star-crossed
\ STAHR-krawst, -krost \ , adjective;
1. thwarted or opposed by the stars; ill-fated: star-crossed lovers .
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“So, are you done stargazing yet? It’s cold out here.” Said Ray.
He could feel the cold of the night even through his hat, gloves, and
jacket.
“Not
yet. And if you’re cold you’re free to
wait in the car.” Kelly replied. She was too busy looking up at the night sky
to be concerned with the chill in the air.
Once he said it though, she couldn’t help but shiver a bit.
“Oh
yeah, great options. Staying out here in
the cold, or waiting in your tiny box with wheels car.”
Kelly
groaned quietly. She used a small
flashlight to look down at a heavily marked up star chart she held. She repeatedly looked from the sheet of paper
to the star filled sky with a furrowed brow.
“So,
you see next week’s lotto numbers up there?” Ray said after a few minutes of
silence. Kelly’s arms flopped to her
side in frustration.
“Would
you take this more seriously? This is
important you know.”
“Oh
yes, of course, my mistake. Looking at
the starts to see the future is really crucial.
I’m sure all the most important people live their lives by their all
knowing influence.”
“ You,
sir, are an idiot. How many times have I
told you, I’m not seeing the future. I’m
seeing omens. The stars don’t tell the
future, they give warnings and portents.
I can only tell when something in a very broad category will go right or
wrong.”
“Yeah,
yeah, you’ve told me. The thing is, I
don’t really care. See, I don’t think
the stars can do all that. I mean, they’re
just stars. Little dots of light that
come from much bigger dots of light.
That’s it. No precognitive powers there.”
“Uh huh. Well, maybe you should start believing. And pretty soon.”
“Why?”
“Well,
I’m seeing something really bad happening involving the sky. It’s so bad that it could be fatal.”
“Ok,
so?”
“So, I
don’t think you should be going skydiving next week is all.”
“Ah
hah! I knew it! I knew this was all just an excuse to get me
to call of my trip.” Ray exclaimed
triumphantly.
“No! It’s not that.” Kelly replied. “I don’t care if you go or not. The starts, on the other hand, are giving me
a big no-no on that front.”
“Right. Well, I hope you’ll forgive me if I trust the
highly trained and experienced instructors and professional skydivers more than
I trust some big balls of fire a few million miles away.”
“I’m
telling you it’s a bad idea. I’ve been
doing this all my life, and they’ve never steered me wrong before.”
“Really? What about the time you swore the stars were
warning you not to go to college because of some mysterious danger?”
“Uh,
well…That was…a misreading. Yeah, I
probably just didn’t read them right. Or
maybe a small cloud blocked one of them.”
“Yeah,
you keep thinking that. All I’m saying
is the stars probably don’t care what happens down here on planet Earth, so you
shouldn’t put too much stock in them.”
“You
know, if something bad happens, you’ll get no sympathy from me. I mean, I’m warning you not to go. It’s all on you if you don’t listen.”
“I’ll
keep that in mind. If something bad
happens, I give you full permission to rub it in my face as much as you like.”
“Uh
huh.” Kelly’s shoulders slumped in
resignation. There was no way she would
convince him what she saw was real. “You’d
just better survive whatever happens so I can while you’re still breathing.”
“I make
no promises.” Ray said with a large,
smug grin on his face. It only lasted
until a particularly chilly gust of wind reminded him of the cold. “Now can we go home?”
Kelly
took one last look up at the stars. Her
lips pursed in thought for a moment before she said anything.
“Yeah,
I think I’m done. I’ve learned all I can
for tonight anyway.”
“Great,
let’s go. Just, next time you do this;
remember not to bring me along.”
“I make
no promises.”
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