The Meadow at the End of the Universe

Two people sit alone atop a cloud of iron and surrounded by flowers of different elements.  The grass is aluminum and the dandelions are made of antimony.  Surrounded by an ocean of stardust they sit under a tree made of amber.  These two people have spent their countless lifetimes searching for each other, being near yet so far.

“I wish we could stay here forever.”  

“I know.”  

“I’ll miss you a lot.”

“I know.”

“So… same time next week?” 

“You know it doesn’t work that way.”  

“I know.”  

As both their consciousness fade they both smile knowing even if the universe pulled them apart they would always find one another.  

“LYNN DON’T MAKE ME GO UP THERE AND GET YOU MYSELF!”  

“Mneh 5 more minutes Ma…”  

“YOU HAVE YOUR INTERVIEW TODAY DON'T FORGET IT.  I’m heading out for errands right now so start to get ready for the day.”  

“Yeah yeah mom I got it, have a great day at work.”

“Sometimes I wonder who she takes after…”

After the sound of the door shutting Lynn opens her eyes and yawns.  Today was the day of her first job interview and she was dreading the interview.  She just wanted to learn how to make coffee and get paid for it but she didn’t know that jobs require actual effort.  Putting on a stained BabyMetal shirt and some overalls she gets ready to head out.  While getting ready in the mirror she takes another look at herself before heading out.  Upon seeing her quite unruly appearance the words of her mother ring out in her mind.

“Lynn, remember Jobs in the real world are professional and require people to look presentable.”

“Eh… good enough for me I guess.”

Lynn heads out the apartment. As she walks the busy city streets she puts on her headphones and starts scrolling through her playlists.  Still nervous, she keeps scrolling trying to find a playlist in order to calm her down.

“What should I listen to?”  She thought.  Pop Rock?  Death Metal?  Alt music?  

As she stares down looking at her screen she accidentally bumps into oncoming street traffic.

“You tryna pick a fight huh?” She says angrily looking up from her phone.

“Excuse me,” said the stranger.  “I must have not looked at where I was going. I do apologize for my ignorance.” 

“Buh- I mean yeah look at where you’re going next time.” stammered Lynn.  

She was so focused on her screen she bumped into this gentleman without noticing him beforehand.  

“I’ll try.”  smiled the stranger as he left towards his destination.

Staring dumbfounded, Lynn blocks traffic as she stares at the stranger disappearing into the sea of people.  

“That was weird.” she thought as a weird sense of melancholy and nostalgia washed over her.  “Who was that and why did seeing him make me feel so… sad?”

Lynn shakes these thoughts out of her head as she realizes she has to go to her job interview.  As she turns away she catches one final glimpse at the stranger looking right back at her, almost through her, as if trying to look into her very soul.

As Lynn approaches the coffee shop for the interview her mind starts to wander.  Did she really want this job?  Was she qualified?  What did she want for dinner?  All these questions were clawing at the back of her mind until suddenly she was jolted back to reality by the ringing of door chimes.  

“Hey you over there can you help me move all this stuff to the back?” asked an employee.

“Y-Yeah!” managed Lynn startled at the sudden request.

As Lynn started hauling boxes to the back of the store she suddenly caught the aroma of freshly ground coffee beans and the sweetness of honey.  

“It smells wonderful back here!” said Lynn, with a dreamy relaxed expression on her face.  

“Yeah right~~” said the employee.  “It just smells heavenly back here in the morning.”  

“Oh, I’m Lynn.  Nice to meet you!  I’m supposed to be interviewed today.”

“Oh, so you’re the girl Em mentioned.  Nice to meet you, I’m Junya but just call me June.”

June was a pale asian girl with a rather large ponytail and dark brown eyes.  Freckles adorned her cheeks and she had two deep dimples when she smiled.  She radiated a warm and familiar aura that made it easy to get along with her.

As Lynn sets down the last of the boxes she catches a glimpse of a familiar stranger from this morning working the bar.

“There’s no way right?”  Lynn thought, as her embarrassing morning mishap replays back in her head.

“You two know each other or something?”  June asks as she brings over some water for Lynn.  “You’ve been staring at Em for a while now you know.”  

Flustered, Lynn fails to answer with a coherent sentence.  

“Well whatever it is I won’t pry, just wait in the store and then Em will handle the interview.”

“Wait, you won’t handle the interview June?  Do you not like me or something?” says Lynn with a puppy dog look in her face.

June laughs as she slaps Lynn on the back.  “I like ya but I have some more stuff to grab from the store before the day really starts so you just wait at the bar for Em to interview you.”

As June skips out in front of the van and drives off, Lynn awkwardly enters the coffee shop with her headphones on.  Still reminded of her accident this morning, she stares down into the mahogany bar table and starts memorizing all the detailed carvings into the wood.

She is suddenly interrupted by a beige coffee entering her line of sight and looks up to see Em doing the dishes.  Confused, she stares at it a moment before taking a sip.  It was the most warm heartfelt coffee she had ever had.  

“Excuse me, did you make this coffee?” Lynn inquires.

“...”  no answer.

“Well I really enjoy this coffee. I can tell you really care about this place.”

“...?”  the stranger flinches at the compliment, almost like he wasn’t accustomed to receiving them.

“...Thanks.”  He manages as he steals a glance at the curious Lynn before he hurriedly returns his attention to the dishes.

“You’re welcome.” says Lynn as the both of them sit in an awkward yet familiar atmosphere.

After some time passes and they both reach their limit on this awkward scenario, the stranger says,”Want to help me start the day?”  

Lynn hurriedly replies.

“Y-Yes!  I’ll do what I can!”

About 5 minutes before the day starts June hurries in panting.  

“Sorry guys I got caught up in morning traffic-”

June catches both of them working behind the bar prepping for the day.

“Guess I had nothing to worry about after all.”

*about a year passes from this point*

“Hey Em?”  

“Yeah Lynn?”  

“It’s been about a year now since we’ve met each other-“ 

“Not a year.  It’s been 363 days 12 hours and 13 minutes.” 

“… you’re such a nerd you know that?”

“Yeah you keep reminding me.”

“Sorry.”

“Well anyways, it’s been a good year for m- for us.”  

“I know.”

“Every time this happens I can’t help but feeling a bit scared.  What if we don’t find each other again?”

Emanuel takes Lynn’s hands and holds them in his own.

“No matter where you are in the universe I swear to find you.  No one or nothing can hold us apart.”

“Times almost up Em.”

As they hold each other in one final embrace before the oncoming end they stare out into the stars once again in all too familiar view. 

“I will never get tired of this view you know why Em?”  

“Why Lynn?”  

“It’s because I know when I stare out to the stars I know you’re out there looking at the same view.”

Em looks away shyly.  

“Didn’t know my girlfriend was a flirt and a poet.”

“You didn’t know?  I am a modern day Shakespeare!”

They both laugh as the stars begin to dim.  

“I’ll be with you always.” They both say in harmony as the stars veil their little slice of heaven.  

“Y’know I never get sick of this story.  It’s so romantic.”  June says as the stage dims.

“Whelp I guess it’s time for another cycle.  Alwaysways know you two, I love you both dearly.”  June says as she snaps her fingers as the universe twists once again and yet another story unfolds.  Familiar and yet unknown, and undeniably beautiful.

…

“Hey when are you going to wake up?  It’s almost time for school!”

“Just one more minute…” they both say.