Stars
-Cassandra Teo-
“Reach for the stars, climb every mountain higher, reach for the stars…” That’s the first thing that pops into my head when I think of stars. It is actually a line from a song by S Club 7 called ‘Reach’. It was one of my favorites. Stars, stars, hmm..what do you think of when you think of the stars in the sky? To me they were souls of people who had passed on. I love to entertain the thought that we are being watched by our loved ones who have passed on, no matter where we are. Imagine dying and opening your eyes, only to see the whole universe spread before you. And when people look up at night, they see you as a bright light, shining and lighting up the midnight sky. Or maybe as the nursery rhyme “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” suggests: a diamond in the sky?
Alas, I grew up and went to school. To find out that your beloved stars are just big balls of flame suspended in space? I cannot say how I really felt then. Only that: scientists must be the most boring and unimaginative bunch in the world! To take something so beautiful and magical and turn it into another boring detail in life is just a waste of time. You could not have expected more of a nine- year-old who found out that something so beautiful could have such a mundane explanation.
However, that incident did no harm to my imagination. As a kid, I would read any storybook I could lay my hands on. As I grew, my love for fantasy grew stronger. I would write stories for the school magazine year after year. I seemed to enter a different world when I wrote, away from everything and everyone, a world of my own. I wrote short stories in my spare time, some got published, some didn’t. But it did not matter to me. It was something I did because I enjoyed it. My passion for stories and legends lead me to study Greek Mythology and the likes of it. I still write stories whenever I have the time to spare.
I have a habit of looking out a window at night and searching for stars. Compliments of my childhood fantasy I would say. So you can only imagine my chagrin when I lived in the city during my university days. A sky devoid of stars! City people who don’t go out to the countryside much definitely don’t know what they’re missing. Planetariums and skylights just aren't the same. I was glad when I graduated and got the chance to move out of the city. The suburbs aren’t that bad. At least you could see the stars at night. And they were as beautiful as ever. I would open my window and sit by it, just staring at the night sky decorated with twinkling lights. It was on nights like these that my inspiration for stories would come.
On a particularly beautiful night (it had rained the whole afternoon, leaving the night sky bright and clear), I had the mother of all inspirations. It was then that I knew that I would write a novel -- and get it published to boot. I set to writing my inspiration that very night. My novel was written and sent to editors and publishers in less than two years! No mean feat, I can tell you, with all the sleepless nights and the adding and cutting of parts, until I deemed myself satisfied. The first few publishers turned it down saying that it wasn’t what the ‘market’ wanted right now. But I didn’t give up. I sent my manuscript out again, this time to different publishers. You can imagine my excitement when I came home one day to find a letter of acceptance from one of the publishers. My ‘little story’ was printed and sent to bookstores all over the country within months. One thing I never dreamed was that it would make the best-sellers’ list. I responded to my publisher’s announcement with my signature look of disbelief – my right eyebrow raised as high as it could go, lips slightly parted and eyes flooded with surprise. Copies of my story were reprinted over and over again. I wondered how the publishers who turned me down were feeling at that moment. Were they giving themselves a good kick? I certainly would in their place (but I don’t have any hard feelings towards them).
If you’re wondering about my story, here's a summarized version of it. "One night, a baby fell out of the sky and into a haystack on a farm. The baby was taken in by the couple who owned the farm and named Star (for they had witnessed her appearance from the sky). Star grew up to be a slender girl with long black hair, blue-grey eyes and skin as radiant as the stars at night. One day while walking in the fields after her chores, Star spots a magnificent black mare with iridescent wings. She bonds with the mare instantly and the mare takes her for a flight. The pair becomes inseparable. They overcome many trials together. In the meanwhile, people are polluting the Earth, harming the environment Star loved, and becoming more self-centered. When her parents pass away, she feels that she has no more ties to Earth. So, she mounts Star and flies to the heavens, never to be seen again." A story for children, but a story nonetheless.
Like all mortals, I grew old and passed on. The last thing I remembered seeing were the stars twinkling in the sky as I drew my last breath. Then, I felt myself opening my eyes again. "This cannot be right", I thought to myself. However, instead of just stars, I saw everything; the whole galaxy was spread out in front of me. I could see Earth. If I concentrated I could see the people going on with their everyday lives. I was one of the stars. It was amazing! Suddenly, a flicker on my right caught my attention. Turning, I saw Star on her mare, smiling at me. I see her every now and then, travelling the galaxy, her companion constantly by her side. There isn’t a day that goes by that I wish I wasn’t where I was. There are just so many things to observe, so many people to watch over.
This comes to show that one person's reality is different for another’s. I am happy living mine; thankful for the magic that surrounds me every day.
0 comments:
Post a Comment