UNDER THE STARS

A few hours after sunset, the desert came alive. Crickets sang. Coyotes barked out howls and screams. The sky lit up with stars. It was a moonless night, granting an unhindered view of thousands of constellations. This is what drew them out there. They were part of UNLV’s star gazing club, though only three had signed up for the camping trip. To avoid paying entry fees, they were set up just outside of Joshua Tree National Park in an old, abandoned campsite. The firepit looked like it hadn’t been used in months, and they couldn’t see any other lights along the horizon. They were the only people around for miles.

They couldn’t get the funding for a telescope, but Ayoola, the club president, had a decent set of binoculars. He made use of them as soon as the fire was set up. He sat a few feet away from the group, on the cooling sand with his back against a rough boulder. The vast expanse of space narrowed and grew through the lenses. He watched the colorful swirl of the milky way spread across the sky like waves. He could almost feel the comforting glow of the stars on his skin.

“Can I look?”

The soft voice dragged him back to earth. He lowered his binoculars and blinked away visions of lost suns. He became aware of his body. The rock dug into his spine, and his neck ached from craning it upwards. Sonya, a freshman who had joined the club a month earlier, was standing in front of him. Ayoola didn’t know much about her, but he noticed that she always spoke like she was afraid to be heard.

Ayoola smiled and handed the binoculars over. He said, “Oh, sure! It's spectacular, isn’t it?”

Sonya’s lips twitched into a small smile as she sat down next to him. She brought the binoculars up to her glasses. She responded, “It is. I’ve always loved the stars. But it’s weird. You never know when you’re looking at a planet that's gone supernova.”

Ayoola rubbed his sore neck and said, “Because of the light-year gap?”

Sonya nodded. She studied him and said, “Yeah. Some people think it’s sad, but I like it. It’s like- a last hurrah. The echoes of forgotten worlds. I guess- I think we honor them by appreciating their beauty.”

Ayoola tipped his head towards the sky again and murmured, “That's a cool way of looking at it. Artsy- too. Are you a writer?”

“A poet, when I find the time,” she said with a self-deprecating laugh.

“Well, sometimes you have to make the time,” he suggested.

She looked at the ground and said, “Sometimes there's more important responsibilities.”

Though her tone was light, there was tension in her shoulders. His curiosity rose in him like the sun at the dawning of a new day. Yet, this was eclipsed by the knowledge that they were still relatively strangers. He decided not to ask.

Across the fire, Ben grumbled, “Hey man, can you bring out the booze?”

With a groan, Ayoola got up and brought over a pack of beer.

Under his breath, Ben muttered, “Why are you hanging out with her anyway?”

Ayoola sighed and said, “Because she’s new. Remember how awkward we were as freshmen? She's just trying to figure out how to make friends in college.”

Ben frowned but didn’t reply. After they became friends in freshman year, Ben clung to Ayoola jealously.

“Look, can you at least try to be nice to her?” Ayoola held his gaze until Ben nodded. Then Ayoola smiled and pulled out a can of Coors light and said, “Alright. Just take it.”

“Damn,” said Ben with a joking lilt, “I didn’t know your taste was this awful.”

Ayoola snorted and held a can out to Ben. “You’re lucky you’re getting any at all, Mr-I-skipped-a-few-grades.” Just as Ben reached for it, Ayoola lifted the can out of his reach and teased, “How old are you again?”

Ben rolled his eyes and said, “Hmm, not sure. How long have we been friends again?”

Ayoola laughed and handed the can to Ben. Ayoola turned to Sonya and said, “You want some?”

She shook her head without looking over; binoculars still pressed up to her glasses.

“That’s cool. More for us,” Ayoola shrugged. He added, “You know, the club is usually bigger than this. It's just right before break, I think that's why the group is so small.”

Sonya smiled and said, “I don’t mind. This is cool.”

