UNTIL I FALL ASLEEP -- open, stargazing

[london r.]

London was a child of many interests, she had always been that way. She used to be obsessed with learning, wanting to know everything there was to know by asking a ton of questions. She supposed she should thank her mother for not having strangled her for all the curious inquisitions, being patient with her and answering the cascade of questions that always seemed to befall her. "What is that?" "What does this word mean?" "How does this work?" She'd been quite a handful. But the girl had matured a lot since then, probably because eventually she realized that, once her mother had died, no one would be there to answer every single one of her queries.

But that didn't mean she stopped asking questions. She just stopped verbalizing them and expecting answers from those around her. Instead she worked for it, she did her best to discover the answers on her own. Reading had quickly become one of her many passions, even before her mother's death. Books brought with them an infinite stream of knowledge, and she wished she could delve into that world of pages stained in ink. It seemed like the perfect home for the curious minded, but alas, she had other things to do. No more dictionaries and how to draw books, she wasn't achieving much of anything with that. She needed to learn skills to help her survive and to keep her entertained. She'd instead started reading books about hunting, fighting, and ukulele for beginners. She wouldn't let the best birthday present ever go to waste. Then, one day, another book had caught her attention Astronomy for beginners.

She became obsessed rather quickly, as she had with many of her other hobbies before. Studying celestial objects in the night sky was rather enjoyable, even if it did mess with her sleeping patterns. She had even obtained a telescope, one of the great things about having lived in a gas station, there were so many random but useful doohickeys. She had memorized a couple of constellations, most of the zodiac, and some others, to the point where she was even able to identify the most prominent stars by their names. Gazing through her telescope and recognizing the celestial bodies she saw was similar to greeting a good friend to the girl. Perhaps it might seem odd to others, but it was no different than falling in love with characters in a storybook.

One such twilight that she wasn't feeling too particularly tired, the girl had conjured up her apparatus. She hadn't strayed too far from the cave, seeing as she wanted to be on the safe side if she was ever spontaneously attacked again. It had only taken her a moment to get set up, and soon she could be found smiling as she stared into the telescope's lens. "Hey there Polaris, you seem awfully bright tonight." the girl would murmur quietly to herself, a giggle bubbling through her lips. London was hoping not to disturb any of the creatures nearby as she knew that there would likely be others still awake at this hour, but she always talked to the stars, making it difficult to remain completely silent. "And there's Arcturus."