I drove out to the deserted town on the outskirts of the city. It was my hang-out place, my place to just be alone with my thoughts. I parked my car and got out, leaving the door open. The sky would soon be changing colors, my favorite part of the night. I hauled myself onto the roof of my car using the floor as a step stool. Reaching down, I closed the car door and settled down. My head rested on the hard aluminum of the car exterior as I considered the wide expanse of color before me.

During the day, the sky had been a cloudless summer blue. But now, as the first stars glimmered down on me, that slowly changed. Directly above me, the light, sky blue turned a fuller, darker shade. Gradually, that color seeped lower in the sky, making it fade into deep ocean indigo while more and more brightly shining stars winked at the world.

As it got darker, the light pollution from the city a couple of miles away became more apparent. It was sad how beautiful it could be. The coral and lavender shades blended beautifully with the lighter blue above it while the moon glowed through the sky.

Grasses rustled in the warm summer breeze as crickets buzzed and chirped, filling the otherwise silence of the night. I was parked in a field, and in the last fading light I could see the silhouettes of the abandoned town houses. They stood like tired sentries in the dark, their broken-down shapes imposing despite the splintered, rotting wood panels and broken glass.

I watched them as the last of the sunlight sank below the horizon. When everything was dark, I closed my eyes. I was aware of every part of my body and my surroundings. My mind was silent, and the night had a deepness and a fullness to it like the depths of an ocean.

It didn’t take long for my body to slip under the cover of sleep, my mind creating a dream.

I floated underwater, completely at peace.