Ayoola nodded and cracked open his own can. He watched the flames lap at the logs. A breeze carried a swirl of sparks near the edge of their makeshift campsite. The wide landscape was sprinkled with thorny bushes, barrel cactus, and Joshua trees. The Joshua trees stood far apart from each other. They almost appeared human, but the illusion faded. The trees were too tall. The countless arms were bent into unnatural angles. The tops of the shaggy limbs were reaching, twisting toward the stars.

Ben’s eyes followed Ayoola’s gaze. He said, “Did you know that they’re not actually trees? They’re actually a type of yucca,” He liked to say actually a lot when he was explaining something, “Look at the spikey ends. Do you notice how they all seem so far apart? That’s actually because they have a crazy big root system to absorb as much water as possible. This actually creates a sort of death zone all around them, preventing bushes and other Joshua trees from growing.”

“Woah, that's aggressive,” Ayoola said.

“Well,” Sonya said while twisting her hands, “They’re just trying to survive.”

“I guess,” Ben said looking away from her.

The group fell into an awkward silence. Ayoola took a sip and said, "The stars sure are nice tonight.”

Sonya nodded. She set the binoculars down on the ground and said, “I bet we could see the sky better away from the light of the fire.”

“We could go for a walk,” Ayoola suggested.

“How will we find our way back?” Ben said with a frown.

“I’ve been out here before,” Sonya said with a dismissive wave of her hand. She turned her back to them and started rummaging through her backpack.

Ayoola and Ben looked at each other. Ben subtly tilted his head towards her and made a face. Ayoola narrowed his eyes at Ben.

Ben crossed his arms and said, “Why don’t we just put out the fire?”.

Ayoola sighed and said, “If we put it out, I’m not gonna go through the hassle of relighting it.”

“Well-” Ben started arguing more, but Ayoola tuned him out.

Ayoola snuck a quick glance back at Sonya. She still seemed preoccupied with the bag. Her hunched shoulders were outlined from the glow of the flames.

Ayoola took a step closer. He pulled Ben into a hug and whispered into his ear, “I’m never going to stop being your friend. I just need you to give me space to make others.”

Ben’s whole body tensed. He took a breath to protest.

“I’m not asking. Not this time,” Ayoola said while pulling away.

Sonya turned around with a flashlight in hand and said, “Well?”

Ayoola walked to the binoculars and picked them up. He brushed the sand off them and put the lense caps on. He wanted to bring them with, but he was worried he might break them. Instead, he placed the binoculars in their soft case and set them on a small rock near the fire. He turned around and said, “Let’s go.”

And with that, it was agreed. Sonya turned on her flashlight and led the way. The beam of dim yellow light bounced in time with Sonya’s steps. Ayoola and Ben walked quickly to catch up with her determined gait before she left them in darkness. They weren’t following any set path, which meant they had to weave around bushes and rocks. They passed over one dead Joshua tree. Ayoola’s foot sunk into the shaggy bark when he stepped over it.

“You know,” Ben said, “They say the Joshua trees wake up at night. They stretch out their limbs and walk across the desert in search of water. And I think, when they can’t find water, they go after people.”

Ayoola glanced back at him and grumbled, “Don’t start.”

“What? I’m not doing anything,” said Ben with a creepy smile.

At the front, Sonya had stopped walking. She was pointing the flashlight at a Joshua tree. Under the light, it looked like something out of a bad zombie movie. It was a huge hand clawing out of the grave.

The light from the flashlight warped Sonya’s terrified expression. She said, “Do you really think that? About the trees?”

Ayoola put his hands out placatingly, “I wouldn’t worry about it. Every time he gets tipsy, he tells ghost stories. Don’t listen to him.”

Sonya started walking again, and the rest of the group followed.

Under his breath Ayoola hissed, “Cut it out, Ben.”

Ben pretended not to hear. But Ayoola knew what Ben was trying to do. He did this every time it looked like Ayoola was making a new friend. Ben scared them off. But it was hard, because Ayoola knew that Ben had a hard time making friends growing up. So, Ayoola would let it happen. All bark and no bite. He would tell Ben to stop. Ben wouldn’t stop until the other person left. Ayoola would get angry. Ben would apologize. Ayoola would forgive him. Every time.

