I went stargazing for the first time last week and it changed my life forever

So last week, I went stargazing for the first time. I’ve never really cared too much about the stars nor space but my friend convinced me to give it a go as he said it can “change your perspective on life.” I thought he was just talking nonsense but after he showed me some of the photos he had taken I decided to finally give it a go, I thought it could be fun plus I might be able to get some nice photos myself.

Because my friend had done this before, he already had most of the equipment that we needed, there were a few things we were missing which I brought as I wanted to help out.

So my friend told me about this one spot that he had always wanted to visit, said that it was popular with other ‘star gazers’, because apparently there’s this spot that gives you a really good view of the sky at night that’s unlike anything you’ll find elsewhere.

On the drive there, I asked my friend what brought on this interest in star gazing. I’ve been friends with him for most of my life and from what I knew about him, he didn’t seem like the type to enjoy staring at the sky for hours on end; out of the window during class maybe but not to look at anything meaningful. He smiled and told me that its a ‘special’ hobby, one that means little to most and a lot to a few; I should mention that he didn’t say “a few” instead he said “the right people”, I don’t know what it was but the way he said it just seemed really strange to me.

The drive there must’ve taken about 1-2 hours, admittedly my friend never actually told me where we were going but I trusted him; upon seeing the location however my trust started to falter.

The place was abandoned, we were the only ones there but it seemed like not even the wildlife was here neither. I expressed my concerns to my friend and he just said

“You mustn’t be afraid to ascend, very few can do it.”

I’m not sure if he was trying to calm me down or something but if he was, he failed.

We took all our equipment and started making our way up the mountain; for what it’s worth the trek up was quite nice, it wasn’t very steep but rather a gradual incline. To be honest, it felt like the mountain was gradually guiding us up. Though the trek up was nice and did help to put my mind at ease a little, I couldn’t get over how quiet and still this place was. The only thing I could hear was the wind which even then was unusually calm for a mountain; somehow the further up we got, the calmer the wind got.

I honestly lost track of how much time passed, I couldn’t tell you how long it took to walk up the mountain. On the way up the mountain, my friend and I didn’t really talk much; he didn’t speak and as we walked he continued to get further and further away from me which made it hard to have a conversation with him.

When the sun began to set, we called it a day and began to set up our tent for the night; we were about halfway up the mountain and would be able to finish the hike tomorrow.

When we finished setting up we ate dinner and talked about life, for a moment it felt like old times with just the two of us telling jokes and all that. After a while, I found the courage to ask him a question that had been on my mind for a while but for some reason wasn’t able to; I asked him what got him into climbing.

He told me an old friend he met at uni got him into it, there was this society they both joined at uni and ever since then he became obsessed with star gazing. He also mentioned that after uni ended that him and his friend ‘drifted apart’ and that he doesn’t see him anymore. There was something off about how he talked about his friend, he made it seem like he was going to see him again very soon; naturally I asked him if he had plans to meet up with him again and catch up or something but he just ignored me.

For the next few hours, I passed the time by looking at the map and planning the route with my friend.

As I was studying the map, I saw him grab his flask and pour himself a drink; the drink in question was a dark red liquid that almost looked like wine. For a second I just watched him, I watched long enough to see him take a sip then asked him what he was drinking.

He took a long drink from his flask before he responded; he explained to me that it was a drink that’s good for your head whilst climbing. When I asked him if I could have some he got a little defensive and claimed that I wouldn’t like it.

A little while afterwards, he went to sleep.

My friend fell asleep first, I couldn’t sleep. There was so much on my mind I didn’t know where to start, “where are we?” I thought “why was it so quiet?” “What makes this place so special?”. I felt like I didn’t understand the place, that I was missing a lot of information.

I tried to dismiss a lot of these thoughts “this is my first time star gazing” I thought “I’m sure it’ll all make sense in the end.”

I looked over at my friend, he was fast asleep. Next to him was his bag and his flask was sticking out. I thought just a quick drink would help me sleep, just a little bit couldn’t hurt surely.
So I leaned over and grabbed his flask and poured some of the red liquid into my cup, the liquid had a very unique smell; it smelt like a every single herb and spice mixed together bringing creating a unison of flavour that had the potential to enlighten any tongue that had the pleasure of touching it.

And the taste, it tasted of pure bliss. The drink was smoother than anything I had ever tasted and sweeter than a billion chocolate bars.

I spent the rest of that night thinking about angels, how beautiful they are and how incredible it would be to see one in person. I had a vivid image of one in my head and it kept me awake all night

The following morning we continued our ascent, I could just about see the peak. There was a wide flat area where I guessed we would set up our tents.

I asked my friend something, I don’t actually remember what but he just ignored me. I remember repeating myself which was again, met with no response.

He was quietly talking to himself I think, couldn’t make out words so I just assumed he was exhausted from the trek.

I wanna say we arrived at the top by… 6?

When we got there, we got the tent and everything set up then just sat around waiting for it to get darker.

At this point, my friend started talking again, we didn’t say anything important just passing the time.

As he was laughing, he had to start wiping his mouth because he was… drooling.

I thought it was weird so I just laughed at him for that, he didn’t seem to mind.

When it got dark enough we finally got to see the stars and I’ve gotta say, they were beautiful.

It’s one thing to see photos of stars but to actually see them in person so high up is just a whole different level of amazing.

And as we were stargazing, something incredible happened… I saw an angel.

and it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

It floated down to us from the stars above, its wings keeping it afloat. It had wings as wide as a thousand skyscrapers with trillions upon trillions of shiny scales that were a colour I can’t even begin to describe.

Its eyes were two giant black pebbles that glistened in the moonlight, their gaze solely on us…

The angel spoke to us in a voice so beautiful that my ears wept, even now that elegant voice is burned into my eardrums.

And as we were standing in the angel’s graze, a thin long appendage appeared from the angels chest and lifted my friend from the ground.

He started to scream (with joy obviously who wouldn’t).

And as he got closer, the angel opened a path for my friend to follow. A cavern where he would surely find a paradise to spend all of eternity. The hole was dark with a darkness so black that it seemed to devour all light. It felt deep as well, deeper than Mariana’s Trench.

Once my friend finished his journey, the angel released a thick red liquid from its mouth. It’s hard to describe but the liquid didn’t travel straight down, instead it flew straight to the mountain going diagonally until it landed on the mountain in front of me.

Immediately, I emptied my flask and tupperware so I could fill them up with this liquid (I hadn’t eaten any of my food since first drinking the liquid anyways).

And then just like that, the angel left. But I knew it would return.

The following morning, I packed my things and left the mountain.

It was a nice trip, I appreciate my friend for taking me stargazing as it isn’t something I would’ve ever done without him. But make no mistake, it is definitely something I will do again.

I’ve been trying to find someone else I can take to that spot as it’s just special in ways that are hard to describe. But I will find someone and one day I will see my friend again.

Since that day, I’ve been thinking about the angel and how I’d like to see it again. How I hope that one day we are reunited so that it may take me to that endless place…

The thought keeps me awake at night giggling at the thought.