Redwood
Fiction

Starry Eyed, Part Four

Adrian Lei

May 2025
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         Immediately, Aster shot up and grabbed his phone to see that, after he had silenced it, he had two missed facetime notifications from Linh and a text message. Aster opened up the text message and read what Linh had sent him. “Don’t worry, Aster, you were probably fatigued and still stressed from the test. Have a good night and take care of yourself, okay?”
         Aster’s poor little heart felt guilty for partaking in his passions at the expense of Linh’s failed expectations. He jammed his thumb into the back of his other hand, mildly tormenting himself. It was inane. It was infuriating. Aster's inability to remember such a simple event he had conjointly planned with Linh had proven that he was inept in remaining consistent. Would Linh stop believing in the importance of my words if I kept failing to do as I say? Aster rubbed his temples. Would he see me as a liar? It’s not like this was the first time. Would he understand it wasn’t on purpose?
         Aster sat there on his chair, slowly twirling himself on it as he imagined every scenario that could occur now that he made a mistake. The conclusion he drew was to send a message of agreement to Linh’s text. 
         “Yea, I’m sorry for not picking up, I was very tired and wanted to head to bed. Let’s call another time. Good night!”
         The only reasonable thing for him to do now was begin to head to bed. Aster began to perform the normal sequence of tasks that would result in him bedding himself: a quick shower, the brushing of teeth, and the stripping of clothes into bed. He laid there unable to sleep; it was much too early and the night’s ferry to the other land seemed to have not started collecting its passengers yet. Aster turned on his phone again to scroll around on social media, until he saw the message from Renata. It was sent when they first shared each other's socials. 
         “Hey! My name is Renata, and I work at the coffee shop you drank from today.” Aster examined the message and sent an introductory text in response. 
         “Hi, my name is Aster and I am an animation major.” He laid his phone back down until it received a notification ping. He reached over and picked it up again to see Renata responded. 
         “That sounds so amazing! What do you do in animation?” Aster gave up trying to sleep and began to type back.
         “Animation major is honestly one of the best majors! You can express your creativity and emotions in art and bring it to reality. What is your major?”
         There was a small pause of repeating bubble pop ups signifying that Renata was typing before it disappeared multiple times, she kept deleting what she was trying to say.
         “I don’t have a major. I never finished college.”
         Aster sat there dumbfounded, unable to think of a response. He couldn’t relate to not being in college. His family would have disowned him should he have not continued any education. Even if they believed that animation was not a “real” degree and that Aster was wasting his time, at least they still paid for all his expenses here.
         His empathetic side appealed to him. “I see. If you ever want to come back to your studies then I recommend my college! I could probably also help you find your way around the campus.”
         Renata responded, “Yea! Thank you for your consideration.”
         Aster smiled, but now the temptation to succumb into the pillows overcame his thought processes so he sent, “I’m going to sleep now, good night!”
         He went off to sleep as he saw a notification from Renata reading, “Good night to you, too.”

                                                                                                                              
*****

         The first inhale of the conscious part of the day occurred with the moment Aster opened his still sleeping eyes. He performed a soft rubbing of his face, enlightening a spark of light in his expression that helped spur him to rise from the bed moments too soon. His drowsiness maintained a staggering state with his movement, creating a mild drunken swagger as he attempted to stumble to open the shades of his windows, only to fall to the ground with all appendages extended. After he recovered and successfully cleared the shades, Aster took a chance to open the window for an appreciative view of the outside world. He looked longingly at the skies, a space of freedom. He took one hand and cast it out the window outstretched, trying to take hold of the unrestricting air. With the other hand, he rested his face on it, squishing his cheek. Beside him, his small bonsai caught some of the morning light, allowing the wet leaves to glisten and reflect sparkles of light into the eyes of Aster. It was a bright world made for big dreams, containing the highest bars that cannot be reached, but something to look up to when in need of a lead. A touch of a grin was set in place across his face.
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