Kaleidoscope

On any other night, sixty-five degrees during the middle of summer in New York City would seem unusual, but nothing about that night was ordinary. The neon lights from the city seemed dim in comparison to the moon and the stars, which burned intensely.

The roof deck where I stood was atop one of the few walk-up apartments left in the city. Most of them were purchased by various real estate moguls and renovated into luxury high-rise condominiums. Nonetheless, the view from the rooftop of this building was no less magnificent. It was high enough to wallow in the splendor of the hemisphere, but close enough to the ground to make out the silhouettes of people below.

I looked over the railing and my vertigo took over. Immediately, the butterflies that had plagued my stomach just a few minutes earlier returned. I staggered away from the ledge, but not before I managed to catch a glimpse of the moon’s reflection in the windows of the adjacent building. There was something omnipotent in the way it shone.

“So what do you say?” whispered a familiar baritone voice. Although I heard him, I could not unlock my gaze with the moon. It was alluring. It was as if it were staring back at me—calling out to me.

Meanwhile, the voice in the background grew a little more nervous as he repeated the question: “What do you say?”

I stared at the moonlight for a little while longer, but the glare had begun to make my eyes hurt. I raised my left hand toward my face to shield my eyes from the glow, but instead, I was almost blinded by the reflection from my hand.

“Don’t hurt yourself with that thing,” said the familiar voice in a sheepish tone. It was my boyfriend, Damon. As I slowly turned to face him, I stretched my hand in front of my body, flared my fingers, and gawked at the gem on my petite finger.

“Earth to Leah,” Damon teased. “I’m still waiting for your answer.”

“Yes, silly,” I replied. “Of course I’ll marry you. I was just—”

Before I could continue, Damon drew me into a passionate kiss. It was Earth-shattering. The ground beneath me began to quake. At first, I thought it was the sheer ecstasy of the kiss that made me think that the Earth was moving, but indeed the Earth had begun to tremor. The building split between us. The impact polarized Damon and I and flung my body across the roof deck. A wooden plank that originally anchored the trunk of one of the decorative ficus trees pinned my legs to the floor.

Pain seized my body. I struggled to push the twenty-pound slab from my legs.

“Leah,” screamed Damon. “Where are you?”

“I’m stuck. I’m trying to—” With every bit of energy I had, I pulled my leg free. The pain shot through my spine like a bolt of lightning. I screamed a string of four-letter expletives.

“Leah, are you okay?” Damon questioned from across the deck. The sound of his voice brought me to my feet.

“Damon!” I shouted back. “Where are you?”

“I’m over here!” he exclaimed. “By the door.”

As I hobbled toward him, a symphony of trumpets resounded from the sky. The melody played like a victory piece at a high school pep rally and lasted about one minute before the unimaginable happened.