Lights

The little valley was never busy. A few houses here and there, little to no traffic. At night, the road was even more deserted. A few lights shined from the houses hidden among the higher elevations. They peeked through the trees like twinkling stars, but it was still enough to show signs of population. A creek trickled alongside the road. The wind rustled the leaves on the trees and Joan wished he'd remembered to bring his coat. All in all, he supposed, this was the last place anyone would think to look for the northern lights. But with a late warning and little time, it was the best he could settle for.

The real stars twinkled above him, floating in the inky darkness of the sky. It was a full moon tonight and the celestial body shone bright from the south. He'd heard stories of what the northern lights looked like. He'd seen them in pictures before, but this? This was just another night in the mountains. The valley looked the same, and so did the sky.

He slid the phone from his pocket and winced as the bright screen lit up. He swiped to the camera and pointed it at the sky, hesitating before clicking the circle. The phone went off with a click. He watched the sky once more before pulling up the photo, and it was like looking through someone else's eyes. Another lens. The screen was bright once more, this time with shades of pink and purple that lit through the sky. He clicked his phone off and looked up again, squinting.

And then he saw them. They were faint, and not as clear as they were in the camera, but they were there. Faint like watercolors, just along the ridge of the mountains. And the longer he looked the brighter they were until he could almost see what he'd seen in the camera. All he had to do was wait. He stared up at the sky, a smile touching his lips. There was no one else there to share the moment with, but that didn't matter. The lights were unlike anything he'd ever seen. He could stare at them for all of eternity if he was able to.