The little alarm clock on my nightstand silently ticked as the minute hand stretched up toward the heavens. Tonight's the night I've been waiting for nearly eight months. The Lillydrop Meteor Storm, and tonight Japan would get a front row seat at this amazing natural phenomenon. Best of all, not a cloud's in the sky! Excitement coursed through my body as I eagerly awaited for Tsukino-san to make his room checks. Another five minutes or so, and I'll be in the clear.
Finally after what seemed to be an eternity, I heard his footsteps echoing down the hallway. Slow and steady. Tsukino-san was old. Like really old. He must be at least 80. But I don't blame him for still working. The economy is really bad, I guess. At least that's all that the news people seem to talk about everyday
The foot steps came to a stop outside my door, and the door knob rattled for a moment, then the foot steps continued, and slowly faded. I flipped down my blankets and sat up, swung my legs off the bed and quietly stood up onto my toes. Creeping over to my dresser, I carefully pulled open the bottom drawer. I already had the clothes I'd wear folded and ready to go. Three minutes later, I was changed out of my pajamas and into a loose brown and orange T-shirt, off-black leggings and a dark blue denim skirt. I put on the matching jean-jacket hanging in my closet, then slipped on a pair of plain dark canvas sneakers and opened my window.
I peered out the window. All's quiet. Perfect. I grabbed my backpack that had the pair of binoculars that I'm borrowing from Seto-san, flashlight, batteries, double deluxe chocolate chip cookies, a few band-aids, tissues, bottle of water, notepad, crayons, and extra pair of socks. I hopped up onto the window sill and carefully slid my legs out from my room. Moments later, my shoes touched the brick sidewalk.
The evening air was chilly for a June night, the streets quiet. Not a person was out and the buildings seemed lonely, veiled under the darkness of night
"Hikari?"
I stopped in my tracks. I hadn't made it very far from the Orphanage either. Maybe a couple of blocks. I turned to the voice and seeing her quizzically gazing at me, still dressed in her black and white-lace trimmed house-keeping uniform.
"What are you doing out here?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Yuki.", I smiled. "Um... ah... "
"Well?" Yuki frowned.
"I'm going to go see the meteor storm... and... and you can't stop me!"
"I wasn't planning on stopping you, Hikari."
"You weren't?"
"No, silly.", Yuki gazed up toward the sky. "It would make sense that you'd sneak out of the dorm. You do love Astronomy stuff."
"I do.", I smiled more confidently.
"Come on, I can't let you go off by yourself all alone this late at night. Besides, I know a great spot." Yuki said and grabbed my hand.
We walked through out of the city center and the streets became less lit as well as less maintained. Buildings shrank, and offices became houses. Ten minutes later, Yuki lead me off the street and through a gate marked No Tresspassing. It was a good thing I brought that flashlight, because it was pitch black out here. The only light was from the stars above.
"Where are you taking me, Yuki?"
"You'll see. We're almost there."
We turned round a corner and climbed a small hill. There before us stood a giant tree.
"Here we are!" Yuki exclaimed.
"Yuki? How are we supposed to see the meteor storm with this giant ass tree in the way?"
My friend turned to face me and beamed with excitement. "Because we're going to watch from ON TOP OF THIS GIANT ASS TREE!"
"Shh!", I exclaimed in a hushed whisper. "You're going to wake everybody up!"
Yuki looked to her left, then her right, and then back at me, grinned mischievously while extending her arms to either side of her body. "Hikari, there's nobody fucking out here!"
"True." I replied.
"Come on. Let's get up top of this tree." Yuki said, and grabbed on to a branch above her.
I'm glad that I've never been afraid of heights, but it's been a while since the last time I climbed a tree, especially one this large and tall. This tree must be ancient! Anyway, it looks like Yuki is an expert at climbing this particular tree. She seemed to know exactly which branches to grab on to. After about ten minutes we reached near the top of the tree. I looked out and saw the city below, off in the not-so-far-distance.
"Oh my, God, Hikari. This is stunning! I know why you're into this astrology stuff now.", Yuki said.
"It's Astronomy, not Astrology." I corrected, then looked up, and took in the dazzling display of the heavens.
Bright streaks of light lit up the far-away sky in a rainbow of majesty. I opened up my backpack and pulled out the pair of binoculars so that I could get a better look at the objects making all the pretty streaks in the sky.
"Oh wow! This one looks like it's coming right at us!", I said.
"No way. Let me see." Yuki replied and held out her hand. I handed her the binoculars and she peered through them for a moment.
"I'm sure that rock will burn up long before it gets anywhere near us." Yuki said as she handed me the binoculars. I peered through the lenses again, and quickly found the object, much bigger this time.
"There's no trail." I said.
"What... trail?", Yuki asked.
"The trail of melting ice and junk as it gets vaporized from passing through the sky?", I replied somewhat sarcastically.
"Maybe it's too high up yet?", Yuki replied back.
"No. There's other's next to it that are burning up. That one's weird."
"Let me see again.", Yuki said and grabbed the binoculars out of my hands.
"Hey!--" I protested.
"Oh... no..." Yuki said. Panic dripped off each word. "We... We should leave, like now."
"Why?", I asked. "And besides, like where would we run to? That rock's huge. Anyway, if it struck right here, we'd probably be killed anyway."
A moment later several smaller meteorites impacted all around us on the ground, throwing bits of dirt and smoke into the air far below us.
