The sun descended upon the hills, enveloping them in flames. Then the sky cooled into a soft darkness, putting out the fire and placing a veil over the night. A young woman, about the age of sixteen, stared through her open window into the cloudless sky. She watched as one by one, stars appeared in the distance, each one calling her name. She waited until the sky was completely filled and every star had awakened from their slumber. Then she opened the screen of her window, stepped upon the ledge, gripped the sides of the window so she would not fall, and then shifted her body to the outside of her house. She smiled into the night and whispered: "Set a path before me, so with you I may be."
Then she stepped from the window's ledge, and grew wings of starlight. She flew far up into the sky where the stars danced in welcome. She flew from star to star, speaking and laughing with them. They shone brighter when they laughed and twinkled when they giggled. She played with the little ones and helped the old, cradled the babies and sent the dead off in a burial that we recognize as shooting stars. When the dark veil of night was lifted once more, the girl kissed them all good morning, and they went to sleep once more. She descended from the heavens and landed on her windowsill. She took her comb, sat down at her vanity, and brushed the starlight from her hair.
Centuries passed and the young woman was now thirty. Every night she would do the same thing she had done for hundreds of years; visit the stars. But lately the stars had been harder to hear, and there were many more deaths, and a great sadness had replaced their cheerfulness. They twinkled no more for they forgot how to laugh. Pollution filled their lungs and the noise of machines blocked their ears. They lost all will to live. Still the woman returned each night, insistent that things could be good again.
One night, as she stood from a very tall building, she yelled out the verse: "Set a path before me, So with you I may be". But the stars did not hear her over the rumbling machines and roaring sirens. She stepped from the ledge, and no starlight wings picked her up.
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Author's Note:
Hi guys! So I know I haven't been updating much at all, but here you go! This started out as a fantasy short story, but then it turned into a "SAVE THE PLANET!!!" kind of thing. So please tell me what you thought of it, vote, comment. Anything is greatly appreciated. Ok, bye!
