Driving to the field had become a regular occurrence now – it happened at least once every week. Cassie’s phone would ring around midnight and Sam would pull up outside about twenty minutes later. The rumble of the engine of his red pickup-truck juxtaposing the silence and stillness of the night. They’d drive for about fifteen minutes, sitting in complete silence until they reached the clearing on the west side of the forest. Sam would drive the truck onto the field and park it when he reached what was more or less the centre. Obviously, you aren’t supposed to do this, but at that time in the morning, nobody’s there too see it. Cassie, being quite the daredevil, thrived on this risk – always excited by the endless possibilities. Once the truck was parked, they’d both get out and go and sit in the cargo bed, watching the stars.
T
he night was clear – no clouds, just a deep and endless black and millions of stars. Cassie loved the way that they danced around the sky, all living lives that were seemingly problem-free. In fact, she loved them so much that she could spend hours, lost in their mystery, and perceive it to be no more than a few minutes. A silver streak passed quickly through the night sky.
“Shooting star”, Sam yelled, “Quick, make a wish.”
This was the part that Cassie hated, she’d seen one before, and as beautiful as they were, the part where she had to make a wish really made her think. She always had the same wish, but she could never tell anyone as she was too scared that they’d ask her why. All she wanted to do was erase the past, fix her mistake and forget her secret. Every time she was just beginning to forget, she’d be reminded in a way as obscure as this one. Ten years had passed, and she’d never told anybody her secret. She spent days upon days wishing that she could – but it was too much of a risk. Instead, she just kept on wishing that she could go back and stop it, stop the secret from ever existing.
“What did you wish for?”, asked Sam, starting Cassie and pulling her out of her thoughts.
“Oh, nothing important.”, she lied, as a single tear rolled down her cheek.
