It was New Year’s Eve. Midnight. I was at the roof of my office, and I could see a sea of stars light up the pitch-black sky I was used to. No, I was not from the 1800s, it’s 2022, almost 23. And the night sky was simply beautiful.
I worked at the hydroelectric power station. It was the main and only supply of electricity for the whole city. We had the most important job of the city. We lit up peoples’ lives. Well... at least that’s what I thought.
The office was completely deserted and I was the only one left. I had locked everything except the main gate and was quietly doing my work. I didn’t have a family. My co-workers were well aware of that. Hence why I was stuck at the office, doing overtime, on New Year’s Eve.
As my fingers rapidly moved along the keyboard, making the annual reports due the next day, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move. “Hello? Is someone there?” I yelled, somewhat nervous. But I heard no response. Was it a rat? I shrugged my shoulders and after doing a couple of stretches, my fingers found the keyboard yet again.
“Aaaah!”
A scream! From the turbine chamber!
Leaving behind my unfinished work, I rushed to the source of the sound. Sparks of electricity were falling from snapped wires. A few feet away from the generator, a blond woman, possibly in her late twenties lay unconscious on the cold marble floor.
Her hair was frizzy. She must have touched a live wire. I rolled her over to check her condition and found there to be no serious complications. I held her by her shoulders and propped her up against a pillar.
“Please don’t call the police!” she muttered slowly as soon as she gained consciousness.
“Relax! I wouldn’t.... you need to recover from the shock first. Tell me. What you are doing here?”
“I... I...” she seemed hesitant to speak. Was she a thief? But what would a thief even find in a place like this?
“Who are you?” I asked. Although still hesitant, she looked directly into my eyes and mumbled.
“I am Lara Waters.”
“Lara Waters? The famous scientist,” I mused. But from what I had heard, she had gone missing almost a month ago. Is that why she didn’t want me to call the police?
“I guess,” she shrugged and cradled her left arm. She must still be feeling hot with the sudden shock.
“What are you doing here? I heard some rumours about you going crazy,” I said.
“So, they call me crazy, huh?” she chuckled. “Well, I am crazy. I am crazy for longing for Mother Nature’s embrace.”
I stared at her, confused.
“I want to disconnect the electric supply for the night,” she said, her voice confident and her eyes determined.
“What? Why?” No wonder they called her crazy.
“Stars.”
I watched as her eyes turned almost… starry as she looked at me with the innocence of a child. But after seeing my blank expression, she sighed and started, “The use of lights throughout the night causes a lot of light pollution. It’s hiding the stars. Even if for one night, I want the citizens, the children of this city to watch the beauty of the stars.”
“The people wouldn’t appreciate that.”
Her glare sent a chill down my spine. “I don’t care. Help me or fight me,” she announced taking an attack position.
“I can’t fight a girl,” I said, taking a few steps away from her, taking that as an answer, she kicked me where the sun does not shine and rushed towards the control room. I fell over on my knees and then onto the floor, curling into myself.
After the pain subsided, I ran towards her. She had pulled out a gun. “Tell me how to shut it down or I’ll shoot,” she said.
“I don’t care about my life.” She might look crazy, but didn’t seem like the kind of person who would kill someone. But if something like the entire city shutting down happened, when I was the only one at the office, the boss would kill me.
“Who said I’ll shoot you? I will shoot the machines,” she smirked and pointed her gun at the console. What??? No!
“You won’t.”
“I can. And I will if I must,” she proved herself by shooting a bullet into the security console. Sparks flew around as the metal caved in on itself creating a deafening sound.
“I will tell you!” I yelled. “I’ll tell you, okay? So, please… put the gun down.”
“Quick! It’s almost midnight.”
“Pull that black lever.”
She inspected the lever for about a minute and then pulled it down and all the turbine generators stopped at once and the entire room went dark. Lara pulled out a torch, grabbed my hand and started to drag me towards the stairs leading upwards. “You might have been a pain in the neck, but I don’t want you to miss this.”
I looked at Lara. Her eyes were gleaming with amazement.
We looked up at the sky, and I completely lost all the tension that had built up over the last few minutes. The night sky… the stars… they were beautiful. It was like watching glitter spilled over a blanket. At some spots the stars were so concentrated, that it seemed like milk had spilled over a black marble slab. The constellations, as clear as day, were visible too. Lara pointed out Cancer, Leo and Gemini. She was right. The people deserved to see a starlit night on New Year’s Eve and not a monotonous black blanket.
It was New Year’s Eve. Midnight. I was at the roof of my office, and I could see a sea of stars light up the pitch-black sky I was used to. No, I was not from the 1800s, it’s 2023.
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