Fallen apple

"What are you doing?"

Dan asked the student.

"I'm looking at the stars."

He replied.

"With that piece of equipment?"

Dan pointed at the cylindrical object with curiosity.

"This is a telescope."

"A telescope?"

"I made it myself."

The young man gave a dry laugh.

"It's nothing special. I just wanted to see these stars more clearly, that's all."

"It works like a magnifying glass, right?"

"Would you like to try it?"

The young man shifted over to make room for Dan.

"All you have to do is look through this hole and adjust the focus here."

The moment Dan lowered his eye to look through the opening,

his entire body went completely still.

Because he had never seen an image of the moon this clear before. The moon shone softly in full view, clear enough for him to see its surface.

"How did you make this...?"

Even as Dan spoke, he couldn't tear his eyes away from the image of the moon.

"I use a curved mirror instead of a lens."

But the young man could tell that Dan didn't really understand what he'd just said, so he let it go and simply gave a small, amused smile.

"It's... so clear... I don't even need to look with my naked eyes anymore."

"Why don't you try looking at something else?"

He adjusted the telescope for Dan, pointing it toward Jupiter.

And this was the first time in Fury's life

that he had seen the entire planet Jupiter with his own eyes.

"...I can see stars beside it, too."

"Those are Jupiter's moons."

Dan kept looking for quite a while, until he finally realized that he was taking up the man's time. He quickly pulled himself away and apologized.

"I'm sorry. I've taken up too much of your time..."

But the student showed no sign of irritation whatsoever.

"You like looking at the stars too, don't you?"

"Yes... I've been looking at them with my naked eyes for more than ten years."

The young student was a little surprised. No matter how he looked at him, Dan didn't seem much older than himself, but he didn't dwell on it.

"You like astronomy, don't you?"

"I just like looking at them. If you asked me to calculate anything, though, I wouldn't stand a chance. I've already given up on that."

"That's all right. Mathematics is just a language for understanding the universe."

The man placed a hand against his chest.

"You have to feel it from here."

"Do you study mathematics?"

"I study a lot of things."

The man turned back to adjust the telescope.

"It depends on what I'm interested in at the time."

"You're interested in the stars too?"

"I'm interested in how they attract one another... Look."

The man took an apple out of the brown bag beside him, presumably something he'd brought along to eat.

He let it drop right in front of Dan, onto the grass.

"It's practically become an axiom. You let go of something, and it falls to the ground. But has anyone ever asked why it falls to the ground?"

"It has to fall to the ground."

"Then what pulls it down?"

Dan froze...

He stopped to think, and then he became completely still.

"A ghost? An invisible hand? Or is it the force of this world?"

"Exactly... It has to be the force of this world."

"And perhaps it's the same force that pulls the moon into orbit around us."

"Is that what you believe?"

"Not exactly. I just have a feeling that it has to be that way. My instincts tell me so. What I'm doing is trying to find a way to prove that my instincts are correct."

He said to Dan,

"I believe everything in the sky is attracted to everything else. The thing that makes objects fall and the thing that makes the Earth orbit the sun are one and the same."

"So you watch the stars because you want to observe their behavior?"

"And you? Why do you look at the stars?"

"Every time I look up there, I feel so incredibly small... Every single time."

The two of them looked up at the sky.

"I understand what you mean."

The man said,

"Objects attract one another. If this universe had a finite amount of space, eventually everything would be drawn together. But the fact that everything can remain suspended up there like this... If the universe isn't infinitely vast, then it must at least be enormously large. It's no wonder we feel so tiny."

"What's your name?"

The young man turned back.

"My name is Isaac."

"Isaac... um..."

Dan swallowed.

"Your equipment..."

"You like it?"

"...Yes. Could I hire you to make one for me?"

"Hmm..."

"I'll pay whatever you want."

"Money isn't the problem."

He shook his head.

"I'm actually about to leave on a journey. I'm going somewhere very far away. I don't think we'll ever meet again. That's why I didn't ask your name."

"...I see... So that's how it is. I understand."

"But I have a good feeling about you."

He slowly removed the equipment from the cart,

and handed it to Dan.

"I'm giving it to you."

"Are you sure?"

Prince Fury's eyes widened as he immediately tried to protest. He couldn't do this. Accepting something for free from a complete stranger without having done anything in return?

"I saw it in your eyes. That's why I'm giving it to you. Once I reach my destination, I can always make another one. I've already taught you how to use it, so there shouldn't be any problem."

The young man looked down at him.

"Are you a student?"

"I'm studying evolution..."

The man nodded in understanding.

"Then you're searching for the truth of nature as well, aren't you?"

"I think even if I spent my entire life searching for it, I might never find it."

"That's perfectly normal."

He said,

"I'm the same way. We know almost nothing about the stars in the sky. Even by the time I die, I don't think I'll ever come to understand all of God's works."

"And you're not saddened by that?"

"Why would I be?"

The man slung his backpack over his shoulders.

"Even if I don't know everything, what I do may be passed on. If I can't reach the truth myself, then I'll simply keep passing what I know on to others. Just as Galileo passed it on to me."

The young man nodded to him.

Then he turned his back and walked away from Dan, eventually departing with his empty cart.