Breathing Underwater by Julia Green Page B

stars,’ Izzy says.
    â€˜Why?’ Danny says.
    â€˜Just do it and see.’
    So we lie down. The grass is slightly damp. Above us, the sky is clear and studded with stars. The more you look the more you see. After a while it seems as if the sky is pressing down, heavy with a million trillion stars each of which is a tiny pinprick but together making a whitewash of light. The sky seems to curve, pulled down to earth at its edges. You can see how the earth is actually round. I’ve never noticed that before.
    We point out the constellations we know: the Great Bear and the Plough, Orion the Hunter and Sirius, the Dog Star.
    â€˜Wish we had a telescope,’ Danny says.
    â€˜Why? You can see everything like this. You’re more part of it. Isn’t it amazing?’
    â€˜Yes,’ I whisper. It’s mind-blowing. Extraordinary.
    Danny keeps fidgeting.
    â€˜Sshh! Listen,’ Izzy says. ‘They make a sound.’
    â€˜What do?’
    â€˜The stars.’
    â€˜How come? That’s impossible,’ Danny says.
    â€˜Just listen.’
    There is a sound. A very faint, high-pitched fizzing, like static. My head starts to spin.
    â€˜The music of the spheres. Zinging down to earth, to us.’ Izzy’s voice comes out all breathy and awesome.
    Danny sits up. ‘Ugh! This grass is sopping wet!’ He stands up and stares back down at me and Izzy. ‘You are almost the same colour as the field.’ He walks a few paces away. ‘From here you are invisible. Someone could walk right over you.’
    Izzy laughs.
    My head swims. I’m drunk with starlight. I feel tiny, under this vast sky. So many stars, and some of them aren’t even there any more, already burned up, even though their light is still travelling towards us, to this moment. It’s taken that long: light years. Out loud I say the word firmament, not because I’m religious or anything, but because it’s such a lovely word, and it feels like this sky needs an amazing word.
    â€˜What?’ Izzy says.
    â€˜Firmament. The sky.’
    Izzy says it too.
    â€˜Hey, Matt’s coming this way,’ Danny says. ‘Stay quiet and see if he notices you.’
    But Izzy giggles. ‘Hi, Matt. All finished, then? Boat sorted?’
    Matt looks slightly bemused, staring down at Izzy. ‘Coming for a drink? Huw and Luke are there already.’
    â€˜Not tonight. You can.’
    â€˜Not bothered. I’ll go back with you.’
    â€˜We’re not going back. Not yet. Lie down and watch stars with us.’
    â€˜I’m off,’ Danny says. ‘Coming, Freya?’
    â€˜Don’t go yet!’ Izzy holds on to my sleeve.
    So I don’t. I do what she wants, because I want it too. That’s the effect Izzy has.
    Danny looks a bit fed up. He doesn’t say bye or anything. We watch him disappear into the dark.
    â€˜Ahh!’ Izzy says. ‘He really likes you, you know?’
    â€˜Shut up!’ I push Izzy away lightly and she laughs.
    Matt comes and joins us. He lies down in the space between Izzy and me. I feel tingly and weird being so close. I can sense his body like heat, even though he’s not actually touching me. Above my face the air feels cold now.
    His clothes rustle as he turns towards Izzy to kiss her. I know that’s what’s happening without seeing any of it. I seem to feel it, almost. The brushing of fingertips. Lips.
    I’m totally still, silent, bathed in starlight.
    â€˜Shooting star!’ Izzy says. ‘There!’
    â€˜A comet, more like,’ Matt says.
    â€˜No, shooting star: rock, hurtling through space towards earth. One day there will be a huge one, big enough to obliterate Earth completely.’
    â€˜Cheerful, aren’t you, Izz?’ Matt says.
    â€˜It’s the truth. Everybody knows it.’
    â€˜But right now, scientists round the world are busy working out ways to deflect it, change its course or blow it