Shards bring luck, don’t they?
If her career as a marine biologist didn’t work out, Liz could always join the circus. They had survived the first week of university and she felt like a high-wire artist trying to perform tricks at dizzying heights. Actually, she would have prefered to land with a triple somersault on the back of a white horse and smiled while doing so. Would Alec like her in a glittering costume?
As it was, however, she was balanced between Chris’s wet kisses, Sue’s crushes on her ex and Alec’s hidden flirtations – Liz was more than ready for a quiet weekend. But she was not yet granted this luxury, for rather, the four of them were currently standing outside the entrance of the Miami Planetarium, waiting to be admitted.
“Stars, stars!” chanted Sue beside her, bobbing up and down excitedly – hello bouncy castle. Reassuringly, Liz put her hands on her friend’s shoulders to help her come down from her trip a little. Okay, admittedly, Sue’s behaviour was also really funny. If Liz didn’t know that the blonde was far too prudish even for weed, she would have guessed she might have popped some pills.
“Hey porno Bambi, take it down a notch. We’ve got all night to stargaze.” Liz couldn’t help smirking. After all, Sue had let her talk her into wearing a pretty dress and she looked innocent yet sexy in it. Liz herself was wearing a skimpy denim skirt and blouse, and the boys had also dressed up.
Liz was torn – hopefully Alec liked what he saw on Sue. No, hopefully he didn’t. Yes, he should better like it, because then he would leave Liz alone. No, only she should please him! Oh shit, she didn’t even understand herself. Maybe a double-date wasn’t such a good idea after all. Liz was already doubting her sanity.
“I don’t want to just stare at stars, I want to buy a souvenir.” Apparently Sue really wanted to reminisce about their first four-way date. “Do you know if there are any great things to buy here?”
It came as no surprise that she had approached Alec, after all he was the star doctor among them and had organised the tickets. Still, he shrugged a little perplexedly. “I don’t care much for souvenirs. But there are really cool glass balls that depict the starry sky and glitter when you shake them.” The way her eyes began to sparkle, that was the perfect answer for Sue, and she would have loved to fall around Alec’s neck again. But she held back, strangely well-behaved.
At last the waiting people were admitted to the planetarium and it was too late to back out. For the next hour, collective Ohs or Ahs rang out whenever the lecturer told something particularly interesting. Basically, this exclusive, night-time tour of the cosmos was really fantastic. There was only a small, selected group present and after the lecture, the guests were allowed to move around the planetarium freely for a while to explore the secrets of the universe on their own. Liz didn’t even want to know how Alec had got the expensive tickets – either he had used his extremely casual charm, or he had simply been lucky.
“… for over thirty years now, the Hubble Telescope has been floating in the orbit around the Earth, taking pictures for us,” the lecturer’s voice was very pleasant. “We only know what distant galaxies look like through this telescope. It’s tireless and snaps photo after photo… if it had an Instagram account, it would be an influencer by now.” A collective laugh followed and even Liz couldn’t help but think this event was a success.
They were told some more facts about the evolution of the universe and the mythology of the zodiac signs, but a simulated rocket launch into space was also part of the tour. Particularly powerful fans and loudspeakers, together with a beamer, made it feel like being up close and personal to an actual launch before the tour continued.
“Now we come to the highlight and at the same time the conclusion of our tour.” The group had arrived in a huge dome. They were asked to sit down on velvet chairs and look up. The dome was still open and the night sky over Miami was not difficult to see. But individual stars could hardly be discerned. At the push of a button and with a soft whirring sound, however, the dome closed and blackness enveloped the guests.
“Due to light pollution, it is difficult to observe stars well, especially in large metropolises like Miami. That’s why we created a dome to simulate an artificial night sky. I promise, you will notice the difference and be overwhelmed.”
And he kept his promise. Instantly, countless stars illuminated the darkness and high-resolution photos projected by powerful beamers created a lifelike feeling.
“It’s like walking under the stars…” Liz hushed in a reverent whisper before she could stop herself.
In response, Chris squeezed her hand tighter and… another hand came to rest on her bare knee. Even without looking, she knew that Alec was sitting to her right, simply shamelessly exploiting the darkness to make physical contact with her. She should have shaken off his hand, punched or kicked him. Instead, she clenched her teeth tightly and… enjoyed the warm and familiar feeling his touch triggered in her heart. Those damned butterflies in her stomach, why couldn’t they just be eliminated!!!
“Here you can see a mystical-looking nebula. The galaxy is full of them.” The structure was magnified on the dome and it almost seemed as if one could dive into it. Everything shimmered in the most beautiful colours from gold to pink to blue and it seemed so lifelike that Liz thought she was breathing stardust.
