~ Sleepless night
It was one fine night.
Well, at least for someone like him, though. For any other “ordinary” human being, it was the perfect time to bury himself into his warm and cozy bed. It was cold outside, and the night was all dark. There was only the sound of the blowing wind, and when it’s past midnight silence started to fall.
He’s grown to enjoy a night like this. He would always bring out the old telescope he had loved. As a child gazing at The Milky Way across the night sky, he couldn’t help but wonder what’s really up there, wishing to take a closer look at the stars.
What’s it like to be free?
Freedom was right there in front of him, he thought. A clear sky, a telescope, he was the only one, he was the king of his own world. He could do just about everything he wanted. Aiming at Orion, tracking along to Gemini, or even further away to Seven Sisters, he’d known the sky by heart. Star-hopping was sometimes the one and only interest. It opens up a whole new world for him to discover.
He caught his eyes on a strange source of light. It doesn’t look million of light years away - he thought. It was way more luminous than Vega, Polaris, or even Sirius. It felt really close. He was observing it, but suddenly the light transmitted through the telescope became so strong that he had to take his eye off the eyepiece. It was almost blinding, he closed his eyes in an instant.
When he opened his eyes, she was right there, smiling. She was glowing in a strange way, much like the moon was shining on her. But it was a moonless night..
She held out her hand to him. He felt a sudden urge to take that hand. Her hand was small, he could easily wrap his own around it, shivering as he slid his fingers into the space between hers. They didn’t say a word, but somehow he understood. And he closed his eyes again, eagerly waiting for something he didn’t even know what yet.
He felt the wind blowing through his face, and slowly opened his eyes. He was flying! His feet lifted off the ground, he was quickly accelerating towards the night sky. In a blink of an eye he already saw his house as a puny piece of children’s toys. Soon enough, the only feeling he still had was her hand in his. There was a complete silence, not at all awkward, but peaceful and comfortable. Her smile talked to him more than a hundred words would.
He never met her before, but somehow trusted her wholeheartedly.
For she was taking him to the only dream he knew.
_________
The Snooker’s championship.
The final game was an interesting match-up. An experienced player who’s won the title more than 7 times, famous for his cautious play style. A young and rising player on his first official tournament, an amazing sensation to watch they say, for he plays the free and reckless way. His long shots are beautiful and rarely miss. His extraordinary shots that require a lot of precision and calculation. He is indeed an entertaining player.
The early rounds saw the young player taking a comfortable lead. He was easily potting all the balls, without leaving a chance to the old player, who still kept a calm look on his face, smiling. The spectators kept wowww-ing at his innovative and free play style. The old player, on his turn, did manage to keep himself in the game.
Out of nowhere at all, the young player made a mistake in his turn. A long shot that missed by a centimetre. The red ball went bouncing off the side of the table. The spectators all aww in regret.
The old player stood up again. A faint grin through his face. He calmly and slowly potted the balls, seeming at ease as he did.
As it turned out in the end, the old player had a 2-round lead, and he only needed one more to win the title. The round was the young player’s turn, though. The young player can’t afford to make one mistake.
He didn’t, not until later that round. He gained quite a handful of points, potting a red and a black each time.
But again, his nervousness led to another “close” miss. The camera focused on his face, an obvious look of worries and anger mixed together. A close miss in snooker is as regretful as a few miliseconds late in running.
Still, he already had more points than the ones available on the table. He would be able to take this round, unless the old player manages to force him into a foul shot that would reward the old player with extra points.
As he stood up from rest, the old player suddenly seemed very confident. He walked fast to the table, unlike his usual style, very neatly “hid” the cue ball away from any possible ball.
The young player had to make a foul shot, although he, again, very closely missed the blue with the cue sent bouncing off the table side before passing milimetres away.
The old player seemed to be on drugs. He potted the rest of the balls in a manner that none of the spectators, or even the young player would expect him to. He used a lot of long shots, the noise he made when he hit the cue ball was loud and sharp. In other words it was exactly as the young player played. Free, determined, not a lot of planning ahead.
The old player won that round, even though nobody thought he would. They were certain that he would wait for the round after when he would have the turn. They were of course, wrong.
As he walked to the young player, he held out his hand. The young player took it, and shook it well. His face no longer showed any negative feeling.
He was smiling.
_____________
It was one fine night.
He was having the feeling he never had before. Completely free, completely at peace. The only connection he had with the outer world was her warm soft hand, his star girl. He was taken through a strange night sky, not like any other night sky he saw before. He went to the edge of the Milky Way, and flew off it. He was looking at his home galaxy from above. He was so close to Lyra he could touch it. He was looking at the magnificent scene of a supernova, that would only be seen from Earth millions of years from now. He saw with his own eyes the making of a new star, and then a new solar system. He went through the edge of a blackhole in the heart of the swan, looking down at the dark place from which even light couldn’t escape, but he was not being sucked into it. All the while there was no sound, only a spectacular show of light and, darkness.
Beautiful dreams are often short-lived. This time, too. Within minutes he felt his feet on the ground again. His face wet with his own tears. The girl was no longer there.
He was, for a minute or two, completely free.
Free, like a piece of rock, moving centuries and centuries through endless time and space, finding itself trapped in a planet’s gravity, forever orbiting it, forever lost, never seeing home again.
