#FlashFictionMagic: Clear Skies

In the dark field behind the school, Lissa was setting up her telescope and camera. When Tom approached carrying his equipment, she peered at him, her cheeky grin illuminated by his flashlight.  “Great minds.” 

“Come on!” he said, throwing his head back to yell at the clear night sky. But he was laughing. He wouldn’t admit it aloud, but it wasn’t entirely a coincidence that he’d shown up here tonight. 

“What?” Lissa innocently tossed a long braid over her shoulder. “We can both take the photo and let the judges decide.” 

“Sure,” said Tom. But there was no competition. Lissa was amazing. She’d already won a young astronomer’s scholarship; the photo contest prize would just be icing on the cake. 

While they waited for the meteor shower, there was silence as they both calibrated their telescopes and lined up their cameras. Finally, there was nothing to do but wait. 

Gazing up into the cloudless sky, Tom turned thoughtful. “Think you’ll ever get up there?” 

Lissa gave a dreamy sigh. In the moonlight the outline of her shoulders rose and fell. “I don’t know. Sometimes it feels like I’m meant to go, and other times I think I’m gambling too much on a long shot.” 

“You deserve it if anyone does.” Tom scratched his chin. “I think you’ll make it.”

 

At that moment, the first shooting star blazed across the sky, and Lissa jumped to attention, grabbing her telescope and zeroing in. Tom knew he ought to do the same if he wanted the photo but somehow he couldn’t quite tear his eyes away from Lissa. Tom wondered sometimes whether his own interest was in astronomy, or if he just wanted to orbit this specific bright star.

The meteors fell to the earth one by one, leaving gorgeous white trails in their wakes. After the last one disappeared, Lissa backed away from her set-up and nodded toward Tom’s telescope.  “Did you get what you wanted?” 

He hadn’t even turned the camera on. He’d watched Lissa the whole time. “Almost,” he said softly. 

“I’m sure it’s great. I got some good ones too.” She began taking down her equipment, so Tom followed suit. After a moment’s silence, she said, “Maybe we’ll be up there together one day. That’d be cool, wouldn’t it?” 

Tom felt a grin spread across his face, and he reached for Lissa’s hand. 

Heading to the parking lot, he imagined them in zero gravity, bouncing around the space station, trying to make contact in just the right way for their lips to meet. It was a long shot, a giant leap. But tonight, at least, he’d made one small step.