The sun descended from his heavenly throne, temporarily ending his reign over this half of the world to turn his gaze elsewhere, in lands far beyond the experience of the earthly subjects from which he now departed. As he took his leave, his robe covered all beneath him in the richest hues of gold and red, and I felt as beautiful as the divine glow of his magnificent crown.
Soon the golden sphere crossed the horizon, leaving darkness to eagerly spread its silent wings over the sky in preparation for the queen’s arrival.
But the throne remained unclaimed, so I lowered my gaze to the earth below me. A shallow pond that had glimmered blue and white under the sun’s eyes now held nothing but still, cold nothingness, black and deep as the moonless heavens above.
I lifted my bare foot, intending to step into the cool waters, but like a child with a wild imagination, I suddenly saw the black pond as a bottomless pit and feared I would tumble into the darkness. I withdrew my foot to the safety of the grass.
As I continued to contemplate the pit, suddenly one tiny, shining jewel shimmered into existence, hovering over the abyss. A few moments later another was winking up at me, and then a few more. As the minutes passed the space that used to be a pond became a glittering trove of thousands of untouched, precious stones.
Lifting my gaze, I saw that the last light of the king had diminished enough to reveal the full moon’s priceless diamonds scattered across the sky for all to see. The stars had always been there, but the sun loved to outshine everything else while he reigned.
And now I had a piece of the night queen’s precious collection at my feet.
A breeze hushed by, swaying the stars gently, and they seemed to sparkle merrily in response; one in particular was shimmering with exceptional enthusiasm, as if it read my thoughts and gave assent to them.
Descending to the ground, I crouched low and gently sank my hands into the cold, beautiful heavens, then withdrew them, cupping a cluster of stars. One by one they flowed from my hands, a celestial waterfall cascading between my fingers. Soon only one star remained, the twinkling jewel who continued to wink delightedly at my decision, and I knew this sparkling spirit was part of me now.
As I turned from the heavenly pool I contemplated where to keep my little star; somewhere to be entertained with its new life, but safe from the world’s adversities; a place where I could observe its affairs and draw inspiration from them. Most importantly, I needed to give it companionship, where it could find likeness with other entities and never feel the emptiness of singularity.
A universe I admired and frequented brought itself to mind, and there I decided was the perfect habitat for the invaluable star. Whispering a promise to visit often, I gently released the celestial jewel into the world below.
...I dropped the celestial jewel
into the world below....
