"In all things of nature there is something of the marvellous." – Aristotle

Note: Special thanks to CoderBee22 for the cover featured above!

Date: April 22nd, 2017

Occasion: Earth Day

Country: Worldwide

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V | Starstruck

Stargazing has never been my thing.

To be honest, astronomy in general had never struck a resonant chord with me. Some say stars in the eyes resemble harmonious harp strums to the ears, a stroke of warm pleasure over senses. I guess the Angels of Celestial Wonders overlooked me in their quest to convert the rest of mankind into mini Galileos. But the twinkle of iridescent space particles in the sky had never captured my interest, and I don't think it ever will.

So, the concept of Earth Day had also never struck much of a chord with me either, which was rather problematic when you consider the next few events of April 22nd. The daytime, thankfully, had passed as per usual. Cars honking by in their usual obnoxious fashion, students desperately attempting to grasp the remainder of their health and social life they are overwhelmed in a flood of near-impossible examinations and dreadful misery. Not that that was anything new, it always came with being a high school student.

But the moment my toe exceeded the lining of the doorstep in the cozy hideout of where I worked, I had discovered that every electrical appliance had been shut off, rendering life necessities like our gigantic freezer, completely useless. The power outlets were now harmless, for if anyone tried to stick their finger in the socket for fun, which no one should ever do, by the way. Who'd want to die with an electricity-induced afro?

The first actualisation that people were serious about this day, was when I was trying to make my fantasies of strawberry sorbet come to a reality. Yanking open the freezer door and expecting to meet the usual chill that soothed the roasting of a scorching Spring day, all I got instead was room temperature yogurt and melted ice cream.

"Melanie!" I hollered, having always been the bold one that dared to speak, let alone shout, to our boss in such a casual manner.

As though by magic, she popped up in front of me immediately, scaring me out of my ripped jeans. I mean, it was boiling hot today, but that wasn't going to stop me from wearing my favourite pair of jeans!

"What?" my boss snapped.

I tugged out the strawberry sorbet and showed her the slushy contents within. "For an ice cream shop, our services are pathetic."

Melanie shook her head, bun perfectly intact. I needed to borrow whatever hairspray she used, because my own fiery locks were an outright mess. "Waffle Cones is officially closed for Earth Day, since, as you can see," she gestured to the strawberry slush I was still holding. "We can't operate without the freezers."

I blinked. "Wait, today is Earth Day?

I rushed over to the ice cream themed calendar on the nearest wall, and caught sight of the tiny letters printed below April 22nd. Melanie's stiff expression cracked a tiny bit as she got a high definition view of my bewildered face. "Today is Earth Day," she confirmed.

"Well, what do you know?" I said through a forced smile. "I suppose it is Earth Day. Just two quick questions. Firstly, who decided that we should turn off the freezers? And secondly, do we any have torture chambers?"

"First question, none other than yours truly! Second question, I certainly hope not," a cheerful voice answered my queries.

My co-worker, Fletcher, strolled into the back room, from where he had apparently been kicking back and playing Hay Day on his phone. I frowned, wondering how I hadn't even noticed him when I came in. I guess that I was too disoriented from my body's lack of sugar, that my vision flittered over him and was unable to register his usually eminent presence. Hm, maybe I thought he was one of those potted plants. Who knows?

"This was your idea?" I snarled.

"Um, yes?" Fletcher shrank back, his voice barely above a squeak. I would have made fun of him for it in any other situation, but watery sorbet and undiluted rage won this time.

"Fletcher, you are so dead!" I screeched, lunging at him. His hands flew up to protect his face from my sharp nails.

Unfortunately, my nails never even got there, for strong arms wrapped around my waist, resisting my sudden motion. After struggling for a good ten seconds, I eventually went limp in the arms as the gentle embrace consumed my befuddled thoughts. "Going somewhere?" my boyfriend, and other co-worker, teased as he cuddled me from behind.

"Your bro-hoe is being an asshole, Alex," I complained grumpily. "Is it okay if he's the victim of a brutal murder?"

"Why don't you ask your boss?" Alex suggested, glancing at Melanie's straight stature.

Melanie shrugged. "I mean, I'm all for murdering Fletcher, but I'd need to hire someone else in his place."

