A Starry Night

"Do you know what it means?"

Abigail spoke softly.

I turned to her as she gazed upon the meteor shower. Her brown, hazelnut eyes were glimmering under the moonlight. Her brown silky hair flowed through the gusty wind.

"When the stars fall from the skies?"

She faces me and smiles, waiting for an answer.

I shook my head.

She chuckles softly and turns back to the spectacle.

"It means 'A New Beginning'."

I looked at the meteor shower.

"A new beginning?"

I wondered aloud.

"When the stars fall from the skies, the earth shall shatter and the waters will rise. But fret not as the world will be born anew, as will yours."

Abigail muses poetically.

"Pretty sure that means that we're going to die…" I spoke cynically without breaking my gaze.

Abigail giggles.

"Come on, Evi, don't be a buzzkill."

I sighed and turned to her.

"Where did you get that quote from anyway?"

Abigail faces me, smiling sheepishly.

"I made it up."

That night, 5 years ago, was the last time I saw her.

All she had left for me, was a faint memory in a letter. A small insignificant letter that meant everything.

Why? Why didn't she tell me? Those words echoed through my head as I thought about her. Life hadn’t been the same once she was gone. We did everything together, study, play, eat, we were the inseparable duo even though we were a year apart. I never knew how much she meant to me until I lost her.

I had given up all hope of her ever returning. Yet, even as the days go by quickly, I wonder, does she think of me?

The morning sky rises from its slumber, greeting the inhabitants of our little town. I woke up with a distinct lethargy, cumulated from sleepless nights of cramming that exams have forced upon me. I reached for my phone on the tabletop cabinet by my bed. It shows 10 am. I shut my phone off and turned to my side, hoping to get more rest.

*Ding dong*

The doorbell chimes with its impeccable timing. I flinched and groaned at the sound. I ignored the ringing, hoping the person would go away.

*Ding dong!*

I cover my ears with my pillow.

*Ding dong, ding dong, ding dong, ding dong!*

The air grows silent, and peace returns once more. Is it finally over? I wondered.

*Ding, Dong!*

In a fury, I got out of bed sporadically while cursing the person for ruining my day and rushed down to the front door. I tugged at the doorknob and aggressively opened it.

"What do you-"

I scanned the person slowly. A woman with a familiar face stands elegantly at the front door. She was dressed in a white sundress in floral patterns coupled with a velvet red handbag. I stared at her, mouth agape.

"You're still wearing that shirt I gave you, huh?"

I struggled to keep my composure. It was like a scene out of a movie.

"You’ve come back..."

She smiles casually as her brown eyes gleam under the morning sun.

"Hey, Evio, it's been a while."

I can’t believe it, Abigail was standing right in front of me. Someone, I thought I’d never see again. I stepped towards her as she gave me a confused stare. I embrace her as she jolts backwards in surprise.

“What took you so long…” I muttered.

Abigail smiles as she accepts my embrace.

“I’m sorry...” She says guiltily.

We stood at the front door quietly as a minute passed.

"So… Are you going to let me in?" She asks.

I release her from my embrace as I snap back to reality.

“Right, sorry. Come in.” I said bashfully.

With a cheeky smile, she walks into the house as I close the door behind me. Abigail was looking around my living room nostalgically, strolling through the various knick knacks and paintings that my parents owned.

“This place sure hasn’t changed much, huh?” She speaks while immersed in nostalgia.

“Yeah, it’s been the same as always…” I answered on reflex.

Abigail wears a playful gaze and stares at the stairs leading to the bedrooms.

She turns to me and asks, “Can I?”

“Of course.”

While giggling, she walks up the stairs as I follow her to my bedroom.

“Now here’s something that I hadn’t expected to see.”

My room was a mess. My bed was unmade, my cupboards were filled with various books, notes and papers. Posters of shows and bands were that I had thoroughly enjoyed in the past were hung haphazardly on the walls of my room. Fresh laundry was strewn across my chair and cupboards. At my table, was a computer with a cluster of wires that I had given up trying to maintain, and a mug that I had forgotten to put back into the kitchen sink. My blackout curtains were still drawn, making my room eerily dark.

“You were always so clean when I came over to your room. What happened?” She teased.

“Well, I had time to clean up before you came, you know?” I said defensively.

She laughs to herself as I sigh deeply. Her eyes trailed towards the posters. Suddenly, she starts dashing towards one of them.

“I can’t believe you still have this!” She exclaims.

She was holding on to a hung poster of Inuyasha, a Japanese animation series that had aired a long time ago. Her eyes were wide with excitement.

