Taken into the Unknown (Complete)

The Directory

CHAPTER 19: The Directory

The little light remaining in the sky was beginning to fade quickly, creating a cold and desolate feeling over the land. It sent shivers of sadness through me.  I had always hated the sunset more than any other time of day. It marked the end of the day and for some reason I would always feel negative feelings.

“So what else do you love about living in Alaska. Cheap and abundant land to build a mansion in the mountains? It doesn’t seem like you go out much.”

“Trust me, my house is anything but cheap. Actually, it’s not even my doing. My grandfather built it a long time ago as an escape from the pressures of work and the world. As for going out, I used to before…before things got tough.  I don’t really have anyone to hang out with.”

“What about Bax and Nadya?”

“It’s not quite the same.”

“Oh,” I replied, not really understanding.  “What did you do before? Other than snowboarding I mean.”

He shrugged. “Hike, check out the land and organisms, go kayaking,” his voice faltered a bit and got softer, “watch the northern lights and the stars. I used to be really interested in astrology. It was kind of within the mad scientist phase.”

“Really? I didn’t quite pin you to be an astronomer type of guy.”

“Yeah, well there’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

Geez, way to be all ominous and foreboding. “Can you see the aurora borealis from here?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“What about tonight? I’ve always wanted to see them. They seem so magical and fascinating.”

“It’s not magical at all. It’s just highly charged electrons, charged from the strong magnetic field around the earth’s poles, interacting with elements in the earth's atmosphere.”

“Yeah, but it still looks pretty. It’s like a light show, a natural version of fireworks or Vegas.”

“We can go see them tonight if you want. I know a really nice spot near the house, and it’s a new moon so it should be pretty visible.”

“Oh my gosh YES! Yes! Yes! Yes! I want to be able to cross that off my bucket list.”

“One yes was sufficient,” he laughed. “So it’s settled, we’ll go check out the northern lights before heading home.”

I squealed gleefully, squirming around in my chair out of disbelief that I would actually get to see the aurora borealis before dying.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The car came to a slow stop at a clearing. Unlocking the door and stepping out, I could already see the colorful ribbons of light across the sky mixed with the twinkling sequins on the fabric of the night sky.