Our World Apart: Book 1 Elementals

PROLOGUE

It had to be close to midnight as they walked through the dark tall evergreens of Old Pines Grove. The crisp air formed goosebumps up Summer's arm, the silence of the forest added an eerie, lonely vibe.

"How much longer do we have to walk?" Logan huffed behind her.

"We're just a few feet away. I can see the opening from here," Summer motioned towards the tree line as he lollygagged. 

They decided to film the Milky Way as a submission for ASTRO's new Stellar department, a well-known astrology company that just opened business right here in Jacksonville. They had to get a clear view of it away from the city and its bright lights, otherwise, it would blind the view of the sky. So the two friends, despite the biting cold of the night, hiked through the forest just outside of the city. Once the trees had cleared, they were met by the view of an open field, completely untouched, placed right underneath the exceedingly large and abundant starry sky.

"I've never seen it so up close like this before." Logan's eyes marveled at the many different glowing specks within the Milky Way.  

"Let's set up and get the live stream going," She said eagerly and walked towards the empty field. 

"Roger that." Logan nodded and followed her lead.

The tall, frost-covered grass made Logan's jeans damp at the cuff but he ignored it and dropped his backpack and foldable tent bag on a small dusted patch. Summer also placed her bag on the ground and set up the camera on its tripod and angled it in the sky vector position. She then connected the long yellow cable to Logan's Mac Book along with our portable WiFi router. Once the system powered on, Summer clicked opened the tab to ASTRO's live stream submission page. The winner was determined by having the most views and comments, earning an interview from the company to possibly get hired. 

Summer muted the camera's sound system, covered it over with a smooth melodic song, and pressed record.  She peeked through the eyepiece to focus the image and locked the frame in place. The light from the moon made the field glisten, just like the stars above. Logan unfolded their overnight tent and placed the heated sleeping bags inside. Once finished, he paused briefly as if lost in deep thought.

"Everything ok?" Summer glanced at him and adjusted the camera until it was steady.

Logan motioned an 'A-HA' gesture as he walked over towards her and the laptop. She watched him place relative positions of celestial objects onto the video with his handmade software and outlined a constellation right onto the screen. His blue-grey eyes lit up and he looked at her with a kiddish smile. 

"It's view-able to see with the naked eye, but for those who couldn't find it, that would help them," Logan said and rubbed his cold hands together. Summer looked confused and then the gears began to move in her brain.

"You mean Sagittarius?" She then grabbed her travel mug of hot cocoa and soup from out of her bag.

"Yep! Marvelous isn't it?" He pointed to a certain pattern of stars above their heads with his finger. 

"Well, now that we're all set, let's go inside and enjoy the view where it's warm." Summer shivered a bit as she walked towards the tent and he followed. She placed their backpacks inside the tent and they laid on their backs, face up towards space in complete silence. Such a view was better to see in person than online.

"Nothing scandalous about a guy and girl spending the night under the stars alone." Logan broke the silence with a mocked tone.

"We've known each other since we were eleven, even I know you wouldn't cross that line." Summer elbowed his arm. 

"True. We're practically siblings, right?"  He playfully ruffled her light-brown curly hair and she swatted his hand away. A moment of silence fell between them as they looked out into the starry speckled night.

"After graduation, what was the first thing you did as a freshly new adult?" Summer focused her eyes up at the dim glowing, milky band arching across the night sky. It had been 3 months since they both graduated and they finally were able to meet up again like the old days. 

"I went home and got a good night's rest." Logan joked which earned a laugh from her.

"What about you?" He pulled his galaxy beanie over his reddened ears, and then adjusted his Mars sleeping bag. The temperature had dropped even more and he could feel his ears and fingers turn cold. Meanwhile, Summer cozied up in her Saturn sleeping bag and welcomed the pool of warmth.

"I got an apartment near the suburbs. Although, I will say paying bills is not as easy as I thought it'd be with just tip money." She sighed and her breath puffed into small clouds.

"That's pretty adult of you." Logan propped his head with his arms and looked at her. "Still don't want to live with your parents?"

"They would love for me to come back, and practically offered to pay my rent, but they don't quite understand my fascination for all this," She waved her hand towards the sky. "If it were up to them, I'd be filming weddings right now instead of being a waitress who goes to film time-lapse videos of outer space as a side hobby."

"Totally understandable. After graduation, I worked at my dad's IT business for a month," Logan furrowed his brows, "But I wanted to pursue extraterrestrial beings and space." 

"You sure are quite the nerd," Summer smirked at him and he rolled he half-shrugged.

"Anyways, I left my dad's company after about two weeks, without him knowing that is. I joined a few small businesses that focused on physical space. I figured with my degree, I could always dabble in research but I wanted to write articles for the local paper as a start."

"I've read a few of those actually! I didn't quite understand what it all entailed, but Logan you have a gift for that kind of things. Keep it up and NASA might even recruit you."

"Thanks, that would be a dream. With my Physics degree, I could get into pretty much anything, but I've always loved learning about space, specifically the contents of it." He looked back up at the stars.

"What did your dad have to say after you left?"  Summer turned to her side and Logan continued to look straight up into the stars. His expression changed to more of a frown.

"Nothing nice, obviously. Ended in a big argument. Matter of fact, it got me kicked out of the house, so I've been at my mom's since then." A sadness filled his eyes and he sighed. "But I don't think I can handle another day of her pestering me to apologize to my father either. She says what I'm doing is a waste of time and should reconsider my old position at his company. But I just can't do that, that's why I'm praying we get this job at ASTRO. I need my own place where I can nerd out without being belittled about it."

"Why not stay at my place? You can rent the office room, it's not much, but it'll get you away for awhile and help me with the rent." Summer sat up and grabbed the hot cocoa next to her pillow. She held it towards him and he sat forward gingerly.  After a long swig, he let out a satisfied 'Aah' and handed it back to her.

"Summer, you're a lifesaver." Logan looked at her relieved, his breath visible like fog in the cold air.

"Anything for a friend," Summer winked and sipped the sugary drink. Logan then returned his gaze to the stars and relaxed some more into his sleeping bag. Summer closed the lid to the thermocup, tucked it back into her bag, and laid down.

"Ever wonder what else is out there?" Logan's voice was just above a whisper. 

"Like what?" She replied inquisitively.

"I mean, we can't possibly be the only living things in this huge universe, right?" His eyes twinkled for a moment under the moonlight.

"I don't know, but maybe." Summer's voice trailed off as her mind began to wonder what could possibly be passed the stars.

"Maybe." Logan repeated and we laid there in silence.