A star named Kindness watched over the Earth. Fire and ash spun into land into ocean into creatures that roamed. Kindness lit the morning to show them their way. Kindness kept watch over her garden far away, beaming with pride as life learned to walk.
It tottered and teetered, falling to the brink and sometimes all the way back to ash. Yet life, ever persistent, crawled up from the earth and the seas, clinging to trees and the underside of the sky. A kaleidoscope of beings twirled the planet in a brutal, beautiful dance.
A new creature emerged and hauled itself upright. They worshipped the stars, aligning their footsteps to the wisdom of constellations. Kindness shone all the brighter to keep them on course.
But this creature began to make its own light. They installed false stars made of copper and crystal. Their footsteps traced confused circles across the earth as they sneered at the night sky, obscured by the halos of technology and hubris.
Kindness watched as, drowned within light, the creatures’ hearts darkened. The light was too close and too bright. The creatures forgot how far they could see. Kindness shone as bright as she could, but no one was watching.
The creatures grew empty as Kindness despaired. They made their lights brighter and clutched them more closely, serving only to make the shadows within ever more stark.
Weary at last, one creature extinguished her lights and turned to the sky. With a measure of darkness and a measure of distance, her heart caught the fire of a sky filled with starlight.
From the inky cradle of a night winking with purpose, one curious flame caught the creature’s eye. Her footsteps traced rhythms of cosmic design and by the light of a star named Kindness, found her way home.