“I remember my parents buying them for us like 10 years ago, how did you maintain it so well?” Abigail asks curiously.

“All I did was make sure that the posters aren’t too dusty by blowing it with compressed air and not using a damp cloth. It really is as simple as that.” I said triumphantly.

“I threw away mine because it was damaged beyond repair when we moved over. It was a really painful day for me…” She bemoaned.

Abigail continued to scour my room and poked around at my belongings. She would then go on ask about what video games I had been playing leaving me with no room to ask her. When she had finally stopped asking me about my stuff, I asked her genuinely.

“Abby, why did you come back?”

Abigail turned to me and gave me a blank look. She lies down on my bed and looks up to the ceiling as if she is thinking really hard for an answer. After a minute, she looks to me and smiles.

“I just missed this old town and wanted to see what had happened while I was gone.” She spoke.

I frowned and opened my mouth to protest. But before I could speak another word, the door to my bedroom bursts open. I turned around to see who it was, but a faint figure of a woman bolts past me and pounces on to Abigail. She embraces her and starts squealing at the top of her lungs.

“Abby! It’s been so long! Why didn’t you tell us you were coming earlier!”

I turned to the commotion only to see my mother excitedly hugging Abigail as she struggles to get up.

“Hi, Mrs Reece… It’s been.... awhile.” Abigail gasps for air.

Embarrassed, I tried to break them apart but before I could do anything, a strong hand grabbed my shoulder. I turned around and saw a grown man crying out tears of joy. He gave me an approving thumbs up as I looked at him.

“Son, I’m proud of you. You have finally become a man.”

“Huh?” I asked in a daze.

After the ordeal of escaping the clutches of my parents, we were both out of the house.

“I’m sorry, they can be like that sometimes…” I panted heavily.

Abigail gave me a little smile as she heaved a huge sigh of relief.

“Those two never change, huh?” She laughs as she catches her breath.

“So, what do you want to do?” I asked as I stretched my arms out.

Abigail sat down as she pondered the thought.

“Let’s tour the town!” She shouts excitedly.

The two of us left for the little town that served as a hub of memories. As children, we knew how to travel from place to place at the back of our hand. However, being 5 years away from here, Abigail’s memory was rusty of the town, so I had to be her guide around.

For starters, we went visiting our many childhood landmarks. We toured the riverside, visited a huge stone boulder that we dubbed as the Titan Pebble, and went to a little convenience store, we frequented as children, that sold a lot of snacks and candy. For lunch we ate at a local restaurant that our parents frequented when we were playing together.

While eating, we reminisced about the past. We talked about our lives during the 5 years that we had been apart. Abigail had, unsurprisingly, excellent grades in highschool and is now aiming for a prestigious college located in the city itself.

She was always good at studying. She would score A’s throughout her classes and would always top the cohort in terms of academics. I, on the other hand, was her polar opposite. Studying had been incredibly boring for me. I distracted myself with video games to avoid studying.

Seeing as how my grades were, Abigail took it upon herself to improve them. I didn’t want a tutor at that point as I felt that it was a waste, but eventually, it was a welcome gesture as my grades started improving.

As many could tell, my parents took a liking to her and even wanted to set both of us up. Fortunately, Abigail didn’t pay any attention to their shenanigans and just brush it off as a joke.

The day went by quickly. Our last stop for the day was a little teahouse that had just recently opened in the area. It was opened by an old couple that had wanted a quieter life. Abigail and I were sitting by the tables outside, enjoying our freshly brewed tea.

“Wow, these are really good!” Abigail exclaimed.

“Yeah! They make really good tea. I would come to this place almost every other day just to drink it.” I replied enthusiastically.

I looked up to the skies and saw the sun setting on the horizon.

“Oh, it’s getting late. We should head back after this.” I said as I drank the tea.

Abigail turns to the sunset as she sips her cup of tea.

“Hmmm…” She mutters.

I looked at her in awe. She really has grown beautiful, it’s a wonder she hasn’t gotten a boyfriend after all these years. Still, there was something bugging me about why she had come back. A feeling gnawing at the back of my head that was telling me that she had come back for another reason. As I thought more and more about it, I decided to ask her.

“Abigail, why did you-”

“Before we leave, there’s one last place I want to visit.” Abigail interjects.

I looked at her, stunned.

“Where?”

“Our secret spot.”

Memories of that day came flying back to me.

“The hilltop, wasn’t it?” I asked.

She nods. I opened my mouth to protest but she averted her gaze before I could speak. There was something that she wanted to say to me. I retracted my question and sighed.

“Okay, I’ll tell my parents we’ll be late for dinner.”

