Stargazing Night

It was a cool winter’s night with a chilly breeze blowing every now and then. The stars shone brightly in the sky, making it the perfect night for stargazing. Minseok and I decided to lay down on our lawn and admire the twinkling night sky.

Both of us were feeling helpless because of the ongoing pandemic. There was no end in sight. The second wave had hit the country hard, it was not safe to step out any more. We completely stopped venturing out for over a month now.

There was death everywhere. We were donating whenever we could. That was all that we were doing. But it felt like it wasn’t enough. We wanted to step out and actually help but we were scared at the same time.

One way we could help was just to stay indoors and not get the virus. At least it would not spread via us. We kept telling ourselves this, even though it could not completely clear our conscience. We still felt guilty about not doing actual work to help people in need.

We were both selfish in that sense. We enjoyed spending every second with each other. The thought of one of us getting the virus kept us from stepping out. We could not imagine our life without the other. It’s funny how you meet someone after thirty years of your life and can never picture a day without them.

The good thing was that we both felt the same way. This kept us sane and hopeful about getting through this pandemic together. And instead of waiting to start living our life, we decided to start living life right now.

It took us time but we accepted that this is our life now. The pandemic is here and not going anywhere any time soon. So just getting up in the morning and having a cup of coffee together was one of the things we looked forward to.

And tonight, the stars allowed us to have a stargazing date. If it were a time before the pandemic, we would never have thought to just take a blanket out to the lawn, lay down on it and look up at the stars. I’m sure we would have tried to book a special event for this.

Both of us lay side by side and silently admired the stars up above.

“Mackenzie?”

“Yes Min-Min”

“Do you think life will ever go back to normal?”

“No…”

“What do you mean?”, Minseok asked and turned to face me and rested his head on his palm.

“I don’t think life will ever go back to the way it was…”, I said still looking up at the sky.

“Do you think we’ll ever be able to step out again without a mask and sanitiser with us?”, I continued.

“Hmm, I don’t think so…”, he agreed, “…it sure is going to be different”, he said and lay back down.

All of a sudden, a cool breeze swept over us. Minseok pulled me onto his outstretched arm and I curled up into his side. He threw another blanket over us to keep us warm.

We lay there for a while I guess and I must’ve fallen asleep. Because when I opened my eyes, we were back on our cosy bed with our puppies and Minseok snoring softly next to me.