Midnight Excursion
One light dared to break the complete blackness that was the Hampton house at 1am. One small lamp was enough to give away the secret.
Mariana Hampton slouched on her bed, nestling into the folds of the cotton sheets. Cold fingers shook her back relentlessly, shocking her out of her slumber.
“Can’t it wait till morning?” she mumbled sleepily.
“Nope,” Veronica whispered, “We gotta go now.”
Mariana groaned and shielded her eyes against the harsh brightness, throwing her sister’s face into focus. She was perched on the corner of the bed, her brown hair falling out of its braid.
“Get up! We’ve got to go!” she whined, her voice rising in volume.
“Okay, okay.”
Slippers were forced clumsily onto Mariana’s feet by the same cold fingers. She allowed herself to be pulled into a standing position, still squinting out the light.
“Be really quiet,” Mariana warned, considering the punishments she and Veronica would receive for their midnight excursions should anyone find out. She considered the history test tomorrow morning, and the detention she had gotten two weeks ago for sleeping in class. “This is such a bad idea,” she muttered, more to herself than her headstrong sister.
Veronica rolled her eyes, then flipped the lamp off, sending the room back to perfect blackness. Skinny fingers gripped Mariana’s arm tightly, as they felt their way down the stairs and through the hall. The familiar curved banister glided soundlessly under groping hands. Any noise from the clack of hard-bottomed slippers was absorbed by plushy carpet. The girls exhaled deeply as they guided the back door closed. Veronica giggled quietly, the thrill of escape never losing its excitement.
Mariana glanced around the big backyard, draped in shadows. The moonlight wasn’t enough to even light up Veronica’s face. “We’re not going to be able to see to get it out, and it’s cold.” She pleaded, desperately trying to dissuade her sister.
“Always such an optimist…”
Tree branches crackled, sending leaves into a rustling chorus. A disgruntled bird began flapping and squawking.
“Be quiet!” Mariana begged, feeling her way over to help.
“Grab this.”
“What?”
“Here.”
“You’re moving too fast.”
“This isn’t going to work.”
“Set it here.”
Pale moonlight barely outlined the telescope, protruding from the vast expanse of lawn. Veronica crept towards it, beckoning Mariana to follow. She peered into the eyepiece of the telescope, adjusting knobs and legs.
“Look,” the little girl instructed, “Is that the big dipper right there? With the four stars in the dipper part?”
Mariana smiled.
“No,” she began to twist some more knobs, “Here it is. Did you know that you can find the big dipper by looking for the North Star?”
She stepped aside and let her little sister look in the telescope. A grin outlined her mouth as she tiptoed to reach the eye piece. Mariana looked up into the sky, pin-pricked with millions of stars. Millions of reasons to make a little girl smile. It made a history test seem very, very small.
Good luck with your writing~I was intrigued by the entire story, the tone of it. It kept me reading, which is always a compliment.