Meet Me On The Moon

  Travis looked up at a wide blue universe of stars. He had seen this beautiful scene many times on cool nights, walking through the wheat fields of Arkansas. But this time it was a little different. Because in addition to stars, he could also see the blue crescent of Earth. He never dreamed that one day, he would be standing on the moon.

  He looked down at his white leather cowboy boots that seemed to almost glow. He couldn't tell what was brighter, his shoes or the cratered surface of the moon. He paced back and forth surprised he was able to maintain contact with the glowing moon surface. He thought, due to a lack of gravity, that he would bounce through space from crater to crater, flinging his arms and trying to keep his balance. Atleast that's what he remembered when he saw old footage of the first men on the moon. But somehow for him it was different. Despite the abscence of gravity, he found he could WILL himself to stay on the ground. And if he wanted to float, all he had to do was think up and like a helium balloon, up he went.

  He liked his white leather cowboy boots. Infact, he liked everything he had on: white pants with a razor sharp crease, white belt with a solid silver buckle, white pleated tuxedo shirt with diamond crusted cuff links and white jacket with tails. Hell, he thought if he had a white goat tee he could probably make money selling chicken. But his hair was blonde, slicked back, perfectly cut, and not a single hair out of place. He was shaven, baby smoothe, except for a neatly trimmed mustache much like his favorite actor: Burt Reynolds. He figured that if someone had a powerful telescope, that he probably looked like an angel walking on the moon. He had never felt cleaner, lighter or happier in his life. Only one thing was missing; Becky, the love of his life.

  He wondered if she was coming. He wasn't sure how long he had been waiting. Tough to measure time up here. But he knew he would wait an eternity if necessary. He felt guilty for even asking her to come here. But he just couldnt imagine living without her. Up until now, she was the only thing that ever made him happy. He thought Earth was merely a preview of Hell until he stumbled across Becky at the annual Fair. 

 The stillness and quiet of the moon seemed to calm his little bit of anxiety. He looked out on the endless array of stars and the Earth. The tiny lights seemed to go on forever. They seemed like beacons announcing other galaxies and worlds. A zillion would not come close to the amount. He felt incredibly small. But one star in particular began to catch his eye. It glowed brighter than the others. Infact its brilliance seemed to grow larger and larger. It's light expanded outward as it appeared to be moving toward the moon. Larger and larger it grew. It seemed determined to touch down on the surface of the moon. He squinted and was transfixed in its bright light as it's detail became clearer. He looked close, his eyes opened wide and he got a big grin on his face. It wasn't a star. It was Becky.

    Her arms were extended as she glided through space towards him. She reminded him of the beautiful snow egret birds he had seen in Florida. Most of the light seemed to be coming from what she was wearing , a white wedding dress, covered in glittering sequins. The sleeves of the dress were made of white lace all the way down to the palms of her hands. He could see tiny pearls shimmmering along the hem.

  Her red hair flowed behind her like fire. He wasn't sure how that was possible since there was no wind up here. And her faced seemed to glow in a sea of calm and peace. Her soft brown eyes met his as her satin pearl shoes slowly touched the surface of of the moon. Her brown eyes had been the thing he fell in love with when they first met.

  She looked at his huge grin. "I know, I know, you are happier than a flea in a hound dog convention."

   He ran to her kicking up glowing moon dust. He grabbed her in his arms. They both gravitated and twirled a bit above the survace of the moon. She held out her arms and giggled like a school girl. He held her tight and kissed her passionately on the lips as they slowly descended back down.

    He held her at arms length. " I can't believe how good you look." 

    She gently caressed the side of his face. "You too Travis."

    He looked at her. "I wasn't sure you were coming."

    She looked down. " I wasn't sure either. But I didn't think I could take it up there anymore. A lot of shit went through my head."

    She looked around at the great terrain of the moon. "But it's nice and quiet up here, and beautiful."

   Tavis put his arm around her and turned her towards the stars, to take in the entire view.  

    She stared at the Earth. "Hard to believe that's where I spent my life. All the shit I went through. But it looks beautiful from here."

   " We had SOME good times." Travis added.

   "Yeah like the time we went to the fair and the ferris wheel got stuck."

"I was scared shitless. I thought I was gonna pass out from being up so high. But you kept crackin' jokes to keep me calm. After that, I knew no matter what I could count on you."

