Now don't get excited or anything

Occasionally I might actually finish something I've tried to write, and I might actually put it up here because I want to see if people think it's any good. So tell me how much crap you think it is because that's what I'm looking for here. But if you're a person that steals other people's work, please go away and be a jerk somewhere else.

That said, here's something I finished a little while ago.

Looking Up
Sam Frisk

I’ve always liked the stars.

We stood together, looking up at those stars for a long time that night. We just held hands and watched. We were all alone, so far from her house. It felt like a few hundred miles, but it was really more like a few hundred yards. We had tromped out across the field, stumbling on the uneven lumps of ground, holding tightly onto one another to make sure neither of us fell down. We had hopped the rough log fence and taken a few more uncertain steps before stopping in the middle of that field, surrounded by the stubble of corn stalks and darkness. She pointed up, and I saw them differently than I had ever seen them before. The air was absolutely freezing and entirely cloudless, so I could see an unfathomable number of stars with unbelievable clarity. Each point of light was brought sharply into focus for the first time. With no other light shining around us, the stars could stand by themselves, piercing the darkness without competition. Words seemed inadequate then to describe the display we witnessed, so we watched without saying anything at all. The only sounds were the short puffs of her breath and the longer, deeper swells of mine. Even the wind was quiet that night, so the clouds of vapor from our mouths floated lazily up and away as they disappeared. It was the purest, simplest moment I’d ever experienced. I had the worst cold of my life the next week, but it was worth it. A beauty of the sort I saw should not be missed. My first experience of farm stars changed my life.

I stood alone, looking up at those stars for a long time that night. I stood with my hands in my pockets and watched. I was alone on the rooftop, but all around me, I could hear noise and tumult. It was a different city than I had ever experienced and the stars were different as well. Standing only a few hundred yards from the Sacred River, I could hear the subtle sound of water moving, of filth flowing past. The camera that had been my constant companion on that journey was still slung around my neck and hanging against my chest, lens cap dangling about as I breathed. I stood there barefoot on the rough, dirty roof, in the dissipating heat and noise of a day all but over. The stars were there, once again uninhibited by the glow of urbanity that I was accustomed to. I watched a hazy sky, dotted with points of light that were different somehow from the points of light I knew from my home in North America. They were in different places than I was used to. Orion, my favorite from childhood, was gone, replaced by new and unfamiliar constellations. Looking at the stars alone made me miss her in a way I had not since I had arrived. A month was longer than we had been apart since we had met, but the excitement and urgency I felt had so far held off my desire to be near her. I stood there wishing we could have shared this moment… Eventually clouds had rolled in, shrouding the stars in sullen, dingy strips of unimpressive fabric. Peeking around the edge of a wisp of cloud was a star I thought I recognized. It twinkled cheerfully at me, reminding me suddenly of the eye of a little boy I had photographed earlier in the day. He squatted, barefoot and ragged, in the dirt only a few short steps from a pile of fly-covered dung, drawing pictures of animals in the dust with a small twig. He laughed, eyes sparkling, and I was amazed at his ability to ignore the squalor around him. The star I thought I recognized winked one last time before slipping behind the cloud. It was the most confused, conflicted moment I’d ever experienced. I struggled to understand his laughter when all I could summon up was anger over his lot in life. A joy in the face of life’s injustice of the sort I saw should not be missed. My first experience of India stars changed my life.

I lay alone, looking up at those stars for far too short a time tonight. I lay with my hands clutching uselessly at holes they couldn’t cover and watched. I was all alone, but not for very long. Soon, I was surrounded by urgent voices and every other kind of noise. It was once again a clear night, but tonight the bright lights of a city that never sleeps nearly blotted the stars I knew and loved. Through the artificial glow of the city and the warm tears welling up in my eyes I could barely make out the three tiny and faded points of Orion’s belt. Bright red and white light swept over me, removing any last ability to make out the far way lights set in the backdrop of night. Voices swirling around me were far too garbled to make out except for short snatches of terse conversation. Perforated lungs and filling with blood sounded especially ominous. He had seemed nervous, much more nervous than he should have been, seeing as he was the one holding the gun. His hands shook more than mine as I pulled out my wallet and tossed it across the tiny gulf between us. We had stood in uncertainty for a moment, just looking at each other, old eyes staring into young eyes. The sudden noise of the lid of a dumpster falling shut had been enough to propel his nervousness into panic. Even as the gun flashed loudly, his dark eyes grew wide, filling with a new horror, and he scrambled away. He left the wallet he had demanded only moments before. I stumbled and lay gasping wordlessly alone, staining the curb and gazing painfully up at the pinprick anchors of my life. Only three blocks, a couple hundred yards, separated me from my front door… and her. She was certainly lying in bed already, dozing and waiting for me to come in and put my cold feet on hers. For the first time, I was glad that she wasn’t there with me to look up at the stars. She hadn’t missed much tonight. They were so hard to see, after all. It was the most unique, unpleasant moment I’d ever experienced. I wanted to hold her hand one more time. A moment of absolute urgency of the sort I experienced should not be missed. My last experience of city stars made me wish for farm stars just one more time.