Starlight
“Star light, star bright, the first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might have this wish I wish tonight.” Nothing else has worked for me — I need this to happen. This is my last try; I deserve a new beginning beyond this dreadful life. Through my tears, I beg whoever is willing to listen, “Please help me end this.”
Not sure who I am pleading with, but I hope they hear me. I need my words to reach willing and helpful ears. Do deities have ears? Most importantly, do they care about our struggles, or are we pawns to entertain them?
Mom vanished when I was an infant, dad about eight months ago, and my best friend one month, seventeen days, thirteen hours, and twenty-seven minutes later. Depression is hovering over me like a heavy storm cloud. I can’t say goodbye to another loved one. I feel alone as if I am lost in space, floating silently in the darkness between the twinkling lights.
Laying on the lawn, I look up to the stars and wonder, can the universe be Heaven? Are there planets beyond our solar system that are afterlife havens? Directly above me, a falling star moving across a dark patch of sky was the closest I had ever witnessed. The long glistening tail was visible for a short moment. More beautiful than anything I have ever seen. The aww is grander than Times Square on New Year’s Eve.
A beam of light dropped from the sky just beyond the trees. The eerie glow was passing through the trees and moving closer to me. I bring my hand to my brown to protect my eyes from the extraordinary brightness. The subtle outline seems feminine. I am terrified yet, calm.
Who is that? As the light comes closer. Not only do I see the brilliance, I feel it warm me to my core, and it calms my broken spirit. I heard a voice distant and familiar. My eyes grow heavy with tears. They flow uncontrollably, “Mom?.” Then darkness.
I awake to look at a delicately stunning face with Saffire pupilless eyes. I glance around us; this place is beyond any natural beauty on Earth. She is more alluring than I could have ever imagined her.
She spoke calmly, “My precious starshine,” I reached up to her face, and she clasped my hand and held it to her chest, “you are wise beyond your species. You are the first Starlet half-breed to recognize the truth about some of the worlds beyond Earth.”
“Am I dead?”
“No, just visiting. I will see you again when your time on Earth has naturally depleted.”
Her soft pale fingers followed a tear down my cheek and raised my chin; she whispered, “Keep your radiance. Otherwise, you will go to the Earthling afterlife, which many Starlets call Eternal Nightfall.” She kissed my forehead, “Let your starlight shine.”
THE END
MaryAnn Lindquist & Mojha MacDowell
12/11/22
