“I’ve never seen something so beautiful…”
Millions of lights dotted the sky, and the vibrant arm of the Milky Way swept across the night. It made Agnes feel incredibly small.
“I’d say you‘re just a city girl who‘s easily impressed,” said Jeff, “but yeah, you never really get used to it.”
“Is it like this every night?” Agnes asked.
“Mostly, yeah.”
They both sat in silence for a moment, Agnes dangling her legs off the edge of the roof, not tearing her eyes off of the night sky.
“What are nights like in the city?”
“Nothing like this,” Agnes said, “it’s loud, bright; you could never see the sky, even on clear nights like this.”
“What could you see then?” Jeff asked, not mocking, just genuinely curious.
Agnes sat there, unmoving.
“Nothing… just black.”
She heard the faint squabble of chickens in the barn, then silence.
“I guess… I know why my parents never visited much,” she said. “Compared to this,” -she stretched her hands out to the sky, as if reaching for something- “the city kinda sucks doesn’t it?”
“Yeah. They really loved it here.”
“I… I just wish I could have been there when…”
“Hey,” Jeff said, “no one’s blaming you.”
“I am,” Agnes said, “why the hell did I move out in the first place?”
Her voice lowered. “What was I running from?”
Up In the tree against the dirt road, an owl flew off from one of the branches, leaving the trunk slowly swaying in the still breeze.
“I love it here,” Agnes said, as if trying to convince herself.
Jeff said nothing.
Agnes laughed to herself, “You know what I was planning on doing?” she said, “I was planning on selling the farm to you, and going back to the city, and using the money to buy a bigger apartment, maybe even one closer to work.”
“But plans changed?”
“No,” Agnes said, “I did.”
This story was written during my trial HSC English exam. The prompt was "connection to nature".