THE CELESTIAL JOURNEY

This was my short story assignment a year ago :)

It was the first day of spring. The elegant flowers colored the soil while mother earth is wearing her beautiful bright blue dress. The joyful birds fly freely underneath the white cheerful clouds. Laughter of happiness is in the air.

It is such a pity that Aaron could only watch the beauty of the day on his bed. He has been there for too long, so long that he hardly remembered the day when he was free to run underneath the horizon. He never could go anywhere except around the hospital. He has been ill in his entire life, forgetting a normal healthy life.

The sound of footsteps nearby broke his wondering mind. A nurse entered his room with a friendly smile.

“Today is your lucky day,” she said. “You have a new friend. She’s over there, beside your room. Perhaps you could introduce yourself to her; she would love to know you.”

“Why should I?” Aaron sighted. “Kids in here always hate me. I never really have a friend.”

“Oh well.” The nurse said. “It’s just that you’ve been alone all the time and you never been friendly with anyone. Try to smile a little bit and say simple things like ‘hello’ or something.”

“Oh, shut up.” Aaron grumped. The nurse shook her head as she walked away.

It was finally lunch time. Being so bored at his room, Aaron decided to have his meal at the hospital’s canteen. Along with a nurse who guarded him, he began to eat his lunch as he stare at a girl that came nearby. “Ah, that’s your new friend.” The nurse said. “I guess I should leave you too here for a while.” The nurse leaves Aaron alone in the table.

She stopped in front of Aaron and smile. Confused, Aaron awkwardly greets her. “Umm… hello.”

She laughed, making Aaron felt more confused. “Why are you laughing?”

Still laughing, she sat beside Aaron. “I’m happy!”

Being happy in a hospital? How weird. Aaron thought. “So… who are you? Are you new in here?”

“Guess who I am!”

“You’re weird.” Aaron replied. “And for being weird, you must have owned a weird name.”

“Correct!” she said. “And I guess you can’t guess my name because of that. I’m Taygeta.”

“That really is a weird name. I’m Aaron.”

She stares at Aaron for a while. “Why aren’t you smiling?”

“Because I don’t want to.”

“Yes you do, you just can’t find a reason to smile.” She said.

“Really?” Aaron wondered, found that Taygeta was right. He’s been lonely for too long, stuck at the hospital by himself. How could he find at least one reason to be happy?

“Yes and you know it.”

“So why are you happy?” Aaron asked.

Taygeta smiled wisely. “Let me tell you a secret. Beyond knowledge, there’s imagination. Behind every star of the skies, there’s a message that helps you find the true happiness.”

Aaron was confused, could not understand what she meant. “Look at the stars tonight, perhaps you will understand.” She replied, as she finished her meal and walked away to her room, leaving the confused Aaron in the table.

The sleepy sun painted the sky yellow, as it turned darker and darker, and little sparkling lights began to shine in the dark sky like a glamour glittery gown. Aaron quietly sneaked to the hospital’s park, stared at the stars with curiousness.

“What a silly thing to do,” he said to himself. “But for years I’ve been stuck in this room, I just want to be happy and free even if it’s just for a while.”

Someone pat Aaron’s shoulder. Aaron looked back. It was Taygeta.

“What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?”

“I’m going to take you to a journey.” She said mysteriously. She then pulled her sleeve and showed Aaron her crystal ring. “My mom gave this to me before she left,” Taygeta said. “This then become the most precious thing I have ever own.” She pointed the ring to the stars.

Suddenly, everything turned bright that Aaron had to close his eyes. And when he opened them, he hardly remembered what just happen and strangely found himself standing on an endless bridge.

“Where am I?” he said to himself as he began to look around him. Surprisingly, Taygeta was beside him.

“You’re silly! Don’t you know where we are?”

“No.” Aaron replied. “Where are we, really?”

“We’re in the aurora, silly!” Taygeta said. She danced and laughed joyfully. “This isn’t just a normal bridge! This is an aurora!

“Come on, don’t you just stand there! Let’s take a walk!” Taygeta took Aaron’s hand, holding it as she ran along the Aurora Bridge.

Taygeta and Aaron were amazed by the view around them. They could see the earth underneath, and billions of stars on the endless space. Never before they see such beautiful view in earth. Aaron felt strange; he never had such feelings before, and he cannot describe how he felt. And somehow, he loved these feelings. As he traveled along the aurora with Taygeta, he forgot about his frustrations and pressures.

Taygeta slowly stopped. “Look!” she said, pointing to a group of stars. “Did you see that? It’s Pegasus!”

“Where? I can’t see any.” Aaron replied. Taygeta gently pulls Aaron’s hand, connecting each star with it, while Aaron began to understand.

As the stars connected to each other, the constellation turned into a real Pegasus

Pegasus may stick in the sky for too long, but he will always be a horse of freedom. And he wisely learns so much on the earth underneath his kingdom as he never complains about being stuck in the sky. He is grateful for what he sees, and now he had turned into a valorous being.

