The warm August night embraced the lovers. She unfolded a blanket onto the slightly dewy bed of grass. He retrieved the bottle of Chardonnay from the picnic basket and set it next to the earthy cushion upon which they would lie. Each of the lovers' minds raced with thoughts and hopes of what the sultry night would bring.
"What did you say the names of these falling stars are?" she asked.
"These are called the Perseids."
"You're smart. I love smart guys," she interjected, and grinned.
"Perseids - that's because their radiant - or center point - is in the constellation Perseus, which is right there," he continued, pointing to the northeastern sky. The hero Perseus sparkled there, juxtaposed with two admiring women: Cassiopeia the queen, and the grateful Andromeda, whom he had rescued.
"This is usually the best meteor shower of the year, except every so many years when the Leonids, in November, are even better and more intense," he explained. She winked at him and smiled broadly, making a flirty clicking noise with her cheek and tongue.
As he displayed his astronomical knowledge, she traced the contours of his body with her eyes. Envisioning him as a disrobed lecturer stimulated her desire. She wanted to massage his entire masculine frame with cocoa butter, hands, and tongue.
"But these are not really stars, hon. We just call them 'falling stars', but they're actually a cloud of rocks and left-over asteroids which the Earth's orbit is passing through at this time of year. This is one of the most spectacular meteor showers on the planet, and if we get lucky we'll see about 70 every hour, maybe even a fireball."
"A fireball?" she enquired curiously while searching his eyes for potential passion.
"Hummph," he chuckled. "Yeah, a fireball. It's a piece of rock which is way larger than most and which comes really close to the ground, and is very very bright, hence the name. I've seen a couple of them and they are downright frightening, but also beautiful. Maybe we'll get lucky and a radioactive meteor will crash and aliens will crawl out of it and start coming towards us." He imitated a zombie walk, with boyish glee.
"Yeah right, silly boy," she retorted playfully, gently pushing on his left ribcage and tickling him with her fingertips.
After an interlude of brief silence and eye contact, Kristi smiled and said "This is
such
a great idea for a date. I've never done this before."