Once Upon A Time...

My alarm buzzed at 1:30 AM. I hit the snooze, flipped the switch to turn the alarm off, rolled out of bed, and stumbled across my room to the light switch. My ride would be there at two. I flipped the switch and my squinting eyes stung when the light hit them. I squinted at the messy floor searching for a cleanish pair or shorts to wear. I found a pair then thought that maybe long pants would be better; after all it was going to be much cooler where we were going. Pants seemed the best way to go.

I walked to my dresser being careful not to step on the comics, the books, the Transformers, and other assorted things on the floor. I pulled the pants out of the drawer and they smelled musty, unused. They'd been in the drawer for nearly six months waiting for the cooler weather to come back. I slid them on then proceeded to search for clean socks, my sweatshirt, and a flashlight that worked.

It was the August after I had graduated from high school. All my friends were still friends, or at least they were still friendly, with each other. In less than two weeks, those who were going away to semester schools would be gone. A week after that, those still in high school would be returning for their senior year. I still had about six weeks since my school was on the quarter system. These were some of the best friends that I had. They were the ones who had made high school bearable. Even this late in the summer, it was still odd for me to not see them at least five days a week.

August, for some reason, seems to be the best time to watch for shooting stars and someone, I'm not sure who, had suggest the weekend before that we should all head up the hill and watch the skies. A date was decided on, calls were made, rides were secured, and a place for all the cars to meet was arranged.

By 1:50, I was dressed and had triple checked that all the pillows and blankets I had promised to bring were by the front door. I carefully paced around my room, the flash light in the kangaroo pouch of my sweatshirt bouncing against me, looking at my alarm clock every few seconds wondering when my ride would be there.

At 1:58, the phone rang.

"Shit," I said as I threw open my door and charged toward the phone in the living room hoping that my parents and brothers weren't woken up. I picked it up and said, "Hello?"

"Are you awake?" I heard the sleepy voice of my best friend ask.

"Yeah I'm awake. I said I'd be awake."

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, I've been ready for a while."

"Okay," she said, "I'm comin' then. 'Bye."

"'Bye," I said and heard her hang up.

Three long minutes later, headlights shone through my window. I hurried out of my room to the front door hoping that she wouldn't honk the horn, which she had been known to do when she was impatient. I opened the front door, waved to her, and picked up all the pillows and blankets at once. There were so many, my hands didn't meet even though I pulled them as close to my body as I could. I stumbled off the porch onto the step/rock and teetered my way to her car. I tried to squat and keep the pillows and blankets pressed against her car with one hand wrapped around them as the other fumbled for the handle. The door was locked. I could hear her laughter.

"Open the trunk," I screamed into the pillow pressing into my face. I turned my head and yelled, "Get out of the car and open the god damned trunk."

I heard the locks pop and she opened her door.

"You look like such an ass," she said between fits of laughter.

"Just open the trunk so we can get going."

She did and after I stowed the pillows and blankets, I rushed back to the house to lock it up then climbed in her car.

At a little after two, we met the others cars at what I think is an old weigh station, now it's where the people from up the hill park to car pool to their jobs in The Valley and The Bay. All together, there were three cars and, I think, ten to twelve of us. People changed cars and I was forced from my front seat to the back.

Up the hill we drove for nearly an hour. The elevation was around 5500 feet. We pulled off the highway onto a single lane CDF road. There were no other people for miles. The moon had set, so the only light out, once all the cars were off, were the stars.

I pulled out my pile of blankets and so did someone else. We spread them on the road, double layered so it didn't hurt to lie down. Everyone who wanted a pillow got one and we all settled in.

At first, I remember it being very quiet, as if talking would stop the shooting stars.

Finally, someone said, "Whoa! Did you see that one?"

"It was huge," someone replied.

"That's what she says to me every night," said another.

And we settled into our usual bizarre patter filled with innuendo but occasionally veering off into topics about the schools some of us were going away to and college at the local JC and the stupidity of everyone and on and on, occasionally punctuated by excitement over the stars falling above us.