Beyond The Street Lights' End

Follow the escapist journey of a broken man determined to rekindle the wonder of his youth. Seeking refuge from bright city lights, he drives into the night, hoping to once again see a starry sky.

I’m gonna be honest here: I wrote this story and loved it, it’s my favorite story, but I found that in the written form it really lacked the punch it needed, especially during the ending. So I decided to make it into a narration video with music and background noises. I’ve posted the video on my Youtube Channel Planet Calvin, I’ve also included the written story below if you prefer to read it, but I think you’d enjoy it more with the background music and related visuals in the video, I leave the choice up to you, I hope you enjoy it.

I'm not allowed to post a direct link to the video, but it can be found on PlanetCalvin.com or the Youtube Channel Planet Calvin

Written version:

It started like any other night. I just needed to get out of the house, just felt like driving ya know? There’s just something about cruising at night with the window down. The world is so much calmer then, so much emptier. I like it like that. I’ve always liked it like that. I had no destination in mind, in fact I kind of liked the idea of getting lost. How great would it be to just stop looking at street signs and just drive, end up some place you’ve never been before, a place so far away, you’d never find your way back. That’s what I did. How can you really live if you never throw caution to the wind?

I really felt like getting out of the city, I had this crazy urge to gaze up at the stars under a black night sky, far away from the permanent orange haze of city skies. It seems like it had been years since I actually saw the stars. My God, what twisted fish bowl have I been living in? Had I really not left this city since I was a kid? How many countless Friday night booze runs had I gone on in all that time? I’ve been living the same week over and over again for the last 10 years at least. I can’t remember a time when I remembered anything else.

I had to see the stars, just to know they were real, just to know they were still up there.

As I neared the city limits I could already see it getting darker; the street lights becoming fewer and fewer, until only one stood before me. I felt such a rush as I reached the city limits and blew past the final post of manmade light, speeding away into that crisp October night. What a feeling? To leave the cage I had called home, to turn my back on the warmth of mankind’s fire out into the cold of the untamed wilderness. I made sure to glance in my rear view mirror as I watched those street lights vanish into the horizon. I felt so alive in those moments, almost invincible. Nothing would stop me from reaching that black night sky.

I left the radio off and the window down, the only music I needed was the sound of the engine humming and the tires rolling ever forward, ever closer to the stars. Even far beyond the city limits it would still take quite awhile to get far enough away to minimize the light pollution, but I didn’t care how long it took. I was going to get to that black night sky. I had it all planned out, I would sit on the hood of my car and just stare at those stars until the sun came up, but I actually wouldn’t mind if the sun never came up again. The sun brings day and with it, responsibility and commitment, along with everything else I’ve come to hate; but the night offers freedom, it offers anything your heart desires. Though I do appreciate the irony of the fact that my hunt for starry skies is essentially a hunt for distant suns, but I couldn’t help but think, any sun but this one. What I’d give for a trip to any of those other solar systems.

I had been driving for hours, at least three, straight north into a deep wilderness. I was surprised they even bothered putting a road there, I hadn’t seen a sign of civilization in hours, nothing but a couple withered old gas stations from the 60s. I hadn’t even seen another car, not even a semi. Can you drive on any road without passing by some hopped up semi driver pulling an all-nighter? If there was any road so baron, I had found it. Just a simple two lane highway cut straight through a seemingly endless forest. This was my road, made for me, for this moment.

The sky was very dark, and I could see all sorts of stars, but it seemed no matter how far I drove, I could still see that damn city haze in my rear view mirror. I couldn’t have picked a better night for it though, there was no moon at all, when I got where I was going, it would surely be pitch black. I really wasn’t sure which direction I was going, but I was fairly confident it was north, because I could see the north star. One of the few things I actually remember from my days in cub scouts. I have so few memories of my childhood, sometimes I wonder if I’d even remember anything without those few photos to remind me.

It was then that I realized, I hadn’t seen a road sign anywhere on this entire stretch of road, but how is that possible? I hadn’t even remembered that I was going to avoid reading them, but I don’t even remember seeing any. Well sure I mean, I hadn’t found any towns or rest stops. Not much point in advertising until there is something to advertise but still, that just struck me as odd, but I put it out of my mind.

About an hour later the city haze finally drifted behind the horizon. Excluding my headlights, there was no light anywhere to speak of. I pulled off the pavement onto a small gravel road and drove up into the hills. The sound of gravel crunching and popping beneath my tires as I rounded the bends. I couldn’t find a good spot to park, no need for parking lots out there I guess, but I eventually noticed a wide open field just on the other side of the trees. I pulled off the gravel and out into the grass a little ways. The grass was quite tall, but I didn’t care, I was at the finish line.

I stopped on a nice flat spot and threw it in park. Turning off the engine and my headlights with it, I flung the door open and stood to stretch my legs, closing the door behind me. I could feel the tall grass blowing softly against my pant legs as I tossed on a sweatshirt and zipped it up. As I crawled up onto the warm hood I got so excited, almost giddy, I felt like a kid climbing up onto the counter to sneak another cookie from the jar.

I closed my eyes and positioned myself comfortably on the hood. And I just laid there, waiting for my eyes to really adjust to the darkness before finally opening them to gaze upon the stars in total darkness.

