"Once, it was to the sky that I looked for countless twinkling lights, an endless expanse of eyes burning down upon me. It is now, as I watch the streets once again blaze that pallid yellow, that too pure white, that I realize they never burned, but looked back with the love I took from their beauty."

Goddammit, I have enough writing projects as it is, I don't need more inspirations.

I grew up in the rural countryside in the '80s, about a 10-minute drive from the nearest city. My skyline looked closer to #5 as a kid.

Nowadays, my night sky in the same location is closer to #7.

As a kid, I loved to lie outside in the grass at night and watch the stars. It was completely dark out then; besides some ambient city lights on the distant horizon, it was completely dark out and you could really focus on the stars.

Now, there are so many lights everywhere. My childhood home has outdoor lights, the telephone pole in the yard has a floodlight on it, my rural neighbors have outdoor lights, etc. My garage has a floodlight that stays very dim and yellow all night, but it turns super bright and blue if movement is detected in my driveway.

There's nowhere I can go that doesn't have at least a little ambient light outside, even out here in the countryside. And as such, my night sky is barely speckled with a few glowing dots and that's it. I miss the night sky of my childhood.