Chapter 1: Paths

It was a long time ago when my journey started. I was young back then and used to sneak out of my hut and come to the beach. The night was always dark as more and more stars disappeared from the sky, but back then I didn't pay much attention to it. My people can see well in the dark, so the dark sky didn't bother me too much. Yet somehow I felt sad when I looked up, not really knowing why. I was too young to remember the time when the bright stars shone on the night sky. I only knew about it from elders who had lived way longer than I did.

I liked the silence of the night, and also it was an opportunity to meet my friends. They didn’t swim close to the shore in the daylight and I knew from them that, like my people, they slept at night. Yet, they came to meet me whenever they could. I wondered if they too needed to slip away to do it or not, and it never felt right to ask them about it. I think I was afraid that if they would know I needed to sneak out to meet them they would stop coming to meet me or even tell my elders about our friendship as they were the only people except me that spoke with them. It is not that it was forbidden to be friends with Dolphins. It had just never happened before, and somehow I felt it would never happen again, even if I could not imagine the true reason for it. If I could, I would probably cry, but back then I was just a happy kid having unusual friends and never thought about how strange and unusual this friendship was. I never told anyone about it, and I kept it a secret even from my grandpa, believing that our conversations were too silly and kiddish. I still liked it, and I loved all the stories they told me during long summer nights when the air was heavy with the fragrance of flowers mixed with salt water. It was so different from when my grandpa spoke with them. It only happened once a year, when the sun barely rose above the horizon and went back to her resting place, leaving behind a night that lasted for many days. On that day, my grandpa and other elders would gather on the beach and lit a fire that had been carefully prepared many days before. I loved to watch how the flames danced against the dark sky. It was so beautiful.

Of course, I sneaked out to watch it every year, like every other kid in a village did, even if we weren't supposed to be there. Now I know that the elders knew about us hiding on the edge of the forest, but back then I was afraid of being caught. I wish I had paid more attention to the songs that they sang and the words that they shared with my friends, but back then I was too young to understand what they meant. Of course, I knew about the safe passage and the journey my friends had helped us to take a long time ago. Everyone knew about it, but to imagine a world different from this one was way beyond my imagination. 

Do I regret the choice I made that night when I sneaked out again and went to the beach to see my friends? I don’t. Even if my mind couldn’t comprehend what they told me, I understood it in my heart. For the first time, I felt what they felt, and I understood why the stars were disappearing from the night sky and the sadness I felt when I looked up at the dark sky made sense. I wish I could have said goodbye, but it is maybe better that I couldn’t. I don’t think that even Grandpa would have understood the path I decided to take that night.

The light under my feet felt cold, and it surprised me at first. I don’t know why, but I expected it to be warm like a sun ray as I took the first step and followed them between the stars, letting them guide me on my journey as they once guided my people. Yet this journey was different, and even they couldn’t explain to me where we were going or what we would find at the end of our journey. So I walked, trusting that their intuition would lead us to the right place. Only a long time after that journey, did I understand that they were the ones who had created the paths that lead from one star to another. Back then I just walked, mesmerized by the endless worlds and galaxies we passed on our way, and never even tried to understand what all this meant.

It was the last time I saw my friends. Soon after we arrived, our paths took us in different directions. I still miss them and wish I could hear their songs once again. Maybe I will one day? I don’t know, even I cannot see all the paths someone can take, and maybe one day the choices we made will let us meet once again. I also miss my family. Were they reborn as stars when their lives came to an end, like my people used to believe? I think they did. Since I stopped The Darkness that devoured the stars, many new stars have been born. In my heart, I feel that Grandpa and my family watch over me and shine their light on my path as I travel between the stars…


-------------------------------------------

You can listen to audiobook version on my YT https://www.youtube.com/@maratellsstories