Stars

Every time there’s a clear night I have the habit of looking up at the stars. I find it funny the distance stars are from Earth… some say light years away. Still beautiful and a sight to behold.

You see that light! That light in the sky right there!..Up There…Look at it shine! Remember when you were young and you first went to the planetarium? The first time I went it was one of our elementary school field trips. For some strange reason, parts of it still feels yesterdayish, not all of it though. So, after attendance was taken we loaded onto the buses and left our little school in the Bronx. I still to this day love fieldtrips! Our destination was to the planetarium somewhere downtown. We followed the signs on the Bronx River Parkway toward downtown. We passed the Bronx Zoo… Oh I wanna go there! I thought. After riding and talking with friends I noticed we got off the highway. I already knew one borough from the next so I knew we were in Manhattan by now. We made our way through a few streets and wound up near Central Park. That young all I can remember was… it was near or in Central Park…Now this park seemed to be big as forever. How many streets does this park take up? I thought. What kid you know is not ecstatic by now?! All I’m thinking about is playing, how much fun I can have in a park this big!

I don’t recall getting off the bus or walking into the building so I’ll skip to when we were all seated in the theater. Everybody did their shushes and we were ready to begin. The lights dimmed slowly then paused then from dim slowly to pitch black darkness. For the first half minute, we all were still excited. I heard some utter wows and other shushes. I think I did too. It remained dark. A minute passed until all the noise quieted. Another minute went by. It felt like five minutes went by…The first thoughts of excitement were starting to wear off. The OMG acronym was all I kept saying while sitting in the plush theater seat clutching the armrest trying to breathe. For whatever reason I don’t know why I was terrified. The narrator’s deep low voice began to speak real slow and smooth like a James Earl Jones. With each word there was a beam of light on the ceiling… I think. Heck, it’s pitch freakin black in there and you couldn’t even see your hand in front of your face no matter how many times you tried and blinked and squinted. I seriously think I’m seeing things at this point. As I listen to the story he tells the beams of light continue and start to make sense. I start to relax. Some stay lit and others later dim going with the movement in his voice. He continues for a few minutes or so, the same and his voice is slowly accompanied by soft music. He continues until the ceiling was illuminated by stars and we are looking at Earth from an astronauts view.
It was a view unlike what you've seen in the movies or pictures. That same vivid moment is alive.
What do you see?