Ben continued in a soft voice, “Imagine just how thirsty they must be. When was the last time it rained out here? Weeks? Months ago? I would be desperate, too.”

A lone coyote howl filled the night. Ayoola shuddered and said, “Dude, stop. You know I’m not good with horror.”

Ben smiled. His teeth shone in the night as he continued, “They say it happens slowly. The limbs creak to life, and the Joshua tree starts to tip. Just as it’s about to fall over, the roots shoot out, a last attempt at preservation. After the first step, it gets easier. A monstrous skeleton with too many limbs shuffles across the desert. With each victim it takes, it grows faster, stronger, until bam!” Ben smacked his hands together, causing Sonya to jump in her step. He finished, “It gets you.”

The group fell into silence. The coyote howled again. Ayoola thought it sounded closer. The wind began to pick up. It was whistling through the desert, shaking the bushes and Joshua trees.

Sonya stopped with a gasp. Her flashlight was pointing down and her breathing was erratic. The others walked forward to look.

In the center of the dim yellow light, there were two dead animals. A jackrabbit, with its distinctive long ears, was covered in blood. The fur had been mauled, with puffs of it lying on the ground surrounding the scene, and the rabbits guts were spilling out from its center. The blood was red and shiny. A recent death. Then, there was a rattlesnake. Its fangs were still clamped around the side of the rabbit, but the rattlesnake’s body was limp. The snake’s neck was bent at an odd angle underneath the jackrabbit’s foot. A mutual murder.

The coyote howled again, sounding closer than ever before. Ayoola wondered if it could smell the blood. If it was looking for its next meal. He felt the hairs on his arms stand up while he looked around desperately for the campfire. For a moment, he thought he saw a light in the distance.

Ayoola let out a shaky breath. He pointed to the light and said, “We should go back.”

But Sonya was shaking her head. She said, “Not that way. The desert plays tricks at night.”

Sonya started walking in a different direction. Ayoola hesitated before taking a step. Ben caught his arm and spoke quietly, “Doesn’t this seem strange to you?”

Ayoola yanked his arm away and said, “I’m not in the mood for your games right now.”

Ben gestured at the light and said, “I’m serious. You see the fire, too. We should head back, not wherever she’s going.”

Sonya turned around and said, “Well? Are you guys coming or what?”

“No,” said Ben, stepping defensively in front of Ayoola, “The fire is clearly that way. We’re heading back.”

Sonya frowned and said, “That’s not the way we came from. Do you want to split up?”

Ayoola stepped away from Ben and said, “No one is splitting up. We can figure this out together.”

Ayoola looked back toward the fire, but he couldn’t find the light. He squinted, but it didn’t help him see further. He wished he had brought his binoculars.

“What happened to the light?” Ben said while looking around.

“The desert plays tricks-” Sonya started.

Ayoola tuned their argument out. He was busy checking his pocket. His heart leapt to his throat. His phone was gone.

“Did anyone remember to bring their phone?” Ayoola’s question went unheard.

Ben snapped at Sonya, “You know what? No. I don’t believe that. As much as I love to tell scary stories, I don’t believe in any of that shit. Joshua trees are plants. They can’t actually walk around. You-”

Ayoola shouted, “Does anyone have their phone?”

The two paused. Ben checked his pocket and frowned. He said, “Shit! No, I don’t have mine.”

Sonya shook her head. Ayoola’s heart started pounding. How could he have forgotten? He was meant to be the responsible one. As the club president, he couldn’t make mistakes like this. Now they were lost in the middle of the desert because of him. His breathing picked up.

Ben put a hand on his shoulder and whispered, “Breathe, buddy. We’ll figure this out.”

Ayoola balled his hand into a fist, letting the pain of his nails digging into his skin ground him. He pushed down his fear and shrugged off Ben’s hand.

