PERPETUAL ASTERIA

Opaque views surrounded her as she sat in her grey hued airline seat with her hands softly placed in her anxious lap. She had put her window cover down as the pure darkness speckled with distant sparks that replaced the once beautiful swirls of white and blue sky made her uneasy.

The man sitting next to her seemed the talkative type, so she did her best to look at the closed window in hopes of not appearing a tangible person to converse with; but it wasn’t like they had many options now adays so unfortunately it was inevitable.

She didn’t use to be this way, in fact she spent most of her life peeking into the minds of others, wishing to understand, to discover the beauty of difference with every passing cracked smile... it didn’t feel as important anymore, not really.

The man with greying hair and features that showed an older soul cleared his throat hinting at his desire to replace the silence she clung too.

“Do you mind opening the window cover? I find it more ominous closed.”

The man said it with such kindness and longing she didn’t feel right saying no so she smiled at him softly and did as he wished.

Staring out at the emptiness of space she felt a chill, for once she wasn’t sure what was out there and to her, that was terrifying. She no longer wished to be curious.

“Do you mind me asking you something?” The kind older man asked this woman to which she just stared at him as her way of accepting this request.

“What did you do… you know. Before?”

She looked at him kindly. “I was a teacher of philosophy, doesn’t seem to matter much now.” She said with a confused soul sitting back further into her stiff chair.

“Dear, I think it matters more.” He said with a soft smile to which she reciprocated.

“What did you do?” She asked feeling this conversation to be somewhat more uplifting than she originally imagined.

“I was a pilot, retired now.” He said looking longingly out the window.

“You ever imagine we’d get to this point?“ She asked truthfully.

“Did you?” He said in reply with a wink and a communal laugh.

“Yeah...” She said contemplatively.

“So, tell me then, with all your research, what is your conclusion?” The man asked intrigued, with the woman confused by his vague question that he seemed to think was obvious.

“You know, about humanity. After everything that has happened you must have your opinions, philosophies?” He said with emphasis making her laugh.

“I do, but that’s the thing about humanity, like its philosophies… it changes.” She said looking out the window at how different it was now.

“ Ah, the progress of humanity from the destruction that is cultivation.” The man said in reply making the woman chuckle at his accuracy.

“Cultivated by the promise for more.” She replied with a smirk that made the man nod in agreement and admiration.

 “So, as of right now, do you have a philosophy to sum up our current path in humanity? Something comforting, I hope? Understandable if it isn’t.” He said with a curious nature as he too stared off into the darkness less haunted, more intrigued than the philosopher beside him.

“ Perpetual Asteria…” She said softly not expecting a response just yet, pushing her point further.

 “Humanity as of this moment, this small spark of confronting our actions. Is left with a simple reminder of how powerful our influence is. I like to think of our future as humanity can be summed up by perpetual asteria.”

The man stopped looking out the window and began watching her as if this would bring light to her words that confused him so.
“Misguided by our wish to always and indefinitely look at the stars.” She said softly in reflection.

“ Yes, well. If someone hadn’t spent their life looking at the stars, then we wouldn’t have had the possibility to be discussing it right now.” The man said with wisdom beyond her years making the woman smile as she always appreciated the beauty of someone else’s experiences shaping them to a different conclusion.

They smiled at each other with a soft chuckle as the stewardess came around with their chosen libations.

They cheersed to each other as the woman said. “To those who shoot for the stars.”

For which the man replied with. “- And to those who shoot even further.”