“Such mist is created when a star dies.” Superlative beauty in final death, what morbid symbolism.
–––
“The water is really black,” Chris said in disbelief as he formed a hollow with his hand and black coloured water collected in his palm. “It says it’s a special dye and non-toxic, but consumption is strongly discouraged,” Sue read the sign aloud.
The four of them were still in the planetarium and had reached what was called the Mirror Lake. It was a large, black pool that reflected artistic shapes made of countless lights. It looked beautiful.
Liz was still reeling from Alec’s gentle touch earlier and the tale of the star’s death, but she forced herself back to reality. Too much brooding would do her no good.
“So in case someone unintentionally swallows the water, luckily we have two budding doctors here,” she joked, leaning against her friend. Before anyone could retort, however, an announcement echoed through the planetarium that it would be closing soon.
Sue became excited again and looked to her friends for help. “I really want another glass sphere like that, is anyone coming to the gift shop with me?”
Liz was about to agree but Chris was quicker. “I want to buy one of those silly stuffed animals for Lizzy anyway.” He winked mischievously at her. “I’ll go with Sue and you’ll have to stay here. I want to surprise you with it – at least a little.” Automatically Liz returned his kiss goodbye, feeling nothing at all when their lips brushed. And off they went, leaving her alone with Alec.
“I bet you don’t dare jump in,” her ex-boyfriend’s calm, velvety voice suddenly sounded and with a provocative smile he fixed Liz.
All alarm bells shrilled inside her, yet at the same time she hated being challenged. Above all, she wanted so badly to prove to Alec that he no longer knew her and that she had become a new person.
“What do I get in return if I do dare?” she asked in return, crossing her arms in front of her chest in a wait-and-see manner.
“What do you want? Perhaps a holiday on a steamship to escape me even further?” He leaned casually against a wall. “If you don’t dare, then you’ll have to tell the other two the truth about our shared history.” Liz glared wickedly at Alec, fear, shame and anger all registering in her at the same time.
“And if I do dare, then you get the fuck out of Miami,” she demanded harshly and unyieldingly. The vehemence of this wager made Alec raise his eyebrow in surprise. But a bet was a matter of honour and so he nodded, even though it was visibly difficult for him.
No sooner said than done. They waited until the rest of the people had said goodbye to the room with the mirror lake before standing close to the edge of the pool. It was completely opaque how deep the pool really was – it could be only a few centimetres, or it could be a few metres.
“If I catch a cold with wet clothes, it’s your fault,” she was hissing at her ex, even though that was unlikely in Miami. After all, the nights were mild too.
Liz hesitated nonetheless, looking back and forth between the black pool and Alec uncertainly. Should she really do this? For sure! Because then she would finally have peace from her ex.
She took a deep breath, then held it, closed her eyes and was about to take the last step forward when she heard a loud splash and opened her eyes in shock.
Instead of herself, Alec was now standing in the surprisingly shallow water. The blackness only reached his knees and he looked at her with an innocent shrug. “I can’t let you win the bet.” Liz opened her lips, but no sound came out of her at first in surprise.
“You can’t… it doesn’t count!” The bet was thus void and teasingly Alec began splashing water all over her.
“Just stop it!” she hissed again, raising her arms defensively. “Just stop everything!” Her patience was finally wearing thin. It was all too much for her. Her body and mind were still attracted to Alec, but her wounded heart wouldn’t admit it. She just wanted to forget him and bury all the feelings she still had for him and that threatened to consume her.
“I don’t want this, just fuck off!” Now desperation coloured her voice too and Alec paused and looked at her for a moment.
“I can’t stop until you listen to me and understand,” was his simple, calm reply. She had rarely seen this seriousness in his features before, but it was too late for that.
“I understand very well!” she bit back. “Not only did you just steal our joint savings and spend it on some shit, you also got her pregnant!”
Hot tears were now making their way down her cheeks but Liz didn’t even notice.
“How dare you show up here and want me back after what you did to me!” Raging anger set her blood on fire. “How dare you play such games with all of us!!!” He would walk over dead bodies just to draw her emotions and jealousy out of her.
“You got her pregnant, Alec, even though we were together.” Her voice became very quiet now, showing for the first time how deeply hurt she really was. “Yet she’s my sister.”
Loud and heavy, the silence waved between them, filled with the unsaid, before it was shattered in the next blink by the splintering of thousands of shards of glass as a newly bought glass ball kissed the ground behind them and dissipated into more sparks than stars in the sky….