“Aurora borealis - an atmospheric phenomenon consisting of bands of light caused by charged solar particles following the earth's magnetic lines of force.”
Dex
The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, are naturally occurring lights that can be seen on clear nights in some parts of Alaska. Here, at Chena Hot Springs Resort, they are a huge attraction. When Piper suggested we go and see if they would light up the sky tonight, I jumped at the chance because it was preferable to being alone in the cabin with her.
We made our way to the vast clearing where people gathered in hopes of seeing them, both of us dressed in countless layers because it had to be at least minus twenty degrees. But it was a crystal-clear night and when we arrived, there was already a crowd of people hoping to catch a glimpse of the light show.
Piper and I found a place amongst the people and lay down with our backs against the hard packed snow. I didn’t look at her, but instead looked up at the darkened sky and watched as my breath came out in white puffs and then floated upward until it disappeared.
“Do you think we’ll see them?” Piper asked hopefully, and I glanced in her direction.
She was smiling, looking up at the night sky, waiting for something spectacular to happen. You wouldn’t know by looking at her that just a few hours ago someone tried to kill her.
That I tried to kill her.
I was still feeling a little… confused since this morning, but she seemed to put it out of her mind. I guess I should be thankful for that.
In some ways I wished it would’ve worked today. That any of my plans to kill her had worked. Because then it would be over and maybe I wouldn’t feel so mystified by my own feelings.
I closed my eyes off to everything and took a breath of cold air. I don’t know how long I lay there with my eyes closed, but they opened when I heard her gasp. Ribbons of color were lighting up the night. Long bursts of brilliant color shimmered across the sky, creating curtains of green and yellow.
“Oh look, Dex,” Piper said, reaching out and laying her hand on my arm. Her voice was hushed as if the view was so spectacular her words might disrupt it.
I turned my head to watch her. She was completely enthralled by the lights, and the colors of the sky reflected onto her skin, giving her a neon glow.
She was so beautiful.
How could you hurt something so beautiful?a part of me asked myself, and in that moment I wouldn’t have been able to come up with the answer to save my life.
“Dex?” Piper turned her head to look at me. “You’re missing it!” she said, her hand tightening on my arm.
“No, I’m not missing anything,” I replied, my voice the same hushed tone as hers.
She smiled and even though it was dark, I saw her eyes soften. The pull between us was so great in that moment I felt like I was in the sky and the ribbons of light were what stretched between us, shimmering and dancing, holding us together, yet still keeping us apart.
“You know,” Piper began, tilting her head back toward the sky, “the guide book in the cabin said there’s a legend saying some people believe the lights are actually flaming torches carried by departed souls who guide travelers into the afterlife.”
I liked that. I looked back up at the sky at the twisting and turning patterns of color and I thought how they reminded me of the way I looked without a body. I was nothing but color without form, a mist that floated in the air. I wasn’t green or yellow, but my color had been neon and vibrant. When I died, where was my guide? Maybe if someone would’ve been there to show me the way, I wouldn’t have ended up working for the Grim Reaper.
I looked back at Piper and realized that maybe where I was now wasn’t so bad.
“So what do you think?” I asked her. “About the legend?”
“I don’t know what to think,” she said, her gaze colliding with mine.
From the tone of her voice I knew we were no longer talking about the northern lights and the legends behind it. We were talking about something else. Something deeper.
“Can you feel it?” she asked, turning her body so she was lying on her side in the snow, facing me. Her hand released my arm so she could bring it up to pillow beneath her cheek.
“Feel what?”
“There’s something between us, but I don’t know what it is.”
“Maybe you think I’m hot,” I said, flashing a grin.
She burst out laughing, disrupting the quiet of the night. She broke it off abruptly but continued to giggle lightly. “It’s those glasses. Men with glasses are hot.”
“You knocking my glasses?” I asked, smiling.
