Fascination gripped the child as he looked up towards the bright shining star. The star smoldering in his eyes set his heart on fire. An unquenchable desire to be the star infected his heart. He raised his hands up in the air and jumped, trying to catch that star. As his attempts failed, he was not disheartened but he looked towards the hill beside his house. The hill was scary but his desire to be the star was far stronger than the fear of darkness and gloominess of woods. Spellbound, he walked towards the mountain, the peak was his destination. As he walked, he saw the star following him; he thought that the star was also desperate to unite with him and this made him happy. This happiness of his was no ordinary one. It is the one, most loathed by wise. It is like a drug, you become an addict to it; you love it more than anything else and you hate it equally.
He passed the through the woods, walking past the ghosts, spiritless carcasses, and hungry beasts. He was attacked, his flesh was torn, and his soul was vitiated and tortured. But he never stopped, he kept on walking. It was not fear that was in his heart, it was not courage, the only thing that was in his heart was this insane desire to unite with that star. His sole inspiration was the following star.
He dragged himself, bleeding, as his soul swept the earth behind him like a long tattered cape. When he reached the top of the hill, he looked at the star again, but it was still far, at an infinite separation. Tired and broken he sat beneath a tree, staring at the star with tears fueling his burning eyes. “It is called Stratus”, came a sound from the darkness. The child took his guard immediately. “Relax” said the voice as a shadow emerged from the darkness.
He came closer and said, “I also came here following my own star, but when I reached here, I saw this hopeless face of reality and this cruel helplessness constraining the man.”
“What did you do then?” asked the child.
The man smiled and said, “There was nothing here, nothing for me, but then there was nothing for me down there in the city as well. The only thing I cared about was up there in the sky, up there at an infinite distance, up there untouchable, unreachable. I stared at the star for weeks, and then a miracle happened finally, the star talked to me and said, ‘I am an idea, and so am I nothing but a perception of your senses, an image in your eyes and part of your being?’ Amused, I asked, ‘Why are we so separated, so far.’ The star replied “Why do you care about the distance between us and this stupid separation? Create me in you.” And so I did. And It’s the most beautiful thing I have ever felt, now it is like moistness in my heart that doesn’t allow it to rot, it keeps me in an unexplainable state of tranquility and bliss. Now, I cannot live without it.”
“Do you not want to be the star anymore? Are you happy?” asked the child who had now turned into a grown up.
To this, the man responded, with the blankest of the eyes, as if nothing had any meaning, and finally broke his silence saying, “I am so…” but before he could complete, he was interrupted by a wise and noble man, who happened to pass by. When the wise man saw the child, he immediately ran towards him and took him in his arms yelling, “Did he hurt you? He is a madman? He is a drug addict”. Then he took the child home. He was now a grownup, but some part of him never really did come back from that hill.
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