Discovery

A Story by Luna Lovebad

First times can be wonderful, brief and surprising. First times can turn into beginnings.

A cheek biting chill enveloped us and our breathing gave birth to dancing ghosts. Cold had masked the faint freckles on his upturned face with a faded red, his eyes shone with reflected moonlight turning them from blue to incandescent silver. He was radiance personified. A high whistling, a thunderous blast and a cascade of dazzling sparks threw the night into resplendent chaos. I studied him as intently as he did the sky, both of us enraptured by our subjects. I took all of him in. From his sandy coloured curls swept lazily to one side, to his bright red boots that had somehow escaped the flecks of mud that now adorned my own. I saw fragments of the display - it truly was incredible - yet my gaze kept being drawn back to a boy bathed in moonlight and electric colours. Face alight with childlike wonderment, a smile burst forth and the most musical sound I had ever heard escaped his lips only to be abruptly cut off. Startled eyes met my own, the vivid spectacle now forgotten. I remained silent, confident my face conveyed my confusion; he was hesitant in his explanation.

“I’ve never laughed before.”