The valorous Pegasus came closer. Taygeta pulled Aaron’s arm once again. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s have a fantastic ride together.”

While Taygeta and Aaron climbed Pegasus’s back, he spread his magnificent sparkling wings and began to fly. Aaron finally did what he never done; he laughed. He could feel the beauty of freedom passionately. He stared at the shining stars, feeling as happy as a dancing angel.

“Look,” Taygeta said, pointing to another group of stars, connecting a star to another. “That’s Gemini constellation. Do you know that the Gemini is a constellation of a twin’s souls?”

STORY OF GEMINI

The twins were born under the wings of the Swan, Zeus. Castor inherited tenderness from their mother. Pollux inherited immortality from their father. When Castor was wounded to die in a war, Pollux cried to Zeus, the Almighty, "Take away my immortality and let us die together." Thus, the twin stars are twinkling side by side in the eternal sky.

“So they finally die together and turned into that beautiful constellation?” Aaron asked. Taygeta replied with a nod.

Leaving the Gemini constellation behind, Pegasus stopped behind huge colorful dusts. “What’s that?” Aaron asked. “That’s a dying star. Even the stars in the sky get older. Yet, they die with honor, spreading beautiful lights in the sky.”

STORY OF THE STARS

Stars live their life upon ever world, hearing many wishes and bringing hope to each being. They brighten the horizon of our world, showing the way for the lost. Even if they permanently stuck on the sky, just like the Pegasus, they use their life for other’s good. They are selfless, and when the time comes, they die in honor and happiness, spreading the light of peace.

Aaron sat on Pegasus’s back silently, reflecting his journey with Taygeta on the endless outer space. He finally understood the reason of his selfishness and frustrations. He shamefully remembered his life back then in the hospital, as he quietly sent his promise to the stars that he will renew himself.

Pegasus landed on the galactic railroad, the Milky Way. Taygeta and Aaron stood on the magical road with amazement. “Look around you,” Taygeta said. “The stars are no longer just normal lights of the sky.”

Aaron opened his eyes widely as the stars slowly connected to each other. Aaron saw Orion the hunter, Gemini the twins, Cancer the crab, Leo the lion, Virgo the maiden, Lynx, Ursa the bear along with his cub the Ursa Minor, Draco the dragon, Hercules the hero, Aquila the eagle, and other magical beings of the sky.

Suddenly, a cluster of stars underneath the Taurus shone brighter than the rest as Taygeta noticed. Pegasus snuffled. “I believe each human belongs to a star.” Pegasus finally said. He took Taygeta and Aaron, flew to a group of bright stars.

“This is Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters. Your name, Taygeta, is also the name of one of these stars, so as your mother, Celaeno.”

Pegasus pointed to the Celaeno, and Taygeta slowly saw her mother’s reflection in it. Taygeta began to cry with tears. “Mother!” she cried. Taygeta ran to the Celaeno as her body began to brighten and sparked. As Taygeta hugged her mother’s reflection, she turned into a beautiful light, uniting herself with the Taygeta star, which is near Celaeno.

Aaron could not believe what he saw. Pegasus turned himself to a constellation, and the confused Aaron sat on a meteor, leaving everything in his journey behind. He was getting nearer to the earth, as he realized that his journey was over. Suddenly, everything turned bright again.

Aaron opened his eyes, found himself in a strange place. He wasn’t lying on his bed, nor sitting on the park by himself. He has never been here before. He waved to the nurse who came nearby, trying to get her attention. But no one noticed. Everything was confusing until Aaron found himself lying on the coffin. What happened? He thought, frightened. And where’s Taygeta?

“Poor thing,” the nurse said. “I found him lying on the park last night, all alone by himself. But he seemed so happy that I’m starting to wonder about what he sees or what’s in his mind back then.”

“So I was alone, all the time?” He said to himself. “And Taygeta never existed?”

A wind blows gently and everything’s turned bright once again. Aaron couldn’t see anything but his own soul.

“Taygeta died long before you do. She was buried in the soft and beautiful petals, among the stars of the sky. She returned to earth for you, Aaron. And now, it is your turn.” Someone said.

“What turn?” Aaron asked.

“To teach humans about what you have learn in your journey with Taygeta. Humans seek happiness, but they are blind by their own selfishness, and selfishness is not the answer of what they seek. You need to open their eyes, Aaron, just like Taygeta opened yours.”

Someone slowly appeared in Aaron’s sight. It was a precious, wonderful friend of him; Taygeta. “I’ll be waiting for you in the stars,” she said. “And we will have our journey again, together!”

Aaron smiled, as he turned into a human boy again; found himself lying on the bed of another hospital. He walked outside of his room, noticed another room in front of his own.

“You have a new friend,” someone said. “Maybe you could introduce yourself to him. He would love to meet you.”

“Why should I? I don’t need friends, and I never really have one.” Another person replied.

Aaron laughed with joy and passion. He could hardly wait for bringing this child to the celestial journey.