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CHAPTER ONE
Emerald
The air felt thick and dry in my throat as the summer sun beat down over me. Beads of sweat
trickled down the nape of my neck and I could feel my dark, plaid shirt clinging to my back.
The sun
is 149.6 million kilometres away yet it’s unavoidable, searing heat continued to burden my
morning.
My thoughts ticked over like the continuous click of the pedals. I have travelled this road
every day since I can remember and as always, the unchanged town in the distance shifts position,
reminding me of the parallax angles I used to locate stars. As I rode through town, I observed the
slow-moving life of the country town. I thought about the night ahead of me. The local’s sedated
lives may change forever. Tonight was the night.
My messy black mop of hair flopped in front of my eyes, catching behind my glasses as the bike
halted.
I slid off the seat and headed toward the cafe doors. As I entered, the familiar jingle of the
door bell sung and a strong wave of coffee washed over me. Glancing at the till, I caught the familiar
green eyes of
Emerald
. Her honey blonde locks fell carelessly over her shoulders and shorter strands
curled a frame around the contours of her rosy cheeks. Her caramel skin glowed in the late morning
light as I moved behind the counter.
“Morning, Nolan” Her soft Australian accent resonated, “How are you?”
“Late,” I huffed, wiping the sweat off my forehead and wrapping my apron around my waist hastily.
“So, are you still going star gazing tonight?” Emerald joked, making a new pot of coffee.
“It’s more than that, Em. You know how important this is to me. I’ve been waiting two years for this,
I’m going to change the way we look at science.” Em laughed apprehensively. “You don't believe
me?”
“I don’t know what to believe, Nolan.”
“Em… I've been calculating and sketching, analysing for years. Something will happen tonight, all the
signs are there. I… I just can’t be wrong.”
“Okay, okay Nolan. Still, I'm not too sure about this. It could be dangerous.”
“I’ve been there a million times before, and besides, whatever happens, it will be 93 million
kilometres away, I've calculated.”
“Always so precise, aren’t you. What are you expecting to find anyways? Planetary alignment?”
This time I laughed. The next planetary alignment isn’t until 2854. Everyone knows that. I smiled
awkwardly at her.
***
After a long six hour shift, I untied my apron and began to close the cafe. The bell sang its final
goodbye as I left the café to retrieve my bike that was patiently waiting for my arrival. The morning
heat melted away to a cool afternoon, the sun slowly setting with thick white clouds lazily painted
across the sky. My bike whined in agony as I began to slowly pedal my way back home.