She then made her exit, saying something about needing to find a babysitter for her children. Are you surprised as I am about the children? Yeah, you should be. The first time the fact had nonchalantly slipped out as a throwaway sentence, all of us workers had stopped in our tracks, mouths dropping open in shock. Melanie wasn't the sweetest mother figure, you see, with her stiff personality and strong disliking of most adolescents.

I lost my grasp on the broom at the mention of Melanie's children, which clattered against a counter loudly. Our fourth musketeer and co-worker, Scarlett, dropped her soaking rag on the floor, which Fletcher strolled into and slipped over like it was a banana peel. Alex, the only having not been paralyzed in surprise, ended up cleaning an already pristine table, all while gaping at Melanie in utter shock.

The likelihood of Melanie birthing children, stated Fletcher the Math Geek, was zero, if not dipping into the negatives. I was interested in finding out how she even scored a husband, but Melanie was dynamic in a I'm going to blow your face up if you ask any more questions kind of way, so I let it go. Her children were the sweetest kids on the planet, so her husband was probably a sweetheart.

"Anyway, murdering me isn't on your to-do list, right?" Fletcher asked tentatively. "You're my friends, aren't you? Guys?"

"Sure," Alex said, though the skepticism in his tone could be sensed from Antarctica.

"What kind of friend deprives me of strawberry sorbet?" I cried, raking my hand through the knots within my jungle of hair.

"It's for a good cause, Erin! Come on, save the Earth. Pretty please?" Fletcher pleaded, eyes widening into his signature puppy dog.

I struggled under the influence of Fletcher's cursed adorableness for a moment, but I managed to get it together after a split second. "Fletcher, no means no!"

"Please?" he begged, clasping his hands together.

"No!" I retorted.

"Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"No, with a razor blade I can slit your throat with on top!"

"Pretty please, with some strawberry sorbet that you don't have, on top?"

"Stop being such a tease!" I growled, sparing a glance at the strawberry slush Melanie had set on a nearby table. It was taunting me with its very presence, stupid slush.

"Yeah, only I'm allowed to be a tease to my girlfriend," Alex mocked, lacing a hand through mine as his lips softly pecked my check.

"So, which team are you on?" I grumbled, unaffected by Alex's romantic gestures. "Team Fletcher, I suppose?"

The lines around Alex's eyes tightened slightly, telling me I had caught him off guard. "In my defence," he began, "the Earth really does need to be saved. We all live on this planet, so why shouldn't we care for it?"

"We're all going to die at some point, why should we care?" I shot back, frustration bubbling up my throat. "You know what? How about we just stay away from each other on this fine, unpolluted day?" I suggested acidly, gesturing at the beautiful sky outside.

Alex looked as though he was about to snap back, but changed his mind last minute. "Yeah, I think a break will be good," he agreed quietly, which made guilt tear at my heart.

"I think you're overreacting, but okay," Fletcher interjected, though he pulled a ridiculous face to show he was joking.

I shot Fletcher the evil eye before stalking off, the irritating returning. Look, I knew that the Earth was important and all, but so were a billion other things. National Strawberry Ice Cream Day, National Ditch Your New Year's Resolution Day, International Talk Like A Pirate Day. Who didn't want to talk like a pirate? That was way cooler than saving some bloody Earth that were weren't even going to survive on for that long, right?

I just didn't understand the hype. Whoop-de-doo, environments to be saved. Yippee. I don't care. I want my sorbet! Sure, saving the Earth would probably have a whole bunch of benefits in the future for our kids, and for the survival of our Solar System, so everyone didn't get lung cancer from pollution, but I enjoy living in the now. The present is the most precious, the very moment in which we currently reside, the time that ticks away if we don't pause and take a while to enjoy life's simple pleasures.

"Bro, she'll come through," Fletcher murmured in the background. I snatched up my fallen broom with a sigh. If I didn't get my strawberry sorbet, at least I could sweep my anger away and get a pay raise all the same.

"I hope so," Alex said dejectedly. "I don't want to lose my girlfriend just because of a difference in our opinions."

The silence throughout the store was deafening. It turned out that mopping was successful at getting the anger out, but the action had also drained me of any emotion I had left. I was a skeleton, mopping with layers of skin and sinew. I felt bad for what I'd said, but not enough to take action. Even as the sky grew darker and stars peeked out from behind the indigo curtain, I continued to carry the belief that Earth Day was bull.

