The Star I Will Reach

Space. Everyone adores and loves learning everything that is outside of the atmosphere. Sun blazing through the land, stars and moon that lit up the night, and meteors that mesmerize everyone whenever there is a chance. Oliver absolutely loves astronomy. He and his childhood shenanigans involve space-related objects and trivia; well, he has a model rocket ship back in England that he still keeps to this day.

“Meteors can light up the whole sky, wonder how it feels like for one person to witness?”

He wonders as he uses the magnifying glass inside the display case. Just opposite of him, she does the same. Mesmerized and amazed by the meteorite. It took a while to let them fully comprehend the object, but as she was done looking, the same with him, their eyes met. His green eyes, her aquamarine eyes. It was pretty, just like the object they magnified. After a moment, they stood upright. He looked instantly at the other meteorite. It was a bigger chunk than the other. He leaned down, but no magnifying glass was present. Amazed again by it, he looked at it longer than the previous one.

“Such beauty exists?” 

He thought, looking at the descriptive history of it. As he was transfixed by the object, beside him, she leaned down and looked at it too. Eyes are fixed on only one object. But for one person, it isn’t. Their eyes suddenly fixed on the other.

Pretty. One of a kind. Unique.

That’s what he thought, and then he broke the gaze. Both stood upright once more. There aren’t people anymore, only two of them left. Only the meteorite and the sound of the “shining stars” remain with them.

“Do you want to head back?” Oliver asks Aka. She shakes her head; it seems she wants to stay in the area a little longer. One hand at her back, rubbing her fingers, the other hand holding onto the sling bag, and a shy pose. She definitely wants to stay longer, but she just couldn’t speak. Neither one could speak; the barrier was being set against them.

“Well, what do you want to do?” He asks her out of the blue. She looks up, looking at him, with a look that wants an answer. 

“Aka?” He waved his hand in front of her, and she was startled. She doesn’t know how to respond to that, but she did anyway.

“Sorry.” She says, very softly. Soothing to the ears. “I just want to stay here longer,”

“Take your time,” Oliver responds with a smile. “I’ll go ahead and…” He paused his sentence; apparently, he saw the text of the President.

“Yes!” He says excitedly, he was punching the air with no remorse. Good thing he was far away from the glass displays. Aka sees the euphoria in him and scoffs softly. Oliver continues to celebrate on his own terms.

“Didn’t you say… You have a meeting?” She asks. This is a site where she asks him about his itinerary. “I think we can go—”

“It’s alright.” He answers energetically, which startled her. He hasn’t noticed who he was talking to. “Take all the time… you need...” He finally noticed who he was talking to, maybe it turned her off with that kind of energy and excitement, so he started to apologize, bowing down as low as he could.

“I’m sorry, Aka!” He repeatedly says, facing her, Aka giggles at the action he was doing.

“Don’t worry, I find it funny.” She replies. Oliver scratches his head, laughing at what happened, then lifts his head and sees that Aka is now looking at the projected wall. He fixes himself and his fair lengthed hair. As he walked slowly to the projected wall, still images of the universe were shown. Both were amazed by it. No talks were heard when that showed, when suddenly, it changed into stars. Dozens and dozens of stars were projected, which even landed on themselves.

“Pretty…” She says quietly.

“It really is.” He agrees. “I want to have a star projector back home.”

“Same!” She says enthusiastically. They actually have something in common. “I want a big projector... that shows stars all over my room.”

“Why don’t you buy one?” Oliver asks bluntly. He really couldn’t think ahead of himself.

“My mom knows that I won't sleep if I have it.”

“What?”

“Yeah, mom is very strict with me when it comes to sleep.” Mrs. Tanaka absolutely has a very strict sleep schedule. One time, Aka didn’t sleep until midnight because of her phone. This led to her phone being taken away for a few days. “That’s the reason I can sleep late here.” She giggles with that statement.

“That’s one way to escape sleep.” He says that they ended up both laughing at what he said.

“You’re so funny, Oliver.” She says that was out of left field. He continues to laugh without realizing what she just said.

“I really am.” He says, without realizing it until, “Wait, what did you just say?”

“You’re funny.” Very straightforward again was Aka, which led to him being startled because it was unusual for her to say that. “It’s true, Oliver… You don’t realize it…, but you’re really humorous.” That’s a plus point for him that he may or may not have noticed.

“Thank you, I guess.” He hesitated for a moment with that, but he accepted it anyway. By the next second, a shooting star appeared on the projected screen. It took their breath away. Even if it was not in the night sky, just seeing it in a projector makes it special to them, at least.

“So pretty…” She says.

“I agree.” He replies. A few minutes later, a text from Aka’s phone. She picks it up from her purse and, lo and behold, it was from Trinity.

Trinity: If you want to meet us, we’re at the center.

She just sees the message. She isn’t the type to reply to messages. To see is already a message according to her. She was ready to tell him to go back to the center; however, he was still looking at the shooting stars. She took a step back and let him be mesmerized by its beauty. Minutes later, he was finished.

“Do you want to go back?” He asks her.

“I have… a question,” Aka says, head slightly low, but still looks at him in the eye. “Why do you like stars?”

He takes a look back at the wall, still projecting the stars. Some were bright, some weren’t, but it didn’t devalue the beauty of it. He exhales and smiles, getting an answer.

“I want to chase them.” He says, Aka didn’t quite understand what he meant. “Hmm?” She muttered.

“I want to chase the impossible. I have big dreams, Aka. I want to reach for them.” He is determined by that statement. Simple answer, but it was big for him.

“Dad is already well-known in the country. So, I want to have a name for myself.” He says, fist slightly clenched, passionate eyes and tone. 

“I want to be a star.” 

Ending a statement with that feels so passionate that she was listening to him very intently. She was happy with that answer, like a teacher asking for the perfect one.

“Oliver,” She says. He looks at her, their colored eyes meet again. “I support everyone’s dreams. You’re one of them.” That’s a true person saying her own feelings to him. He was inspired more by that statement. He smiles at her statement. Feeling the support from her made him more focused on his dreams. 

“Please, continue that dream.”

“I will and… thank you. I’ll also support you.” He replies. He looks back at the stars. His dream may be close to reality. His star is about to be brighter than ever before. She also looks back at the wall, and more stars appear. Really pretty on sight as they head for the exits.

“The stars,” She says softly, gentle with her words. “It really is pretty…”

He continues to look at the star wall, then slowly changes his gaze to someone else.

“Yeah, it really is pretty…” He replies, looking at her. He then turns around, about to go back to the center.

“Aka?”

“Mhmm?”

“They’re looking for us, don’t be too late now…”

Aka turns around, and his figure is distant. As she was about to exit, she realized what he had just said.

“…Don’t be too late now…”

“Wait,” She wondered. 

“Was it him?” Wondering and pondering for a moment about that same line, her head may be light from it, yet she brushes it off again. “No, it can’t be him.” She exits the door, towards his direction, ending up beside him, walking towards the center. The stars at the planetarium. The meteorites are shown. The planets are distant from each other. Meteors travel fast, just high up above us. Stars shining down like our dreams. Just seeing and admiring it will always change the way we see the cosmos. 

Still beside him, continuing a subtle conversation. The same shoes that were beside him, head lowered towards the insect section, were also the ones that were by his side, heading out. The museum chapter is about to close. However, what was not closed was her thoughts.

“Somehow, I don’t want this day to end.”