Under the Milky Way

We were on the road, on the way back from Cairns. The roads were dark, sparsely dotted by the occasional, dim streetlight. We hadn't passed any other vehicles for a while. X needed to take a pee break and turned left into a little alley.

It was pitch black. Being a sheltered city kid, this had far surpassed my usual comfort zone of shopping malls and manicured parks. "I can't even see my own fingers", I whined, waving my digits in a futile attempt at improving visibility. In the darkness, I could feel X rolling his eyes.

And then I looked up.

A dark velvet sky with brilliant, twinkling stars scattered across the sky. A dense, elongated core spreading out and gradually thinning out at the edges.

If I'd ever doubted the existence of God, this vanquished it wholly (pun not intended).

When I was in Malaysia, I listened to this to relive the moment.

Now I just tilt my head up to the night sky.