A long night has finally passed and the dawn is creeping up on the horizon. Robert looks at the thin line of colour that divides the night and approaching day, and he wants to be on the other side of this night of disappointment.

Hours ago, Karen had come up to the roof of the old Alexander theatre and stood beside Robert, both of them staring up at the meteor shower that flashed above them. He had wondered how it was possible that she did not hear the pounding of his heart when she was this close. It was funny that stars were dancing in the sky in a way that would never happen again in his lifetime, but all he could think of or see was the girl beside him.

When the pace of the shower slowed, there were refreshments carted out by the teachers chaperoning this strange science trip. Robert tried to be a gentleman and offer to bring Karen a drink,but she had rushed to the side of her best friends on the other side of the roof. He poured a can of root beer into a red plastic cup and sipped it. He sat on his sleeping bag and felt invisible.

Everyone was too wired and excited to go to sleep, initially, but by 2AM most of the class were drifting off. Robert’s eyes were stinging with a need for sleep as he saw Karen lean in to whisper something to her best friend Jenna. They both giggled and looked for someone on the other side of the roof, and for one brief moment he thought that maybe, just maybe she was finally looking for him. She saw him looking back at her and gave him a perfunctory wave before resuming her search. Robert felt so invisible.

He really had wanted to fall asleep after that, to put the heartache behind him and rest, but his mind kept racing over the details of his not-quite-relationship with Karen. He spent the coldest hours of the night reliving their first meeting in grade nine gym class, the dozens of times he had walked home with her, the one time he had been invited to a party at her house. Somewhere in all those memories he wanted to find a clue on how to win her heart. And if he couldn’t win her, at least he could hope for a way to move on. Maybe it would have been easier if she had been mean to him, but she was always so nice.

Robert flipped on his flashlight and made a few notes for the field trip assignment. His astronomy teacher Miss Dubrofsky would expect a journal of his observations of the meteor shower, and the drama teacher Mr. Donald wanted a descriptive sketch of the building they were using as an observatory. The Old Alexander Theatre was originally a Mechanist’s union hall when it was built in 1903, and it had been renovated and re-purposed into a theatre for the community of New Tecumseh. It was far enough away from the city that the light conditions were better for watching celestial events, and Mr. Donald the drama teacher was a member of the theatre’s board of directors, which gave him special access to the facility. The building and the interior were nice enough, but Robert just wanted to be at home. He would have been happier never having seen this place at all.

The last few hours were quiet and lonely. There was a little excitement at 4AM when a few of the students woke up shivering from the cold. The teachers dutifully gathered up everyone who was too cold and took them inside to finish the night in the heated lobby. Robert just shook his head and went back to pretending to sleep when Mr. Donald asked him if he wanted to come in too. It was better being alone out here, and Robert had dressed properly for a night outside. His fingers were a little cold, but a cup of his hot chocolate would fix that. He had groaned when his mom had handed him the thermos full of hot chocolate as he was leaving for the trip, but he was very grateful to have it now.

So now he was standing alone on the rooftop with his second cup of hot chocolate as the last few meteors sporadically shot across the multicoloured sky. Ms. Dubrofsky had said that a meteor shower of this magnitude and peculiar presentation was a rare occurrence, and most people would go their whole lifetime without seeing anything like it again. The dots of light had danced at a frenzied pace, with hints of colour shifting as they moved. It had felt like they were alive and overjoyed to be with each other.

Robert puts the now empty cup on the ground and stares off into glowing light of dawn. Two meteors dash from opposite corners of the sky to meet in the middle and momentarily circle each other before they fade from sight. Just like he imagines it would look like if Karen suddenly realized she had feelings for him. She would see him across a room, after searching for him, and she would move quickly to him. He’d be pulled towards her, both of them moving faster until they met and embraced, spinning together until they slowed to a stop. He wanted to hold her forever and keep her safe and warm, but all he had in his arms right now was cold reality.

Robert closes his eyes and holds his hands tightly to his side as he waits for this sad longing to subside. He wishes he could do anything at all to make Karen notice him,to feel even a fraction of what he feels for her. From deep within him a power awakens, a strange, fluttering feeling that is lost among his heartache. The power pulses in a rhythm that is mirrored by a final,single meteor that hangs impossibly in the sky at the division line. They both build in intensity until Robert finds the words that give this new-found power shape and purpose. His eyes snap open and his arms are spread to the wind as he moves his lips and sighs his simple plea. “Love me”. A wave of scintillating light rolls out from his outstretched hands and washes over the town in front of him. The lone meteor flashes into a sympathetic brilliance that forces Robert to close his eyes, and then it falls from the sky.

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