A Trillion and One

And it seems so long ago, down on the road stapled to the edge of that cliff, burnt sienna from the sun and as unforgiving as old age, that fate claimed two lives, together as one. 

They were kids before anything, dancing amid paper streamers and deflated balloons in an aesthetically nightmarish gala of traditional colored nostalgia. They were loved, and they loved each other. Always smiling and waiting was she, on the sidelines often literally, but figuratively, this was never the case in his heart. And he was a star on the field and off, but the only one named specifically for her. Often, they would lie in her bed, listening to the clock tick away, waiting for the sunrise to arrive and beckon them towards their futures. 

And the future is where fate awakes, moaning and groaning and cracking its neck after such a long and tedious slumber. 

For the lovers had to leave.

With navy gowns abound and caps worn by summer grass, the two said goodbye. Not for long but for enough. 

He tried to follow the stars but in the end settled for only watching them twinkle and die before he had even been conceived. 

And she, well, much was not left up to she. She was carted away to a red bricked building of ivy coated door frames where she could never see him ever again.

This was not how they thought the future would treat them.

Quite fittingly, she donned her robes of black religiously and basked in the enticing ritual of depression. 

And, although of equal stature, he donned his robe of white and thought purely and singularly of a way to reunite them once more. 

For if trillions upon trillions of dust particles could come together after countless eons and reunite into a uniquely beautiful mass of heat and light, surely they could meet just once more. 

And forever, perhaps. Although that was much to complicated. For now, they would only get away, just for a moment. 

And so that night, the yellow convertible as bright and as bold as the sun clambered up the road towards the red bricked building with ivy coated door frames. 

There she awaited dressed all in black, but not for long, holding a rosary for luck and hoping that the starlight would not catch it in such a way as to be ironic.

The car weaved around the bend and she padded, barefoot, along the stone path towards her chariot. 

He waited eagerly, just now getting his first glance of her in umpteen years. She was worn, her hair was duller and her body stouter. But her eyes were still warm and her smile was still luminescent, and he considered himself the luckiest man among all the stars. 

She hopped in and they drove off. As they approached the road that overlooked the meeting of two worlds, he turned to stare at her in all her radiating beauty. 

And as the moon grew brighter, amid all the stars in the sky, it seemed like there wasn't possibly enough room to add anymore. 

Although, on that road, stapled to the cliff that was stained burnt sienna, the sunny yellow car lost traction, and in doing so, roared to life and flew towards the sky. Luckily, there was just enough room up in the vast and inky sky to accommodate two more stars.