April was lying in her bed, finally nodding off to sleep, when she heard a soft knock at her window. Her eyes fluttered slightly at the noise, but she brushed it off as a bird or a trick of her imagination. She rolled onto her back and tried again to fall into a deep sleep. The knocking came again; a little louder this time. Now April knew it was something real, and at her window trying to get her attention. She sat up lazily, keeping her eyes closed until the last minute. She turned to her window to see who, or what, it was. She was losing the battle to keep her eyes open and blinked slowly. Finally she was able to register that it was Donnie outside her window, waving apologetically. She couldn't help but turn up the corners of her lips in a small smile as she tossed the sheets aside to get up and let the turtle in.
"Sorry to wake you," he whispered. "I couldn't wait to show you something."
"You couldn't at least let me get a few hours of sleep?" April asked.
"Sorry," he apologized again. "It's just … it's better at night, anyway." He placed a hand on the back of his neck and rubbed it sheepishly.
April crossed her arms, "Alright. Let's see it."
Donnie's smile grew large and he reached into the small bag April just noticed he was carrying. He pulled out a small sphere that was speckled with pin sized holes. "This is for you," he told her as he twisted it barely an inch to activate it. Suddenly the room was alive with light. The pin sized holes in the sphere projected an image of the sky as it would be seen in the country, away from city lights and buildings. All over the walls of April's bedroom shone constellations and far off galaxies. Even a shooting star could be seen after a moment or two. April's eyes lit up nearly as bright as the holographic sky around her. She drank in its beauty as it reminded her of a time when she was young. Her parents owned a small farmhouse in the country side where April and her mother would spend many nights stargazing. It was the best memory she had of her mother before she disappeared.
"It's beautiful," April said softly after a long moment of speechlessness.
Don let out the breath he had started holding when April didn't say anything at first, "I was hoping you'd like it,"
"I love it." April wrapped her arm around Don's and rested her head against his shoulder as the two continued to admire the beauty of the universe.

End