Star Shooting

      “It looks amazing, doesn’t it?”

           The grass crinkled beneath the two of them as Emma rolled over to face her boyfriend. They had themselves set up on a vast field of plant life lit only by the light of the full moon. Luckily, the two of them found themselves completely alone, giving them the opportunity to gaze upon the stars without distraction.

           “It actually kind of does. I can’t say I expected that, considering your track history with date ideas…” Artemis snickered to himself as his love scoffed and slapped him playfully on the shoulder.

           Artemis mumbled some half-serious apology and pulled Emma closer to him, keeping her secure in his embrace as they both gazed overhead at the multitude of star patterns and lights in the distance. People talked about stargazing all the time, but the genuine beauty of it all when not distracted by other groups of people or sounds of society was incredibly underrated. He found himself more at peace than any time in recent memory, and from within his arms, Emma felt right at home.

           “That’s the Little Dipper, right?” Artemis asked, gesturing towards a clump of stars directly over them.

           “Well, if you compare it by the distance between it and those other clusters over there, you can determine that…” Emma thought for a moment and shrugged. “I have no idea.”

           Artemis shook his head. “And you called yourself the expert? I’m disappointed.”

           She shoved away from him just enough to break free from his grasp and roll away. She pulled out her phone and sighed. “It’s already past midnight. They’re gonna kill us if we show up late to another shift.”

           “We still have until the morning,” Artemis replied, spreading his arms behind him lazily. “Besides, let them kill us. The sweet release of death sounds a hundred times better than another shift making pizzas for the wonderful common folk of this city.”

           Emma glared at him. “You know I don’t find that funny, Arty.”

           “Sorry, babe,” he sat up and rubbed his eyes. “Force of habit. Alright, let’s get ourselves back home for bed.”

           The couple slowly got themselves up from the hill, shaking the grass off themselves and giving one last look to the endless stream of stars above them before getting in the car and taking off for the city.

           The next day, Artemis groaned at the sound of his alarm and got up slowly. Working for the local pizza joint wasn’t anything especially glamorous, but as a college kid, it got the job done and gave him a way to get money saved up. As upset as his body was with him for staying awake so late the night previous, he had to push on. It could be worse: not everyone was lucky enough to get to work closely with the woman they loved in a positive work environment.

           After a quick shower and short drive, Artemis stepped into work and grinned when he was greeted with Emma’s smile from behind the counter.

           “Good morning!” She exclaimed, but before he could answer, his vision was suddenly covered as she tossed an apron directly at him. “Get to work!”

           Some time passed, and the two of them were getting into the groove of things. It was pretty rare that a Wednesday had ever become overwhelming. However, they still found themselves growing tired due to their activities the previous night and knowing they would have to close that night as well.

           “No, I’m telling you the order is wrong!” A man’s voice called out from the lobby.

           Artemis, overhearing from the back of the store where he had been prepping toppings, cautiously approached the front of the store, becoming a bit worried about the tension in the air. Emma wasn’t good with this kind of pressure.

           “I’m sorry, sir, let me just try and refund you here,” Emma squirmed, clearly not comfortable with the situation. “I just need to see your—”

           Out of nowhere, the front door slammed open just as Emma had opened the register. Artemis peeked around the corner to see the old man who had been complaining a moment ago now running in terror out the door. In his place now stood a young man wearing a black hoodie and sunglasses. Artemis took a deep breath to calm his nerves as he noticed the man was also wielding a handgun; nothing overly intimidating compared to others of its kind, but certainly still lethal, especially at close range.

           Emma’s face blanked.

           “Give me all that money in the register! NOW!” He shouted at her, the gun wavering a bit in his hands. He seemed more than a little nervous, as though maybe this was his first time. That unpredictability only made him more dangerous.

           “Sir, I’m not sure I—”

           “I said NOW!” The man cried out, louder this time.

           Artemis turned around him looking for anyone behind the oven, but it was now past 9pm. They were the only ones in the store.

           He walked out as casually as possible from behind the corner, trying not to shake as he stood at the counter and gently reached his hand underneath the table to press the emergency police call button.

           “What can I help you with, sir?” He forced out, trying to control his voice and avoiding Emma’s terrified eyes locking on to him. “I’m sure we can work this out.”

           “Alright that’s it, to hell with this!” The man screamed. He whipped the gun upwards pointed directly at Emma’s forehead.

           “NO!” Artemis screamed. He leaped over the counter and onto the attacker. There was a single gunshot at the moment the two men’s bodies connected, flying into the wall behind them. Artemis engaged the man in a desperate wrestling match, but the assailant was much more agile than he had appeared before and he got the upper hand, locking Artemis’s neck under one arm and squeezing hard.

           Emma walked out slowly from behind the counter, carefully approaching them and trying not to cry as she watched the love of her life being choked.

           “Please, don’t,” she pled through her tears. “Please don’t do this.”

           The assailant looked terrified, looking back and forth between her and the struggling man in his grasp as if he couldn’t understand how it had come to this point, but he looked back at Emma in a furious rage.

           He raised his gun to Emma once again, this time uninterrupted as he immediately fired a bullet that connected directly with its target, sending her to the floor.

           Rather than celebrate, the man’s face paled as the weight of the situation he had caused for himself began to sink in. He began shaking with a sudden anxiousness, finally releasing his hold on Artemis who could barely process what was going on. Looking to either side from out of the door, he took off into the night without looking back.

           Artemis’s eyes began to sink as he began to hear police sirens in the distance, and he collapsed into a puddle of his girlfriend’s blood.

           It looks amazing, doesn’t it?

           Artemis looked over to his side, regretting the decision immediately. He was alone on the dark fields of night on another full moon. Even now, after so much time had passed, it was easy to forget that there was no one with him to share this view with.

           Artemis laid his head to the ground and allowed it to sink into the overgrown grass. Staring into the complex shapes and patterns of the stars above him gave him a sort of peace nothing else in life was able to offer him anymore.

           It had been months since he lost the very thing he loved the most, but Artemis couldn’t help but feel like right here—in this moment—he was right where he needed to be. And if he looked hard enough into the endless skies, it was almost like he could even see her staring right back at him lovingly.

           Perhaps it was true what he had always been told: sometimes there’s nothing like the full moon and the dead of night to remind you that endings can be beautiful too.