Together in the Universe

It is funny. The way that the moon just follows us as we keep moving. It’s like the moon, just wants some company. My thoughts wander as night becomes darker and darker in the black Maine sky. My friends were singing along to some fun tunes, while I was just leaning my head on the window, and once in a while getting mini bruises on the corner of my head from the bouncing of the car. I just couldn’t cope with it. My dad disappearing out of nowhere. The worst 2 months of my life.

“Hey Bree, come on, don’t be like that. We came all this way for you, so you could be free for once” My BFF pleaded

I didn’t answer. I wanted this too, maybe I should loosen up a bit. I leaned away from the window just in time because the car jerked to a stop. That would have been a bad bruise right there. 

We hopped off and set up the fire. We gathered a log so we could have a place to rest while we roast s’mores. While they were doing the work, I was just standing there, staring at the trees, watching the trees dance in the light breeze in the air. Two minutes passed by, while I kept zoning out. My hoodie cradled my cheeks that gave me a comfortable sensation. We sat down and had the fire going. 

I took a deep breath in and the strong smell of smoke and grass cleansed my nose. The fire punched my face with heat as my four friends laughed about in the dark moonlight, while I still admired the woods that were 20 feet away from our campsite, intrigued by its beauty.

I wasn’t expecting it, and I flinched. 

“What was that??” I thought to myself

A swift light kept appearing and disappearing. My brain was so distracted, I started to think that I was seeing things. But no. I had that feeling, that gut feeling that you can never ignore. I stood up. I needed to know 

        “Where are you going?” she said. “Come back here!” I ignored her, and I gave her a look. A look that she knows well. A look that she saw on my face every day at school for two months. She paused. “Come back, ok?” she said in a soft tone

I nodded and ran. I slowed down after setting foot in the woods, and that moment gave me tingles. I walked a few feet, looking from side to side, looking for what that could be. I was deep into the woods at this point, so I decided to turn around. 

But no. I couldn’t. Darkness rose in my eyes and I screamed for help. The sensation of pulling brought my feet off the ground. I screamed. I screamed so loud that someone’s eardrum could shatter. But no one could hear me, and the muffled sound of helplessness rang in my ear, and I gave up. 

   It felt like an eternity, every second felt like a year, but the pulling stopped, and slowly pushed me down to what seemed like a chair. The darkness was swept away, and I could feel it, but my eyes were still closed. I squinted to the light. The warm light was pulling me in from the breezy air outside, but I knew I wasn’t outside anymore. I opened my eyes, hoping that I wouldn’t regret it. I saw the back, of a person, a man for that matter. I shivered, and my spine tingles at the thought of this place being that last place I’ll exist in this universe. He was wearing a white lab coat, and that hair brought me nostalgia, of that familiar messy auburn hair. I couldn’t deny that strong feeling inside my gut, swirling, trying to come out through my mouth. My eyes went wide, and my eyebrows clenched. Could it be…

“Dad?” I said my voice cracking from the screaming, but trembling from the word that just came out of my mouth.

He turned around. My eyebrows shot up, and my eyes burned, so hot that they felt like they were melting. The tears fell the second he looked at me.

“Bree,” he said. That made my heart stop. He has no idea how much I’ve wanted to hear his voice. His voice was dull and made me feel even more hurt. “I need to talk to you because this is very important, and please, don’t cry,”

The second he said those words, my adrenaline went sky high, my face and my ears turned red.

“HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO STOP CRYING! You left me for 2 months! NOTHING is more important than the fact that you left without even saying GOODBYE!!” 

I was sobbing so hard at that point, that my lungs didn’t have the strength to breathe. This pain has been stored in my heart until now, and I felt free to finally get it off my chest.

“I had no choice but to leave without saying goodbye… and I feel horrible that you felt this way, but I did this for you, and you only.” he had bags under his eyes and dirt on his face. I wiped my eyes to get a better look at him, and the tent that we were in. 

   “Why? What could you have possibly done for me other than make me cry every day.”

   “I will tell you, but this is a long story,” 

I sniffed and wiped my eyes again and was about to argue once more, but he started talking anyway.

“You know I study the moon at NASA. And you also know that I was always intrigued by black holes, right”

“Ya? SO?” 

“I broke the rules. I broke them. I went ahead and did it anyway, and I studied Black holes even though they weren’t part of my jurisdiction, and you will never guess what I found.” His eyes went wide as he started getting to the point and I was starting to get impatient.

“It turns out that Black holes are portals to other dimensions! It is insane, and I am pretty sure you think that I am insane at this point, but I found a way to look inside, and everything is different… except you.” he paused, as he was pacing back and forth. I didn’t think he was insane, because who would think that one of the best astronomers in NASA would be insane.

“What happened to me!”

“You… you were sucked in,” He stared at the ground, and he looked like he was frozen in time. “Sucked in by a vortex, and the strongest I have ever seen. And the most shocking thing is, that it happened in every single dimension. And believe me, I’ve looked at 100’s of black holes by now. That is why I hid here for two months because I had no idea when this would happen, but I knew it would happen here. But I couldn’t risk it. I was willing to stay here for years, for you.” 

He smiled his old goofy smile, that I’ve missed so much.

“I’m sorry,” and I immediately stood up, and hugged him, squeezed him.

He was skinny, which made my eyes sting again.

   “The vortex is apparently attracted to inhumane sadness. That particular sadness has a magnetic force that can’t compare to anything else.”

We heard a loud noise outside. We looked at each other, me still squeezing my dad. We both knew what that was. I let go of him and he looked outside the tent, and he started running.

“Dad, It’s not safe!!” I screamed but he kept going, so I ran after him.

We both reached the tip of the forest, where the campsite was set, where the moonlight was as bright as ever.

   “Oh no,” we said together after I caught up.

The colorful lights swirled like an endless galaxy. I couldn’t get my eyes off it. It was like I was being hypnotized by its beauty. I blinked and looked away.

   “If this Vortex is attracted to my sadness, then why isn’t it coming after me,” I said.

“It is attracted to the spot where you were sad, and by looking at you, I don’t think you’re sad anymore,”

I was so mad that I could punch him right now. I WAS sad, and how dare he think I wasn’t. And he can’t tell that, just by looking at my face… right? And yet, I smiled at what he said.

   My friends were screaming and backing up against the woods, trying to get as far away from it as they could.

   “What the heck IS that!!” one of my friends shrieked. They were hugging and squeezing each other. 

   “ I saved you…” my dad said in awe. I looked at him and that bright colorful swirling filled his eyes.

   We saw all the leaves, wood, and food that we collected start to get sucked in swiftly by the vortex, eating up anything that was in front of it. It started to get stronger and stronger, but it wasn’t strong enough to get us. I looked at my dad. He was crying.

   “I saved you…” he said again. “You have no idea how it feels to look inside a black hole, and seeing my daughter get lost into the universe 100 times. It can drain a father’s heart out.” He sobbed 

   I hugged him like nothing else mattered. Now I know why I am so intrigued by the moon and the sky, and the colors... because it reminds me of him. 

We heard a large crashing sound and loud squealing followed. My dad and I turned to my friends, who were holding back my BFF.

“MY CAAAARRR!!!” 

The vortex slowly disappeared into the dark midnight sky, with me in my dad’s arms. I looked back at him, and we both stared at the moon. At that moment, it was just me and him. In the universe. Forever.