space odyssey || shiki granbell

prologue

edited | 09.30.23
republished | 05.06.24

There was a big bang, and then there was light.

That was how her life started. That was how she was "born." For she wasn't a normal living being. She wasn't even human. She was the literal essence of stardust coming into an existence.

For instance, she was something that was compressed together within space itself far off into the unknown. With all the gravity and pressure pressing into her; her core started to heat up creating a protostar within the cosmos and soon once her core (her heart) became hot enough to ignite into a fusion, and she was born as a star. A literal one. Yet she looked human. Had a consciousness. She had human hands. Human feet. She had a human face too. Hair, nails, fingers, and toes. She didn't need to breathe, but she could if she needed to.

"Even if you turn into a black hole and consume all life ... Live freely, just like a shooting star across the cosmos. And come back to me, always."

Those were the last words she heard before she could even open her eyes, and when her heavy eyelids did finally crack open it felt like her reality was shifted momentarily, and she was standing on her own two feet. Clothes were mysteriously materialized onto her body and a language she never knew existed was imprinted into her brain.

Her surroundings were odd, but looking around she had already known the names of the different objects.

This is an alleyway, right?

Her eyes widened as she pressed a hand to her head.

Is this what 'thinking' is like?

She found her lips turning up. Her face felt weird but she was sure this is what people call "smiling."

Getting giddy all of the sudden, she took her first steps forward annnnd bumped into someone almost immediately the moment she left the comforts of the alley.

"Woah, there! Careful!"

Her face had bumped into someone's knee, her tiny hands grabbing onto someone's pant leg as she tilted her head up. A bright sun shining down as it blinded her. Her eyes squinting as she tried to make out the person's face.

And when her eyes adjusted, she was met with a slightly wrinkled face of an old man. The sight amazed her. This would be the first time she met someone so different from her.

"Hey little girl, are you lost? Whats your name? And where are your parents?"

He had squatted down to her height. A heavy hand rested on her shoulder as he smiled.

She understood his questions but she wasn't exactly sure how she should answer.

How was she supposed to tell him that the universe birthed her and that she was a star? How was she supposed to tell him that she didn't have "parents"?

And then there was the problem with a name.

In the knowledge she was given it was well known that people usually gave names to planets and stars. Some heavenly bodies even getting the chance to be apart of a cluster to form a constellation.

In other words, she didn't have a name.

So she did the next best thing.

She cried like a newborn.

I mean, she technically was a newborn. A newborn star that is. However, she knew that she actually had the age and mindset of a five year old child. Besides, there are a few different methods to determine the age of a star, but none are perfect.

The old man, panicked, of course. There were no parents around to help the little girl and as he continued to calm her down and ask questions he would come to realize that she didn't have a family.

Which was exactly how he became a father (even though she decided to name him "grandpa" since he, in her own words, "looked so old") for the very first time in his life after making a split second decision to take care of some little random orphan girl who ran into his leg while he took a walk that morning.

He named her y/n, after his late daughter.