Shooting Stars

My friends decided to treat me out as an early send off gift. We went to a drive in theater, a 45 minute drive from the City of Bellflower. It’s pretty much like the ones you see in the movies: people watching a film in a tall wide screen from the comfort of their own cars. 

It’s a lot cheaper than the actual movie theater. We paid $8 for four movies of our choice (Season of the Witch, Little Fockers, Green Hornet, True Grit, Salt, The Fighter, Yogi Bear, The Dilemma). We only watched the first three.

I forgot to bring my eyeglasses so I pretty much squinted my eyes real hard just to see a lil bit clearly. We each had a director’s chair to sit on and we wrapped ourselves with thick blankets as it grew colder and deeper into the night. 

I couldn’t resist looking up the clear starry sky, hoping a shooting star would pass by so I could make a wish. But not one shooting star came so I settled to counting airplanes coming in and out of LAX instead. 

♫♫ Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars. I could really use a wish right now, wish right now, wish right now. ♫♫

I must have counted 64 airplanes. My what could have been 64 wishes. That night, a certain sense of calm washed over me. In a matter of days I’ll be on an airplane bound for home but I am no longer afraid of whatever the future brings.