved back, reminding me of the Sun. I missed the Sun and the light of day. I missed Time. I missed dancing with the trees. I ached for the sunrise.

I drifted back to Earth where the trees had never once stopped dancing. I searched for Time and saw it asleep on the ground. It had to fall asleep in order for me to wake up to its existence. But I was awake, so I woke up Time as gently as I knew how. It met my gaze, understanding at once and ready to begin. I took its hands in mine and as it stood from the ground and faced me I felt the Earth shift back into its orbit. Not a moment had passed. An eternity had gone by.

I watched over the stars until they faded into the sunrise.