"AHHH!", Yuki screamed as the tree shook down below us. She fell over backward and landed on top of me. Then before I knew what happened next, the rock I saw fall from space slammed into the ground right below us.
To be continued...
Finally after what seemed to be an eternity, I heard his footsteps echoing down the hallway. Slow and steady. Tsukino-san was old. Like really old. He must be at least 80. But I don't blame him for still working. The economy is really bad, I guess. At least that's all that the news people seem to talk about everyday
The foot steps came to a stop outside my door, and the door knob rattled for a moment, then the foot steps continued, and slowly faded. I flipped down my blankets and sat up, swung my legs off the bed and quietly stood up onto my toes. Creeping over to my dresser, I carefully pulled open the bottom drawer. I already had the clothes I'd wear folded and ready to go. Three minutes later, I was changed out of my pajamas and into a loose brown and orange T-shirt, off-black leggings and a dark blue denim skirt. I put on the matching jean-jacket hanging in my closet, then slipped on a pair of plain dark canvas sneakers and opened my window.
I peered out the window. All's quiet. Perfect. I grabbed my backpack that had the pair of binoculars that I'm borrowing from Seto-san, flashlight, batteries, double deluxe chocolate chip cookies, a few band-aids, tissues, bottle of water, notepad, crayons, and extra pair of socks. I hopped up onto the window sill and carefully slid my legs out from my room. Moments later, my shoes touched the brick sidewalk.
The evening air was chilly for a June night, the streets quiet. Not a person was out and the buildings seemed lonely, veiled under the darkness of night
"Hikari?"
I stopped in my tracks. I hadn't made it very far from the Orphanage either. Maybe a couple of blocks. I turned to the voice and seeing her quizzically gazing at me, still dressed in her black and white-lace trimmed house-keeping uniform.
"What are you doing out here?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Yuki.", I smiled. "Um... ah... "
"Well?" Yuki frowned.
"I'm going to go see the meteor storm... and... and you can't stop me!"
"I wasn't planning on stopping you, Hikari."
"You weren't?"
"No, silly.", Yuki gazed up toward the sky. "It would make sense that you'd sneak out of the dorm. You do love Astronomy stuff."
"I do.", I smiled more confidently.
"Come on, I can't let you go off by yourself all alone this late at night. Besides, I know a great spot." Yuki said and grabbed my hand.
We walked through out of the city center and the streets became less lit as well as less maintained. Buildings shrank, and offices became houses. Ten minutes later, Yuki lead me off the street and through a gate marked No Tresspassing. It was a good thing I brought that flashlight, because it was pitch black out here. The only light was from the stars above.
"Where are you taking me, Yuki?"
"You'll see. We're almost there."
We turned round a corner and climbed a small hill. There before us stood a giant tree.
"Here we are!" Yuki exclaimed.
"Yuki? How are we supposed to see the meteor storm with this giant ass tree in the way?"
My friend turned to face me and beamed with excitement. "Because we're going to watch from ON TOP OF THIS GIANT ASS TREE!"
"Shh!", I exclaimed in a hushed whisper. "You're going to wake everybody up!"
Yuki looked to her left, then her right, and then back at me, grinned mischievously while extending her arms to either side of her body. "Hikari, there's nobody fucking out here!"
"True." I replied.
"Come on. Let's get up top of this tree." Yuki said, and grabbed on to a branch above her.
I'm glad that I've never been afraid of heights, but it's been a while since the last time I climbed a tree, especially one this large and tall. This tree must be ancient! Anyway, it looks like Yuki is an expert at climbing this particular tree. She seemed to know exactly which branches to grab on to. After about ten minutes we reached near the top of the tree. I looked out and saw the city below, off in the not-so-far-distance.
"Oh my, God, Hikari. This is stunning! I know why you're into this astrology stuff now.", Yuki said.
"It's Astronomy, not Astrology." I corrected, then looked up, and took in the dazzling display of the heavens.
Bright streaks of light lit up the far-away sky in a rainbow of majesty. I opened up my backpack and pulled out the pair of binoculars so that I could get a better look at the objects making all the pretty streaks in the sky.
"Oh wow! This one looks like it's coming right at us!", I said.
"No way. Let me see." Yuki replied and held out her hand. I handed her the binoculars and she peered through them for a moment.
"I'm sure that rock will burn up long before it gets anywhere near us." Yuki said as she handed me the binoculars. I peered through the lenses again, and quickly found the object, much bigger this time.
"There's no trail." I said.
"What... trail?", Yuki asked.
"The trail of melting ice and junk as it gets vaporized from passing through the sky?", I replied somewhat sarcastically.
"Maybe it's too high up yet?", Yuki replied back.
"No. There's other's next to it that are burning up. That one's weird."
"Let me see again.", Yuki said and grabbed the binoculars out of my hands.
"Hey!--" I protested.
"Oh... no..." Yuki said. Panic dripped off each word. "We... We should leave, like now."
"Why?", I asked. "And besides, like where would we run to? That rock's huge. Anyway, if it struck right here, we'd probably be killed anyway."
A moment later several smaller meteorites impacted all around us on the ground, throwing bits of dirt and smoke into the air far below us.
"AHHH!", Yuki screamed as the tree shook down below us. She fell over backward and landed on top of me. Then before I knew what happened next, the rock I saw fall from space slammed into the ground right below us.
To be continued...
