Midnight Hike
Just a few hours ago, I checked the Night Sky app on my phone to see that there wouldn’t be a single cloud in the sky. Half-jokingly, I flicked you a message asking if you’d like to join me. To my amazement, you respond almost instantly saying you’d love to. The grin on my face was as wide as the sky itself.
My shoes landed on the other side of the room as I kicked them off. Out of nowhere, you texted me (to let me know you were ready) well over an hour in advance. “No matter”, I thought to myself. Less than a minute later, I was out the door walking to my car.
Admittedly I was somewhat nervous. My Sperry’s were grinding against my heel uncomfortably. The two jackets were far too hot for walking to my car. Before long, I arrived at my car. I wanted nothing more than to drive immediately and grab you just so you could see my face light up, but I desperately needed to change. So, after switching out my shoes, I was back on the road ready to get my beautiful date for the night.
Once again, I was nervous beyond belief. Something inside me wanted a picture, but I knew I couldn’t capture the moment with a single image. Nor, in retrospect, can I capture it with any sequence of words.
My neck wasn’t under my control anymore. It continued to try and swivel so my eyes could take in the glory of the stars, but each time you would say, “you have to wait.” I waited for what seemed like forever until, suddenly, the road forked and the wall of trees surrounding us gave way to what, in the darkness, seemed to be an infinite expanse of land.
It turns out I was correct. I wasn’t prepared for our little adventure. I’d brought a hammock and a speaker, but they were worthless. All we needed was that blanket and each other. As we finally laid down, and were admittedly jabbed in the back by a few too many sticks, something miraculous happened. A faint trail of light spread across the night sky just above us. At first, I didn’t want to say anything because I figured laying down quickly had caused me to see something that wasn’t accurate. However, I soon realized we’d both seen the same thing. “The universe winked at us” you said. “You’re right” I thought back to myself. Everything had fallen into place just as it was meant to be.
All I could think about was what you’d said a while back. “I wish I had known how you felt sooner.” While it’s easy to feel that way, we wouldn’t have been in the same exact place. We wouldn’t have seen a shooting star that wasn’t expected to grace our atmosphere. We wouldn’t have gripped each other’s hands so tightly. We wouldn’t have cuddled so close for warmth. We wouldn’t have listen to the playlist I’d spent hours attempting to make for you.
Who cares what happened to that shooting star? If its fate was half as good as mine, it’d be doing fantastic.