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It was a frigid night; one of many in my mountainside village. There was already a foot of snow as we were deep into winter. All the villagers had long since sought comfort in their dreams. To this day I am unsure of why I quit my bed that night for the mountainside. I am not sure I am sane enough to speak with confidence. I will try though. As I drifted half asleep toward the base of the pine-wooded mountain I looked toward its' peak and gazed upon the brightest star in the sky. It was a strange star. The other villagers had always noted how it seemed more luminous in the winter. Perhaps its' radiance came from how much closer it seemed than other stars. None of this lent the village warmth though. For we all knew the mountain was unnaturally cold every winter and as such was insurmountable. On reaching the base of the mountain a faint glow on the ground caught my eye. Bending down to look it seemed a strange firefly. Strange not only in that it was fluttering around in the winter of all times, but that it glowed white, perhaps with a bit of purple. It seemed quite weak and could barely get off the ground. I reached for it, but once I got it in my hands it crumbled to dust! Before I could react I could swear I actually breathed in some of this dust. As I stood the world seemed to begin to glow purple. It was not that my vision felt skewed. It was simply that the landscape was bathed in purple light. Somehow I could tell the source of the light must be at the top of the mountain. This was but one of many strange apprehensions though. Whereas I felt freezing only moment ago I now was quite warm. I also had an urge to go up the mountain. It was not a passionate urge so much as a genuine longing as one might feel when one yearns for home or one's family. I just felt like I would be safer at the summit. I began hiking up the mountainside seeking whatever drew me. The leaves crunched under my shoes as snow still fell slowly in the breezeless forest and I gazed up toward the summit. While the summit felt like home the starry night sky felt like a neighboring village. Perhaps one day I could live amongst them. At least this is what I felt at the time. I shook the curious thoughts from my head and continued onward. At last I came to the summit. I cannot tell you how long it was. It must have taken hours to climb this far. It felt like only a few minutes to me in that strange state that night though. What I saw truly struck out at my remaining sanity. I entered a clearing in the forest on the mountain and before me was the brightest star I had ever seen! Though it was not in its' place within the heavens! It was right above the mountain and the size of my home! I could nearly reach it with my own hands! It was so glorious. Beyond the white and purple radiating from this star I felt I experienced colors not of this earth, for there were simply no words known by man to describe them. What was this star-thing and why was it here? Looking down to my mountainside village home I saw the landscape bathed in these magnificent colors, if that is what I could even call them. Tears streamed down my eyes. It all happened so fast then. More of those strange fireflies danced around the star-thing just above me. Then a strange dust flew out of my nose. It coalesced into another one of those fireflies and joined the dancing, and I suddenly felt very cold! The fireflies continued to dance around the star-thing and it flashed more brightly than ever! I was blinded and before I could look again it was racing up to the heavens and all but one of those little fireflies seemed to join it. The one inside of me it seemed had failed to join in time. My villagers found me lying at the base of the mountain in a stupor. They did not believe much of my story. Nonetheless a few did mention seeing a strange firefly around my body when they found me. I could swear that from that night on there was an extra star in the skies above our village though. | |