Maybe it was because my brain was, for some reason, on red alert. Maybe I had developed ninja senses during the three hours I had cleaned the shop. Mop, sweep, rinse, repeat. Either way, as hands placed themselves on my shoulders, I stiffened and instinctively jabbed my right elbow into something that was definitely human, though rather solid.

"Oof!" The person gasped as I twisted my arm and flipped him over. He slammed squarely into the ground and simply laid there, groaning dramatically, though he showed no sign of actual injury. "I can see the light! Am I dying? Is this what dying feels like?"

"I told you it was a bad idea," Alex snorted as he appeared behind me, nearly scaring me out of my apron. "Never jump scare girls like that unless you want your butt beaten."

"Shit!" I exclaimed once realising who I had attacked. My hands flew up to my mouth as I blushed deep red in mortification. "Oh God, Fletcher, I'm sorry. Do you need help?"

"No, I got it," Fletcher grunted, waving my outstretched hand away. He lifted himself up from the floor, massaging his right shoulder. "Wait, so you don't recognise me in the dark? I'm disappointed in you! We've known each other for a year and a half already!"

"Are you still mad at us?" Alex asked over Fletcher's indignant grumbles.

I contemplated that for a moment, knowing full well that I wasn't mad anymore, but wondering whether I should be a tease. The duo were lucky that my mood had improved, though, otherwise I wouldn't have even let them talk to me in the first place.

"I suppose not," I concluded with a shrug. "Why do you ask?"

"Because we have something to show you!" Fletcher exclaimed, almost bouncing off the walls in his excitement. "You guys go on, I'll close up shop before we leave."

"Leave?" I asked. "Leave where?"

"It's a secret," Alex teased with an air of mystery. "May I?" he requested with his usual gentlemanly politeness, holding an elbow out in an old-fashioned manner.

"I suppose so," I agreed off-handedly, though the inner romantic inside of me was screaming like a crazy woman and running around in circles whilst dancing in confetti.

"I ship it!" Fletcher called from the back room. He lumbered out, holding a strangely shaped object. "By the way, do you guys know what kind of person my phone buddy is into?

"Emily? Nah," Alex and I said in unison, exchanging mischievous smiles. Fletcher had been exchanging calls with a girl named Emily, whom he had met through the phone a couple of weeks ago. He had been whipped ever since. I expect wedding vows to be exchanged soon. "Why do you want to know?"

"No reason," Fletcher said hastily, chucking the phone back in the room, which triggered the crashing of several boxes and inanimate objects. I was surprised I didn't hear a random cat Wilhelm scream somewhere in there.

"Let's go," Alex murmured, leading me outside into the rapidly deepening sky.

The duo led me down the empty street and to an unfamiliar edge of the mall I had yet to explore. A towering construction appeared to be the main attraction. My mouth opened to spit out a torrent of questions, before Alex jerked me straight into the building.

I found myself panting rapidly as we pounded up multiple flights of stairs. I was totally winded by the time we had reached the top. Fletcher had bounded in seconds before we did. To be fair, although Alex had more athletic ability than Fletcher did, Alex didn't have a deadweight, which was me, dragging him down. Though Alex was in a hurry like his contrastingly lone counterpart, his gentle personality meant that he paused every few moments to make sure that my breathing patterns remained regular and that I wasn't lying on the floor, unconscious.

"Welcome to Planetarium Fletcher!" Fletcher exclaimed, doing some sort of strange leaping dance around the circular room.

"It's not Planetarium Fletcher," Alex snorted, turning to me. "You okay, beautiful?"

The moment I caught gaze of the dome, it felt as though my pharynx and larynx had dropped to the bottom of my stomach. If air had struggled to pass through my crying lungs before, it was as if oxygen had been completely wiped out of existence now. Hardly daring to breathe, my eyes flickered around the stunning room which I never knew existed.

It was shaped like a dome, somewhat resembling a huge snowglobe. On the inside sat one lone telescope, casting its glassy gaze to the shimmering sky above. Speaking of the sky, that was the most attractive part. Mesmerising sparkles of white shone in clusters overhead, the irregularity of the patterns creating a moiré swirl. With every blink, the stars seemed to shift, finding yet another combination of bedazzlement to call home.