    Travis was silent. He stared at the Earth.

    "You alright baby?" Becky looked at him.

    Travis continued to look ahead. "I should have been strong for you Becky. I had no right to ask you to do what you did. I should have taken care of you. Hell you didn't have nobody but me. What kinda a man...." He started to tear up.

    She grabbed him by his arm. "Travis look at me baby. Some fucked up shit happened to me AND you. Hell, we did some fucked up shit. But no matter what happpened you never left me. Thats more than I can say for my family or anyone else in my fucked up life. Babe, you the best thing I got. I WANTED to make that choice. You the best thing I got. So stop feeling guilty, I love you."

    He looked at the tears in her beautiful brown eyes. "I love you too.

Plus you darn near the best lay I ever had." 

   She slapped him playfully in the stomache. " You just had to spoil it".

   They both laughed.

   He looked in her eyes. "You ready?"

    She looked to the Heavens filled with stars. "Yeah I'm ready. You think He'll forgive us?

    Travis looked to the Heavens then back at her and smiled. "I don't know, but as long as we end up together it doesn't matter."

     He took her soft round face in his hands and let her lips meet his. Slowly and simultaneously their feet rose off the surface of the moon. Still locked in a kiss, they rose until they were surrounded by stars. They continued to rise until they disappeared in to one bright light.

   A bright beam of light came from the flashlight of officer Richard Hicks. It shown on the faces of a couple slumped against the wall in an old abandoned house. The male had stringy blonde hair and a scruffy beard. His tee shirt was dirty and sprinkled with holes. The shirt was matched by the holes in his faded blue jeans. He had on faded light brown cowboy boots. The female had a red Mohawk with black highlights. She had black mascara running down her cheeks. Her nose, ears and bottum lip were all pierced. She had on a pink top that rose just above her belly button, also pierced. She also had on cowboy boots, black. Although they were different, they in a way looked like twins. Both seemed skeletal thin. And both had one arm with a thin yellow rubber tube wrapped around and a hyperdermic needle sticking out of it. They were heroin addicts.

   "Rodriguez get up here". Hicks called out.

    Officer Dulce Rodriguez came to the entrance of the room littered with trash, and plaster from the ceiling. She looked at the two people. "Jesus."

    "What did I tell you, catch the dealer and his customers are always near by". Officer Hicks held out a hand.

    Rodriguez reached into a black duffle bag and handed him a pair of plastic gloves. Hicks put them on and felt the neck of the male then the neck of the female. "Shit".  

   He grabbed the radio attached to the top of his uniform. "Dispatch send an ambulance to 417 Royden street we have a deceased male and female."

  He patted the pocket of the male then carefully reached inside. He motioned Rodriguez to check the small white purse laying next to the female. "Be careful, there might be a needle inside."

  He pulled a tattered drivers liscense out of his pocket. He read it. " Travis Mims". He looked at Rodriguez.

  She had a red visa debit card in her hand. "Rebecka Mcullom."

  She shook her head. "They can't be more than twenty years old."

  Offcer hicks looked towards the door. " I should get in the back of the squad car and beat that dealer's ass."

  Rebecca gave him a raised eyebrow and pointed to her head. "Remember body cam."

  He looked at her and laughed. "Yeah right."

  He stood up and walked toward the one window in the room. It had no glass or curtains. "Calvary should be here soon."  He turned and started to walk towards the door. " You stay up here and tape it off. I'll go down stairs and play welcome wagon. Rodriguez?..."

  She was staring at the two bodies.

  "You alright?" He asked concerned.

   She continued to stare at the position of the two. "It's strange but they almost look happy, in love."

  Officer Hicks put his hands on his hips and looked at the scatter of hyperdermic needles around them. "They should be happy. They did enough smack to send them to the moon. "

  He turned to Rodriguez in the doorway before walking downstairs. "They're addicts, they don't know anything about love. They only know about the next high."

  Rodriguez gave him a sad look as he walked out. She stood, walked over and sat on the sill of the open window. Cool night air relieved her nose of the smell of urine in the abandoned house. She looked again at the two young peaceful faces. She felt herself getting angry at the waste of such young precious lives. She looked down out on the street, where soon there would be a number of red and blue lights to take away the bodies. But something inside her told her to look up. There she seemed to find strange comfort in a beautiful sea of stars and a big white silvery moon.