To The Cosmos 2019-2020 by: Amanda Buie
T
he sinister cloak of that night would never evade my memory. I distinctly recall the inky valance draped over the sky, and the distorted, contorted configurations that the stars produced against the void of blackness. The milky blots twisted and danced along the curtain, assisting to highlight the stunning craters of the moon which sat silently- as if on an invisible shelf- in the sky. The lake glistened, mirroring the extraordinary conglomeration of the stars above, only interrupted by the gentle sweep of the waves. The sound of fish breaking the surface of the water reminded me that I wasn’t alone. Bullfrogs croaked from the perimeter of the pond while the crickets sang their love songs. I felt my body begin to float toward the cosmos. I let go of everything and let my body become one with the night. The aroma of untouched earth and fresh rain invaded my nose, making me want to continue inhaling, never letting the freshness go. The water was temperate despite the rather brisk air travelling quickly over the surface of the lake. I continued to let the cosmos sweep me away until I could no longer reach the earth. I began to panic. The kind of panic I felt when I would lose my mother
at the grocery store or when loud crashes of thunder rattled the china in the cabinets. I had let the cosmos take me too far. I began to kick my legs violently, trying to make it back to the land but I seemed to only be going in circles. Tears began to burn over my face as I realized that these cosmos were no longer an extraordinary sight, but a treacherous one. I could feel my muscles growing weaker as I continued to tread, searching for earth beneath my feet. Nobody was around to rescue me from the night. This was suddenly unlike the grocery store, where a nice clerk would help me find my mother. This was suddenly unlike the loud crashes of thunder that would rattle the china in the cabinets, where my dad was there to hold me until the storm passed. This was real danger with nobody to rely on. I was continuing to drift farther and farther away from everything I knew, closer now, to the stars, to the moon. I felt miles away from the earth. I could no longer see it. Inky black surrounded my body, staining my clothes and preventing me from moving my limbs. I could feel my lungs growing tighter and tighter as I came closer to the stars and the moon. Soon, I wouldn’t be able to breathe.
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