The Aurora’s Hidden Heart
The Last Curtain Call
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Two Goals of the Workcamp: Environmental Discussion & Aurora “Hunting”
We had discussed the environment enough every night. Now, it was time to fulfill the essence of this project: Aurora observation.
But for a whole week, the sky was heartless.
Far from an aurora, only dark red skies and clouds drifted by, as if mocking me.
Perfect Conditions
The virtual last day to see the aurora.
10:00 PM. I turned on the aurora forecast app.
KP Index (Aurora Index) was 5 (High).
I looked up at the sky.
Unlike a few days ago, the moon was waning, making the sky pitch black, as if connected directly to the cosmos.
Both the app and my eyes confirmed: No clouds.
(*Author’s Note: This is when I first learned that cloud forecasts distinguish between ‘low clouds’ and ‘high clouds’.)
All data was shouting, “Look at the sky right now! The aurora must be there!”
However, the protagonist was missing from the scene.
‘Why can’t I see it? The data is perfect...’
In fact, before coming here, I didn’t know the aurora was such an elusive phenomenon.
I didn’t realize it was so precious... ‘I just thought if I landed in Iceland, the aurora would always be hanging in the sky.’
From tomorrow, the weather is forecast to be cloudy. If not today, there is no chance.
The thought of returning empty-handed brought a wave of upset.
‘I came all this way, suffering in this cold, just to see this one thing... Are you doing this to me?’
I pouted at the innocent night sky, filled only with sullen resentment.
The Boy Who Cried Wolf
“Huh? There’s something over there!”
In fact, for the past week, I had shouted every night.
“Isn’t that the aurora?! It’s the aurora!”
Every time I saw something faintly resembling an aurora, I made a fuss.
“Eh, what? It’s not.”
Even without my fuss, my friends were clearly exhausted.
Every time that happened, I showed an awkward smile.
Friends who used to run out with me at first didn’t even respond anymore.
I had become the camp’s official Boy Who Cried Wolf.
The Last Gambit
The activity period passed in a flash, and suddenly it was the last day of the program.
Starting tomorrow, there is a forecast for thick clouds for a week, so no matter how strong the aurora is, we won’t be able to see it.
If we failed tonight, we would have to return empty-handed.
Without even seeing the “Aurora” that was the very name of this program.
I moved my feet busily for an hour and a half to keep warm, but the aurora did not appear,
And it was too cold to stay outside any longer.
“Let’s go inside and warm up. I guess it’s a bust today too. Sigh...”
Eventually, we fled into the cabin and opened a board game with a ‘whatever’ mindset.
Everyone pretended to focus more on the game not to show it, but the unavoidable regret couldn’t be hidden.
Desperate Heart
A warm room, a noisy game. But my nerves were entirely focused outside the door.
‘Today is really the last chance...’
Just as the game was getting interesting, I quietly stood up.
“I’m going to get some fresh air-”
Actually, stuffy air was an excuse.
Lingering regret and a strange sense of responsibility as the eldest drove me out the door.
Lost in thought, I put on my shoes without realizing two friends were following me.
‘These guys, they have to see it before they leave...’
Friends I met only a week ago. I guess we had grown fond of each other.
I wanted to discover it first and show it to these friends.
Just because I go out every day doesn’t mean the aurora will magically appear for me,
But I hoped my desperation would reach the sky, wanting to show them somehow.
Even if it meant becoming the Boy Who Cried Wolf again, I wanted to see it together.
Me, who had become so focused on my own growth that I only knew myself.
Was it a vague longing for those pure things?
The Last Curtain Call
The moment I opened the door. My breath stopped.
It wasn’t a faint green smudge that barely showed up on a long-exposure camera.
(*Author’s Note: Actually, most days the aurora looks like that smudge.)
Above my head, a giant curtain was shimmering like a hologram.
I screamed loud enough for the cabin to fly away.
“Guys! Come out! Hurry up! It’s incredible!”
The friends inside the room snorted and replied.
“Oh... Yung, another green smudge? We’re not falling for it.”
“No! It’s real this time! You can see it with your naked eye! Hurry!”
Fortunately, when one of the friends who went out with me started jumping around and making a scene,
Only then did the friends, with eyes full of suspicion, drag their heavy bodies out one by one, putting on their shoes as if annoyed.
And the moment they looked up at the night sky, a gasp burst from everyone’s lips simultaneously.
To See Together
We stood in front of the cabin in the middle of nowhere, shoulders touching, fearing this light might disappear, and took a group photo.
“Click-”
The moment the shutter closed, I realized.
‘I’m so glad we could see this together. Ah, I am happy.’
‘If I hadn’t come out, we might have missed this spectacle tonight.’
Only then did the resentment toward the aurora that seemed to be hiding to tease me, the anxiety of potentially leaving without seeing it, and the unfair title of the lying Shepherd Boy wash away in that one brilliant curtain call.
A smile spreads across my lips.
After losing the childhood heart of “wanting to help people,” I was endlessly thirsty despite continuous success.
Tonight, I am free. As if a long-suffering homesickness has been cured.
(The End.)
Micro-Mission: The Door Opener 🚪
We always calculate.
“Do I really have to do it first?”
For today, turn off that calculator.
With the mindset of opening the cabin door first, try doing it first.
- Contact first (to a drifted friend)
- Compliment first (to a stoic colleague)
- Pick up first (trash on the street)
- Apologize first (delayed by pride)
Through that door you open, joy like the aurora might flow into someone’s life.
⬇️ What door did you open first today?