The Open Dome

Text 1: North of Midnight, by Leila Harcourt

An original short story extract.

From inside, the observatory dome was a grey bowl clamped over the room. Sami had spent six Saturdays polishing eyepieces, stacking chairs and carrying boxes of leaflets, but he had never touched the controls. Now, with visitors murmuring on the stairs below, Dr Shah stepped aside and offered him the iron wheel.

“Turn it until the red mark meets the arrow.”

Sami wrapped both hands around the rim. He pushed. Nothing. He leaned harder, his shoes gripping the floor, and somewhere above him a gear caught with a heavy knock. The wheel began to move. A thin cut of darkness appeared overhead and widened with every turn. Cold air slipped into the room. Then the first star shone through, sharp and white.

The room changed. The telescope gleamed; the visitors fell silent; the opening became a doorway into a sky crowded with light. Sami could feel the mechanism humming through his palms. “Hold it there,” said Dr Shah. He stopped exactly on the arrow, but kept his hands on the wheel, wishing it still had further to turn.