![]() The universe is finite, so it is not exactly pure black out there, and the sun just tints it, kind of like white paint tinting a dark color.” That is why the sky is blue during the day. “Actually, the universe is only 14 billion years old, so it is only 14 billion light-years wide. “Trillions and trillions of light-years away?” I’d say the star closest to us is still light-years away.” “I am not sure exactly, but I do know that a lot of the stars we used to see have died long before Earth came to existence. ![]() “How far back does the Universe even go?” “No, I did not know that,” said Gladys, sitting up. Did you know that the farther you look into space, the farther you are looking back in time?” We mostly just skipped over most of the chapters and then skimmed through the ones we were learning about, but sometimes at home, I would sneak through some of the textbook to learn a thing or two. “Back in school, in science class we were learning about astronomy and how the Universe works. After all, ordinary as she was, Angela did still have something she always wanted to talk about with someone, besides maybe homework assignments and classic literature. She did not elaborate with flowery descriptions like she usually did.Īngela was going to miss the moon and stars as well, but was not Gladys the one who said that everyone eventually gets over stuff like that and looks on the positive side of the Underground? Why this sudden sadness? She wondered if she could comfort her with something that Angela was secretly interested in. “I still miss the moon and the stars,” said Gladys. ![]() It resembled a turbulent night, the only difference being that the girls had to look down instead of up. The two girls sat at the edge of the rock and stared down at the lake. The cool whistles of the cave winds tickled the bare skin on her arms, as if blowing gently on an open wound. Her mahogany hair contrasted pleasantly with the indigo dot under her right eye, as well as her Alice-blue undershirt and denim dress.Īngela took off her track jacket and tied it around her Cubs t-shirt. Angela liked the way Gladys’s hair naturally curled at the bottom, and how the cave’s light sources decorated it with ribbons of dim gold. The two of them watched the water, sometimes stealing glances at each other. They could only assume it was pure luck that the Guarantee Committee had not caught this place yet. “How does anything even get past the GC’s radar? With a community this immense, you would think someone above ground would notice at least the music coming from below.”īut Gladys only shrugged, suggesting that even she did not know the answer to that question. “Everything looks so different when viewed from afar.” Gladys giggled and reached for Angela’s hand. “Sometimes, I forget just how vast this place is, then I sit up here,” said Angela. Anyone who had preferred to sleep near the shore of the lake rather than the comfort of a safe, warm bed was scattered around, reminding Angela and Gladys of funny little seashells. The lamps that hung around the rock’s edges sparkled against the water’s ripples below them, and the boat that they had used to row here was tied to a wooden pole at the base of the steps. They were returning to the rock they shared some alone time together on earlier, which looked down into the eigengrau lake. Although neither girl knew Spencer Salt personally, they were both proud of him nonetheless.Īngela and Gladys, fifteen and fourteen respectively, reached a high point of the Underground. ![]() Everyone else was still asleep after Spencer Salt’s Dot Ceremony, which was celebrated with slow dancing and the meteorological music of their friends’ band, Killing the Speed of Light. The only sounds that echoed through the Underground at the moment were the munching of an alpaca in the community farm and the footsteps of two girls walking along a stony path of steps. ![]()
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