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meteors
diarrhetic
17 Apr 2003
It was crowded. Apparently they weren't the only ones to thought of heading to the coast to catch an unrestricted view of the meteor shower. Everyone wanted a glimpse of the once in a lifetime event and came prepared with their photographic equipment, binoculars and noisy children in tow. Enterprising vendors had set up small, illegal booths and were selling snacks, drinks and "I saw the shower" and "Meteor-me, Meteor-you, Meteorite" t-shirts
They stole away quietly from the crowd and towards the beach. They were fine with the noise generated by the hundreds of people in the party but not the mindlessness that pervaded each conversation. After a while, the only sound they heard was their breathing and the sound of the waves. It seemed like a whole different world from the artificial lights, which illuminated similarly artificial lives, but in reality, they were only a few hundred metres away.
They settled themselves by the breakwater.
"This place is beautiful Lewis" she said after a bit.
And suddenly shafts of light pierced the dark sky. There were few of them at first, appearing from one end of the sky, flashing past rapidly and disappearing from view. Then more and more shafts appeared, lighting up the sky very much like fireworks National Day except this was not a celebration of a nation but rather the celebration of life, a reminder of how insignificant we are and that we are all a part of something bigger. Larger than any single person can contemplate.
"I wonder if it is beautiful because of this place or if it is beautiful because we make it so" he whispered, afraid to spoil the moment.
They sat quietly like that for a long time even as the last meteor winked out of the sky. They were glad that they didn't bring a camera. It seemed sacrilegious to capture such a special moment that can only be experienced.
As quietly as they had arrived, they left and walked back towards the beach and melted into the crowds.
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