The Glory of the Milky Way

It was winter, so I was not very keen on going outside, but Jacob wanted to speak to me and he wanted to speak to me outside. I climbed down the stairs into the back exit and out into the garden. It was night time, I must have lost track of time, and there was not a cloud in the sky. The sky was a veritable spectacle of stars.

I wobbled across the garden, now all covered in snow, opened the small door in the fence to get into the street, and walked down the street almost all the way across town. The stars were bright enough to light my way so I did not need a lamp or flashlight.

Jacob was standing on the bridge, looking up at the sky.

”I can tell by Ursa Minor,” he said, “That winter will soon be over. See how clear she is? How low over the horizon at this time of night?”

I sniffled.

”Don’t you think the sky is beautiful?” he said, “The Milky Way shines so bright.” I could hear he was smiling as he spoke. However, I did not feel like humoring him. I was cold and I was mad at him because Edith liked him more than she liked me. Not that it mattered, but still, I was angry.

”You know, in the past,” he said, “People could not see the stars if they lived in a city like this because there were too many lights on the ground. Street lights, and cars with lights, you know?"

"So what?” I said, even though I had resolved not to speak.

”They could not enjoy the Milky Way like we can."

"Before that,” I said, “People did not use light either. They could see the Milky Way and they did not know it was a bunch of space junk. It could have been anything, as far as they knew, so it was awe inspiring.”

Jacob looked at me for the first time that night. He said:

“Isn’t it awe inspiring now that we know what it really is?”

Posted by: Paweł Kowaluk