“How? How are we going to figure this out?” Ayoola asked.

Sonya darted a nervous look out at the darkness and said, “Well, maybe the wind blew out our fire.”

Ben started, “That!” He took a breath and continued, “That, I can believe. Let’s just turn the light off and look for any hint of the fire. The embers should still be glowing.”

When Sonya hesitated, Ben snatched the flashlight out of her hands and passed it to Ayoola, ignoring her protests.

After a moment, Ayoola turned the light off. The area was plunged into darkness. Their eyes adjusted quickly. Under the light of the pale milky way, the desert was bleached of color. The silhouettes of the Joshua trees, with their misshapen gnarled limbs, seemed to press inward. For a moment, Ayoola could swear he saw one head of spikes shift towards him. Yet, when he snapped his neck over to look, the silhouette had returned to normal. He swallowed down his fear and looked around. There! In the distance, he spotted a soft yellow light. He flicked the flashlight on with shaking hands.

“You saw it too, right?” Sonya asked, looking at something just over Ben’s shoulder.

“The light? Yeah, it was that way,” Ayoola said, while pointing.

“I thought I saw one of the trees move,” Sonya said with a shaky tone.

Ben rolled his eyes and shook his head. But Ayoola spoke before he could, “I saw the same thing.”

Ben sighed but decided not to argue. He said, “Look, can we just go?”

They walked in silence for twenty minutes. The stars had shifted slightly by the time they began to near the source of the light. The hair on the back of Ayoola's neck began to rise. The light was not flickering like a fire should have. It was steady, and the glow was too pale to be embers. But still, they walked forward. What other choice did they have? Ayoola dug his nails into his palm, hoping he was mistaken. Hoping that the closer they got, the more the pale white light would turn orange. Hoping that the wind would carry the smell of smoke. But he hoped in vain.

An old electric lamp lit up the entrance to a mineshaft. Like moths to a flame, they walked closer. The mine entrance was a rectangular hole carved in the side of a hill. Black like the mouth of a giant, with teeth made of jagged rocks surrounding the opening. Thick wooden beams were shoved into the corners of the mouth, the only thing preventing the maw from closing.

Ben sank down on the sandy ground and held his hands between his head. His face lost all expression and he murmured, “We’re fucked. We’re lost in the middle of the desert. That's it. No way of knowing how to get back. None of us brought anything! No food! No water! Ab-so-lutely fucked!”

“Hey,” Ayoola patted Ben on the back. Ayoola pretended his hands weren’t shaking. He tried to sound like he believed it when he said, “We’ll figure something out.”

Sonya did not seem to be paying any attention to them. She was staring at the mineshaft with furrowed brows. She said, “I think I recognize this mine. That mark there,” Sonya ran her fingers over a strange triangular pattern carved into the wood, “This is the Rattlebrush Mine! If we go in, we should be able to reach the other entrance. It opens up right outside this small town- Duskeny, I think.”

She looked back and saw their hesitant expressions. She pressed, “Look, I grew up around here. It’s hard to explain, but you learn good instincts over time. Something is just telling me this is the right way to go.”

“Oh yeah?” Ben sneered, “If your instincts are so good, how did we end up lost?”

Sonya cringed. She hunched her shoulders and said, “I was trying to lead us back, but you didn’t want to-”

“Bullshit!” Ben shouted, leaning forward.

Ayoola placed himself between the two and pressed a hand to Ben’s chest. Ayoola said, “Hey! Arguing isn’t going to help us right now. Do you have any other ideas?”

Ben’s breath came out in angry huffs. Ayoola raised a brow and said, “Do you?”

Ben just shook his head and looked away.

They stepped inside. The old flashlight flickered, but Ayoola gave it a whack, and it came back to life. The sides of the mine were full of rough gray rocks and every few feet the walls and roof were reinforced with cylindrical wooden beams. The beams stuck out, compressing the already cramped space further. They began to feel the cold steady breeze that exhaled from the very bowels of the mine. It smelled like rot and rust. In the tense silence, they could hear every sandy footstep echo against the old walls. Ayoola took steadying breaths. His hands were shaking, which made the light bounce and tremble with each downward step.

