I immediately looked behind me, at my house. Nothing seemed to be wrong. Everyone was probably asleep by now.

As I was trying to figure out what was making that noise or why, a meteor was heading straight for me. I dodged, and it smashed my father's telescope. As I watched his telescope be destroyed before my very eyes, I couldn't help but feel the knot in my chest and throat, and the tears in my eyes. They fell like the stars in the sky, glistening like them too. The only thing I had left of my dad. I cried. I couldn't bottle everything up anymore. I can't lie about how I feel anymore.

When I started to calm down, I gathered up the broken telescope, to savor, and to put it back in its box, which should've just stayed in after all. Among shards of the glass lens and a broken telescope and its tripod, I saw fragments of a... lightbulb...? I tried to touch the fragments, I wince, burning my hand. It was really hot. The coil inside the lightbulb was still hot, sparky, and glowing, as if someone had taken the lightbulb out and chucked it across the sky. 

I waited a little bit, and I try to pick up the lightbulb's pieces. I examine it carefully, curiosity in my tear-filled eyes. Did it really come from the sky? 

As I look at the first lightbulb, another falls from the sky, shattering in my yard. The pieces explode everywhere. Then, another came. I look at the other neighbors, who've noticed this strange phenomenon as lightbulbs continue to shatter and crack on the surface of the Earth. What was causing this to happen...?

Suddenly, a lightbulb smashes against Rei's window, and it smashed against his window. I see him open his window groggily, and staring at me, and then at the sky. His eyes widen when he sees the lightbulbs fall from the sky, but his widen further, if even possible.

"Rory look!" He shouted. And I do. I stare at the sky, and then... my heart drops. The sky is empty. The planets, the lightbulbs falling from the sky, the stars, all gone. The only thing in the sky, is a lonely half-moon. My eyes widen too with shock, and anguish. I... how?

I see Rei rushing to my side. He's still in his ridiculous pajamas that he's embarrassed of the neighbor's daughter seeing, but right now, it doesn't look like he cares all that much. "Rory..."

As soon as he said my name, that was when I broke. Clutching the broken telescope and lightbulbs in my hand, I cry once more. I can't keep my composure anymore.

We gather up the telescope, and I put it back in the box where it belongs. I refuse to let my mom throw it away, like she said. I don't care anymore if I get in trouble for defying her wishes. I can't just throw away all my dad left me. She wouldn't know.

I wake up the next day, and the first thing I see are the broken lightbulb shards on my desk. I get out of bed,  and take a look at them under my desk lamp. Now that I can see it in the light, there's a glittery substance coating each of them. It's like tiny, itty-bitty pieces of golden glitter. "Rei!" I call, knowing he's not going to answer, being as he's most likely sleeping. He doesn't typically wake up until around noon.

I get a magnifying glass, and look at the lightbulb using it. I should see if I can gather up any more lightbulb shards.

Later, a sleep-deprived Rei opens the door to my room, not even knocking. "Knock next time." I mutter, not looking at him. "Hey, Rei, look at this." I say. He walks over here, hands in the pockets of his pajama pants. 

"What is it?" He asks, and I hand him the magnifying glass.

"Look at the lightbulbs." I instruct. He does so and then he narrows his eyes.

"You spilled glitter all over it?" I facepalm.

"No, it was already there, I just didn't see it because it was dark out." I explain. "I was thinking maybe we gather up other lightbulbs to see if they have the same glitter-like substance on them. I'll see if I can get my microscope to look at the glitter up close."

We get dressed in the day's clothes, and then get our bikes and a paper grocery bag, riding around town, asking people for lightbulbs if they encountered any. A lot of people threw them away, but we managed to collect a few.

"Hang on, why do you even need them?" A old woman asked when we were asking for the lightbulbs that fell in her yard. Her tone indicated she was annoyed she was interrupted from doing whatever she was doing. 

"We um..." I got nothing. I'm horrible at coming up with excuses on the spot. And lying in general, for that matter.

"We're collecting them so we can take them to the garbage for people who can't do it themselves, for whatever reason. We also want to be good neighborly people, too." I watch in amazement as Rei pulls off that fib like its just another Saturday for him. The woman doesn't say anything for a second, just glaring at us, as if deciding if we're telling the truth or not.

"Alright, fine. Knock yourself out. There's a bunch in the backyard. But don't go snooping around in things you shouldn't." She warned, relenting and opening her backyard's gate for us. She watches us like a hawk as she walks in. I can tell she wants us gone, so I try to be speedy for it. She wasn't kidding when she said there's a bunch. They were everywhere. We're determined to get every single piece, even the tiny little pieces.

Once we think we have a generous amount, we walk out of her backyard, where she slams it shut and locks it once more. "Thank you ma'am." I say.

"Yeah, yeah, go on, scram." She says, shooing is away with her hands. She goes back inside her house, resuming whatever she was doing prior to is ringing her doorbell.

"Do you think this is enough?" Rei asks. I nod, and we both ride home. I wonder... how long will it be until all the stars are gone? Even the sun itself.

I glance up at the bright star in the day's sky. I can't believe I'm saying this, but... does it seem dimmer than normal? And for a quick second, it went out. It's wobbling and shaking. And very faintly... flickering.