The Eater of Stars [Poetry]

There was once a girl who wished to be consumed by a star.

Each night, she admired it from the Earth, its gallant surface glistening with the light of fireworks; blues, reds, and purples sparkled and called to her.

She wished for her flesh to be as beautiful as that stars surface, wished for its unbreakable gravity and shine.

Night after night, it greeted her with the familar colors of sundown – every other star surrounding it was dim in comparison; even the white lily light of the moon couldn’t stand against the brilliance of its astral body.

But her star offered more than color – it spoke to her in an omniscient voice, pulsating with a hum like ocean waves; rolling in quickly and leaving with a whisper.

“There is wisdom within my textured body, a heart at my core that will bring you great knowledge and purpose. See me, as I see you, and come to me.”

So she prepared – she built herself a suit with iron wings that could carry her into the atmosphere. It was a heavy weight at first, bearing wings to leave the Earth, but she was determined.

She soared after liftoff, like she was born with flight her whole life, but soon, dust and pollution cut her face and burned her eyes as she flew higher. The wind tore past her body, faster than she thought possible, but she persisted.

The air began to thin and the once light blue sky was painted with the nighttime glow of early space.

Her star grew brighter as she approached and sparks danced off her radiant metal wings.

Her skin began to chill in the atmosphere of darkness, but all she needed was the heat of her heart and the light ahead of her.

Space, as she expected, was beautiful. Other bodies of light and stardust cascaded past her, twinkling like rainbow glass in sunlight.

Her body felt weightless as she glided forward, but still she kept her momentum, even in space – she was her own gravity in this gravity-less place.

Soon she slowed, the vastness of space demanding both her patience and her awe. She furled her wings around her body and her stars gravity embraced her, pulling her in. For once in all her journey, she let the universes momentum carry her forward as she rested in her own embrace.

But she could never rest for too long – it defied her disposition. She extended her wings once more, nodding to passing comets and planets, and called up her own astral jet stream, launching forward into the nightless day, the dayless night.

Her body was stiff and sore – the rest had only made it worse, but nothing would stop her now when she was so close. She hardly noticed the trembling of her fingers, or the numb buzzing at the base of her skull, she just flew.

“If you embrace me too quickly, you will burn up on impact child – find your center,” the star spoke.

But it was too late! She had rested for too long and her momentum was unstoppable – white hot heat swirled around her as she spiraled.

And just when the star thought the girl would be lost, she opened her iron wings with the grace of a phoenix and slowed, and slowed, and slowed…

She spread her arms and softly met the star’s surface. Blues, purples, and reds danced around her and her chest exploded with vibrant warmth and color.

“You’re here. You are so small…but so brave…” The star hummed, wrapping tendrils of light around the girl – “I grant you my wisdom, consume me and be enlightened with purpose.”

The girl looked at her feet, noticing the textured surface of the star smoothing and disappearing into dust under her weight. Energy shot through her limbs. Knowledge ran through every fold of her mind. But soon despair came as the star grew smaller, her euphoria of success fading as the grand astral body was consumed by her paltry, pointless form.

In mere hours, the gallant star was no more. Its voice and its intrepid spirit was now one with the girl.

While the heat of success still pulsed in her veins, a sense of great loss washed over her – her flight, her journey, her path was gone.

The star’s radiance and beauty was now inside her – why didn’t her happiness stay? She thought as her gravity left her and she began to swirl into the shadows of space, its coldness slithering under her suit.

With the star’s light and gravity gone, the void sought out the girl and hung to her, creating a deep weight in a weightless place.

Why had she been the star eater? Why hadn’t it taken her inside its maw and made her mean something? Why now was she swirling, directionless in space, even though she ate an entire star and lived?

She had no answers…only questions…she was so tired, but stronger than ever before without even knowing.

After weeks of swirling, a new twinkle caught her eye. It was oh so far…but it called to her just the same.

“See me as I see you…come to me…” A new star spoke, light years away, so quiet, so gentle…but a voice – it was there.

The girl smiled softly and unfurled her frozen wings with great effort. A seed of strength bloomed in her stomach, a gift from her old star that was now within her, and she started a new journey.

Slow and steady, into the depths of space – there were more stars to meet (consume), and more knowledge (strength) to gain.

So the Eater of Stars went, heavy with void but brimming with internal light, determined to renew the purpose she always had within her.

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