Stars: Short Story
I can't tell if it's from the idea of breaking the rules, or the stifling heat that is suffocating me. Either way, I'm perspiring and I have to concentrate to get the air in and out of my lungs. The room is dark, and the house is silent. There are no cars, no neighbors, nothing. I know I'm not dreaming because I can feel my back sticking to the leather of the small sleeping mat. My digital watch emits a quiet, electronic meep signifying 1:37 AM. It is time.
I peel myself from the leather mat and stand up. I can feel the blood hammering away at my skull, I shouldn't have stood up too fast. I can't risk turning on the light, so I blindly stumbling my way across the small bedroom. I ram into something that is haphazardly placed in the center of the room. It crashes to the ground, the heavy object banging against the wooden floor. I freeze, holding in my breath and not daring to take another step. The house remains quiet and when I feel safe, I continue moving. I move slowly, and testing each step before placing my full weight. Every now and then, an old floorboard squeals in protest and I am forced to hold uncomfortable positions until I'm sure no one has woken up from the squeaky wood. I reach my window, the long perilous journey from the sleeping mat to the window now over. Moonlight pours into the room as I brush the curtains aside. I can see the stars from my window, but what fun is that?
I use the dim light of the stars and moon to unlatch my window and pull the portal open. Wind rushes in, sending a cool breeze through the room. It feels so good, that I can't wait any longer, I have to get out of this room. I grab the edge of the sill, the metal biting into my soft palms. I take a deep breath, hold it, and pull myself up. I shimmy through the window and twist my body around until I can grab the gutter. I pull as hard as I can and suddenly I'm hanging from the gutter outside my window. My feet are dangling, and I try to ignore the fact that there is nothing beneath me. I glance down, and even in the dark, I can tell it's a long way to the pavement below.
I suck in a nervous breath, and readjust my hands. My muscles strain with every slight movement, I swing my legs up in an attempt to pull myself onto the roof. I aim to low and and end up hitting the edge of the gutter with my shin. I hiss as the metal cuts open my skin and the thick, blood runs down my leg.I can hear the soft plip of my blood hitting the pavement below... that will be interesting to explain in the morning. I bring my thoughts back to my current situation as my muscles notify me that I can't hang on forever. My teeth clenched, I try again, arcing my leg high enough to miss the gutter. My leg lands on the roof, and the grainy plane is rough against my leg, and I think it breaks the skin, but I can't be sure. My muscles scream as I wrench myself up and over the edge, collapsing on the roof.
Deep breathes enter and exit my lungs as I lay on the roof, with my eyes closed. The rough material of the roof that scratches my back through my teeshirt is a nice contrast to the leather mat I had been stuck to only moments earlier. It must have rained earlier that day, because I'm lying a puddle of water. I laid there and smiled, finally at relief from the heat. I could hear the night bird calls echoing in the thick night. I slowly opened my eyes, and stared at the sky.
Thousands of brilliant stars illuminated the black night. Asterisms of luminous spheres dotted the sky, they formed massive constellations that stared down at me, tied to the universe by strings of stars.
I stood up, gazing skyward in awe. I had been right, staring from my bedroom window was no fun. I looked down and my eyes widened.
The rain from this afternoon had created a puddle-mirror. The entire night sky was reflected in the shallow pools of water. I was encased in between two planes of stars that endlessly stretched on toward the ends of the Earth. There are no other buildings in sight, no cars, no industrial lights. There are only stars, puddles and me. I could see the glowing balls of light in every direction.
I sat down in the middle of the roof, my clothes entirely soaked through. I might have shivered if I hadn't been so captivated by my surroundings. The only thing I cared about were the thousands of stars that had been sporadically placed in the sky, existing purely for me alone. I stared and gazed and wondered. I'm not sure when my eyelids began to feel heavy. All I know is that I fell asleep, surrounded on all sides by the stars of the heavens.