"Where are we?" I breathed as I dropped my bag on one side of the room, continuously keeping my gaze pointed upwards. I was afraid that if my eyes shifted away from the sight for even a second, it would disappear.

"Did you not just hear me say Planetarium–" Fletcher began.

"Westerden," Alex cut him off, squeezing my shoulders warmly. Thankfully, this time, I had enough sense not to elbow his gut and judo flip him onto the mesmerizing mosaic floor. "This is Westerden Planetarium."

"These people need some original names for their buildings," I whispered at the iridescent stars. "Seriously, why is everything in this city named Westerden something?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because we live in a city called Westerden?" Fletcher sassed.

Alex lead me to the telescope in the centre. You'd expect a planetarium to have one of those bulky telescopes that no one except experts can figure out how to use. But surprisingly, the telescope in question was sleek, thin, and as gorgeous as the stars above. My hand lightly brushed the beautiful object, before being enclosed in Alex's grasp. He helped me guide it into a comfortable position, and then let me gaze through.

"All yours, firefly," Alex whispered, stepping back to let me take the stage.

I twisted to look back at him. "Firefly?"

"Your light is as captivating as a firefly," he explained, lips twitching upwards.

"Oh, puke," I teased, unable to hide a smile. "Now let me get back to my stargazing." As I stared through the lenses of the telescope, a canopy of stars radiated celestial beauty above. Again, breath was snatched away from me with a docile hand of the heavenly body.

"Cool, huh?" Alex said behind me. I responded to Alex with a nod, which he took as a cue to continue. "But what if all that was taken away? Gone forever? The result of pollution and global warming is that this disappears."

"That would suck," I responded. I extracted the suction of my eyes with the telescope lenses and turned to Alex and Fletcher. "So, what did you two bring me here for?"

"Today is Earth Day and I look at stars when I want to!" Fletcher sang.

"No quoting Melanie Martinez!" I chastised.

"Anyway," Alex interrupted hastily. "Don't you see, Erin?" He gestured to the stratosphere above us. "Someone gave us a gift, a damn beautiful gift if you ask me, and we need to treat it right. Think about it, how many times a day do we take the Earth for granted? We pollute, we leave the lights on when they're not needed, we chuck non-biodegradable trash out on the streets. For what? For a temporary life of luxury? For round pieces of metal or thin sheets of paper? We suck as humans, we really suck. But we don't have to continue sucking. We can change. We can do better."

"Dude," Fletcher said, awestruck. "You need a career in motivational speaking."

"The point is," Alex continued. "That's what Earth Day is about. It's about protecting our planet, and thus being able to see these phenomenons every day. It all comes down to how we treat our environment. You see why it matters? Earth is the gift of life."

"If we're thinking in terms of strawberry sorbet," I said slowly. "If I don't get it now, I'll be able to get more of it later because we'll be able to keep all our resources and stuff."

"Um," Alex frowned. "Yes?"

"Works for me," I shrugged, glancing through the telescope again as the sky reached its terminal gradience.

It wasn't every day that I admitted Alex and Fletcher were right. But this time, they were. Earth day isn't just a throwaway occasion when you celebrate it if you want to, and if you don't, you don't. It's not so much of a day as it is a rally. It's about taking a stand, taking a step to preserve the beautiful gift that whoever, or the whoevers, up there gave us. Go ahead, believe what you like. It could be the singular God, the pagan gods, angels with those fancy harps, or one of those Super Mario characters who sits on a cloud and chucks stuff at you.

Either way, Earth Day is about raising awareness for these important environmental issues, and I believe that it's so important to do so. We were given voices, we have to use them to do good in our world. Let's make stuff happen. The more people who do these things, the ones who work together harmoniously, that's where gain comes from.

Let's plant trees, recycle, make cities one hundred percent renewable. Let's make this Earth one that we can say we helped be the best it can be. One that we're proud to live on. Let's revitalise our planet. Let's let gorgeous stars shimmer in the night sky. Let's let clean water course through our bodies. Let's become the species that makes a difference.

After all, you can eat as much sorbet as you want on April 23rd, right?