The full moon competes with a glittery web of city lights, contrasting brightly against the purple sky.

“I love you,” you whisper through closed eyes, allowing the words to dissolve gently in the breeze for a few seconds. Then you pull her in closer and eagerly dig your fingers in the blue locks of her unruly hair. She kisses your neck and leans her head on your shoulder, and the world stops for a few seconds.

In the distance, far from the terrace where you stand, you can hear the hum of trains sweeping past at one thousand miles per hour. And a few levels below, on the street, excited crowds come in and out of bars mouthing strident tunes. Office workers are celebrating another week's end, probably preparing their voices for the karaoke booths.

But you barely register the noise. Your ears are muted from the shock of the conversation that you just had.

Danielle’s tears roll down your shirt, one after the other. They feel warm against your chest. A heavy mixture of lavender and sweat floats in the air. Slowly, first with one hand, then both, she unlaces the hug and pushes you away. You reach out and brush the tips of her fingers, but she’s already turning around to leave. You take a step forward.

“Why?”

Your hand is lost mid-air between you and her.

“Please, Joel.”

You walk her across the roof towards a metallic door and then stop as she opens it. You want to follow, but you don’t. So you watch as she descends the swirly staircase. Down and down, out of your life. A creaking sound every couple of seconds; it grows fainter and fainter, then becomes an echo, then nothing.

You close the door with a listless movement, walk back to the roof's edge and glance down at the entrance of the building. She comes out, climbs on a rental bicycle and joins the tangle of two-wheeler vehicles speeding past rush hour.

The road is barely visible due to the augmented-reality advertisements streaming from the shops. To the left, a pair of pint glasses with feet and blushed cheeks sing and dance, then trip on each other, get up again, and then resume dancing to the sound of a cheesy country song. You let out a prolonged sigh and finally leave the building.

“But why,” you whisper to yourself.

In your head, you replay the night when she first took you to that same roof.

It was chillier than usual, even for the last half of Dhanus. You sat on the cold concrete floor and wrapped your arm around her shoulders. She took a wool blanket out of her bag and placed it over your legs. You snuggled up as close to her as it was physically possible.

There was a bottle of red wine. She filled your glasses to half and took a quick sip from hers. But you didn’t feel like drinking; the excitement of her presence was already making you dizzy.

“That’s Pisces. It means fish,” she said, pointing at a corner of the night sky. “Sorry, I’m sure you know what it means!” She apologised, covering her mouth.

“I didn’t, but I do now,” you replied with a wink, even though you did know. Your family spoke Catalan at home, and the word was very similar. To this day, you still don’t understand why you lied to her. “Why is it a fish, in any case? I can’t see the similarities.”

“The tail is on top as if it’s splashing around, and the head faces right. You see? It’s my favourite constellation. It reminds me of the sea.”

You shrugged. “It looks like the face of a chicken pecking at corn to me.”

Even though she winced in disapproval, a half smile sprouted in her mouth. You lifted your finger to join hers, pointing towards the stars.

“It’s looking left, you see? The beak is where the tail of your fish folds.”

“And when was the last time you’ve seen a chicken,” she asked, snugging herself further into the curve of your arm. “You’re right, though; it looks like one. Kind of.”

She stopped for a few seconds, then turned her eyes to you and released a long breath.

“I wish I could go there one day. If any planets are orbiting those stars, I mean.”

Thank you for reading! Should you be interested, the full story is available for order:

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See you soon!

– Claudia

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