25DoHS: Light

"Whoo hoo! It's Friday!" Spinner cheered as Spectra shut its doors for the night. "Movie night!"

"And guess who just picked up the latest and greatest?" Lex said with a grin as he came out of the office.

"I bow to you great sir. Please bestow upon us the latest and greatest." Spinner said, bowing with a flourish before Lex.

Lex bowed back. "I cannot for th' latest and greatest are stored within my chambers. Come, we shall journey to th' depths of th' Hub!" He said dramatically. He and Spinner linked arms and skipped out of the garage, earning grins and head shakes from their friends working the closing shift.

"Goobers." Agura sighed as the rest of the shift followed them to the lift.

"Can live with em, can't live without em eh?" AJ laughed.

Amira smiled, watching as the others left for the Rec room. While she liked watching movies as much as the others did, tonight she had other plans. After collecting the few items that she needed, she headed down to the Hub garage.

The sun had just set behind the canyon, leaving the desert in a rosy glow that was rimmed with a violet hue. The first few stars were beginning to show as Amira activated the Silph's flight system and launched herself into the air.
  
For a few minutes, Amira let the winds carry her along. With a gentle nudge, the vehicle headed east over the highway and into the hills. Spotting her favorite stargazing spot, she touched down and shut the engine off; just in time to witness the last rays of sunlight disappear behind the hills.

Amira settled herself on the hood of the Silph, leaning against the windshield with a blanket over her lap. Despite the desert's scorching heat, it was often chilly at night, especially at higher altitudes.

Slowly, the full moon rose, bathing the desert in a comforting blue light. As constellations began to form, Amira focused her eyes upward, searching for familiar signs and hoping to spot new ones. In the bag next to her was a worn and much loved astronomy book she had borrowed from Sherman when she had first arrived on earth.

However, it seemed that she didn't need it tonight as she recognized each stellar pattern that appeared in the sky this time of the year. She lowered her gaze to the moonlit landscape in front of her, smiling when she saw it. It was as if she was viewing a secret world that only appeared a few times of the year.

Two figures stood on the edge of a bluff, a telescope stood, their faces lifted towards the heavens above them. One, an elderly blue sentient, the other a young girl of ten. The girl wrapped her robe around her shoulders tighter as her breath hung in clouds.

"Atticus, we've been out here for hours. Have we not accomplished the cataloging of the season's star patterns?" The girl asked. "We are the only living things left."

"Life does not flourish beneath the sun alone. Through moonlight, life rejuvenates itself and prepares for the challenges the sun brings."Atticus said solemnly. "But yes Amira. It is time we retire as well. Like the creatures of the day, we too must prepare for the challenges the daylight brings."

Amira rolled her eyes but was glad they were heading back. She loved gazing at the stars but when her fingers turned blue, she was more than willing to head inside.

Chuckling over the memory, Amira wrapped the blanket around herself a little tighter and let her eyes wander back up to the skies. Unlike the nearly barren planet she had grown up on, there was no threat of blue fingers to detour her from the soft twinkling light of the stars here.