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The Meteor Shower (3): It wouldn't be a star festival without a meteor shower! Right on time, a beautiful array of shooting stars graces the night sky. This time of year is unnaturally clear and it's incredibly easy to see the stars. Most meteor fragments appear to be little white or yellow lights streaming across the sky, but if you watch closely enough you may find that some of them seem to be a whole rainbow of colors. The scientists have reported that it's just different components burning up as they enter the atmosphere, but there's something undeniably magical about it.
Del sighed and willed the muscles in her shoulders and neck to relax. She’d unrolled a worn blanket that had seen better days and shook it out before spreading it over the grass. Then, she flopped to the ground and made herself as comfortable as possible. Above her, the dark sky was clear and the stars appeared to cluster together like glittering dust. Even if she missed the meteors, there would always be another night. That was the beauty of summer meteor showers. There were always more to come.
Laying back and crossing her arms behind her head, Del felt herself relaxing for the first time in months. It was pleasant to feel her limbs go heavy and her heartbeat even out. This, she thought, was how life should feel for everyone.
As she fidgeted slightly to move away from a small object digging into her hip, she saw the first wave of meteors shoot across the sky. Grinning in delight, she sat up long enough to dig into her backpack and withdraw a camera as well as investigate the object. Which turned out to be a small fushcia star charm. She’d already programmed the camera to take long exposure shots, so she could just position it and let it do its thing. And the end result would be fascinating. Satisfied, she settled back and resumed watching. The faint streaks were mostly white or pale yellow, but every once in a while, she saw streams of blue or green or even pink mixed in. Not at all normal colors, but no doubt the scientists in town would have a handy explanation for the phenomena.
They always did. It was enough to make her wonder if they were on anyone in particular’s side. Or maybe they were just some weird neutral third party that monitored things and put out statements meant to keep the populace calm as monsters and aliens roamed the streets. It was an amusing enough thought and she rather enjoyed imagining how such an organization might work. Just a bunch of poor, jaded shlubs sighing and rolling their eyes as Downtown DC suffered an attack by ten foot tall monsters. Again.
She felt more tension lift as she giggled at the thought. Above her, the sky practically glowed as streams of meteors swept by. It was so much easier to think and see a path forward when she could be alone under the stars like this. And that brought her down a newer thought trail. Once she was out. When she could actually go up there and simply be… would shooting stars and meteors look any different? Had they looked different when she’d been up at Almadel’s space museum? She couldn’t remember. She recalled the kosopods with unwanted clarity and the absolute mess they’d made of things. And she remembered assisting in the clean up after and being given a little card promising her a favor. What sort of favor did one even ask of an alien museum curator? She’d have to think of something really good…
A particularly brilliant streak of red across the sky called her back to the lightshow happening above her. Shaking her head a little, she brought her thoughts back to the present and focused on watching the stars fall.
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