“Hand me the light,” Ben said while reaching for it, “If you can’t keep it steady.”

“No,” Ayoola said, elbowing Ben.

“Seriously, man? What's up with you?” Ben said with a rising voice. It echoed through the tight corridor.

“What’s up with me?” Ayoola dropped his voice to a low whisper, “What’s up with you? You were getting ready to fight the new girl. I am allowed to have friends other than you, you know that right? You’re not just the dictator of all my friendships. Hate to break it to you!”

“It’s not about that this time!” Ben said, reaching for the light once more.

“With you? It’s always about that,” Ayoola replied, shrugging Ben off and speeding up to catch up to Sonya.

“How close do you think we are?” Ayoola asked Sonya.

Sonya hummed and said, “Not too far.”

It was hard to tell if she had heard them bickering. Just as he was about to apologize for the fight, his foot hit something hard. He tipped forward, watching the ground rush up to him, but just before he hit the ground, something caught his arm. Sonya lifted him up with a smile. She was stronger than she looked.

“Careful,” She said.

Ayoola blinked at her and said, “Thanks. I guess I tripped over a,” He looked back, “root. That’s strange. I didn’t know anything grew down here.”

Just then, Ben caught up and cleared his throat. Sonya let go of Ayoola and jumped back. She turned around and mumbled something about walking, and they continued down the mine in awkward silence.

As they continued, Ayoola began to notice more symbols carved into the wood. It started as a few here and there, and then the symbols began to cover every beam they passed. He also noticed that the roots began to climb, engraining themselves into the walls. Then, they reached a cavern. The ceiling was no longer rock but a mixture of earth, sand, and roots. Ayoola felt his spirits lift. He was certain they were close to the surface. They would make it back soon.

Then, Ayoola noticed a painting on the side of the cave. He pointed the flashlight at it. The image itself was drawn with childish precision, with colors spilling over the lines and messy proportions. There was a figure lying down in the center. A teal blue knife was embedded in their stomach, and they were surrounded by a bright red puddle, presumably blood. Ayoola felt his stomach turn at the image.

He swallowed and called out, “Guys?”

But he couldn’t take his eyes off the disturbing art. There were thirty people surrounding the dead person, all bent, as if bowing, to a rough silhouette of a Joshua tree, drawn above the whole image.

A hand clamped down on Ayoola’s shoulder. He startled, but when he turned around, it was just Sonya. He moved to speak but felt a sudden tightness in his lungs. He looked down. There was a blue hilt impaled in his chest.

He took a step away, but stumbled over something. It was strangely soft. He fell to the ground. The flashlight rolled out of his weak hands. The beam lit up Ben’s body. It was Ben that he had tripped over, Ayoola realized. Ben’s face was loose. For one ridiculous second, Ayoola wondered if Ben was sleeping. Yet, his eyes were open in an unseeing stare. His chest was coated in something thick and red. Blood. One hand rested on the ground near Ayoola’s face, as if reaching out to comfort him. There was blood under Ben’s fingernails. Ayoola felt tears prick his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” He whispered to his dead friend. “I’m so sorry.”

Every breath hurt. Ayoola’s vision blurred with tears. He couldn’t see Sonya, but he tensed at the crunch of her boots on the sandy floor. He turned his head to look, but only managed to stare up at the tangled web of roots sprawled across the roof of the cave. The roots hung down in thick strands like hair.

“As am I,” Sonya’s voice echoed through the chamber, “I will remember you, supernova. May your blood nurture the Joshua trees well.”

Madeleine Korver is originally from the mountains of the west coast. Her hometown is Reno, Nevada. She is a rising Senior IDEAS major at Lehigh University, with concentrations in mechanical engineering and creative writing. Her poetry has been published in Lehigh University’s Amaranth magazine.