Stargazer

Yet another short story I wrote for my friend. Hope you enjoy it.

  When I was a kid, I often watched the stars far above in the skies. Like unreachable dreams, they tempted me, made me want to touch them with my tiny dreamer's hand. Now, when I’m old and no more a child, I understand that I saw something eternal in the stars, something that will never go and never leave me. You can't see the stars in the daylight, but the night always comes again wrapping the world in its dark blue mantle, and you are bound to see the stars again. 

   My family often moved to all around the world, I lost contact with many of my friends, I had to get used to new rules, new people, sometimes I even had to learn a new language. 

   But, wherever I went, I could still see the constellations so dear to me. And, wherever I went, I always yearned for stars. 

   Time went on, I dreamt and dreamt, I watched the skies and nothing could ever take the place of the stars. I thought to myself that they were the best a human could ever dream of; they gave off so much warmth and light that we could see them across the whole universe! And it was just their nature, this was the way they were since the very beginning of the universe. But then I met a girl which outshone all the stars in the sky, my own shooting star. 

   Being a shy, timid person, I watched her like I watched distant, unreachable stars. But she noticed it, she talked to me, and soon I found myself completely engulfed by her kindness. Like Sun, she gave me warmth and light; soon, she became my life itself, everything I ever needed and longed for. I nearly forgot about the stars holding her in my arms at night. 

   We dreamt throughout our life, and soon there were two stars in my life. The little one rushed through everything everywhere, was as lively as her mother. Our home was now filled with her happy, innocent laughter. Every day, seeing me off to work, my two shining stars would come and kiss me in the cheek, telling me to come back safely. 

   On my way home, I still watched the stars. I don't know why, but I was grateful to them as if they made all this real. But they were not as important as ones that waited for me to come back home. In the night, we would take turns in telling our daughter stories; some of these were read from books, some made up by the moment's inspiration. Our happy life was the only thing that mattered to me, everything I cared about. 

  Soon the once tiny star grew up, found a decent man to marry and left our house. He was bold, smart, kind. Seeing him gave us the feeling that he would never leave our daughter, that no matter where they went, he would break the mountains to make our daughter happy. It's no wonder we gave them our blessing.

  True to our thoughts, they really went off somewhere far, far away. This was the time of the new colonization, so we found our peace in knowing her husband would take her through the direst life, and, wherever they could go, these two would surely be happy together. 

   Me and Seren went on with our lives. I retired, and we planted a small garden to keep us busy. Everything was calm, blissful and filled with light. We grew old together, and sometimes we had no need to speak to understand what was on the mind of one another. But soon I noticed that she began to get tired faster, and I was just the same. Our hands began to shake, our memory started to let us down. We grew old together, but we were not afraid of the old age and not mournful of our youth. We lived a long life filled with happiness together, and now was the time when we had the chance to truly appreciate the way we did it. 

  She passed away first. She knew that the end was near, so one day she didn't leave bed at all. She asked me to stay with her and hold her hand, and we spoke about all the littlest things that made us happy. The day we met, the day we went to the city's fair, how we kissed on Christmas under the mistletoe. We remembered our trip to the sea, the day our Evelyn was born. We wondered where she lived now, but we were confident that she was safe and happy with her husband. 

  Soon, Seren fell asleep. Slowly, her hand grew weaker, her breath �" slower and slower. And soon I was left alone. She had a smile on her face, and I knew for sure that soon I, too, will be gone. 

  Now I watch the skies at night, just like I used to when I was a kid. And, just like a kid, I know that stars go away in the daylight. 

  But I also know that I will see my Star again when the night takes its place.

Reviews

[Dave Potter]

Thanks William. Your story managed to squeeze an entire life in a short story. Just as life, your story covered both happy and sad times yet still left the reader with a sense of comfort in knowing that death may not be the end. Thanks for the post, Dave