It was incredible, absolutely breathtaking. I could not tell you the last time I felt such peace. Seeing all those stars, in that moment, I was a kid again. It was such a spectacular sight to behold. It was like a painting made just for me, and I truly believed that in that moment, there could not be a soul on Earth that appreciated a starry sky more than I did. How could anyone take such a view for granted? For those brief minutes, every worry, every problem I ever had was simply gone, because I was gone and as long as I stayed, no one would ever find me. I laid there for a good 30 minutes just savoring the entire night sky. The wind blew softly across my face and chirps of crickets filled the cool night air.

It was then that I noticed something strange. The north star, the very star I had been following on my drive up here, it began to move. Convinced my eyes were playing tricks on me, I sat up slightly and focused on it more intently. Soon I realized there was no way that was the north star, it was growing, it was coming right at me. I actually thought it was a meteor. Before I could even react the object was right on top of me. I was instantly blinded by an intense white light that scorched my eyes, and I couldn’t see the stars anymore. I attempted to get up but I found I was held down by a fierce wind that stirred up the grass all around me. I tumbled down onto the ground and attempted to crawl away, but found myself surrounded by beings whom appeared seemingly from nowhere. I had never been so frightened in all my life, my hands fumbled around in the grass until I found a large stick I could use to defend myself.

I quickly stood and struck one of the beings knocking it to the ground. It was then that I got a real look at it. It was the most unsettling thing I’ve ever seen, it must have been 7 ft tall and incredibly skinny. It had gray slimy skin and giant black eyes. It was an alien, what else could it be? My eyes quickly darted around to find the other aliens closing in on me from all directions. They were shouting at me, in some horrible alien language. It was so loud and high pitched I swore my ears were going to bleed. Before I knew what was happening I heard a calm voice in my head and I could no longer move. The voice told me.

“You don’t belong here, your true home, is upon the starry plain.”

The next thing I knew I woke up in some kind of alien holding cell on a space craft. That’s where I am now. And while I must admit this is not the perfect existence, I can’t deny that the sights I have seen from my window have been absolutely stunning. With my own eyes, I’ve seen nebulas and quasars, and so many different moons and planets, some even covered entirely with cool blue water. I have seen things I never would have seen in a lifetime on Earth. I’m a prisoner and I’m grateful for it.

I do not know if these aliens will ever let me out of this cell, but if the remainder of my life is to be spent in this small room, I have to say, there are worse ways to spend a lifetime. The Aliens seem particularly interested in me, I always see them gathering at my door, always chattering to themselves in that strange high pitched dialect, whatever it is that they’re saying, I will never know.....

_________________________________________________________________

Is that the guy?

Yeah that’s him, his name’s Nathan Webster, turns out he actually worked the night shift at the power plant for 12 years, he was a model employee, no complaints until a few nights ago when he was fired on the spot for erratic behavior. Get a load of this, this guy breaks into the power plant last night, locks himself in, savagely beats a couple security guards until they’re unconscious, and proceeds to destroy everything he can with a pipe he found. He swung that pipe until his hands bled. I got video of this, up until he actually knocked the power out, whole fricken city goes black. Then he drags the bloody pipe up the stairs to the roof, and just lays there on the pebbles, staring up at the stars. Officers finally get the door open and figure out what happened, follow the blood trail up the stairs and find he locked himself out on the roof. So we sent a chopper up and dropped a swat team down on him. He freaked out, he kept swinging that damn pipe. He was like a wild animal, fighting for his life. He knocked one of the guys down and they had to taser him and that was that. Can you believe that?

Did you find any drugs on him? Anything at all?

No actually, he was clean, sober too, only thing we found was his wallet, containing only his driver’s license, some expired insurance cards, and one very withered old photograph, careful it’s very fragile, I guess it’s from some childhood camping trip he took with his old man, I tell ya he must’ve handled that damn photograph hundreds of times, I’ve never seen a photo so worn and cracked.

Have you contacted this guy’s family?

Yeah I, well I mean I, I tried, I managed to get a hold of his neighbor, turns out Nathan’s father was killed in a car accident up north about a month after that photo was taken and uhh…his mother died of cancer, three days ago.

Oh, Jesus.

I uhh..I kinda get the impression that she took that photograph.

Huh…Are uh..are the guards okay?

Oh... oh yeah, yeah they’ll be fine.

Has he uhh… has he said anything?

He keeps repeating the phrase, “I am home upon the starry plain” but that’s all he’ll say.

Well uh, God….keep an eye on him will ya, I… gotta, I gotta make a phone call.

As the detective turned and walked away from the jail cell he couldn’t stop looking at this photograph, it completely captivated him. He quickly entered his office and closed the door behind him, wasting no time grabbing his phone and shuffling through his contact list.

Yeah, hey son, I uhh, no…no I know you’re busy I just uhh... you remember that camping trip you always wanted to go on when you were a kid, I was thinking, it’s not too late son, it’s not too late.

“I am home, upon the starry plain….I am home, upon the starry plain.”

THE END

Thanks for reading my story.  This was my first official short story and I’m pretty happy with it, but if anyone has any thoughts or feedback I’d love to hear it.

Author's Note

As this story took shape I realized that it would be better suited for a visual medium so that’s why I made the narration video. After the police station reveal it didn’t feel right to introduce a second narrator to describe character actions after Nathan stops narrating the story, but I had to at the end to set the stage for the phone call. It does make for a slightly awkward transition in the written form so if you have any suggestions on how to make it less jarring, let me know.