The Watcher

      The time is approximately 12:30 a.m. An astronomy student sits on a hill near the clearing of a sleeping forest. Her grey SUV – which she used to arrive at this point which was miles away from the nearest town to ensure the night sky was clear of any possible light pollution – is parked here, cold and quiet after being turned off for over an hour at least. The grass beneath the astronomer's feet is a vibrant turquoise in the pale moonlight – her shoes are off so she can feel the relaxing dew; a literally grounding reminder that, though she is intensely fascinated with the stars above, she is of the Earth below.

           A Unistellar Evscope sits on its tri-stand in front of her as she is looking for… Well, anything interesting, really. She was already excelling in her course but felt she could earn some really good points – maybe even a grant – if she could document some sort of celestial phenomenon; comets, meteor showers, the Northern Lights, novas, or even an eclipse happening for another world.

           At this time, Mars was in an exceptionally good position to observe. She focused her telescope on the red planet and selected the starry icon representing “Enhance Vision” on the app on her phone which connected to the telescope, and within a few seconds she saw a zoomed-in view of the entire planet in all its crimson glory. She watched what she believed to be the Karzok Crater, one of the two craters located on the flanks of Olympus Mons. It was a fascinating sight to behold, for sure, but nothing really noteworthy for her mission. However, she couldn’t help but muse how extraordinary it would be to capture an annular eclipse for Mars and wondered if such a thing were possible with both of Mars’ moons aligned with each other, experiencing their eclipse simultaneously.

           She left the red planet and began to, in a sense, comb the universe for anything that her professor might find phenomenally remarkable. She observed the great red spot of Jupiter and its colored bands; she noted the four 'Galilean' moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. She peered longingly at the rings of Saturn and allowed herself to believe – just for a moment – that she could see the rings rotating around the exotic planet. After some time, she would begin to point her telescope in random directions, peering this way and that; often she could come upon empty space, but would now and again find an asteroid on its blissfully aimless course, or gaudily hued star clusters; and once landed on the international space station. She smiled through her telescope and raised her hand in a wave, wishing the incredible men and women aboard success in their missions, and a safe trip back to Earth. Again, she let her imagination spark as she pictured them way up there seeing her wave, and wave back to her with flashing grins, and maybe a thumbs up or two would be cast her way. You got this, that thumbs up would say, don’t give up!

           She tried to ease up on the daydreaming, especially when there was work to be done; but maybe that’s what made her so drawn towards outer space anyway, what with her head seemingly always in the clouds and her mind’s eye upraised.

           Back down to Earth, her mind went. She looked at her watch and saw it was nearly a quarter to three in the morning. She contemplated whether or not she should pack up and go home, and she almost agreed with herself to leave – but eventually decided against it. After all, she wasn’t all that tired and had brought plenty of snacks which waited for her in the car. Besides, she had spent all this time out here already and she could feel that she was close to something big; and it was a gorgeous, quiet night out here anyway.

           So, she stepped away from her telescope and moved to her SUV. She opened the tailgate and pulled out a fold-out lawn chair and a small, insulated leather lunch bag. The folding chair was set near her telescope so she would keep her perfect view of the countless multitude of stars in front of her. When firmly seated she reached into her bag and retrieved a ham sandwich on wheat, mayonnaise almost dripping onto her lap. She brought it up to her lips and paused mid-bite – if she were to have this break, then it should be done right. She grabbed her pair of earbuds from her pocket, put them in, and played Arctic Monkeys on her phone. She didn’t care a whole lot for the Arctic Monkeys, but there was one album of theirs, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, whose sounds she just couldn’t resist; and the theme of the album itself – a concept of a luxury resort on the moon – well, that was absolutely irresistible.

           She took a bite of her sandwich and closed her eyes as she leaned back in her chair, letting the voice of Alex Turner take her to that resort on the moon. “Highlight dangers and send out hidden messages; The way some science fiction does;”

           She opened her eyes and looked up at the moon. Strange, she thought, this time of year, I could’ve sworn the moon wouldn’t be out this late at night.

           “The way some science fiction does,” the Arctic Monkeys went on in her ear. She got up from her chair and stood in a kind of curious daze, looking up at that moon. Certainly, it wouldn’t be viewable by this time of night, not here anyway. She darted over to her car and found her school textbook. “So I tried to write a song to make you blush; But I've a feeling that the whole thing; May well just end up too clever for its own good,” her music continued.

           Her textbook revealed exactly what she thought – she should definitely not be able to view the moon right now. She moved back to her makeshift observational setup. “The way some science fiction does.”

           She locked her eyes on the moon, mesmerized by the impossibility before her. And how clear it looked, so full. This was certainly the type of thing she had stood out here for hours watching for. She was just about to move to her notebook to document this; but just after she blinked her eyes up at the moon, like an eldritch lid in the sky, the moon blinked back.