Starstruck

I have always admired the night sky ever since I was a little girl. In my old house, I had a backyard that had a tile patio that reflected the moon off the floor when the moon was right in the center of my backyard. Every night, I would sit outside and look up at the moon until I eventually fell asleep on the tile. I would also stay outside with my best friend past nine, ten, even eleven o'clock walking around the neighborhood where light posts weren't around and just rested ourselves on the grass. I did this on a consecutive basis until I moved to an area that didn't have the access to the stars.

In early January of this year, I had walked a trail with one of my friends late at night. It was cold, the wind was still, and the night was clear. No clouds, just the stars and a blanket of black that was held together by an illuminating ball of white. There were hundreds of trees around us, all taller than we could comprehend, and they led us down the trail. There were no light posts, lamps, or anything that gave off light to make the stars run and hide. The sky was our source of light, and it was incredibly bright. I could put my hand in front of my face and pick out every detail due to how bright the moon, and stars were.

Within ten minutes into the walk, I decided to look up. The trail was intended to just release some built up stress, but I admired the trees and all of my surroundings, but not the stars. I looked up and was in awe. There were so many stars, more than I have every seen before (I haven't been outside of town to really admire the stars, even though I tend to look up occasionally when there aren't any lights. I just could never do it for a long period of time). It made me feel so...small. You feel like you're so big against insects or humans that are smaller than you and you feel so superior to others for being so tall. But, the stars are so far away. And the sky is this vast, black canvas that engulfs you in everything. You reach your hand out and joke about almost being able to touch the moon, but you see that it's so far away and that it dominates you. I had this feeling of being so small to how I used to see myself, but I also felt powerful (it's difficult to explain. The feeling was unfathomable). I decided to lay on the dirt instead of looking up, since eventually it would strain my neck and that was the last thing I needed. The sky looked even farther away. I just wanted to reach out and grab each of the stars and see what kind of secrets they hold. So many people wish on stars or shooting stars, and these stars probably hold so many wishes people have wished for that never came true. Each star holds some kind of story, and I wanted to dig deeper and see what kind of story it had.

I was close to falling asleep due to how relaxing it was to look up at the moon and stars. The air was cool too, and it was pretty cold, so that was also a big factor. I got off the ground and continued to walk the trail, and I had stopped again at one point to look up at the stars, since there were trees in such a weird pattern. It  was so beautiful to look at, even though it was so dark. Hopefully sometime soon, or in the near future, I move somewhere where I can see the stars perfectly every night and not have to make the effort to find a spot in town to search for maybe, twenty stars at the most. That night was the most I have ever seen (in person), and I wouldn't mind travelling somewhere to experience looking at the stars.