This week I started posting written works to Fictional Tendencies. While my previous posts tended to lean toward darker subject matter; fear, death and suicide, today’s post offers a lighter subject, the subject of love. Even though I’m sure love can and has involved fear, death and suicide, today the following story touches on a love that’s written in the stars. Some time ago I had the idea of two stars dancing in the infancy of the universe and I knew I wanted to write a ‘love story’ of sorts, but the complete idea didn’t pop into my skull until I read Neil Gaiman’s  The Sandman: Overture. Something about the story and artwork struck me and so the follow story is inspired by Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, space, the universe, stars and love. I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.

The Fall of Astrid and Eos

“Shh! Quiet little one. You’ll wake them.” A voice echoed across the vast expanse of space as a young starling raced across the velvet night. As stars slept the young starling danced with the universe. Bouncing, twirling, spinning and leaping off and over the sleeping stars. The starling’s dust flickers and sparkles forming nebulas in her wake. She giggles and laughs, such a playful laugh.

“Shh! Quiet little one. You’ll wake them.” The voice echoes again and the starling ignores its motherly tones. “Space is too dark to dance child, you need light.” The motherly voice continues and the starling ignores it. She laughs and plays through the void sprinkling her glitter here and there. The starling leaps and twirls but when she lands she trips over a sleeping star. She’s falling yet still laughing through her fear.

 “I told you little one, space is too dark to dance.” The motherly voice resigns. The sleeping star stirs as he opens his eyes he sees the starling falling. Her trail of dust a kaleidoscopic dream. At first he’s afraid but then he realizes she needs his light. She needs him to dance with her. To fall with her. He tries to jump. He tries to fall. It’s too difficult to move as a little star. He’s focuses all of his energy and in doing so bursts forth a great burning light. The light of the sun.

The starling’s fear is getting the best of her she doesn’t know what to do. Her dust a rainbow in the night. Her tears a galaxy of hope. What’s this? The darkness of space is fading. A light warms her heart. She twirls to look towards the light and as she twirls the little sun reaches her and looks into her crying eyes. “I’ll dance with you starling. I’ll be your light in the dark. I’ll dance with you my darling. I’ll dance with you in the dark.” And the stars continue to fall across the universe and through time. They continue to fall deeper and deeper into space, into each other.