Starry Nights

She was lying on the top of the tree on one of the largest branches facing the night sky. She had her hand under the head and her other hand dangling at the side. She was wide awake despite the time of the night and her eyes wide open, trying to absorb the infinity above her into her head.

He laid there, right below her on the ground on a neatly laid picnic towel. He had his arms wrapped under his head, and his legs stretched on the towel. His eyelids were half-closed after a tiring day.

This has been their meeting place for some time now, far from the city traffic, far from the busy human race. The site looked the same but hadn't stop impressing them: dark night, starry sky, absolute silence and the single tree, a testimony of their love.

She started talking with her eyes still fixed on the endless sky. "What do these stars remind you of?"

He answered sleepily, "The big bang theory, the nebulae, dwa.."

She rolled on the branch to face him below and threw a twig at him.

"Ouch! What?" He asked in between his laughter.

"What does it remind you of?" He asked it back to her.

He had asked what she had wanted to hear. Now she would tell all that she dreams about every day as she gazed at the stars. She had always wanted to talk about her desires. She wanted someone to know her dreams and admire its intelligence and beauty.

She let out a deep breath and started to talk with passion in her voice, "It reminds me of infinity. Infinite possibilities. It keeps reminding me how little I know and how I cannot predict reality with that little I know. It tells me that the universe is too big to contain in brains, especially those as small as yours", she said smiling.

There was silence, and she looked down from above. He acted like he was snoring and she threw a twig at him again. This time he rolled just in time, and the twig fell beside him.

He chuckled and replied, "Oh, you are dreaming too much, Ana! There's more to reality than dreams. You are thinking about the infinitesimally little possibility of infinity. Even if you choose to argue that there are chances that this night will stay with us forever, the sun will never rise, you know there are million other reasons for why it will rise. That's reality. And we live there."

His answer pricked her. Her mood changed abruptly, and the spark in her eyes disappeared. She was upset, though she expected nothing different from him. She was a dreamer, and he was not. They both knew it. But every time she brought up this topic, she thought he would comply, or at least act like he agreed. She wished he told, that he understood her dreams and desires and would live them with her. But he was always too far away, stuck in reality.

She slowly jumped down from the tree, landed on the ground softly beside him and lied on the towel beside him. She touched his palm that lay in between them and drew circles on it with her finger as she spoke, facing the sky, "reality is harsh. It's brutal. You know it. Yet you stick to it. I can't complain, but I wonder why you choose to believe in a reality that gives you sorrow when dreams can give you happiness. At the least, can you not act like you believe? Can you not lie for me?"

He rolled to his side to face her. Now he was brisk and void of the day's tire. He pulled his hand from her and supported his head with it. He moved aside the hair that fell on her eyes and twirled it in between his fingers.

"I wish I could. I wish I could fly with you over the clouds. I wish I could walk with you all night long and hope for the sun to not rise. I wish I could dream like you. I wish I could stay away from the scary reality. I wish I could live life like you do. Enjoying the present, turning them into good memories and reminiscing them when days aren't that sweet. You are lucky for you are the Princess of your present. I am sadly the slave of my future."

He continued, "But, you know what? It doesn't matter. I would remain on the ground to admire you as you soar high and to catch you if you were to ever fall."

Her gaze turned from the sky to him, and she saw his eyes were as teary as hers.