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“You’re saying it’s not trash?”
“Far from trash,” Evans replied. “I think you should take astronomy.”
Ah, the stars. Okay. I’d always had a deep love for the subject, that was true. But there were moments when I could not reconcile with the emptiness I felt when I tried to think of the bigger universe.
The topic was too closely tied to the few fond memories I had of my mother, a whole lifetime ago.
We were on a camping trip, far away from the city lights and surrounded by the vast expanse of the starry sky. I was only eight years old at the time, but the memory was etched in my mind as if it happened yesterday.
We were sitting around the campfire, roasting marshmallows and enjoying the warmth of the flames.
I was staring up at the sky, mesmerized by the glittering stars that seemed to go on forever. Suddenly, my mother sat down next to me and pointed up at the sky.
"Rory, do you see that constellation up there?" she asked, her finger tracing the outline of the Big Dipper.
I nodded, my eyes wide with wonder.
"Well, did you know that people have been looking at those stars for thousands of years?" she continued.
"The ancient Greeks used to tell stories about the constellations, and sailors used them to navigate the seas. There's so much beauty and history up there in the sky."
I looked up at her, amazed by the knowledge she possessed.
"Can you teach me more?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
And so, my mother spent the rest of the night pointing out different constellations and telling me their stories.
She talked about the North Star, which sailors use to find their way home, and the Orion Nebula, which is a birthplace for new stars.
As we lay on our backs, gazing up at the stars, my mother's words filled me with a sense of awe and wonder that I had never felt before.
It was like a whole new world had opened up to me. This was one of her good days. The days when it actually felt like I had someone who could help me pick up on the ridiculousness of life.
The other days, I was the one in charge because she couldn’t get out of bed—her grief forbade it. So, yes, I’d avoided the subject of astronomy, even though I knew it was one of East Harbor’s most prized offerings.
It just hit too close to home for me. Have you ever experienced one of those situations where something feels too intensely personal to share with the rest of the world?
I gulped. “I’m not sure I’m cut out for that.”
“And we totally understand.” Professor Taylor sounded unreasonably gentle when he said this. In a good way. It was like he knew he could change my mind. Man, how did this guy have so much power over me?
“Aurora,” he continued, his back turned to me as he prepared his notes for class. “The thing about learning is... the more you embrace, the more you get to live. It’s a scary thought because you’re opening yourself up to so much.”
“But if you don’t,” Evans suddenly chimed in, “you lose an opportunity at finding this home you wrote about. Hiraeth.”
Taylor turned and flashed a smile at the both of us. Oh, my heart. Be fucking still, please.
“Trust Noah Evans to take my words outta my mouth. So, what say, Aurora? I think the first astronomy class begins tomorrow at noon. And Benjamin is always looking for new talent. He’ll be pleased.”
Benjamin. That sounded like a sea-captain’s name. Old. Witty.
I mulled over their words for a second before nodding. “I guess it couldn’t hurt.”
Evans laughed. “It shouldn’t, so long as you don’t catapult into class the way you did into mine. That was quite the entrance, Aurora.”
I turned into the ripest tomato the gentlemen could have ever hoped to see, and I wasn’t even in a fucking garden. “It was an accident,” I mumbled. “I’m always doing these stupid things.”
“Well...” Evans got up from the table he’d been sitting on like a casual student and ruffled his hair. “I believe it is our accidents that make us all the more endearing as people.”
