Quote:
The Meteor Shower (3) : It wouldn’t be a star festival without a meteor shower! Right on time, a beautiful array of shooting stars graces the night sky. This time of year is unnaturally clear and it’s incredibly easy to see the stars. Most meteor fragments appear to be little white or yellow lights streaming across the sky, but if you watch closely enough you may find that some of them seem to be a whole rainbow of colors. The scientists have reported that it’s just different components burning up as they enter the atmosphere, but there’s something undeniabl[y magical about it.
It was a magical night out at the reservoir. A rave inspired by the Destiny City Star Festival was going on; glowsticks and glowing star necklaces were being handed out like candy on Halloween, and the revelers were dancing beneath the strings of Chinese lanterns which set a gentle, colorful illumination to the beach. One of the organizers had provided a generator big enough to power a DJ table and PA system, and a number of local DJs had been invited to play. DJ Buster was one of them. The others, who were all friends of his, knew him by his real name as well, Yukio.
Yukio finished his set, leaving a single swooping chord progression hanging in the air above the beach as he stepped away from the laptop and mixer and the next DJ took over. Usually, if this had been a club, he'd go out on the floor and dance the night away, but tonight he just wasn't feeling it. Maybe it was the weird things going on in the city, maybe it was the Star Festival itself. Maybe it was just him being moody, caught up in his now triple life of coder/hacker, DJ, and Moon Knight.
Walking away from the rave, he headed down the beach a little way, the sand squeaking beneath his tatami-clad feet. He slowly lowered himself to sit on the beach and gazed out at the water of the reservoir. Laughter echoed in the opposite direction of the throbbing music of the rave – probably some other partiers out to enjoy the warm night air. With a sigh he laid down, using his arms behind his head as a pillow, and just listened to the party on one side, the rave on the other, and the lapping of waves in front of him.
He gazed up at the night sky; the moon hadn't risen yet, so the stars this far away from the city were bright and plentiful. As he watched, lost in thought, a shimmering streak shot across the star field and disappeared. Yukio blinked – what was that? Two more shot across the sky in the same direction. Then he remembered: there was supposed to be a meteor shower during the Star Festival. Those must have been meteors!
Yukio watched the sky more attentively now, waiting for more shooting stars. He didn't have to wait long; first one, then another, then another flew across the sky, tails of their burning debris leaving white and yellow streaks behind them. The next one, though, looked different – it seemed to leave a trail of rainbow-colored sparkles behind. Raising an eyebrow, he riveted his gaze at the sky, hoping to see more of the dazzling rainbow meteors.
The sky was soon full of shooting stars, one or more streaking by every couple of seconds or so. Most of them were the ordinary sort, but some, to his delight, were rainbows. He allowed himself a genuine smile at the spectacle playing out in the night sky. It was as if the sky was having a rave as well, he thought. It was magical and beautiful and like nothing he'd ever seen before. He knew there was probably some logical explanation for it, and if he could be bothered to take out his phone and do a quick search he likely would have found the answer.
But he didn't want to. He'd rather lay there and think it was magic.
(wc: 574)