Abigail looks at me and smiles casually.

“Thanks, Evi.”

The journey to the secret spot was a rather tedious one. Surrounded by thick trees and vegetation, it was one that will take at least 10 mins just to reach it. Somehow the two of us had always managed to climb up the hilltop without so much as a scratch on our legs. We even had a designated route to travel so that it will take a shorter time to reach there.

The journey to the spot was always worth it. The stars would always glow the brightest whenever we were on top. Sometimes, Abigail would bring her father’s telescope just to watch the stars. It was a place filled with peace and serenity; a place to escape for a little while.

By the time we had finally reached the hilltop, the sky was just about to turn dark, and the stars were popping up bit by bit. Abigail stared at the sunset, mesmerized at its beauty. She goes to a nearby tree and leans against it. I took my place on the side of the tree trunk and relaxed. Before we knew it, dusk set itself upon the two of us.

We both stared in awe, as the stars bloomed across the skyline.

“Do you remember?”

I looked at her, confused.

“About the stars that fall?” She continued.

I turned away from her and tilted my head up.

“A New Beginning…” I answered confidently.

“Yup...” She replied.

We both turned back to the skyline, waiting for either of us to break the silence.

“It was a lie, wasn’t it?” I said firmly.

Abigail didn’t answer.

“If you were still the Abigail that I knew, she wouldn’t come back here anymore.”

Abigail stayed silent.

“In that letter you said that you were happy that you were now going to the city to live,” I said dejectedly. “That you were finally able to live out your dreams.”

I sighed as the silence between us grew.

“If I knew her, she would have long forgotten about this place and chased her dream.”

I gritted my teeth and forced my question out.

“Why? Why did you come back?”

The silence ensues. I sighed and slouched against the tree trunk.

“Because of you…” She answered softly.

My heart skipped a beat. Me?I turned to her slowly. Abigail was slouched, hanging her head.

“Because you were here.”

I stared at her, my eyes wide with astonishment.

“When I had left, I thought I would be able to forget you… Forget the things we did together.”

She tilts her head up and gazed upon the midnight blue skies.

“But I was wrong... so wrong.”

Abigail held both her knees together and pressed her head against them.

“I began to miss you; began to miss the times we had together.” She spoke softly. “I didn’t realise how much I had liked you.”

Abigail laughs to herself.

“I tried to drown myself in my studies, hoping I would eventually forget you and move on.” Abigail said solemnly, “But you still lingered in my head, waiting for me to admit it.”

I looked at her. She was smiling as she looked at the empty space ahead of us.

“Sometimes, I wished you had come with me so I wouldn’t have felt so alone.”

I stayed silent and looked back at the stars. I was speechless and dumbfounded. All I could muster was a single sentence.

"I like you too..." I said bashfully.

Abigail turned to me in shock.

“What…?”

Blushing, I mustered up the courage to say it out loud.

“I said I like you too!”

Abigail flinched in surprise.

“You like me?”

I looked at her in the dark, her cheeks were beet red. I turned away from her as soon as I realised.

“Yeah…”

The atmosphere grew awkward. I started sweating nervously, wishing I hadn’t said that. Just then, Abigail bursts out laughing. Shocked, I turned to her.

“What’s so funny?” I questioned her sheepishly.

Abigail eventually composes herself.

“I just didn’t expect my confession to go this way.” She says mid-laughter.

“So, it was a confession…”

“Yeah, I didn’t think you would react like this.”

I sighed as the wind whistles over the night skies.

“So, what did you like about me?” She teased.

“Are we really doing this now?” I said irritably.

‘Come on, I wanna know.”

Sighing, I gave in to her demands.

“I liked that you were brave, bubbly, smart and the way you were always so confident in doing anything was really alluring.” I said while blushing.

“Hmmm, I see...”

Above us, the stars started falling behind the clouds. An alluring display of meteorites rained from the vast skies.

“Abby, are you sure?” I asked her.

“As sure as I’ll ever be.”

“We will be apart for a long time.”

“So, I’ll text you. We’ll be together online.”

“But-”

Abigail shushes me with her finger. She leans in close as we stare into each other’s eyes. At that moment, it felt like the world around us disappeared and all that was left was the two of us. I held her hand on the ground and leaned in. Our eyes close as our lips connect.

Our lips part and our eyes meet once more. Abigail smiles at me.

“Until that day, I will wait for you.” She whispers.

Abigail leans on me as I embrace her.

“I’ll come visit when I get the chance.” I said confidently.

“You better…” She teases.

As the meteor shower rains across the skyline, the two of us gaze upon the starry skies, hoping this moment would never end.