It wasn't wise for a boy to be out so late, even if it was only eight minutes before ten at night. But Jude found himself walking down the sidewalk anyway, his dog a few feet ahead with her ears perked. He had noticed the mutt had gotten used to his odd shift in walks and if anything she didn't mind it. It was along this path that another routine had taken place. As they approached the portion of the sidewalk that was just across the lake and his house, he snapped his fingers. The light post across the street flickered. The orange light turned white right before flashing and turning off.
At first, the boy felt his heart constrict at the eerie feeling, but as soon as his eyes went past the light post and up to the sky, his mind blanked.
His coffee-brown eyes devoured the winter night sky. He had what seemed to be an obsession with stars and the night sky in general. So this dark spot, where the light post went out at exactly eight before ten, had become his favorite. He traced the Big Dipper and then connected and completed the dots to make out Orion the hunter. He then found the rabbit that played around Orion's feet and the incomplete dog at his side.
Upon hearing voices coming towards him and staring oddly, he looked at his own dog and brought her closer with an embarrassed blush.
When the couple walking came by him, he nodded.
"Evening," Jude muttered.
The man didn't return the words though, and with a pointed look at Jude, he passed by.
"Is it that weird to be looking up at the sky?" He questioned his dog whose gaze was on the passersby.
Maybe humans don't think of that. He imagined his dog thinking, her hazel fur a little brighter in the moonlight.
After looking behind him to make sure the couple was almost out of sight, the male's chin tilted up once more. He traced Orion again and again and then tried to make out the others. Trying to find the missing pieces to the stars around him, tonight's main one being Canis major, whose head nor tail he could ever find; the incomplete dog.
"What are you doing?"
Jude's head snapped down, his eyes wide and lips parted slightly, as if ready with an explanation, and then his heart accelerated when he realized his mind had absolutely nothing to offer.
"I uh–" He tried to start talking smoothly to the boy who stood before him. A hood over his head painted dark shadows on his face, not allowing Jude to truly make out the person he was speaking–or rather failing to speak–to.
Before he could find the right words, he observed the other's chin turn up. From there he got a glimpse of the male's light skin. The dim light of the street lamps gave it a slight yellow-gold hue.
Jude's brain finally decided to cooperate, and he spoke, "Looking up at the stars." He glanced down at his dog whose hazel gaze was on the stranger, nose flaring.
The male turned his gaze back to Jude. "You're always doing that."
Jude looked back up and avoided the urge to take a step back because of the uncomfortable feeling he got from those words.
Okay...
Besides that, the other's statement was an exaggeration. His parents had only been gone for a week and a half, so the boy had been walking out late for only a week and a half.
"No, I don't." The teen settled for that as his answer.
The stranger rolled his eyes, or at least Jude thought was what he did, since he still couldn't quite see him. "What are you looking at up there, exactly?" He asked.
Jude thought for a moment, wondering why this random stranger found such an interest in what he did. "I'm connecting them to see the constellations."
"You can make sense out of those?"
He hesitated before nodding slowly.
The male ducked down and extended his hand to Jude's dog, allowing the girl to sniff before shuffling her nose underneath his hand, guiding it over her head and back.
"Can you show me?"
To say he was caught off guard was an understatement. A blush bloomed on his dark skin, and he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Uh... yeah. I mean I guess. It's not hard."
"Cool. The name's Elle."
His brown gaze followed the other as he stopped petting his dog and stood. "I'm Jude." He introduced himself.
He believed he saw a smile. "And your friend?"
"Aludra."
The other seemed to stare, but Jude wasn't sure what expression he wore, so his anxiety settled for telling him Elle looked skeptical.
"Then we'll meet tomorrow at the same time?"
"Sure..."
The hooded figure nodded and continued to walk in the opposite direction, "See ya tomorrow night then, Jude." He left the boy with a lazy wave.
The blood roaring within his ears and his heart speeding broke Jude out of his trance.
"What the fuck did I just do?"
He looked down at his girl. "Why didn't you stop me? What if he's a thug?"
He didn't bother pretending to have his dog answer this time because he knew the answer to his question.
Anxiety.
Or maybe it was stupidity.
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