Spring Hill Road started on the back side of the middle school and ran out into the country until it turned into a county road with a designated number for identification.

Noah passed the school about two miles ago and was searching for the gravel road to the right with a huge oak tree as a land marker. For the most part, the countryside consisted of wheat fields on both sides of the highway, until he spotted the big tree and Madison's long driveway. From there on, trees and more trees took over the scenery.

He angled the Jeep Wrangler onto the drive and eased off the gas, allowing the knobby tires to rumble over the gravel.

Along the way, the wooded stretch opened up into a large yard, marked by several mature oaks, a few pecan trees, and a country style house with a porch across the front.

Noah stopped behind Madison's silver Honda Accord, flipped off the headlights and approached the house. A light burned inside. The front door was open with the screen shut, keeping unwanted insects out.

He wrapped on the wood door frame and naturally peeked inside. "Hello?"

"I'll be right out." He heard Madison say.

A moment later, she appeared from the kitchen, grabbed her coat off the arm of the couch and joined him on the porch. When she was set to go, Noah tried to get the passenger door for her.

She cut him off with hand on his arm. "That won't be necessary."

He froze and realized they were two colleagues on a field trip, nothing more. "No problem." Noah shook off the exchange and went around to get behind the wheel. "You ready for this?"

"I think so. Jupiter should be out tonight. We can check it out for sure."

"I can respect someone with a healthy knowledge of the night sky."

Madison smiled in reply. Noah took it as a good sign and backed out of the driveway.

Once back in town, Noah headed east until the city lights faded to a darkness so black the Jeep's headlamps struggled to cut a path through the night. Wheat stands hemmed in both sides of the road as it did on the way to Madison's house. The endless acres of farmland that encompassed Harvest Springs told the story of how the town got its name.

Noah turned onto a dusty road in the middle of a thick crop of wheat. The narrow pass was wide enough for the Jeep to slice a trail through.

"You weren't kidding about the perfect spot...were you?" Madison said, her eyes peeled to the path ahead of them.

"I used to work summers for a guy who owns the land. He goes way back with my parents. He won't mind us being out here."

"I was beginning to worry. I kept having visions of getting shot at by an old man with a double barrel shotgun."

"He does own a gun," Noah replied. He aimed a hardened set of eyes back at Madison.

She didn't bite.

"I'm joking." He grinned. "Or maybe not?" He pointed out of the window on her side. "The place we're looking for is over there, not too far away."

He geared down the Jeep and swung it around a tight curve. A clearing opened up in the field. The area was flat and the dead grass cut short, waiting for spring's warmth to coax it back to life.

"The road keeps going," Noah said. "But this is the place."

He pulled off the path and switched off the lights. In a matter of minutes, their eyes adjusted to the dark. Noah met Madison at the rear of the Jeep. Her outline was easy to recognize against the backdrop of the wheat field. He caught her taking in the view and used the opportunity to observe the soft features of her face. Her jawline ran smooth and blended into a graceful arc at her chin.

Noah exhaled, reminding himself this was a meeting of the minds. Not hearts.

He clapped his hands." What do you think?"

"It's beautiful out here," Madison replied. Her eyes never left the black velvet blanket over their heads. In the cold night air, each star twinkled crystal clear. It also produced steamy breathes with each exhale.

"Yes, it is." He saw the admiration in her eyes.

She glanced at him, paused, and then looked away.

Noah felt a sudden grip of nerves jittering in his stomach. He chided himself for letting his guard down. "Okay," he said with a shaky voice. He wasn't sure if it was the cold or something else. "Let's get things setup."

They unloaded Noah's twelve-inch Dobsonian style telescope and placed it on a clear and flat piece of ground. The telescope was large but without a stand it was perfect for them to lean over and stare into the eye piece, and make adjustments to the scope's position as the curvature of the Earth rotated. The natural movement of the objects in the sky made them constantly reposition their view. But with the small finder scope on top, they were able to locate and pinpoint stars and planets to observe.

To start off, they looked at Jupiter. It hung in the sky as the brightest star. Vaguely, they saw its cloud bands and a few points of light, which were some its larger moons reflecting sunlight. Next, they found Saturn and her rings. The planet was a pale image of what people saw in magazines and online. Finally, they switched to a star cluster near the constellation of Orion's Belt.

"It's neat when you look at a cluster with the naked eye and it only appears to be a single star," Noah said. "But under magnification, many closely hung stars appear."

Madison was leaning over the eye piece. She drew back and looked at the cluster overhead without the scope's help. She turned to Noah and they shared a moment of mutual wonder and awe. For some reason, Noah didn't want to look away. Her eyes were normally a brilliant shade of blue against her flaxen hair, but tonight, they appeared light grey under the dimness of the stars. He was standing close enough to easily switch places with her at the telescope. Her breath fogged as she exhaled, their gazes on each other.

Madison swallowed, turned away, and back to the telescope.

Noah felt a flutter in his chest. He didn't know where that came from.

"You know," Madison said, still peering through the scope. "Every time I look at the stars and the planets, I can't help but feel so small. I feel like God is out there. I'm reminded of Genesis, where the Bible says that...In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth."

Noah remained quiet as she glanced up at him.

"The Bible comes right out and declares God as the creator in verse one. As if it's a moot point to think otherwise." She moved aside so Noah could take a turn with the star cluster. As he adjusted the focus on the stars, she continued. "Just like with that cluster, you can't see it clearly with the naked eye. Your first thought is it's just one blurry star, but then you look at it through the telescope, and with the aid of the light gathering power of the concave mirror, you see the individual stars more clearly."

"What's your point?" Noah looked up.

"My point is, that when you think about the universe, and creation," she paused, "at first glance, you may not be able comprehend it all, but when you peer at it through eyes of faith, you can see that there's something much bigger at work behind the scenes."

"Well, if God is real, then He should send me a sign as proof of His existence."

That statement stuck in the back of Noah's mind as they continued to observe the night sky. The more he thought about it, the more the statement felt like a stupid thing for a scientist to say. He didn't need a sign; he only looked for evidence. That was science. He looked at the same stars that Madison looked at, and yet, he saw something different than her. She seemed to see beyond the stars, like she was reading something between the lines. Noah had a difficult time reading between the lines, so to speak. In his mind, the lines were there for a reason. He wasn't looking through eyes of faith. He gazed through eyes of physical proof and natural certainty. He wanted to offer Madison a rebuttal, but every time he looked at her, his breath seized in his chest and froze up. There were times to argue, and for some reason, he felt speechless beside her. It wasn't him yielding to her point of view, but something about her character quieted him. She was genuine, and she truly believed what she believed, just as he did his own views.

Things were moving along without much of hitch, when the sky brightened and a distant rumble grew with intensity. Then they saw it. A gigantic meteor thundered overhead, a brilliant fireball in the sky. They felt the concussive sound waves as it blasted over the wheat field and impacted with the ground several miles away with a heated explosion.

Noah stared at Madison in a daze.

"Is that sign good enough for you?" she said.