The Star

The Star

The star moved without hesitation across the black sky splintering fragments of sharp light down onto the city skyline.

The light, shed in pulses of shimmering strands, fell across the stone streets and alleys of the city centre.

The star had no memory of the past, no recollection of previous skies or horizons.

The star existed in a shining immediacy moving in between the night clouds and the faraway planets.

Down in the city most rooms and spaces were closed in shadows and darkness. The stone streets were silent and empty lit here and there by bursts of moonlight.

The star never looked back, never considered the history of the city. The star was separate and alone gleaming in crystal at the edge of the night.

In the centre of the city lay a small park. The trees and flowers were unmoving and calm in the still of the night. Looking up one young flower noticed the movement of the star and was intrigued. The flower stared up into the night sky as the star danced in sparkling light.

The flower had seen the illumination of the moon before but this was the first occasion that she had seen a moving star.

The flower whispered to her closest friend,

“There is a white flower blooming in the dark sky!”

The flower’s friend sighed and spoke,

”Perhaps this moving light is an associate of the moon. Both are white and scare the dark with their light”.

It seemed a logical reflection.

The tree nearest the flowers spoke:

“That is a star falling from the edge of the world”

he said with an aloof air.

Soon crows watching from the rooftops saw the falling star.

“This could be an omen” the chief crow said.

The star was spinning and accelerating streaming with white light.

Beyond the city limit an old train moved out of the grey station. It rocked along the tracks as it moved into the silent countryside.

The star cascaded into the distance watched by black street cats and crows alike.

In the forest an owl flew up toward the star catching a particle of light on the tips of its brown wings. The wing turned white with starlight and the owl flew over the forest trees sprinkling the pale light down over the black branches.

Deep in the forest a jaguar looked up at the owl and saw the streaks of light descending on to trees. The jaguar moved across the forest floor staring upward. The owl called out and the jaguar growled to herself. The jaguar moved between deep shadows and her eyes shone black.

Soon the forest was alive with new light, new shadows that hinted at the shape of men and women. The figures remained slivery and vague beside the trees and flowers. The figures had a ghostly presence like mist moving in the silence of the trees. The new people were formed of light from the falling star. They did not speak or breath but waited for the dawn in stillness.

The star continued to fall, lighting up the world with innocent, white sparks full of promises

and dreams.

Light falling to the forest floor created more and more shapes and forms.

Soon white, icy shapes became ghostly wild animals and birds.

Pale birds and wild cats moved beneath the shadows of the forest.

Caves and secret places were touched by new outlines of light. Jewels gleamed and stones shone as they were encountered the new creatures. Spiders lying on sparkling webs crawled toward the new creatures.  Emerald green snakes twisting in the depths of the darkest caves emerged to adore the new creatures. Cast in light new crows, new owls flew into the night sky.

Everywhere in the world there was movement and gleaming white distances emerged.

The world of night was lit up by these strange forms and was never the same again.

Sadly the world was more concerned with the news of war and profit, the endless cruel streets made of money and steel, the surge to work and the relentless darkness of tomorrow.

Chris Bird 2017